kids and science
jstemwedel | August 29, 2008Today is "Twin Day" on the last day of daycamp before the new school year.
Of course, the younger Free-Ride offspring was very enthusiastic about the idea of dressing like twins with the elder Free-Ride offspring. The elder Free-Ride offspring, on the other hand ...
"People already get us mixed up," said the elder Free-Ride offspring. "I don't want to make that worse."
"But if we dress like twins, we could be excused first for pizza," pleaded the younger Free-Ride offspring.
Sigh.
We did figure out something like a solution. The younger Free-Ride offspring located a doll (or action figure…
jstemwedel | August 22, 2008
Yesterday, the Free-Ride family visited Circus World. It was a full day, and we're still working on digesting the experience, but there were some animal performers that made an impression, including dogs, a pony, a camel, and an elephant.
This put us in mind of our visit with Bora last July to the Circus exhibit at the Lawrence Hall of Science.
That exhibit featured specimens (simulated and odorless) of droppings from various animals that have been part of traveling circuses. And here's where the reader participation comes in.
For each of the following dung samples, (1) what is the animal…
jstemwedel | August 22, 2008The nature walk in question happened mere hours ago, at Kettle Moraine State Forest (Southern Unit), where we had occasion to notice that the local conditions support a much larger population of flying (and biting) insects than the Free-Ride family is accustomed to.
Younger offspring: What happens if a mosquito bites your eye?
Dr. Free-Ride's better half: It probably flies away disappointed. Eyes don't have very much blood.
Younger offspring: Why do mosquitos drink blood anyway? Are they related to vampires?
Dr. Free-Ride's better half: No. They drink blood because it's pretty nutritious.…
jstemwedel | August 15, 2008
Thanks to longtime friend of the Free-Rides LO, the elder Free-Ride offspring will be participating in Kids Day @ SLAC, 2008 today.
Of course, the younger Free-Ride offspring is chagrined to be two years too young to participate as well. "You know, I'm about to start second grade, and I'm going to need to know a lot of science!"
It might have been a persuasive argument ... except for the fact that we've already seen the district's second grade science curriculum.
In any event, in preparation for today's activities, we took some time yesterday evening to review the carefully compiled safety…
jstemwedel | August 8, 2008
One afternoon, the Free-Ride offspring were in the mood for some spur of the moment experimentation.
So, we cleared the kitchen table, rummaged through the cupboards, and came up with a plan.
The question we decided to investigate:
What happens to different dry ingredients when you add water to them?
We put each of the dry ingredients in its own little bowl. (If they got mixed up, that would make it harder to figure out what was going on.) Also, to help us remember what was in each bowl, we labeled the wooden sticks that we used to stir once the water was added.
The dry…
jstemwedel | August 1, 2008Because it's been one of those weeks.
*The elder Free-Ride offspring conveys heartfelt thanks to those who provided quantum mechanical book recommendations in the comments on this post -- and to Super Sally who sent three of those books as birthday presents. The elder offspring is about two chapters into Alice in Quantumland right now and pronounces it good. "There's an electron bank, but the more energy you borrow, the faster you have to pay back the loan."
We have not yet located the science content in the other print-based present that went over well (Emily the Strange comic books). I'm…
jstemwedel | July 30, 2008You've probably already heard the news last week that a study published in Science indicates that the gender gap between girls and boys in mathematical performance may be melting faster than the polar ice caps. The study, "Gender Similarities Characterize Math Performance" by Janet S. Hyde et al., appears in the July 25, 2008 issue of Science (behind a paywall). [1]
Hyde et al. revisit results of a meta-analysis published in 1990 (J. S. Hyde, E. Fennema, S. Lamon, Psychol. Bull. 107, 139 (1990).) that found negligible gender differences in math ability in the general population but…
jstemwedel | July 25, 2008Sure, we still have about a week of July left, but those days are getting shorter and soon the classrooms will be filling up again.
Which means that it's a pretty good time for public school teachers (in the U.S.*) to start thinking about what they'd like to accomplish in those classrooms, and whether submitting a classroom project proposal to DonorsChoose could help them secure the funds to make exciting ideas into real educational experiences.
Before the students are lining up outside the classroom, check out the DonorsChoose blog, which includes:
Tips for putting together successful…
jstemwedel | July 25, 2008The Free-Ride offspring end up listening to a lot of public radio in the car; they can't control the radio tuner from the back seat. Since this listening includes Car Talk, both sprogs already think of cars as systems to trouble-shoot, even though the eldest is still seven years away (at least) from being a licensed driver.
And the Free-Ride offspring enjoy "the puzzler". However, they express the occasional quibble ...
Elder offspring: Was that Tom Magliozzi who was just talking, or Ray?
Younger offspring: Tom.
Elder offspring: Well, Tom said something that doesn't really make sense.
Dr.…
jstemwedel | July 19, 2008[Pardon the delay!]
Watching the fish tank in the pediatrician's waiting room:
Younger offspring: Those fish are playing tag!
Dr. Free-Ride: It kind of looks like tag, doesn't it?
Younger offspring: Except since they don't have hands to touch each other, I think they're using their mouths.
Dr. Free-Ride: See, that's why I think that they might be having a little fight about territory rather than playing tag.
Younger offspring: But they all share the territory of the fish tank, so I think they're playing.
Elder offspring: A few of them really like to hide in the plants.
Dr. Free-Ride: I…
jstemwedel | July 18, 2008... is postponed until Saturday. I have to get final grades for my summer seminar computed and posted by midnight.
