Crafty cuteness...with lots of sciencey possibilities

It's gonna be a rainy school holiday-crafty idea with kids #1

Love this! Too bad I don't have any kids to make one with. I may just need to make one for myself.  8:)

Garden Bloggers Bloom Day: Fun resource about plants updated monthly

Carol of May Dream Gardens blog hosts a monthly feature for other garden bloggers to post what's blooming in their gardens. On the 15th of each month (even the cold winter months), bloggers from around the world post links to their blogs on the May Dream Gardens website. The Garden Bloggers Bloom Day has attracted an international following, so there's always something in bloom no matter the time of year. The last two months have been particularly interesting for some of the U.S. bloggers because plants are blooming much sooner than normal. Carol and many of the other gardeners keep meticulous notes each year about many aspects of their garden: what they've planted (Latin names, not the common names), how well the plants are doing, what fertilizers they use, weather conditions, etc. So, it's very easy for them to compare their results in the garden across multiple years. Blogging gardeners are a great example of amateur scientists who use the tools of science  in their hobby.

I highly recommend that you check out Carol's Garden Bloggers Bloom Day as well as the rest of her website. She is quite humorous and has created garden characters to share some of the goings-on in her garden that might appeal to children.

http://www.maydreamsgardens.com/search/label/garden%20bloggers%20bloom%20day

Blue jean chemistry becoming Green chemistry

Imagine thinking that you think you can find a way to improve a a chemical reaction that's been used for over 100 years and completely changed the accessibility of colorful clothing to the masses. Before a method was created to synthesize dyes, only the wealthy could afford things made from dyes, particularly blue and purple. It had to be extracted

Related websites:
Wiki about indigo dye; includes structure of indigo
Improving a 100 year old chemical process

A perfect comic to accompany yesterday's Easter egg post

FoxTrot by Bill Amend Foxtrot is a great comic for lovers of science.  I miss when it was a daily strip. :( The link leads you to the main FoxTrot site. You'll have to look for April 8, 2012.

An Easter activity that you could connect with pH and indicators

Dyeing Easter Eggs the Natural Way | Food & Think

Food dyes can be used to explore the effect of pH on the color of the dyes. Because most food dyes can also behave as indicators, it would be easy to set up an experiment to determine why egg dyeing instructions always recommend that you add vinegar to the water. You could make the egg dye at three different pHs. 1. Water plus vinegar  2.  just water  3.  water with something basic that can be easily handled, such as sodium bicarbonate 

Questions to ask:
Are the dyes different depending on the pH?
Are some food dyes more sensitive to pH?
Which dyes have the most intense color?
Could the vinegar serve more than one purpose when dyeing eggs? Hint: Egg shells are made of calcium carbonate. How does an acid react with calcium carbonate?

The best chat I have seen that shows the colors of foods at different pHs (thereby, acting as indicators) is Chemical Demonstrations, vol. 3 (the green one) by Shakhishiri. It's a great volume but a bit pricy for most teachers.

Web resources
Here's a free website that has descriptions of some of the food indicators. http://antoine.frostburg.edu/chem/senese/101/acidbase/faq/household-indicators.shtml

Video clip that shows food indicators in use
http://www.bbc.co.uk/learningzone/clips/food-as-an-indicator-of-ph/122.html

Shakhishiri's website of chemistry resources
http://scifun.chem.wisc.edu/

Geek, Nerd, or Dork?

Have you ever had a debate with your friends over which is better: a geek or a nerd? Well, I have, and usually we all agree that a geek is someone who is passionate about one or more subjects, usually science, engineering, math, computers, and all of the things that stereotypically go with those, like comic books, games, reading (especially sci fi), etc. Geek friends often fit in well at Gen Con, or they at least know people who would blend in with the Gen Con crowd. I think that nerds can be geeks with the added social ineptness. Nerds would be extremely awkward in a crowd or a party. So, I've never been offended by being grouped with other geeks, but I've never been called a nerd, and I think that's a good thing! About a year ago there was a test floating around on Facebook to determine your level of geekiness, and I only scored a 4 out of 10! I was surprised and a bit bummed. My score was really hurt by me not liking board & role playing games or reading sci fi. But I'm totally a science geek, and I don't think anyone would disagree with that. :P

So, I thought it was funny to find this Venn diagram of difference between nerd, dork, and geek, courtesy of Great White Snark. I've never put "dork" even remotely in the same category as nerd and geek, but the diagram shows what I've always articulated but never thought to put in pictures. (I imagine pictures in my head a lot for data relationships, but I'm lousy about putting those images to paper. It's something I'm working on. See Dan Roam's site for an interesting study of using simple pictures (yes, even stick people!) to illustrate challenging topics Calling all visual thinkers: The Napkin Academy is here!.

Since Geek Chic seems to be popular right now (Thank you, Big Bang Theory.), I can finally wear all of my dorky science shirts out in public and not get looked at like a total nut. I've even gotten compliments on a few of them. Weird, right?

So, what do you think? Is there a difference between a nerd and a geek? Which would you rather be? Do you have a story to share about a particularly geeky moment in your life?

Have you heard all of the buzz about Rare-Earth Elements?

