Science Buddies Blog: Family Science Archives
The Science Buddies Blog gives students, teachers, and parents an inside look at student science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) projects, activities, success stories, and real-world connections.
Previous posts in the Family Science category
Spot the Dot Eye Science
Use colored paper and wax paper to explore eye science. Can you make a colored dot disappear?
Colorful STEM Projects for Summer Science Fun
Planning summer science? Check this list of bright and colorful STEM activities that are perfect for exciting hands-on science at home.
Citizen Science for Earth Day
Celebrate Earth Day with increased awareness of citizen science and the many opportunities that exist for families to contribute to global research.
Spring Break Science: STEM at Home
A collection of great science activities and projects that would be fun for students over Spring Break.
Projectile Physics and Catapult Science
Explore the physics behind a catapult with a simple DIY catapult you can make at home.
Whip Up Some Science in the Kitchen
With a few basic ingredients, you can conjure up "whipping cream" food-science fun for both tots and teens.
A Geodesic Dome for the Season
With gumdrops and toothpicks, kids can make a dome and explore the math behind a geodesic dome.
Fun Science Picks for Winter Break
Line up science, technology, engineering, and math activities to inspire and excite kids over winter break.
Explore Radioactive Decay with Coins
Explore the science of radioactive decay with a safe hands-on family STEM activity.
Make Music with Singing Glasses
Explore the physics of sound as you make music using wine glasses in this family STEM activity.
Big Ears Science
Experiment with different styles of ears to see how the size and shape of ears changes what you may be able to hear in this family STEM activity.
Paper Rocket Aerodynamics
Make paper rockets you can launch by blowing through a straw and experiment to find out how changing the design can change how the rockets fly.
Dancing Water Droplets
Find out how to make water droplets dance with a colorful hands-on physics activity.
Phone Book Friction Physics
Explore properties related to friction by experimenting with phone books that are interleaved.
Compare Circumference and Diameter with String
Explore properties of a circle, just like mathematicians do, to identify the relationship between the diameter of a circle and circumference.
A Positive Science Fair Project Experience
What can parents do to help ensure that a science project assignment is a positive and successful learning experience for their student?
Fun Frisbee Science
Test different throwing techniques or compare different Frisbees and learn more about aerodynamics and physics at the same time.
Splitting Ink: Marker Chromatography
What colors make up a certain color ink in a marker? Find out with a family science activity.
Building Paper Bridges: Family Science Spotlight
Build bridges from paper to explore civil engineering in this family STEM activity. Does the shape of the materials make a difference?
Throwing Balls and Trajectory: Weekly Family Science Activity
In this week's spotlight: a physics-focused family sports science activity that may make a difference in your next game of catch!
How to Do Robotics at Home with Your Kids
Twenty steps to help you and your kids succeed with family robotics projects.
What Shape is a Hard-boiled Egg?
This year, give your hardboiled eggs a twist and turn ordinary ovoid hardboiled eggs into fun shapes! The trick to the transformation is understanding the science behind the process of hardboiling.
Bubbly Soda Science: Weekly Science Activity
School and family science weekly spotlight: mix up your own bubbly drink and experiment to find just the right combination of ingredients.
Fascinating Physics of Fluids and Surface Movement
Mesmerizing video puts the physics of liquid in motion. Students and families can explore related science with hands-on activities that are fun to do at home or in the classroom.
Guess What's Inside: Rock Science
Have you and your kids ever cracked open a geode to reveal the crystals inside? This is a great way to add something special to a prized rock collection and can be a lot of fun for kids who are interested in geology, rocks, or crystals.
Talking Pi and Pie for Pi Day
Pi Day is a great excuse to make some math- and food-related Pi puns and bake up a tasty dessert. We suggest you throw a bit of science into the mix as well!
Bristlebots at the Museum
Participants at a natural history museum sleepover event in Utah experiment with bristlebots and brushbots.
Making Math with Dough: Weekly Science Activity
School and family science weekly spotlight: use dough to explore the relationship between dimensions of an object and volume.
Bean Soup Science: Weekly Science Activity Spotlight
School and family science weekly spotlight: explore the science of making soup from dried beans.
Light Up the Season with Computer Science Exploration
With drag-and-drop computer programming, kids can explore fun activities that add lights and sounds lights to the season. We got in the holiday spirit with Scratch and Raspberry Pi to light up a simple light-activated star!
Squash Power
How do your favorite veggies compare when it comes to generating power? Find out with a hands-on science electronics kit from the Science Buddies Store!
Musical Bottles: Weekly Science Activity
School and family science weekly spotlight: explore the physics of sound by making music using bottles.
The Speed of Falling: Weekly Science Activity
School and family science weekly spotlight: explore the science of speed and constant acceleration.
Sounds Like Halloween: Weekly Science Activity
School and family science weekly spotlight: listen to how music and sound are incorporated in movies of certain types.
