kids and science
jstemwedel | October 8, 2007I've just been told that Seed is putting up $15,000 in matching funds for the ScienceBlogs/DonorsChoose Blogger Challenge, as part of the Seed Media Group Science Literacy Grants program.
As it stands, we've already raised just over $13,000. With the match from Seed, that becomes $26,000.
Go check out the challenges and help us take advantage of the full match!
jstemwedel | October 6, 2007Today is day 6 of our month-long DonorsChoose Blogger Challenge 2007, and here's the current progress:
Remember how Mike Dunford raised his initial target of $1588? After taking a moment to bask in the glow of that achievement, he raised his goal to $2000 -- and almost as quickly, his readers met that goal. He's raised it again to $2500 and is currently just $307 shy of that goal.
Shelley Batts of Retrospectacle met (and exceeded) her initial goal of $1000. w00t!
Deep Sea News is $51 away from its initial goal of $1100. So very close!
Dave Munger's two graphs argument prompted a flurry…
jstemwedel | October 5, 2007As mentioned earlier, the younger Free-Ride offspring's first grade class is learning about states of matter. We continue to get reports back about the content of these lessons, and then the sprogs set about trying to extend them ... in ways that suit their aesthetics more than their parents' aesthetics.
Younger offspring: Today we poured water in lots of different containers, and the water always was in the same shape as the container.
Dr. Free-Ride: And you did this because ... ?
Younger offspring: We were seeing that liquids can change their shapes depending on the container. Solids don'…
jstemwedel | October 4, 2007We're in the middle of the fourth day of the month-long DonorsChoose Blogger Challenge 2007, and thanks to his generous readers Mike Dunford has raised 100% of his initial goal, funding classroom projects that will impact 370 students.
The awesomeness of that is pretty breathtaking.
In light of Mike's impressive milestone, I thought this might be a good time to check in on the progress of the other ScienceBloggers participating in the challenge. Here are some "Top 5" lists:
Greatest % of goal funded:
The Questionable Authority (100)
Retrospectacle (45.2)
Uncertain Principles (32.6)
The…
jstemwedel | October 2, 2007Mike the Mad Biologist has mounted a challenge in the drive! Help him make some teachers and kids happy.
jstemwedel | October 2, 2007We're in day 2 of the ScienceBlogs Blogger Challenge, during which we're working with DonorsChoose to raise some money for classroom projects. The amount contributed by ScienceBlogs readers is creeping up on $4000, which is pretty impressive.
But it looks like the real competition may be for which blogger can offer readers the best incentive to donate.
I thought I was doing pretty well with my offer of poetry, sprog artwork, or a basic concepts post written to order. (Indeed, we're already on the hook for an illustrated poem.) But my SciBlings have upped the ante:
Deep Sea News is…
jstemwedel | October 1, 2007You know from my last post that we're working with DonorsChoose to raise some money for public school teachers who are trying to give their students the engaging educational experiences they deserve. You also know that our benevolent overlords at Seed will be randomly selecting some donors to receive nifty prizes (details about this to be posted as soon as I get them).
But I'd like to sweeten the deal by offering some incentive to everyone who donates to my challenge. Here's what you can get:
An original (and probably nerdy) poem, written just for you:
For a $10 donation, I'll write you a…
jstemwedel | October 1, 2007Maybe you remember that fund-raiser we did for DonorsChoose last June. We're kicking off another today. But this time, it's not just ScienceBlogs bloggers -- partners like Google, Yahoo!, Six Apart, and Federated Media are watching the efforts across the whole blogosphere to see which blog has the most generous and engaged readers.
But before we get to the frenzy of competition, let's start with what matters: the school kids yearning to learn.
As I wrote last year:
Those of us who blog here at ScienceBlogs think science is cool, important, and worth understanding. If you're reading the…
jstemwedel | September 28, 2007
Have you ever bought a present for a loved one where you weren't totally sure that he or she would be enthusiastic about the present, but you figured that you could always keep it if it was a dud?
I have this hunch that a good number of "educational" gifts that parents get for kids fit in this category.
I have a further hypothesis that the gifts that the parents are really secretly hoping that they will get to keep for their very own are the gifts their kids end up liking the most.
A recent data point in support of that hypothesis: The Snap Circuits set we got for the elder Free-Ride…
jstemwedel | September 21, 2007While discussing poop with a bunch of life scientists -- in particular, we were discussing its utility in a wide variety of research projects -- one of the scientists at the table related a rousing cheer which I simply must share:
Starts with an S
and it ends with a T.
It comes out of you
and it comes out of me.
I know what you're thinking,
but don't call it that!
Let's be scientific
and call it SCAT!
I'm told this has them in stitches at sixth grade camp.
jstemwedel | September 21, 2007The Free-Ride offspring are 2.5 weeks into the new school year and still bubbling with enthusiasm. This week they share some of what they've been thinking about, and some hopes for the school year as it unfolds.
* Material you saw when the first kid encountered it is still there for the next kid to learn.
