The annual science fair at my son’s school has come and gone. Sometimes the fair is just as challenging for the parents: How can I make a kid who would rather be collecting XP in Minecraft care about the quality of his hypothesis in a PowerPoint presentation?
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One of the most important things we can do with our kids is spend time with them, playing games and building projects together. Sharing experiences, especially ones where everyone discovers and learns, is the most rewarding thing we can do as parents.
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The Intel International Science and Engineering Fair, a prestigious science competition for students in grades 9-12, is gearing up for the 2014 finals and is recruiting volunteers to help run the Fair or serve as translators in Los Angeles on May 13 and 14.
Continue ReadingNothing like flying marshmallows to keep the secret service busy protecting President Barak Obama. Tuesday was the second annual White House Science Fair. The president seemed to have a blast playing with science yesterday, he even caused a little bit of innocent trouble with 14 year old Maker Faire veteran, Joey Hudy of Phoenix, AZ, […]
Continue ReadingIts time for the second annual Google Science Fair. Last year over 10,000 students submitted 7,500 entries from 90 countries from around the globe. The 2011 winner, American Shree Bose, discovered a way to prevent cancer cells from becoming resistant to the chemotherapy drug, cisplatin. With such amazing entries last year everyone is waiting in excited anticipation […]
Continue ReadingLast year’s debut of the Google Science Fair netted some impressive results. The global competition, which attracted more than 7,500 entries from over 10,000 students in more than 90 countries, produced research that covered an amazing breadth of topics. The …
Continue ReadingThe season of the school science fair is fast approaching. How do you pick a project? How much should you help your kids? And when do you put on the brakes and keep them from accidentally blowing up the neighborhood? Nicole Wakelin is joined by fellow GeekMoms and science aficionados Patricia Vollmer and Helene McLaughlin to help […]
Continue ReadingFirst up is an interview with Ken Denmead, Editor and Publisher of GeekDad.com and Publisher of GeekMom.com about his latest book The Geek Dad Book for Aspiring Mad Scientists. Then Nicole Wakelin is joined by GeekMom Rebecca Angel who wrote the show’s theme music! She talks about how to encourage kids in their musical explorations […]
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 ReadingI never got to enter a science fair as a kid. My local school district never sponsored one and I was a kid long before the days of instant mass communication. If you couldn’t find it in the phone book and it wasn’t posted on the bulletin board at the library or a commercial on […]
Continue ReadingEvery spring, science takes the driver’s seat in schools across the nation in the form of student-driven experiments and good, healthy competition. While your school’s science fair may be a few months away, you can get a jump on your …
Continue ReadingAs those of you following me on Twitter know, I combed Intel’s International Science and Engineering Fair for… the best and the brightest? to be true, these kids are all the best and the brightest. They make 40 year-old schlubs …
Continue ReadingLast year, our esteemed leader Ken Denmead, went to the International Science and Engineering Fair in Atlanta compliments of our good friends at Intel. This year it’s my turn. Mine! Mine! All mine! Sorry, but I do channel Daffy from …
Continue ReadingWe are geeky parents. We love science, and we try hard to instill a passion for learning in our kids. So how many times has it come around to the time to choose a science fair project, and we’ve been totally at a loss. We ask our kids what they’re interested in: "I dunno." We […]
Continue ReadingIf your in or around Boston come June 26th and want to see some nifty innovation, consider checking out EurekaFest at the MIT campus. EurekaFest is a multi-day celebration designed to empower a legacy of inventors through activities that inspire youth, honor role models, and encourage creativity and problem solving. To learn more, check out […]
Continue ReadingIn the spirit of the awesome maverick science-fair project[1], I give you Daniel Burd and his amazing plastic-eating microbes. "Almost every week I have to do chores and when I open the closet door, I have this avalanche of plastic bags falling on top of me," he said. "One day, I got tired of it […]
Continue ReadingWell, the awards ceremony just wrapped up. It was a hall full of excited, energized kids from all over the world, and from what I saw there, I’d say the future is pretty bright. The Puerto Rican contingent was particularly overjoyed when a number of their members took awards. And one very cool add-on at […]
Continue ReadingImagine yourself in a room with 1,500 kids, and every one of them smarter than you. That’s the 2008 Intel International Science and Engineering Fair (ISEF). Started in 1950, the Intel ISEF is bringing together pre-college students from all 50 states and 47 countries this week in Atlanta, GA, to vie for $4 million in […]
Continue ReadingAnother report from the Intel International Science and Engineering Fair in Atlanta. This video shows Eric Hodenfield and Devin Bezdicek with her project titled "Personal Automated Ethanol Fermenter and Distiller." Take a look in the Extended Post.
Continue ReadingAnother report from the Intel International Science and Engineering Fair in Atlanta. This video shows John "Billy" Dorminy with his project titled "Creating a Better Transparent Encryption Device." Take a look in the Extended Post.
Continue ReadingAnother report from the Intel International Science and Engineering Fair in Atlanta. This video shows Colby Wilkason with her project titled "Application of Real Time Neural Networks for Use with Data Gloves." Take a look in the Extended Post.
Continue ReadingAnother report from the Intel International Science and Engineering Fair in Atlanta. This video shows Morgan Walti with his project titled "Bionic Arm: An Application of Electromagnetics." Take a look in the Extended Post.
Continue ReadingAnother report from the Intel International Science and Engineering Fair in Atlanta. This video shows Chris King with his project titled "Electromagnetic Levitation." Take a look in the Extended Post.
Continue ReadingAnother report from the Intel International Science and Engineering Fair in Atlanta. This video shows sisters Tesca and Taytlyn Fitzgerald with their project titled "Make a Robot Spectacular in a Generic Way." Take a look in the Extended Post.
Continue ReadingSo much brain power under one (cavernous) roof! This is my first report from the Intel International Science and Engineering Fair in Atlanta, and I’ve already seen some great projects from some really bright kids. This first video shows Alexander Wold and Jerald Farke with their project titled "Radio Controlled Reconnaissance: A Bird’s Eye View." […]
Continue ReadingSo, as I’ve mentioned, Intel decided to send this lowly GeekDad to their 2008 International Science and Engineering Fair, being held in Atlanta this week. Due to travel time from California and the time zone change, I’m sitting down for dinner in the hotel lobby at close to midnight, but I wanted to get one […]
Continue ReadingJust a reminder: I’m headed to the Intel ISEF today, and you see some really neat content tomorrow and Friday from the Fair, where high school students from all over the world have brought their projects and their geeky joy to share. Take a look at the video below for a teaser, and stay tuned! […]
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