Halloween Science Connections
Science activities and projects that let kids get hands-on with things slimy, ghoulish, gross, light-up, or glow-in-the-dark.
Candy Corn Geodesic Dome
A classic science project takes on Halloween tones with candy corn-colored candies, a few ordinary toothpicks, and a bunch of triangles.
Detective Science: Weekly Science Activity
School and family science weekly spotlight: learn more about the science that helps solve crimes! Use fake blood and investigate how blood spatter changes depending on the height from which the blood was dropped.
Building a Halloween Brushbot: Family Robotics
An orange scrub brush gives a family science activity a boost of jack-o-lantern-inspired fun and leads to a great robotics exploration.
Boba Spherification: The Science of Juice-filled Caviar
We go DIY with molecular gastronomy and family science as we make our own popping boba using the Spherification Kit from the Science Buddies Store.
Caterpillar Spotting Leads to Citizen Science
An unusual caterpillar brings lots of "eeeews!" and one contribution to a citizen science project. Discover how anyone can collaborate on serious scientific research.
From Wooden Train to the Magic of Maglev
Science Buddies in Action: For a third grade student with an interest in science and pinewood derby cars, the Maglev Train project combined a fun DIY activity with engaging science.
Homemade Compass: Weekly Science Activity
School and family science weekly spotlight: make a homemade compass from household materials.
Tie-Dye Using Permanent Markers: Weekly Science Activity
School and family science weekly spotlight: learn more about the chemistry of solubility while making your own tie dye using permanent markers.
Seeing Tonic Water Glow: Weekly Science Activity
School and family science weekly spotlight: experiment with tonic water and a black light to learn more about fluorescence and light energy!
Now Playing: The Perseid Meteor Showers
Catch the annual Perseids meteor shower and tie in some fun family astronomy science with an exploration of parallax. How far away are the things we see in the sky?
Holey Porous Rock Science!
With different kinds of dried beans, plastic cups, and water, kids can model rocks and observe the way different sized particles in rocks affect how much water a rock can hold.
Drinking Up Water Science During a Drought
For families living in drought conditions, careful monitoring of water usage is especially important. With hands-on science and engineering projects, students can investigate water-saving strategies and science and engineering related to water…
Marinade Science: Weekly Science Activity
School and family science weekly spotlight: the science of marinades
Red, White, and Blue with Soft Circuits
When you combine your circuitry know-how with fabric, you can, literally, wear your electronics on your sleeve. Students experiment with e-textiles.
Fun with Fireworks Science: When Chemicals Burn
Fireworks displays are fun to watch and a tradition accompanying many community celebrations. With a simple family science activity, the mystery behind the dazzling night-time sky show can be explored. This is colorful hands-on summer…
Powering a Raft with Surface Tension: Weekly Science Activity
School and family science weekly spotlight: surface tension used to power a small raft.
Families and Fingerprints: Weekly Science Activity
Weekly family science activity: are fingerprint patterns inherited and shared among family members?
Expanding and Contracting Gases: Weekly Science Activity
School and family science weekly spotlight: how gases expand and contract in response to temperature.
Science Activities: Fun Science Perfect for Home or School
Science Buddies has added a new "activities" section to its award-winning science education website. The new science activities complement the existing library of science fair project ideas but bridge the gap between science "assignment" or…
Geodesic Gumdrop Dome: Weekly Science Activity
School and family science weekly spotlight: build a simple geodesic dome from candies and toothpicks.
A Super Science-filled Summer Break
Ready or not... into the summer break we go. With school (almost) out for the summer, take stock of some great science activities and challenges that are perfect to help keep kids engaged and actively learning during the break. Science may be even…
Pinwheel Science: Weekly Science Activity
School and family science weekly spotlight: energy-focused family science experiment that explores the relationship between the potential power of a wind turbine and the source and location of the wind.
Durable Paper Dolls: Materials Science Meets Creative Pastime
Joints give paper dolls added life and let little fingers manipulate characters as they play out their roles in an imaginative storyline. But joints also add potential hot spots for damage. A plastic toy figurine may lose its arm, head, or hair, but…
Magic Train Puts Kids on Track with Physics of Magnetism
Assembling a simple wooden train and track with cleverly placed magnetic strips lets kids experiment with a train that levitates off the track and zips effortlessly from one end to the other when pushed. What happens when you add a bit of weight?…
Bath Bombs Chemistry: Family Science Activity Spotlight
School and family science weekly spotlight: chemistry of bath bombs.
Ball Dribbling Science: Weekly Science Project Idea and Home Science Activity Spotlight
School and family science weekly spotlight: the science involved in how energy behaves when a ball is dribbled.
Ice Cream Science: Weekly Science Project Idea and Home Science Activity Spotlight
School and family science weekly spotlight: adding salt to the process of making ice cream.
