Science Buddies Blog (Page 99)

The Goo on Gluten

November 17, 2011 12:28 PM

The above ball of dough has been kneaded. Students can explore kneading as one variable that influences the strength of the gluten in a food. For many of us, Thanksgiving brings with it the feast mentality and ushers in a season full of special treats and baked items. From familiar pecan and pumpkin pies on Turkey day to dozens and dozens of cookies throughout December, 'tis the season of homemade goodies. Clever bakers can turn the extra time in the kitchen into a scientific… Read more

Good Hand Washing? Turn on the Black Light!

November 1, 2011 10:17 AM

"Glowing" germs let students test their hand washing techniques, evaluate areas of the hand, and investigate germ transmission! Image source: Glo Germ, used with permission. With its emphasis on creepy, crawly, nighttime fun, Halloween is a perfect time for things that glow, from the flickering lights inside carved pumpkins to neon sticks. Last week, we took a look at the chemical reaction that happens when you snap open a glow stick—and a great chemistry project that lets… Read more

Candy Chromatography

October 31, 2011 4:12 PM

Brightly colored candies in your Halloween bag might be the key to your next science investigation! Image: Wikipedia. Trick or treat! Today's the day! But what will you do with all the candy you accumulate going door to door in this year's costume? Can you really eat that much candy? After the initial excitement of dumping your bag of sweet loot in the floor, sorting it out, exclaiming over favorites, maybe making some sibling trades, and eating a few more than usual pieces of candy… Read more

Vampire Bats and a Bat Detector

October 28, 2011 10:54 AM

Only a small percentage of bats are blood-drinking vampire bats, like the one shown here, but all bats in the sub-order Microchiroptera use echolocation to help them navigate and locate prey. Image: Wikipedia, Ltshears. By Kim Mullin Predators in the Night What's that whooshing and swooping through the night? What gets its nutrition from bird and mammal blood? What species' animal kingdom name means "hand-wing"? Vampire bats, of course! The idea of blood-thirsty bats may… Read more

Glow-in-the-dark Chemistry

October 27, 2011 3:53 PM

Glow-in-the-dark items can be fun year-round, but the eerie glow of a chemiluminescent reaction like the one shown here fits right in at Halloween! Image: Wikipedia. It wouldn't be Halloween in many houses without an assortment of light-up sticks. My kids call them "glow sticks," and though they don't last all that long, they're always fun for trick-or-treating. Really, they're fun throughout the year. Many bedtime hours are interrupted by the discovery of a forgotten canister of… Read more

Biodiversity at Halloween: A Spider Variety Show

October 26, 2011 8:37 AM

Kim and her kids spotted an Argiope aurantia like the one shown here on a daily walk. Image: Wikipedia, Deisy Mendoza. Family Exploration Remember, your students are curious about the natural world around them. A simple walk to school or through a park can be a revelation—and a great opportunity to talk about science. But you have to slow down and look! There are spiders—and much more—to be discovered! Related posts: Earth Day: Turn Over a New… Read more

Sounds Like Halloween

October 25, 2011 8:16 AM

Family "Listening" Fun What does Halloween sound like? Ask your kids, and they'll probably come up with a rapid list of eerie sounds they associate with Halloween. You can explore principles of the Movie Music science project with students of all ages. If you want to separate the music from the movie, you might gather instrumental music samples that each have a different "feeling" (e.g., happy, scary, hopeful). Listening to these kinds of tracks and categorizing them by… Read more

Trick-or-Treat Science

October 24, 2011 10:32 AM

Image: Wikimedia Commons. Halloween is next week, and you may have your mind on the treats you hope to rack up going door to door in your neighborhood, candy bag open. While Halloween's entourage of ghouls, goblins, and zombies may push science from your mind, you don't have to carve too many pumpkins to turn up a treat bag's worth of great science ideas related to Halloween. All this week we'll be spotlighting some creepy crawlies, some things that go bump in (or light up) the… Read more

The Science of Too Sour

October 21, 2011 10:54 AM

Tang, an orange-flavored, powered drink developed by William Mitchell was popularized on board NASA's Mercury flight in 1962. Experimenting with powdered drinks and levels of "sour" can offer kitchen science fun for the whole family! Image: Wikimedia Commons. Born on October 21, 1911: William A. Mitchell, a food scientist who created many classics for General Foods that might ring a bell for teachers and parents, from Pop Rocks candy to Tang. Even Cool Whip and quick-set Jell-O, a… Read more

An Engineering Manager Behind a Heart-monitoring Site

October 3, 2011 6:51 PM

Jeff originally considered a career in electrical engineering but followed his interests into computer science. Today, he's an Engineering Manager at Medtronic and works to help oversee testing on CareLink, a heart monitoring site. Meet Jeff Hagen, an Engineering Manager at Medtronic for the last nine years. Jeff Hagen leads a team of software verification test engineers who deploy specific web-based applications that medical personnel use to provide patient care. Jeff and his… Read more

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