Science Buddies Blog (Page 93)

June 21, 2012 6:51 AM

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, homemade putty has all the ingredients for family science fun—and plenty of molecule chains! In this easy summer science activity your kids do a bit of literal hands-on mixing and, pop, out comes a wad a putty. For more information about the… Read more

Hooked on Manga: Comic Science

June 13, 2012 7:25 AM

If your readers are fans of one comic format or another, you may find that science-themed manga titles are a welcome addition to your younger and middle students' summer reading lists. Guidance for Parents If your kids gravitate toward graphic novels like dinoflagellates to nutrients in an algal bloom, feed their interest and give them a boost of summer science at the same time! We've got suggestions for manga and comic titles you might consider for your readers, but if you have… Read more

Roller Coaster Science: Marbles, Tubes, and Loops

June 12, 2012 10:22 AM

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; cotton candy is optional. Image: Bigstock Roller coasters and marble runs offer an engaging platform for invention, engineering, and physics-based investigation. Get hands on exploring what kinds of loops are possible, how energy changes during a… Read more

Summer Science Reading

June 8, 2012 12:19 PM

Your students need to keep reading—all summer long. Reading helps fight summer brain drain, but if you encourage your students to read books with a science theme, the pages read do double duty. And you? If a popular science title isn't what you would typically grab for a vacation read, it might be time to shake up your summer reading. Science Buddies staff offers suggestions for engaging science-themed reads for tweens and up. As our… Read more

Beat Brain Drain with Summer Science

June 7, 2012 12:30 PM

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 just the synapse boost your student needs to bridge the days between school years! Summer is a great time for students to engage in big and small science projects at home—no grades required! Doing science in the summer can help keep… Read more

Family Dinner: Serving Up Science

June 5, 2012 8:04 AM

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 minutes shared over a meal give everyone a moment to slow down, regroup, and refocus. Working a bit of science into your dinner table talk can be easy—and rewarding for everyone involved. Compelling dinner discussion isn't always… Read more

Pinhole Viewer: Trying Again for the Transit

June 4, 2012 9:40 AM

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 families, but a safe viewing strategy is a must. During the Venus Transit, Venus will appear as a dark spot crossing the face of the Sun. Safe viewing is a must, but families can witness this event, which won't happen again until 2117, using a… Read more

Venus Transit: Last Chance of the Century

June 4, 2012 8:54 AM

By Kim Mullin Did you know that our moon is not the only heavenly body to pass between Earth and the Sun? The orbits of both Mercury and Venus infrequently take them on such a path, and on June 5th, you will have your last opportunity of the century to see Venus make this "transit." The next transit of Venus will not occur until 2117! We call this phenomenon a "transit" because from Earth we can see the planet moving across the face of the Sun. Unlike a solar eclipse, when the moon… Read more

Two Students Win Outstanding Mentor Awards

June 1, 2012 9:00 AM

Annual Science Buddies award recognizes outstanding student mentor contributions in the Ask an Expert forums. Two high school students from New York receive this year's honors. Reshma Mir (top) and Grace Kim (bottom) received first and second place Craig Sander Outstanding Mentor awards for their help in the Ask an Expert forums this year. Ask an Expert: A Community of Volunteers Helping with K-12 Science Questions Ask an Expert is a free online forum that enables students… Read more

Success Story: A Video Game for the Blind

May 24, 2012 10:00 AM

Dylan Viale's fifth-grade science project gave him a chance to share something he enjoys with his grandmother, who is blind. Designing his first video game ever, Dylan created Quacky's Quest, a maze game you don't have to see to play! For his fifth grade science project, Dylan Viale (pictured above) used GameMaker to create a sound-based video game to share with his grandmother, who is blind. The project gave Dylan a firsthand look at what's involved in video game design, and his classmates… Read more

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