Family Fun with Physics: Launching Plastic Eggs with the Ping Pong Catapult
The ping pong catapult is a great device for independent student science projects, but this is a tool you can use again and again—even as the basis for a fun afternoon or weekend family science activity. We put the rubber band catapult to use…
Strength of an Egg: Weekly Science Project Idea and Home Science Activity Spotlight
School and family science weekly spotlight: explore the strength of arches using eggshells.
Family Egg Science
Egg science comes over-easy this time of year. Whether you are boiling eggs, dyeing eggs, or both, there are easy questions you can ask with your kids to turn the activity into a hands-on science experiment that everyone will enjoy. In the past…
Floating Eggs: Weekly Science Project Idea and Home Science Activity Spotlight
School and family science weekly spotlight: floating eggs.
Yeasty Science: Weekly Science Project Idea and Home Science Activity Spotlight
School and family science weekly spotlight: What conditions cause yeasts to be most active during fermentation?
Musical Straws: Weekly Science Project Idea and Home Science Activity Spotlight
School and family science weekly spotlight: musical straws.
Fun Science at Home: Give Spring Break a Science Boost
Science Buddies has great ideas to keep your students engaged during spring break with cool science experiments they can do at home. Tweak our full science fair Project Ideas to challenge your kids to scientific spring break fun! Ready or…
Home Sweet Bug Microenvironments: Weekly Science Project Idea and Home Science Activity Spotlight
School and family science weekly spotlight: which microenvironments will pillbugs and sowbugs choose and why?
Colorful Family Science for St. Patrick's Day
School and family science weekly spotlight: what happens when you put drops of food coloring in milk and then add dishwashing liquid?
Serving up Some Pi Pie for Pi Day
March 14 is Pi Day, so grab a slice, and your best memorization skills. How much Pi can you remember—which is not quite the same as how much pie can you eat! Celebrating Pi Day with Pie A Google search or a Pi-focused look at Pinterest…
Carnival Game Science: Weekly Science Project Idea and Home Science Activity Spotlight
School and family science weekly spotlight: why does a popular carnival game that looks easy to win sometimes seem really difficult?
Baking Up a Science Project
A batch of homemade muffins can easily turn into a great hands-on student science project. Grab some bowls and choose your variable! By Kim Mullin Image: My son headed to the kitchen for a recent science project and found that using the…
Bridge Science: Weekly Science Project Idea and Home Science Activity Spotlight
School and family science weekly spotlight: can a suspension bridge carry a greater load than a beam bridge?
Ensuring a Positive Science Fair Project Experience
What can parents do to help ensure that a science project assignment is a positive and successful learning experience for their student?
Seasons Science: Weekly Science Project Idea and Home Science Activity Spotlight
School and family science weekly spotlight: when a surface is titled, how does the light reaching it change?
LEGO Movie Makes Engineering Awesome
The LEGO® Movie puts engineering on the big screen in the hands of an assortment of plastic master builders and superheroes from various time periods and realms who come together to challenge Lord Business and the superior threat of Kragle. What…
Heart-health Science: Is Your Heart Really Heart-shaped?
February brings us both Valentine's Day and heart awareness month. That's two great reasons to take a closer look at the hard-working muscle thump-thump-thumping in your chest! By Kim Mullin A Day in the Life of Your Heart Your heart…
Heart Health: Weekly Science Project Idea and Home Science Activity Spotlight
School and family science weekly spotlight: if you exercise regularly, does your heart recover from exertion more quickly than if you don't exercise often?
Landslide Science: Weekly Science Project Idea and Home Science Activity Spotlight
School and family science weekly spotlight: explore the science behind things sitting on a slope.
Pixel Science: Weekly Science Project Idea and Home Science Activity Spotlight
School and family science weekly spotlight: explore how pixel-resolution is related to the quality of the graphics in a video game.
Static Electricity Science: Weekly Science Project Idea and Home Science Activity Spotlight
School and family science weekly spotlight: explore static electricity with your own electroscope.
Puppy Science: Weekly Science Project Idea and Home Science Activity Spotlight
School and family science weekly spotlight: explore why puppies and other animals huddle together for warmth.
Sweaty Science: Weekly Science Project Idea and Home Science Activity Spotlight
School and family science weekly spotlight: experiment
Women in Engineering: Mary Barra Takes Keys to Car Manufacturing Company
The story of the next General Motors CEO may help change ideas about car engineering and gender and inspire future generations of female engineers. Photo: John F. Martin for General MotorsWhat happens when a girl grows up loving to build, design,…
Cornbread Science: Weekly Science Project Idea and Home Science Activity Spotlight
School and family science weekly spotlight: experiment with the role of baking powder in baking.
Science and Engineering Activities for the Winter Break (Or Any Time!)
