Backpack Science is a summer series of easy at-home experiments geek dads can perform with their kids while school’s out. It is written by (San Francisco) Exploratorium science educator Ken Finn. This article is #2.
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Backpack Science is a summer series of easy at-home experiments geek dads can perform with their kids while school’s out. It is written by (San Francisco) Exploratorium science educator Ken Finn. This article is #1.
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Baking can teach you a lot of things. Following directions, measuring, fractions, and even chemistry.
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Peter Molyneux’s app/social experiment, Curiosity, has started its countdown to the big reveal of #whatsInsideTheCube, with only 50 layers and about a week left until the last cubelet is destroyed.
Continue ReadingIn my previous Photography Snapshot, I discussed the importance of light and how it bounces to create images. In this Snapshot we will discuss the difference between reflection and refraction, how a lens focuses light and how a lense’s focal length will impact an image.
Continue ReadingMy 4.5-year-old son, Decker, is a big fan of The Magic School Bus apps. The Magic School Bus series of apps provide a great story side-by-side with interactive elements that are revealed by exploring various parts of the screen, some …
Continue ReadingIt’s been another wonderful science-driven holiday season! We’ve experimented with balloons that blast-off, nearly unsinkable dinghies, delicious math candies, stackable liquids, desiccated dancers, split light, and put a minature Jaques Cousteau in a bottle. Tonight we’re going to give Hanukkah a fine send-off with another trick of the light. I got the idea for […]
Continue ReadingOf all the science experiments we’ve done for Hanukkah this year, and last year, this one is probably the easiest to set up and demonstrate. It also turns into a very satisfying toy. The Cartesian Diver (named after René Descartes) is not only easy to build and fun to play with, it also opens the […]
Continue ReadingIt’s the most wonderful time of the year – for science! If you haven’t been following along with my family this Hanukkah, you’ve got some catching up to do. We’ve already launched a rocket, sank a few boats, transformed math into a form of dessert, poured some stripes in a jar, and danced with the […]
Continue ReadingIt’s Hanukkah, and in my house that means it’s time to celebrate with science! Tonight, we poured some bubbly and drowned our…raisins. Well, we tried to drown them, but raisins are surprisingly good swimmers. In the video above, my five-year-old explains how “The Raisin Lifting Experiment” works, but even after the experiment was finished and […]
Continue ReadingThis year, as in years past, my family is celebrating Hanukkah with a series of science experiments. We launched under pressure on the first night of Hanukkah. On the second night, we triumphed over buoyancy. Last night, we ate mathematics for dessert. Tonight, we’re hosting a mixer. Or not. The Layered Liquids experiment has more […]
Continue ReadingUnconventional holiday traditions are fun for the whole family! So far this year, my family has celebrated Hanukkah by launching rockets indoors and constructing small boats in order to sink them. Today we’re delving deeper, into the very language of science. That’s right; it’s math time. Roger Bacon said, “Mathematics is the gate and key […]
Continue ReadingHanukkah is the festival of lights, and in my family, we celebrate with illuminating science experiments. Yesterday, we launched a balloon rocket, and today we’re sinking ships. Well, tin foil boats, actually, but this small experiment holds greater drama than you might expect. We thought it would be a simple to float and then sink […]
Continue ReadingEvery year, my family celebrates the eight days of Hanukkah with eight fun experiments. We’re at it again this year, starting with a balloon rocket experiment. It’s an easy, playful way to demonstrate Newton’s third law of motion. It’s also a good bridge to talking about air pressure, thrust, velocity, and a gateway to a […]
Continue ReadingFritz Grobe and Stephen Voltz of Maine have done it again. After captivating the internet five years ago with colorful displays created from Diet Coke and Mentos, they have since kicked it up a notch. Using 54 bottles of Coke Zero and 324 pieces of Mentos they have created a single-passenger rocket car. After a previous attempt […]
