Family Science | Science Buddies Blog (Page 33)

June 3, 2011 8:24 AM

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 maze of techno-geeky wonderment. We started our day-long exploration of things that lie at the intersection of science, art, and DIY with a roundup of scuttling, skittering, line-following, light-seeking bots. They might not be useful around the house,… Read more

Hard-Boiled Science

April 27, 2011 10:32 AM

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 Creek, used with permission. We hard-boiled and dyed eggs over the weekend, and the process opened up unexpectedly fertile ground for scientific exploration in my house. A simple, early-morning Google search clued me in to the fact that for at least a… Read more

Earth Day: Turn Over a New Log

April 22, 2011 6:23 AM

Thoughts on Earth Day, a profile of Dr. Edward O. Wilson, and pop-culture tie-ins like the Avatar movie. "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 that creep, crawl, or fly, I'm of the squeamish variety, and I well remember a high school science class assignment that involved… Read more

Watch Science Mom on Mom's Homeroom

March 11, 2011 9:46 AM

Courtney Corda, AKA "Science Mom," appeared in a video segment (Episode 6) of Mom's Homeroom this week with a roundup of great tips for parents whose students are doing science projects or preparing for the school science fair. Walking a group of students through the Give It a Lift with a Lever physics project, Courtney explains that there are six kinds of "simple machines," the lever being one of them. The project, geared for grades 3-6, guides students through the building of a tabletop… Read more

Summer Science Programs

March 10, 2011 10:29 AM

Roller coasters? Pinball machine design? Model planes? Stop motion animation? Renewable energy? "Myth-busting" (putting those science stories to the test)? Video game programming? Kite flying? Greenhouse gardening? Cooking? Photography? Medicine? Animal care? Biochemistry? Architecture? Earthquake detection? Wind power? Geo-sciences? Aqueduct and river ways engineering? Robotics? Invisible ink and spies-like-us skills? When it comes to summer science, that's just the tip of the… Read more

A "Science Mom" Thumbs-Up Science Detectives Series

March 7, 2011 12:43 PM

One mom's view of the value of science-themed chapter books like Doyle and Fossey. Image source: screenshot from video trailer of The Case of the Terrible T. Rex. We love our math and our science and our computers in our house, and when we see a description of a coin launcher made from a toilet paper roll and a piece of leftover balloon, it sticks in our heads until we try it. (Of course, concerned about the relative weight of a coin flying through… Read more

Desks Piled High, and Lizards for Lunch

January 14, 2011 8:24 AM

Potential Scientific Discovery "Piled" Up on Desks and Tucked Away in Cabinets Wikimedia Commons: Photographer: FranÃ§ois MEY; Herbarium: Museum National d'Histoire Naturelle Herbaria refers to collections of dried plant specimens. These specimens are often mounted and then filed away. Oxford's herbaria, for example, contains approximately a million specimens. In any herbaria, it is common to find some samples that have not yet been identified. According to Dr. Robert… Read more

Science Mom: Experiencing a Shower...in the Driveway

August 18, 2010 9:37 AM

A Perseid meteor striking in 2007. Source: Wikipedia, Mila Zinkova I read about the Perseid meteor shower in the newspaper the morning of August 12—the day the annual meteor shower was predicted to peak. The Science Mom in me flagged the event, but even so, I thought to myself, "I'm not sure I want the kids to miss their bedtime again." Over the summer, it is so easy to not enforce bedtimes, and I have lately fallen into the sliding bedtime trap, the kids growing… Read more

Science Mom's Radio Appearance

May 10, 2010 8:40 AM

If you missed Science Mom on the radio Saturday morning, you missed a great talk about science, parenting, and the ways in which science impacts every aspect of our lives! The Science Mom Perspective "You have to get kids at a young age thinking critically and asking questions—'Is this true?'" "We have to open up our outlook about what it means to be a science-literate citizen. It doesn't mean that you have to be a rocket scientist. It means so much more." "Don't worry… Read more

Science Mom on the Radio

May 7, 2010 4:46 PM

Courtney Corda, our very own Science Mom, will be live Saturday morning (May 8, 8:30 AM PDT) on the KGO radio Joanie Greggains show. A former PE teacher, Joanie Greggains is a special advisor to the California Governor's Council on Physical Fitness and Sports. Tune in as Courtney talks with Joanie about the importance of science literacy and the ways in which students interested in sports can find exciting projects that put scientific principles in context of something they enjoy. Courtney… Read more

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