As you prepare for winter break and lots of indoor time with your kids, consider scheduling some time for family science. We have suggestions for fun hands-on science and engineering activities you can do with your kids that might feel a lot like…
Memory Science: Weekly Science Project Idea and Home Science Activity Spotlight
School and family science weekly spotlight: experiment with mnemonic devices to see if they help improve recall of items on a list.
Family Robotics: Toothbrush Bots that Follow the Light
Building light-tracking robots as a family activity lets you and your kids take next steps in electronics and circuitry! My kids and I had a great time over the summer whetting our teeth on basic robotics and electronics by transforming…
Taste Bud Science: Weekly Science Project Idea and Home Science Activity Spotlight
School and family science weekly spotlight: find out your taste threshold for sweetness, saltiness, and sourness.
Sauce Science: Weekly Science Project Idea and Home Science Activity Spotlight
School and family science weekly spotlight: experimenting to see how cooking time changes the consistency of cranberry dishes.
How Flaky Are You? The Science of Pie Crust
During the holiday season, pies are front-and-center on the dessert menu. Become the pie-baking champion in your family with this tasty experiment. By Kim Mullin Turning Family Baking into Family Science In the "Perfecting Pastries"…
Get Your Spud On with Potato Science
Potatoes make a great side dish, but they also make great subjects for hands-on science! Food chemistry, plant biology, and even basic electronics are all on the menu when you experiment with potatoes. By Kim Mullin What is your favorite food…
Salty Science: Weekly Science Project Idea and Home Science Activity Spotlight
School and family science weekly spotlight: detecting the presence of iodine in salt by looking for a visible chemical reaction.
Stride Science: Weekly Science Project Idea and Home Science Activity Spotlight
School and family science weekly spotlight: the science of individual stride and walking measurements.
Exciting Girls about Science and Engineering
With its broad spectrum of free scientist-authored projects for K-12 students, Science Buddies wants ALL students to have a great science project experience—girls and boys. For teachers and parents looking for ways to engage girls in science,…
Camouflage Science: Weekly Science Project Idea and Home Science Activity Spotlight
School and family science weekly spotlight: does camouflage make a difference when it comes to a predator finding its prey?
This Experiment is Totally Sweet
Volunteer to make dessert for your next family event, and you can combine making a tasty contribution for after dinner with a kitchen science exploration!
Spilling Candy: Weekly Science Project Idea and Home Science Activity Spotlight
School and family science weekly spotlight: how do granular materials appear to flow?
Slime, Catapults, and Halloween Science
Inspire hands-on learning by getting creative. You can easily turn chemistry and physics science experiments into Halloween-inspired activities that your students will enjoy!
Time for Spooky Halloween Science
As trick-or-treat night approaches, we have plenty of suggestions for hands-on science you can fit in with Halloween festivities and discussions! Meet your kids where they are—in the Halloween mindset! Science Buddies has great ideas…
Electronics and Play Dough: Fun, Tactile Family Science
With a new group of electronics Project Ideas and a cool kit from the Science Buddies Store, you can turn ordinary play dough modeling into a great hands-on electronics activity with your kids. Since the trio of "electric play dough"…
Afterimages Eye Science: Weekly Science Project Idea and Home Science Activity Spotlight
School and family science weekly spotlight: eyes and the science of afterimages.
Science Projects that Double as Halloween Costumes
If you are still thinking about what to wear this Halloween, you might find you can combine a science project and your costume needs to good, possibly ghoulish, effect!
Compost Science: Weekly Science Project Idea and Home Science Activity Spotlight
School and family science weekly spotlight: how does the rate of different compostable items compare?
A Trick of the Eye for Halloween
Exhaust your eye cones in just the right way, and you can enjoy the spookiness of seeing something that isn't really there!
Falling Objects: Weekly Science Project Idea and Home Science Activity Spotlight
School and family science weekly spotlight: how fast will an object fall?
Bird Science: Weekly Science Project Idea and Home Science Activity Spotlight
School and family science weekly spotlight: what a bird's feet can tell you about the bird.
Probability and Playing Cards: Hands-on Family Math
A deck of cards provides a concrete look at probability and chance in a hands-on math activity that easily scales up and down in difficulty to match the experience of your students. A Deck of Cards Four suits. Thirteen cards in each…
Soil Science: Weekly Science Project Idea and Home Science Activity Spotlight
School and family science weekly spotlight: make a Winogradsky column to explore a miniature biosphere.
Cooking Caramel: Family Science Spotlight
As this family discovered in their kitchen science activity, making caramel doesn't require much in the way of ingredients, but recipes vary, and timing and temperature matter! "My younger son wanted to make caramel sauce," reports the mom…
Rooftop Gardens: Weekly Science Project Idea and Home Science Activity Spotlight
School and family science weekly spotlight: investigate rooftop gardens.