With luck, I'll have this week's conversation up by Saturday morning. It'll be like Saturday morning cartoons, but with fewer commercials for Chocolate Frosted Sugar Bombs (or whatever breakfast cereal the kids with cool moms are eating these days).
To tide you over, a few animal drawings from the younger Free-Ride offspring:
If you all can figure out any connection(s) between these five creatures, aside from them all being mammals, feel free to share in the comments.
jstemwedel | July 11, 2008The Free-Ride offspring are currently engrossed in a "creative dramatics" workshop, wherein they are learning all sorts of things about acting, characterization, costuming, and related matters in order to write, rehearse, stage, and perform a play. My kids are show people! Except that somehow, even when they're being show people, the science wheels in their heads are still turning ...
Younger offspring: We did an exercise where each group came up with a scene about one of the four food groups.
Elder offspring: My group did "dairy". I was a brown cow who needed milking.
Younger offspring: My…
jstemwedel | July 8, 2008
I had my kids with me at my office and needed to keep them occupied for a small chunk of time while I attended to business.
The younger offspring immediately called dibs on the "Celebrating Chemistry" markerboard.
The elder offspring, creeping up on 9 years old, asked plaintively, "What can I do?"
I scanned my office bookshelves. Given that I am trying to minimize the number of frustrating parent-teacher conferences in the coming school year, I passed right by the Nietzsche. After a moment's hesitation, I pulled down my copy of David Z. Albert's Quantum Mechanics and Experience.…
jstemwedel | July 4, 2008In case anyone remembers a post back in February which featured drawings by the elder Free-Ride offspring inspired by this kids' book about the elements ...
Dr. Free-Ride: Hey, you found that book! I've been looking for it.
Younger offspring: Yeah, I'm taking it with me to [the house of the grandparents who lurk but seldom comment] so I can read it while I'm there.
Dr. Free-Ride: But I was going to review it while you were gone.
Younger offspring: But I want to read it so I can learn about elements.
Dr. Free-Ride: Won't you be too busy playing with the cat and bugging [Elder offspring] to…
jstemwedel | June 27, 2008Elder offspring: Why do mice have long, naked tails?
Dr. Free-Ride: Why do the tails of rats look so much like earthworms?
Elder offspring: That doesn't answer my question.
Dr. Free-Ride: Sorry, I thought we were just making a list of life's mysteries.
* * * * *
Younger offspring: Why are there so many bugs outside when we eat dinner outside?
Dr. Free-Ride: What am I, an entomologist?
Elder offspring: Or an insectivore?
Dr. Free-Ride: Hmm, which knows more about insects, an entomologist or an insectivore?
Elder offspring: An entomologist studies bugs.
Younger offspring: An insectivore eats…
jstemwedel | June 20, 2008The Free-Ride offspring made it through another school year. This year, we are participating in the ritual sending-home-of-living-things from the science classroom. Instead of scoring guppies, however, we now have a little container of eggs ...
Dr. Free-Ride: I want to know about that little container you have in my fridge. What's the story?
Elder offspring: Well, there's silkworm eggs. They were laid by a silkworm.
Dr. Free-Ride: And?
Elder offspring: They'll hatch into silkworms next Spring.
Dr. Free-Ride: Next Spring they will? So they'll stay eggs between now and then?
Elder…
jstemwedel | June 13, 2008Have I mentioned before that children are vectors of disease? The Free-Ride offspring are no exception in this regard. As a result, I've been laid low with fever and assorted flu-like symptoms.
Sadly, this did not result in an edifying and amusing conversation about the workings of the immune system. Maybe when I'm better.
However, I did manage to overhear (and transcribe) a conversation the sprogs were having without me.
(While eating breakfast and trying to ignore a minor incursion of ants in the kitchen)
Younger offspring: I wish ants were extinct.
Elder offspring: Really?
Younger…
jstemwedel | June 6, 2008Walking across the field to school the other morning:
Younger offspring: How come the earth is round but when you're walking on it, it looks flat?
Dr. Free-Ride: The earth is pretty big. We're so tiny compared to the earth that the curvature isn't something we notice.
Elder offspring: This field would barely be a speck on even a really big globe.
Dr. Free-Ride: Yeah, so it's not a big enough chunk of globe that you appreciate the roundness.
Younger offspring: OK. And where's the top?
Elder offspring: Huh?
Younger offspring: Is the North Pole the top of the earth, or is the South Pole really…
jstemwedel | May 30, 2008Last weekend, while I was still in the throes of grading, my better half decided to take the Free-Ride offspring on a hike (or, in the Free-Ride vernacular, a "death march"). The younger Free-Ride offspring reports back on some of the salient details.
Dr. Free-Ride: Can you tell me what you saw on your death march by the bay?
Younger offspring: We saw lots of cool things. One of them was a snake skin. And we saw lots of pickleweed, which we tried.
Dr. Free-Ride: Oh, you tasted it?
Younger offspring: Uh huh. I only like the salty bits.
Dr. Free-Ride: What kind of critters did you see…
jstemwedel | May 23, 2008Elder offspring: Since soccer season is over, you should take us someplace fun on Saturday.
Dr. Free-Ride: Well, Saturday morning I'll be at commencement, and I think I'll need to spend at least part of Saturday afternoon grading.
Younger offspring: Aww, do you have to go to commencement?
Dr. Free-Ride: Yes, I have to. This year I'm a commencement marshal.
Younger offspring: A commencement Martian?! Oh no!
Elder offspring: Do you get to carry a ray-gun?
Younger offspring: Why does that Martian in the Looney Tunes cartoons wear a skirt?
Elder offspring: And why is his helmet so big?
Dr.…