kids and science
jstemwedel | July 20, 2007Since Sandra has posted links to sites with brainy games for kids*, and Karmen is working on her list of science education web sites for children, I thought I'd mention one of my favorite online destinations for kid-strength chemistry. Luddite that I am, what I like best is that the site isn't hypnotizing your child with a virtual chemistry experiment, but actually gives you activities to do with the child in the three-dimensional world.
The site is chemistry.org/kids, a portal of the American Chemical Society website aimed specifically at kids, parents, and teachers.
For summer (here in…
jstemwedel | July 20, 2007
Elder offspring: Owls in zoos are kind of weird.
Dr. Free-Ride: How do you mean?
Elder offspring: Well, owls are nocturnal, but zoos are usually just open during the day.
Dr. Free-Ride: Hmm, so either the owls are sleeping, or they're awake but they're not too happy about it?
Elder offspring: Yeah.
Dr. Free-Ride: I guess it's possible that they adjust to a diurnal schedule in the zoo so they don't miss their meals. And I bet a lot of the sleeping ones get woken up by people walking by their enclosures saying, "Whoo! Whoo!"
Elder offspring: Who would say "Whoo! Whoo!" to a sleeping owl?…
jstemwedel | July 13, 2007The evening before the Free-Ride offspring went with their day-camp on a field trip to the Exploratorium:
Dr. Free-Ride: Do you want to look at the Exploratorium website tonight to get an idea what you might see on the field trip tomorrow?
Elder offspring: No.
Dr. Free-Ride: Why not?
Elder offspring: I think field trips are more fun when I don't really remember the place we're going. That way, it's more of a surprise when we get there.
Dr. Free-Ride: Oh.
Younger offspring: The Exploratorium will be the most fun for me, because I've never been there so I can't remember any of it!
Dr. Free-…
jstemwedel | July 6, 2007
Are our friends growing paper bags? (If so, could some clever grafting set them up so they could grow the lunches right in the bags?)
Probably not.
Dr. Free-Ride: Ooh, I wish these snails would stop munching my delicate plants! I'd really have no problem with them if they ate the weeds instead.
Elder offspring: It's like the weeds are protecting themselves.
Dr. Free-Ride: Yes, by being tough or spiky or yucky tasting.
Elder offspring: Hey, I read about a snail called the wolf snail that eats other snails.
Dr. Free-Ride: Does it also eat tender garden plants?
Elder offspring: I think they…
jstemwedel | June 29, 2007While claims of the Free-Ride offspring's telepathy are in doubt, there is no question of the younger offspring's telephonic prowess (which is to say, the younger offspring can remember all the digits necessary and sufficient to place a call to either parents or grandparents with no adult assistance; the long distance carrier is thrilled). This telephonic prowess was lately deployed while the sprogs were staying with the Grandparents Who Lurk But Seldom Comment.
Dr. Free-Ride: (answering the phone) Hello?
Younger offspring: Hello!
Dr. Free-Ride: Hey, what are you guys up to?
Younger…
jstemwedel | June 25, 2007There's another piece in the New York Times today about how birth order and family dynamics might play a role in "intelligence" (as measured by IQ -- an imperfect measure at best). This is a follow up to their earlier story about research reported in Science and Intelligence that claims, based on research on male Norwegian conscripts, that "social rank" in a family accounts for a "small but significant" difference in IQ scores. (Zuska reminds us of the dangers of drawing too strong conclusions from limited data.)
Today's Times piece seems to be a round-up of anecdata of the sort that…
jstemwedel | June 22, 2007Another article from Inside Higher Ed that caught my eye:
The chancellor of the City University of New York [Matthew Goldstein] floated a unique approach this week to dealing with the long lamented problem of low enrollments in the sciences: Offer promising students conditional acceptances to top Ph.D. programs in science, technology, engineering and math (the so-called STEM fields) as they start college. ...
In a speech Monday, Goldstein envisioned a national effort in which students identified for their aptitude in middle school would subsequently benefit from academic enrichment programs…
jstemwedel | June 22, 2007On a busy weekday morning as members of the Free-Ride family prepare to get out the door:
Elder offspring: Let's check if you have psychic powers.
Younger offspring: How can you check if I have psychic powers?
Elder offspring: We'll see if you can tell which Pokemon is on the card before I flip it over.
Younger offspring: I don't think I can do that.
Elder offspring: (to Dr. Free-Ride's better half) Can you do an experiment with me?
Dr. Free-Ride's better half: There's not really time right now -- I'm trying to get ready for work. What kind of experiment?
Elder offspring: I'm going to…
jstemwedel | June 16, 2007I was reading the comments on Dr. B's brief query on ethical lines in response to a horrific story about the feeding of a live puppy to a large snake for the "entertainment" of teenagers, and I could not help but recall a conversation I had with my children a couple years ago about the feasibility of a pet snake.
While visiting friends in Santa Barbara, we went to a farmers market, where we encountered a guy with a backpack full of snakes. He handed one of those snakes (a cute little gartery guy) to the younger Free-Ride offspring. Apparently, the guy worked with the local snake rescue…
jstemwedel | June 15, 2007
Most weeks the Friday Sprog Blogging post draws on some conversation I have had with my kids that has something to do with science.
This week, knowing I had a Friday Sprog Blogging entry to write, the younger Free-Ride offspring presented me with a drawing -- and with the explicit message that the picture speaks for itself.
My requests for further explanation were meant with a look teetering somewhere between, "Stop teasing me! You can see what this is about," and "Are you not as sharp as I thought you were?"
They grow up so fast, don't they?