Building Bristlebots: Basic Toothbrush Robotics
As this mom discovered, with a bag of toothbrushes and some basic electronics supplies, you can give a group of kids a fun introductory robotics experience—no prior robotics expertise necessary! Since the BristleBots robotics project…
Fizzy Chemical Reactions: Weekly Science Project Idea and Home Science Activity Spotlight
In this week's spotlight: a trio of chemistry science projects for fizzy, science fun. When you drop an Alka-Seltzer® tablet into water, a chemical reaction begins. What influences the rate of this reaction? Explore the role of temperature…
Moon Size Science: Weekly Science Project Idea and Home Science Activity Spotlight
School and family science weekly spotlight: investigate the full moon illusion.
Family Math: M&M Color Statistics
What can you do with hundreds and hundreds of M&sM's? Family math! My family's lineup of summer hands-on science, technology, engineering, and math projects and activities included almost enough M&M's to bring Charlie and the Chocolate…
Meteor Science: Weekly Science Project Idea and Home Science Activity Spotlight
School and family science weekly spotlight: investigate how the size of a crater depends upon the size of the meteorite.
Species Science: Weekly Science Project Idea and Home Science Activity Spotlight
School and family science weekly spotlight: investigate backyard biodiversity.
Fruit and Gelatin Science: Weekly Science Project Idea and Home Science Activity Spotlight
School and family science weekly spotlight: investigate the role of enzymes on the way certain fruits combine with gelatin.
Student Science: Straw Suspension Bridge
How does the Golden Gate Bridge or another suspension bridge work? Does the suspension design help it support more weight than other types of bridges? In the "Keeping You in Suspens(ion)" science project, students put these questions to the test.…
Basketball Science on the Court
Have a sports-oriented kid? Playing basketball can engage muscle power and brain power! For summertime fun, hit the courts to explore the science behind shooting hoops. By Kim Mullin Better Basketball? Can science help you improve your…
Math Riddles for All Ages
A new book brings math into the realm of bedtime stories. Whether you read it with your kids at night or during the day, Bedtime Math encourages families to talk about math every day—and to have fun doing so! Talking About and Doing…
Hula Hoop Science: Weekly Science Project Idea and Home Science Activity Spotlight
School and family science weekly spotlight: investigate the importance of the size and weight of a hula hoop.
Rocket Science: Weekly Science Project Idea/Home Science Activity Spotlight
School and family science weekly spotlight: investigate combustion and chemical reactions with mini vinegar and baking soda rockets.
Green Family Science: Pinpointing Constant Power Drain
Are there energy vampires in your house? There are probably more things sucking on your household energy than you realize! This summer, band together with your students to analyze your family's power usage—and to see what steps you can take to…
Where's Waldo Science: Weekly Science Project Idea/Home Science Activity Spotlight
School and family science weekly spotlight: investigate the science behind visual search and find.
Calling Naturalists of All Ages: Citizen Science Projects for the Whole Family
Birds, frogs, ladybugs, and butterflies—these are a few examples of species in which growing waves of scientists are helping contribute to a global knowledge base. You and your family can, too! Image: University of Florida, Institute of…
Weekly Science Project Idea/Home Science Activity Spotlight: Shake Up Some Butter
School and family science weekly spotlight: investigate the role of temperature in the process of making butter with these food science projects.
Avoid the Summer Slide: Bring on the Family and Home Science Projects!
Boost your summer break with hands-on science the whole family can enjoy. From activities you can do with the kids in an afternoon, to projects you can set up as challenges for the kids to work on throughout the summer, summer science can help keep…
Create a Carnival of Robot Critters this Summer
With a bit of planning, you can stock up on materials your students can use to create a cadre of cool robotic animals, bugs, and creatures this summer. Upcycled vibrating motors may be your best friend for inspiring hands-on engineering with your…
M&M Math: Weekly Science Project Idea/Home Science Activity Spotlight
School and family science weekly spotlight: investigate to find out how often each color of M&M's appears. What are the odds of pulling your favorite color? Find out in these math and statistics projects.
Mummification Science: Weekly Science Project Idea/Home Science Activity Spotlight
School and family science weekly spotlight: explore the science behind Egyptian mummification by making a mummified hot dog!
Science History: Mary Anning
Born on May 21, 1799: Mary Anning, fossil collector who found her first complete skeleton, an ichthyosaur, as a young girl in Lyme Regis. What "type" of fossils did Mary Anning find—and why? In the new "Fantastic Fossilization! Discover the…
Girls at After-school Program Science Event Explore Paper Airplanes
Hands-on engineering doesn't always require high-tech materials. Armed with a stack of paper and the steps to folding a basic dart airplane, a volunteer leads a paper airplane station at a local science exposition and realizes, with surprise, that…
Family Math: Making a Geodesic Dome from Straws
Geodesic dome math project: A model dome like this can be made in any size (as long as you figure out the relative lengths of the struts). This one is pretty big!