To be precise, younger offspring encountered lessons this week on phases of matter that seemed so two years ago. And indeed, younger offspring has vague recollections of learning about matter in kindergarten, not to mention discussing it at the dinner table. Still, not every first grader…
jstemwedel | September 14, 2007We've already noted the prevalence of Canada geese in our area. The other day, as we were walking home, we found ourselves directly under a low-flying gaggle.
Younger offspring: Those geese are flying really close.
Elder offspring: And they're flying in a giant check-mark.
Dr. Free-Ride: Traditionally, that formation is described as a "V". But I guess you're right, one side of it seems to have a few more geese than the other.
Younger offspring: Why do they fly in a "V"?
Dr. Free-Ride: That's a good question. Any thoughts on that?
Elder offspring: In a "V", none of the geese is completely…
jstemwedel | September 7, 2007The school year just started again for my kids, and it's pretty hard to escape the conclusion that as public school teachers are being asked to do more, their resources are dwindling. During the summer, the school mailed out the (extensive) lists of basic school supplies needed by kids at each grade level -- the basic stuff, like crayons and pencils and paper, that during the last millennium when I was in grade school were included in the classroom funding like desks and electricity.
It strikes me that as a society, we need to revisit our funding priorities. But in the meantime, there are…
jstemwedel | September 7, 2007
Younger offspring: The bad thing about all the Canada geese on the fields this summer is that the fields have lots of goose poop.
Dr. Free-Ride: Well, geese gotta poop.
Younger offspring: I don't like stepping in goose poop when we're playing soccer.
Dr. Free-Ride: I can understand that.
Elder offspring: The Canada geese look like they mostly eat grass and weeds. There are other birds that eat lots of berries, and their poop is pretty nasty.
Dr. Free-Ride: It's true that it's not fun to be pooped on by a bird that's just eaten a lot of berries. But it's a good deal for the berry bush.…
jstemwedel | August 31, 2007 It has been noted before that the Free-Ride offspring have a fondness for LOLcats. (After all, what six- to eight-year-old wouldn't like LOLcats?)
But it turns out that even captioned kitties can be the impetus for a conversation about matters scientific.
Oh noes!
Younger offspring: That kitty doesn't want to be caged.
Elder offspring: Because he's innocent. He didn't do the crime. Check the DNA!
Younger offspring: What do you mean, check the DNA?
Dr. Free-Ride: Do you remember what DNA is?
Younger offspring: Is that what we climbed on at the Lawrence Hall of Science?
Elder offspring…
jstemwedel | August 24, 2007As an added bonus, this week's entry includes a behind the scenes peek at our FSB "process". Yeah, I'm scared, too.
Walking across a large field at the junior high school where we sometimes play soccer:
Younger offspring: My foot almost went in a hole.
Elder offspring: Be careful! There are lots of holes, and they're all about the right size for your foot to get stuck.
Dr. Free-Ride: Funny how it works that way.
Younger offspring: Are all of these ground squirrel holes?
Elder offspring: Either that or giant ants.
Younger offspring: (With a dramatic eye-roll) They aren't anthills.
Younger…
jstemwedel | August 17, 2007
Last Friday, instead of composing a sprog blog, the sprogs and I were offline and in nature (specifically, Yosemite, pictured above). This is not to say we weren't talking about matters scientific, but we didn't have an internet connection with which to check any assertions or hunches.
Some highlights:
Elder offspring: I read somewhere that sloths only climb down from their trees to go to the bathroom --
Younger offspring: But they don't actually use bathrooms to go to the bathroom.
Elder offspring: I bet it takes them a really long time to actually climb down to the forest floor.
Younger…
jstemwedel | August 3, 2007Even though August has barely started, it turns out that the Free-Ride offspring have already been to quite a number of museums and related centers of edutainment this summer. We review the line-up:
The Exploratorium (also discussed here)
Best thing to see:
Elder offspring: The animals on the upper level.
Younger offspring: Cute little robots.
Best thing to do:
Elder offspring:To watch how bugs can devour a mouse or bird and just leave the bones behind.
Younger offspring: To feel the wiggly thing they used in the sand to shift it into different patterns.
What I learned there:
Elder…
jstemwedel | July 27, 2007
During one of our recent visits to The Tech Museum, we ran across a fun hands-on activity. The pretty purplish circle pictured here is what the younger Free-Ride offspring produced in this activity.
The kids thought they were just doing an art project. But there's science in that art.
The art project works using the same principles as a time-honored separation technique called paper chromatography. In this post, I'll lay out some ways you can play with paper chromatography at home, and I'll point you toward the scientific principles at work underlying the behavior of the materials you'll…
jstemwedel | July 27, 2007Dr. Free-Ride: What do you guys want to discuss this afternoon?
Younger offspring: The human body.
Elder offspring: Yeah, how the human body works.
Dr. Free-Ride: Um, you guys know that "how the human body works" is a huge subject that we will never get through before dinner, right? You're going to have to settle on a particular system or body part.
Younger offspring: The skeleton!
Elder offspring: The ear!
Dr. Free-Ride: Is there any room for compromise here?
Elder offspring: Well, the ear contains the smallest bone in the body.
Younger offspring: If it has a bone, I agree to the ear.
Dr…