Science Buddies Blog (Page 102)

Building Bridges

June 13, 2011 8:42 AM

(Image: Wikipedia) Bridge Building Inspiration 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 testing bridge construction. In an episode (link no longer available) of the "Magic School Bus," Ms. Frizzle's class experimented with gum drops and toothpicks. What will you use? A classic Magic School Bus… Read more

Blow: From Marshmallows to Microbes

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

Port Huron Student Wins Outstanding Mentor Award

May 27, 2011 10:37 AM

Annual Science Buddies Award Recognizes Superior Community Service From a Top Science Student Science Buddies is proud to announce Nithin Tumma, an 11th grader at Port Huron Northern High School in Port Huron, MI, as this year's winner of the Craig Sander Outstanding Mentor Award. The award is given in recognition of the quality of Nithin's contribution and commitment to the Ask an Expert Forums for the 2010-2011 season. Nithin will receive a $300 scholarship. In addition to the time… Read more

Pass the Chocolate

May 26, 2011 10:37 AM

Can you turn a craving for chocolate into a reason for science exploration? You bet! As "The Sweet Science of Chocolate" video from KQED QUEST shows, there is a lot of science that goes into the production of chocolate. It all begins with the growing of the cocoa tree and the fermentation of cocoa beans. Cocoa trees yield a surprisingly small number of beans per tree per year. A single tree produces enough beans to make roughly 2 pounds of chocolate, which means that a successful… Read more

Zombie Preparedness

May 24, 2011 12:28 PM

Zombies. Are you ready? You can get your own "zombie preparedness" badge on the CDC website. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) recently issued a guide on how to prepare for a zombie attack. That's right, the government agency put together a set of "emergency preparedness" tips for a "zombie apocalypse," an all-out mass infiltration of zombies. If you missed the article, you should probably go, right now, read it and bone up on what you need to do to protect yourself,… Read more

Visual Illusions: When What You See Is... Not What's There?

May 23, 2011 9:38 AM

Exploring the science behind what we see and what we think we see. It's not always the same thing! When you watch the animation above, focus on the white dot in the center. As the surrounding dots begin to spin, do they seem to stop changing colors until the spinning ends? In fact, they continue to change, but the motion of the overall outer ring makes it appear that they stop blinking until the ring stops spinning. If you watch it again and focus on the outer ring, you will see that the… Read more

Volunteer of the Decade

May 18, 2011 6:40 PM

Ken Hess, engineer, author, entrepreneur, philanthropist, and "Volunteer of the Decade." Science Buddies will soon be turning ten, and in recognition of countless volunteer hours donated to building, refining, and envisioning the nonprofit's award-winning, free resources, the Science Buddies' staff recognized Ken Hess, founder and president, as "Volunteer of the Decade" at a company meeting today. Since he launched Science Buddies in 2001, Ken has worked to facilitate the creation of… Read more

A CCCSEF Wrap-Up

May 6, 2011 10:59 AM

At the Fair Long-time Science Buddies' intern, Justin Spahn was on hand at this year's CCCSEF as a volunteer judge. While visiting student projects, Justin took the following photos of some of the fair winners with their display boards. Blake Marggraff and Matthew Feddersen, Acalanes High School, 12th grade, "Simulated Treatment of Cancer with Photoelectric Effect-Produced Secondary Radiation" (biology), "Best in Science Fair," Senior Division Grand Award Sweepstakes, and First… Read more

Science Buddies Wins Prestigious SPORE Award

April 29, 2011 10:43 AM

The Science Prize for Online Resources in Education (SPORE) is awarded by the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) and Science. Announcement Science Essay When you hear the word "spore," what comes to mind? Single-celled, self-replicating organisms? The whacky creatures in a popular video game? Something that grows and adapts? Something that spreads? Depending on the context, a "spore" might fit any of those descriptions. And with the encouragement of Science… 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

Science Buddies Blog (1,178 results)

Explore Our Science Videos