Flower Pigment Science: Weekly Science Project Idea/Home Science Activity Spotlight
School and family science weekly spotlight: use paper chromatography to see what makes up the colors of flowers.
Colorful Carnations: Hands-on with Capillary Function
What color flowers do you want this week? Nature produces a wide array of wonderful colors, but plant biology opens the way for a whimsical "choose your own color" flower experiment, perfect for home or the classroom. April showers, May…
Crystal Chemistry: Weekly Science Project Idea/Home Science Activity Spotlight
School and family science weekly spotlight: grow crystals at home and explore the chemistry behind the big ones!
Girls Explore Engineering with Marble Run Challenge
Getting girls inspired about engineering can be as simple as giving them the tools and a fun hands-on challenge to solve. Thanks to community support from Northrop Grumman, a group of Maryland middle school girls tested their marble run mettle…
Flip-book Animation Science: Weekly Science Project Idea/Home Science Activity Spotlight
School and family science weekly spotlight: create easy and fun flip-book animations to explore the optical illusion behind animation.
Weekly Science Project Idea/Home Science Activity Spotlight: Circus Science
School and family science weekly spotlight: use marshmallows and sticks to explore how the distribution of an object's mass determines how the object will balance.
Bot Building for Kids and Their Parents: Celebrating Student Robotics
Find out how to get your (and your kids') feet wet with hands-on robotics engineering projects and activities. From taking robotic steps with LEGO® to upcycling toothbrushes or recouping the innards of cast-off electronics, robotics projects can turn kids on to creative thinking and STEM tinkering! Start at the beginning with simple bots that require only a few parts, and then move on to increasingly more innovative and sophisticated designs, building know-how with each new bot. Watch your student's understanding of robotics engineering grow bot by bot!
Weekly Science Project Idea/Home Science Activity Spotlight: Candy Chromatography
School and family science weekly spotlight: paper chromatography to explore the colors in candy coatings.
April 1 Science: April Fools' Day Inspiration
Finding the fun in April Fools' Day gags and pranks—and the science connections to capitalize on the fun! Photo: Screenshot from Google Nose video. It is April 1, and April 1 means April Fools' Day jokes and pranks from trickster…
A Close-up Look at Egg Shells: One Family's Science Experience
Before settling down to serious Easter egg-dyeing with her family, this cool science mom did the "How Does a Chick Breathe Inside Its Shell?" activity with her daughter (age 9) and her nephew (age 3). Eggs and three-year-olds can sometimes lead to a scrambled science experience, but with a few extra eggs on hand, the experiment was a success!
Weekly Science Project Idea/Home Science Activity Spotlight: Soft-boiling Eggs
School and family science weekly spotlight: a pair of eggy projects that are just in time for more Easter-inspired science with your family!
Egghead Science: The Strong and the Weak of It
When it comes to structural engineering, there is a lot to be learned from the shape of the mighty egg. At the same time, sitting on an egg doesn't always work out so well. From eggs to domes to bridges, there is family science at hand perfect for…
Spring Break Science: A Hands-on Project Survival Guide
Follow along all week as we highlight great picks for keeping the kids busy with hands-on science during spring break. Carefully-selected projects and science activities can be fun and engrossing.
Finding the Science in Spring Break
If spring break is on the calendar, take advantage of the week to tackle some hands-on family science or set the kids up with STEM projects that offer a fun challenge and some focused exploration. Great science activities and explorations for…
A Family Science Hop Along: Egg-centric Science Exploration
Egg science is fun at any time, but if you and your kids are planning to boil and dye eggs this week, don't miss out on the great opportunities for fun, colorful, and possibly smelly, family science! Above: the results of our first attempt at…
Weekly Science Project Idea/Home Science Activity Spotlight: Silk Tie Dyed Easter Eggs
School and family science weekly spotlight: a pair of art meets chemistry projects perfect for Easter-inspired science activities with your family!
Weekly Science Project Idea/Home Science Activity Spotlight: Cabbage Clones
School and family science weekly spotlight: a pair of green-thumb projects straight from the pages of science fiction!
Weekly Science Project Idea/Home Science Activity Spotlight: Mixing Up Some Science Fun
School and family science weekly spotlight: a pair of kitchen science projects that investigate mixtures, solutions, and colloids as part of a fun science activity!
Weekly Science Project Idea/Home Science Activity Spotlight: Paper Airplanes
School and family science weekly spotlight: a pair of paper airplane science projects that turn ordinary paper airplane folding into a fun hands-on science activity!