So you all have to help me to work out what's…
jstemwedel | June 8, 2007One of the Free-Ride offspring (which one? who can tell; it was last week) brought home a plant grown from seed as part of a school project.
"We planted the seeds in yogurt containers," said whichever child it was, "except they didn't have yogurt in them anymore, just dirt."
"Well, that's good," one of the Free-Ride parental units said (which one? who can tell; see above). "The seeds wouldn't have germinated in yogurt."
Of course, that got us thinking ...
How would you have to tweak a plant's genome to get it to produce seeds that would germinate in yogurt?
What kind of selection pressures…
jstemwedel | June 8, 2007Assuming the post title hasn't already scared you away, I wanted to share a conversation I had with the elder Free-Ride offspring about a potentially scary-to-talk-about subject. As you'll see, it went fine.
And, as a bonus, there's a cake recipe at the end of the post.
Dr. Free-Ride: (trying to get the blue sparkle hair stuff that someone put in elder offspring's hair for "Crazy Hair Day" out of elder offspring's hair) What are you doing there?
Elder offspring: I'm making crazy faces in the mirror. Do I look crazy?
Dr. Free-Ride: You know, I'm not totally comfortable using the word "…
jstemwedel | June 1, 2007
Younger offspring: Can I tell you something awesome?
Dr. Free-Ride: OK.
Younger offspring: I touched every sea creature today, even the monkeyface pickleback eel.
Dr. Free-Ride: But you didn't have a field trip today. How were there sea creatures for you to touch?
Younger offspring: We went to the library and the sea creatures were there.
Dr. Free-Ride: The school library?
Younger offspring: Yeah.
Dr. Free-Ride: Why were the sea creatures in the library?
Younger offspring: People brought them there in water. The water was in buckets.
Dr. Free-Ride: Was it just a normal scheduled…
jstemwedel | May 31, 2007The Society of Women Engineers is hosting an event on June 3rd that may be of interest to girls (or their parents) in the Twin Cities area:
On June 3rd, hundreds of girls in St. Paul, Minnesota will attend an event hosted by SWE called, "Wow! That's Engineering!" Through hands-on activities, girls will learn how solar power works, the wonders of deep sea diving, and even develop their own lip-gloss. Most importantly, they'll realize that engineering is not just about working behind a computer; it's about making a difference in the world.
This looks to be aimed at middle school and high…
jstemwedel | May 30, 2007Although this question is somewhat connected to issues from the previous post, it's a question I've been meaning to put out there for some time:
What do you find most challenging or scary about talking about science with kids?
They can be your kids, but they don't have to be.
They can be kids with whom you interact in your professional life or in your personal life.
In your answer, you can specify particular areas of science that present the biggest challenge or the most anxiety for you.
And, if you talk to kids but you don't ever seem to talk science with kids, why do you think that is?…
jstemwedel | May 30, 2007In the May 18th issue of Science, there's a nice review by Paul Bloom and Deena Skolnick Weisberg [1] of the literature from developmental psychology that bears on the question of why adults in the U.S. are stubbornly resistant to certain scientific ideas.
Regular readers will guess that part of my interest in this research is connected to my habit of trying to engage my kids in conversations about science. Understanding what will make those conversations productive, in both the short-term and the long-term, would be really useful. Also, I should disclose that I'm pals with Deena (and with…
jstemwedel | May 25, 2007Since folks in the U.S. have a long weekend, and because the last entry was younger-offspring-centric, you get a bonus Sprog Blog.
Elder offspring: (following up a request at breakfast for a slice of bagel with avocado spread on it) It's not brown avocado, is it?
Dr. Free-Ride: No, it's just ripe and freshly spooned out of its skin. So it will be nice and green.
Elder offspring: Good.
Dr. Free-Ride: Hey, do you know why avocado turns brownish if it's out of the skin awhile?
Elder offspring: No.
Dr. Free-Ride: "Oxidation". It reacts with the oxygen in the air, and the reaction converts…
jstemwedel | May 25, 2007A conversation with the younger Free-Ride offspring at the elder Free-Ride offspring's soccer practice this week:
Dr. Free-Ride: Hey, can you tell me about the science you've learned in kindergarten this year?
Younger offspring: No.
Dr. Free-Ride: Why not?
Younger offspring: We haven't really learned any science yet.
Dr. Free-Ride: Child, it's almost June! If you haven't really learned any science in kindergarten yet, when is it going to happen?
Younger offspring: I don't know.
Dr. Free-Ride: Well, what kind of science would you like to learn about?
Younger offspring: Maybe about…
jstemwedel | May 23, 2007Yes, there will still be Friday Sprog Blogging this Friday. No, Wednesday Sprog Blogging is not going to become a regular feature.
On the walk to school this morning:
Younger offspring: I wonder if we'll see that pair of crows or ravens on the field again today. I like how they can jump.
Dr. Free-Ride: Hey, you know how you asked me yesterday morning what the difference was between crows and ravens?
Younger offspring: Yeah?
Dr. Free-Ride: I did a little research to find out.
Elder offspring: So what's the difference?
Dr. Free-Ride: It turns out to be a little complicated. Ravens are…
jstemwedel | May 18, 2007A conversation while walking to school with the Free-Ride offspring:
Younger offspring: Look out, a bumblebee!
Dr. Free-Ride: We're far enough away that we're not bothering it. I doubt it would sting you unless it was scared you were going to hurt it.
Elder offspring: Hey, did you know that bumblebees make their nests underground?
Dr. Free-Ride: No, I didn't. How do you know that?
Elder offspring: I saw one fly out of a hole in the ground with [Dr. Free-Ride's better half] once.
Dr. Free-Ride: Hmm. Do you think you want to draw a general conclusion on bumblebee nesting habits on the…