Science Buddies Blog (Page 103)

Earth Day: Staff Picks!

April 22, 2011 10:59 AM

As I wrote my blog essay in celebration of Earth Day, I found myself in unexpectedly bug-laden territory, without a compost bin, wind turbine, or reusable food container in sight. But Earth Day is about all of those things. It's about taking a moment to recognize what's around us, to take stock of where we are, and to consider ways in which we can make changes, big and small, that can make an impact on the environment. It's about conservation and awareness. Do you turn off the water while you… 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

The da Vinci Way

April 15, 2011 9:36 AM

Sample page from journals of Leonardo da Vinci. Image: public domain.Born on April 15, 1452: Leonardo daVinci, a "total package" when it comes to the quest for knowledge. Students learning the importance of a lab notebook might find inspiration in da Vinci's famed journals. The notebooks contain over ten thousand illustrated pages, written in mirror cursive, in which da Vinci recorded daily observations, including science and engineering schematics. See our "Lab Notebooks" blog entry for… Read more

Celebrate the History of Space Flight

April 12, 2011 8:36 AM

Screenshot from First Orbit (the movie), created by FirstOrbit.org. Today marks the 50 year anniversary of Yuri Gagarin's 108-minute, first human in space, orbit of the Earth on April 12, 1961. It's a big day in the history of space exploration and flight! To join in the celebration, make a bit of "space" in your day for some space history! Make contact. Students (or classes) interested in space studies can try and make contact with astronauts on the International… Read more

"Elemental" Essay Contest

March 31, 2011 7:14 AM

What's your Periodic Table style? Do you like things: light (He)? with a bit of patina (Cu)? on the salty side (Na)? noxious (N)? fire-retardant (Br)? metallic (In)? radioactive (Pu)? With 118 elements on the Periodic Table, there is something for everyone and plenty of chemical reactions to go around. If you have something to say about one of the six elements listed above, you should put your thoughts on paper and enter Nature Chemistry's essay competition, part of… Read more

Second Grader Puts Squanto's Advice to the Test

March 24, 2011 12:59 PM

McCray, a 2nd grader at Piney Grove Elementary in North Carolina, won 2nd place with his "Which Fertilizer Works Best" science project! Science Buddies knows that students are often most successful doing science projects that tie in with an interest or hobby. Students can browse our library of 1,200+ project ideas by area of science (e.g., Biotechnology, Electricity & Electronics, or Energy & Power) or they can use the Topic Selection Wizard. By answering a set of questions, they give the… Read more

Birds on the Move

March 21, 2011 10:38 AM

Cedar Waxwing. Source: Wikipedia. Field Scientists Putting Today's Science in the Hands of Students Recent additions to the Science Buddies library of Project Ideas utilize animal movement data from Movebank.org. Among the field scientists who worked on developing these student-accessible explorations with Science Buddies: Roland Kays, curator of mammals at the New York State Museum. You can follow Roland's current research and tracking of "fishers"—6-13 pound… Read more

Did You Do One of These Science Projects?

March 18, 2011 10:30 AM

Share Your Science Project Experience and Be Entered in Our iTunes GiveawayWe are giving away iTunes gift cards! Students who completed one of the projects below could win one of ten $50 iTunes gift cards! To enter our random drawing, students need to complete the following steps by March 21: Make sure you have a free Science Buddies account. (To register for a free Science… Read more

Programming a Logo

March 15, 2011 8:53 AM

With over 40,000 versions, MIT Media Lab's new logo is computer-driven design. You can see some of the permutations of the algorithmic logo in this video.As anyone interested in (or who dabbles in) computer programming knows, computer programs can be written to perform an infinite array of 'make-life-easier' or 'help-pass-the-time' tasks. Having spent more hours than I should probably admit carefully choosing my launch direction and pull-back strength and sending cute little chubby (albeit… 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

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