DNA Show and Tell: Biotechnology You Can Wear Around Your Neck
A biotechnology kit from Bio-Rad Laboratories introduces young scientists to the world of biochemistry. In this fun science activity, kids can extract their own DNA, examine it without a microscope, and create a pendant containing their…
Weekly Science Project Idea/Home Science Activity Spotlight: Tie Dye
Are you looking for a school science project topic or a hands-on science activity to do on the weekend or with your family? Science Buddies' science projects come in all sizes! In this week's spotlight: a pair of science projects related…
Heart-smart Science: Weekly Science Project Idea/Home Science Activity Spotlight
Are you looking for a school science project topic or a hands-on science activity to do on the weekend or with your family? Science Buddies' science projects come in all sizes! This week's spotlight pays tribute to Valentine's Day with a…
Weekly Science Project Idea/Home Science Activity Spotlight
Are you looking for a school science project topic or a hands-on science activity to do on the weekend or with your family? Science Buddies' science projects come in all sizes! In this week's spotlight: a pair of science projects that…
A Look Back at 2012 on the Science Buddies Blog
As the 2013 science fair season gets underway, get inspired by what's possible for student science—and science at home—with a recap of last year's posts about science projects, science news, and family science. The New Year is…
More Halloween Science
(Image: Evan-Amos, Wikipedia) With a bit of planning, you can turn a pile of Halloween loot into an engaging science activity! Yesterday we posted a round-up of spooky, creepy, and candy-filled blog posts from years past to help you and your…
Science Projects for Trick or Treat
From glow sticks and colored candies to haunted house-worthy music, there is plenty of Halloween science to uncover! Tap in to student excitement about Halloween to make engaging connections to science. There is plenty to talk about in…
Going for the Gold: Boost Your Olympics Savvy with Sports Science
It takes a lot of talent, determination, conditioning, training, and dedication to make it to the Olympics. But every sport also involves points at which angles, trajectories, momentum, and laws of physics intersect with raw talent and the thrill of…
The Eyes Have It!
Get the kids together, build a simple vision protractor, and play a fun game of "now you see it, now you don't" while exploring the world of peripheral vision. Have you ever joked with your kids that you have eyes in the back of your…
Snap Photos from Science Camp
A new app and site from Elmer's® Products can help you capture and organize all the sticky, amazing, robotic, solar-powered, glue-filled, and otherwise amazing and inspired moments of summer science camp. Help your kids preserve the excitement…
Tower Talk: Hands-on Materials Science and Engineering
Families and young engineers can get hands on exploring the ins and outs of tower building using LEGO®, spaghetti, or even newspaper. Have fun seeing who can build the tallest tower, but be prepared for some structural collapses along the way as…
Creative Summer Science: A Science Collection
Creating a display of a science collection can be a wonderful exercise in observation and classification. Plus, your student will end up with a tactile visual reminder and keepsake. Creating a foam board display of a science…
Hovercraft: A Multi-Terrain Vehicle
Planes, trains, and automobiles... all great ways to get around. But when it comes to exploring cool travel, the hovercraft shines with its ability to effortlessly glide across land or water. Make one at home to explore the aerodynamics at…
Blueprints for Family Science Fun
In a series of fun and accessible family science projects, Science Buddies and Scientific American make it easy to add family science to your together-time activities. Each week, Scientific American posts a new family science activity at…
Putty Science: Family Fun with Polymers
Creating a batch of homemade putty puts polymers in the palm of your hand. This family science activity may inspire nostalgia, but your kids will have a blast exploring the tactile medium. From slime-factor to elasticity to bounciness,…
Roller Coaster Science: Marbles, Tubes, and Loops
Building paths for marbles to race, climb, and loop brings physics to heart-pounding life—minus the admission fee, height requirement, and endless wait in line. A willingness to uncover principles of energy and laws of motion is required;…
Beat Brain Drain with Summer Science
Student "brain drain" during the summer is more than just media hype. Statistics on academic loss offer a cautionary tale, but taking steps to infuse summer fun with summer science can help keep critical skills in motion. Summer science might be…
Family Dinner: Serving Up Science
Families who gather around the table to eat turn off the electronics, put down their books, pass the salt, salad, or main course, and tune in to one another. With busy schedules carving out the hours of the days for both students and parents, the…
Pinhole Viewer: Trying Again for the Transit
The Venus Transit offers a wonderful opportunity for family summer science and an easy DIY science activity—making a pinhole viewer. From parallax to exoplanets, tomorrow's transit raises plenty of talking points for students and their…
Parent Perspective: Understanding Your Role in Your Student's Science Project
Watching kids trying to create super bubbles reinforces the importance of hands-on learning for this science mom—and reminds her that parents should watch but not take over. Image: Bigstock. A trip to the science museum strikes a…
The Wonder of Bioluminescence: Organisms that Glow
Many beaches and waters glow blue or green thanks to marine organisms that create their own light as a result of a biochemical reaction. The above photo, taken by photographer August Bach at Grayton Beach, shows "waves" of glowing blue light…
Learning from Worms
April showers bring May flowers, or so the saying goes. But if you look closely, you'll find that April showers also bring creepers, slimers, wrigglers, and crawlers out in force. Every student's and every parent's tolerance level for organisms like…
Putting Your Eggs All in One (Dye) Basket
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Science Buddies Helps Scientific American Bring Science Home
Image: Wikipedia. The following Science Buddies activities appear as part of Scientific American's Bring Science Home: Starch Power: Generating Gooey Gels (full Project Idea) Earthquake-Proof Engineering for Skyscrapers (full Project…
Find a Feather, Pick It Up?