Continue ReadingI don’t think there’s anyone out there that hasn’t imagined themselves a mad scientist at least once. For me, it was every time they made me wear those crazy goggles in science class while I waited for something to bubble over or change color or let out noxious fumes. I couldn’t help but hear an evil little […]
Continue ReadingI don’t think there’s anyone out there that hasn’t imagined themselves a mad scientist at least once. For me, it was every time they made me wear those crazy goggles in science class while I waited for something to bubble …
Continue ReadingSure, some of you scientific GeekMoms out there may quibble with the science (what, in fact, did happen with that “wimpy” sweet potato?) but this little girl’s science experiment – and her exchange with the produce clerk – has certainly made her aware of the concerns many people have about the safety of the food […]
Continue ReadingA bucketload of bonus points for Mr. Girard’s A.P. Chemistry Class and the Super Awesome Video Production Club at the Horizon Science Academy in Cleveland for this great video illustrating how fission of Uranium 235 causes a chain reaction: GeekDad …
Continue ReadingGather up the kiddies because it’s storytime! Meet Wind, a lonely triangle living on a flat, yet mysterious world. Watch as curiosity compels her to unravel those mysteries and change her world forever… (Warning: Spoilers below the clip!) “Wind and Mr. Ug ” is a shining example of education by stealth. It makes Möbius strips […]
Continue ReadingOne Christmas, in a moment of perfect parental insight, my mother got me a Madame Alexander doll, a copy of The Little Princess by Frances Hodgson Burnett, and a microscope. I know–it sounds like one of those standardized test questions: Which of these three is not the same–but there you go. It was a perfect […]
Continue ReadingNormally, touting a book of science experiments as “seen on The Ellen Degeneres Show” wouldn’t be a big selling point, but this one is written by Steve Spangler, the science superstar and the man credited with first bringing the wonderful …
Continue ReadingOne night in eastern Nebraska*, after a couple of days of melting ice and cold nights, something quite interesting happened. A weak cold front moved through, and saturated air near the surface brought foggy but breezy conditions to our neighborhood. …
Continue ReadingI didn’t get physics in high school. All I remember was Mr. Cleaves rubbing a wand and the rude comments the demonstration sparked (no pun intended). But I loved calculus and photography. Now I know why. It ‘s always the teacher. Finally, I get physics and it’s all because of Walter Lewin, Professor of Physics, […]
Continue ReadingWe talk about sex, grammar, sci-fi, knitting, baby names, and so much more.
Continue ReadingLooking for something larger than life that will thrill the entire family this holiday? A tool that is a gateway for magnifying thought, an inspirational device used by poet laureates and Ivy League professors, preschoolers and Ph.D.s, not to mention geek Grinches and Whos? It fits in the palm of your hand, but has infinite […]
Continue ReadingGeekMom Editor Kathy Ceceri recently shared some of her “home laboratory” adventures with a visiting reporter from the New York Times. The article, Home Labs on the Rise for the Fun of Science, goes on to discuss USB microscopes, DNA extraction kits and infrared thermometers in greater detail, saying that they are just some of […]
Continue ReadingOur family celebrates the holidays with science! For each night of Hanukkah, we do a different experiment. This year, we used two fabulous books for inspiration: The Book of Totally Irresponsible Science: 64 Daring Experiments for Young Scientists and The Book of Potentially Catastrophic Science: 50 Experiments for Daring Young Scientists. The experiments we picked […]
Continue ReadingWhat you’ll need Bones–drumsticks and wishbones are perfect A bowl or jar that has a lid and is large enough to hold the bones Enough vinegar to cover the bones What to do Make sure the bones are clean. No meat. Leave them out for a day or so to dry out. Put the bones […]
Continue ReadingIn the spirit of Thanksgiving, I’d like to present a food-based craft you can do with your kids. This gives the Geek Mom a plethora of opportunities for teaching moments. Food-based art is nothing new. Painting with vegetables is an old activity that I remember doing years ago (many years ago…) in kindergarten. But Geek […]
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