Activities | Science Buddies Blog (Page 21)

Bridge Science: Weekly Science Project Idea and Home Science Activity Spotlight

February 27, 2014 9:00 AM

In this week's spotlight: an civil engineering project that lets students and families experiment with bridge design. You may be familiar with famous suspension bridges like the Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco, but how does a suspension bridge really work? How do the cables work to support the weight on the bridge? Can a suspension bridge carry a greater load than a beam bridge? With common household materials, you can put your own straw-based bridges to the test. How many pennies can… Read more

Seasons Science: Weekly Science Project Idea and Home Science Activity Spotlight

February 21, 2014 6:00 AM

In this week's spotlight: an astronomy project that lets students and families use a simple homemade setup to better understand the way the tilt of the Earth's axis causes seasons. When a surface is titled, how does the light reaching it change? With a flashlight, a cardboard box, and some ordinary paper, you can get hands-on and experiment! The Reasons for the Seasons (full Science Buddies Project Idea) Seasonal Science: The Reasons for the Seasons (science activity at… Read more

Heart Health: Weekly Science Project Idea and Home Science Activity Spotlight

February 13, 2014 9:00 AM

In this week's spotlight: a human biology and health project that puts an important question to the test: if you exercise regularly, does your heart recover from exertion more quickly than if you don't exercise often? The heart pumps faster during exercise, which helps to keep the heart healthy. It is good to exercise frequently and to raise your heart rate into its target heart rate zone during exercise, but how long does it take for the heart to return to its normal… Read more

Landslide Science: Weekly Science Project Idea and Home Science Activity Spotlight

February 6, 2014 11:00 AM

In this week's spotlight: an environmental engineering and Earth science project and hands-on activity that lets students and families explore what's happening when a landslide occurs. With a simple homemade model using a clipboard and pennies, students simulate how the angle of repose changes with different hill mass and slope surfaces. What happens when you change the materials used in an object sitting on a slope? What's going on with gravity on a slope? At what point does sliding begin… Read more

Pixel Science: Weekly Science Project Idea and Home Science Activity Spotlight

January 30, 2014 9:15 AM

In this week's spotlight: a video and computer games project and family activity that lets you investigate how the number of pixels used to create a video game object determines how it will look in the game. If you compare older games to new ones, you probably see a big difference in how the characters look today. Which look better? Do you know why? The number of pixels used in creating the images has a lot to do with the differences you see. In this… Read more

Static Electricity Science: Weekly Science Project Idea and Home Science Activity Spotlight

January 23, 2014 8:00 AM

In this week's spotlight: an electricity project and family activity that takes the zap out of static electricity. What causes the buildup of static electricity and may cause you to get "shocked" when wearing, rubbing up against, or touching certain materials or objects? What does what the object is made of have to do with static electricity? In this project, you and your family can build a cool tool, an electroscope, to detect electric charges and test to see how different materials… Read more

Puppy Science: Weekly Science Project Idea and Home Science Activity Spotlight

January 16, 2014 9:00 AM

In this week's spotlight: a mammalian biology project and family activity that encourages families to talk about and explore why puppies and other animals huddle together for warmth. Does cuddling up really increase warmth? Put it to the test in this hands-on science experiment! Huddle & Cuddle: How Puppies Keep Warm (full Science Buddies Project Idea) Snuggly Science: How Puppies Keep Warm (science activity at Scientific American) Read more

Sweaty Science: Weekly Science Project Idea and Home Science Activity Spotlight

January 3, 2014 11:00 AM

In this week's spotlight: a sports science project and family activity that lets you experiment to find out how different activities affect your heart rate. Exercise is important, but do all forms of exercise make your heart work the same? Does your heart work as hard when you are walking as it does when you are jumping on a trampoline or playing a game of basketball? Which activities and exercises really get your heart going? What does it feel like when your heart starts working harder?… Read more

Cornbread Science: Weekly Science Project Idea and Home Science Activity Spotlight

December 30, 2013 7:00 AM

In this week's spotlight: a food science project and family activity that explores the role of baking powder in baking. In this pair of projects, experiment to see the affect of baking powder on corn bread muffins for a clear visual look at what happens when you use more or less in your recipe. Does a light and airy muffin indicate one with or without baking powder? How does the density or weight of a muffin change in relation to the amount of baking powder used? What happens if you use… Read more

Memory Science: Weekly Science Project Idea and Home Science Activity Spotlight

December 19, 2013 10:00 AM

In this week's spotlight: a human behavior science project and family activity that explores memory and how using a mnemonic device can help you remember a string of words or the items in a list. Have you ever used the HOMES acronym to help you remember the names of the Great Lakes or ROYGBIV (or Roy G. Biv) to remember the order of the seven colors in a rainbow? In this science project, you conduct a controlled experiment to see whether or not a mnemonic device makes a difference in… Read more

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