Hanson's essay is thought-provoking and eye-opening, and for students with an interest in birds, or even an interest in paleontology, there is plenty of potential for inspiring and inspired science projects that may find a launching point in an essay on feathers. One path students might follow involves considering the question: where did feathers come from? And why do birds, alone, have them?
Mom of Two Emerging Video Game Designers
Got students who are interested in video games? There's science and engineering to be discovered and leveraged—even as they rack up points and level up! The December 2011 issue of the Science Buddies newsletter focused on video and…
Good Hand Washing? Turn on the Black Light!
"Glowing" germs let students test their hand washing techniques, evaluate areas of the hand, and investigate germ transmission! Image source: Glo Germ, used with permission. With its emphasis on creepy, crawly, nighttime fun, Halloween…
Candy Chromatography
Brightly colored candies in your Halloween bag might be the key to your next science investigation! Image: Wikipedia. Trick or treat! Today's the day! But what will you do with all the candy you accumulate going door to door in this year's…
Vampire Bats and a Bat Detector
Only a small percentage of bats are blood-drinking vampire bats, like the one shown here, but all bats in the sub-order Microchiroptera use echolocation to help them navigate and locate prey. Image: Wikipedia, Ltshears. By Kim…
Glow-in-the-dark Chemistry
Glow-in-the-dark items can be fun year-round, but the eerie glow of a chemiluminescent reaction like the one shown here fits right in at Halloween!
Biodiversity at Halloween: A Spider Variety Show
Kim and her kids spotted an Argiope aurantia like the one shown here on a daily walk. Image: Wikipedia, Deisy Mendoza. Family Exploration Remember, your students are curious about the natural world around them. A simple walk to…
Sounds Like Halloween
Family "Listening" Fun What does Halloween sound like? Ask your kids, and they'll probably come up with a rapid list of eerie sounds they associate with Halloween. You can explore principles of the Movie Music science project with…
Trick-or-Treat Science
Image: Wikimedia Commons. Halloween is next week, and you may have your mind on the treats you hope to rack up going door to door in your neighborhood, candy bag open. While Halloween's entourage of ghouls, goblins, and zombies may push…
The Science of Too Sour
Tang, an orange-flavored, powered drink developed by William Mitchell was popularized on board NASA's Mercury flight in 1962. Experimenting with powdered drinks and levels of "sour" can offer kitchen science fun for the whole family! Image:…
Form and Function: A LEGO Camera
Legotron camera, by photographer Cary Norton. Image used with permission, courtesy of Cary Norton. Photographers with an engineering streak are always looking for creative ways get an image from an unexpected source. Sometimes invention…
Slingshot Science: The Physics in Angry Birds
It's hard to believe that a year ago I wasn't yet wise to the squawking, oinking, glass-shattering, wood-breaking, and highly addictive cacophony of Angry Birds. Slingshot a little bird through the air to knock down a structure that seems…
Building Bridges
Born on June 13, 1806: John Augustus Roebling, an engineer especially known for suspension-style bridges and the design of the Brooklyn Bridge. From straws to balsa wood to egg shells, students can get hands-on this summer exploring and…
Blow: From Marshmallows to Microbes
The parts of a woodwind instrument, like the clarinet reed and mouthpiece shown above, could turn the band into a bacterial hotspot! Photo: James Eaton-Lee Njan Wikipedia. At Maker Faire a few weeks ago, I wandered with my kids through a…
Hard-Boiled Science
Hard-boiling and dyeing eggs offers a number of avenues for families to explore both food science and chemistry. Forgoing boxed dye tablets, the eggs shown above were dyed using natural ingredients like turmeric and beets. Photo: Whiteley…
Earth Day: Turn Over a New Log
"Beetle collection at the Melbourne Museum, Australia," Wikipedia In celebration of Earth day, take a colorful entomological look at biodiversity by browsing Pheromone: The Insect Artwork of Christopher Marley. When it comes to things…
A "Science Mom" Thumbs-Up Science Detectives Series
[Editorial Note: Amy, whose blog entry appears below, is one of several "Science Moms" at Science Buddies!] Image source: screenshot from video trailer of The Case of the Terrible T. rex. We love our math and our science and our…
Desks Piled High, and Lizards for Lunch
There are 70,000 species of plants—flowering ones—that haven't even been tackled by scientists, but that we know exist and, as the article suggests, half of them are probably sitting on a desk somewhere or in a jar or maybe even pressed between the pages of an old dictionary.