Chemical & Engineering News Digital Edition - April 2, 2012

C&E News had a nice story describing the economic battle between China and the rest of the world, especially the US, over the cost and availability of the "rare-earth" elements. In the past, the US mined these elements here, but China strategically decided to find ways to mine these elements at such a low cost that other countries could not compete. It's becoming a major policy issue between the US and China. NPR also did a story recently about how we got into this crisis and why these elements are so important to modern manufacturing. 

Click here to go to the issue.

If you cannot click on the links, paste this link into a browser:

http://www.cendigital.org/cendigital/20120402/?pg=16&pm=2&u1=friend&sub_id=BzqVvXut4pW5r

Using video games to teach science concepts

Melanie Stegman was another speaker at tonight's Science Rocks! event at the National Science Teachers Conference in Indianapolis. Melanie uses computers to help educate people about molecular science, especially the immune system. She has a Ph.D. in molecular genetics, biochemistry, and microbiology.

She is evaluating Immune Attack, a video game where the player navigates a nanobot through blood vessels and connective tissue to help a ill patient with a non-functional immune system. The game is designed to help teach people about the immune system in a fun, interactive format.

You can try out Immune Attack yourself at

http://www.fas.org/immuneattack/

Grand Hank does science his way

Grand Hank was a performer at the Science Rocks! event. I had never heard of him before, so I didn't know what to expect. He's quite an impressive science entertainer. The children in the audience loved him! He also has a great story about overcoming challenges to pursue higher education. And he does science raps! Really well! A lot of educators try to incorporate rap into lessons, but he was incredibly effective and engaging. Check out his website to learn more.

NSTA mtg: Day 1 Science Rocks!

Got to participate in breaking the Guinness Book of World Records for the largest group of people doing a science experiment at the same time. Over 700 people learned about polymers while experimenting with instant snow. Even though I've played with instant snow before, I learned something new about it today...when you add water to it, the polymer releases heat....this is probably best described as the heat of hydration. It's not a true textbook chemical reaction because the water is just trapped in the polymer structure. If you let the instant snow sit out for a while, the water will slowly evaporate. The evaporation causes the instant snow to become cool. If you let it sit out long enough, the instant snow will dry out and become a fine powder like it was before you added the water. So, the hydration process is reversible.

The message for the night was Science Rocks!, but I think the true message was "Anyone can be a scientist!" (the anthem that we sang at the end). They had an excellent panel of speakers, although it might have been better to have them as a separate event. I would have loved to learn more about the accomplished panel. After all, it's not every day that you have two astronauts, a mathematician, a race car driver, and a biochemist on the same stage, along with an excellent science entertainer and a highly regarded science journalist. Here's a link to a list of the speakers.

http://www.nsta.org/conferences/2012ind/sciencerocks.aspx

Check out my list of interesting science news stories and websites

I can't believe I forgot to post this information to my blog. Since December, I've been working on consolidating all of my science and science education website links onto an account on Delicious. I've also been posting current stories in science that I think might be particularly interesting to science teachers. When I have a chance, I include some comments about what drew me to the stories. I have over 1000 websites and current event stories posted. You can view my list, search for specific topics by the tags I've assigned, and even subscribe to receive an email whenever I add new content.

Here's the link to my Delicious page.
http://www.delicious.com/everydayscience

Sometimes my commentary for a story could really be its own blog post, but I forget to post it here. So, check out my Delicious page!

Coke and Mentos (playlist)

This is a link to my unedited Code and Mentos experiments that I tried out at home. I need to write down all of the experiments I did. I wanted to illustrate how a scientist goes about the process of investigation and modifications while experimenting, so I hope I accomplished that.

Sorry about my poor voice and camera work. This was one of my first attempts to use my video camera. I really need a tripod.

('http://www.youtube.com/p/FF2812C47F0E3553?version=3&hl=en_US',)

Videos in Science: Current Research in Chemistry

I thought these might be useful for science teachers. Your students might like learning about how active scientists are using science research to investigate real-world issues. Thanks to Bill Bayley for forwarding it to me!

Videos provided by Purdue University Chemistry Department

Fighting Drug-resistant Malaria

Professor Christine Hrycyna and Chmielewski Research Group graduate student Hilda Namanja were featured in a WLFI-TV report on Gates Foundation malaria research. Link to video

Detecting Chemicals on Produce 

Cooks Research Group graduate student Santosh Soparawalla and postdoctoral researcher Fatkhulla Tadjimukhamedov recently took an innovative miniature mass spectrometer to the grocery store to detect chemicals on produce. Link to video

Building Molecules for Medicine

As a part of being awarded the IUPAC-Richter Prize, Professor Arun Ghosh talks to high school chemistry students about his research in designing enzyme inhibitors for treatment of Alzheimer's Disease and AIDS. Link to video

STEM Innovations for Blind Students 

Purdue Chemistry alumnus Cary Supalo and his Purdue Research Park company Independence Science develop technologies to increase hands-on experiences for blind and low vision students. He worked with Purdue Chemistry to produce several videos demonstrating safe methods to collect real-time data. Link to video

Monthly Lab Safety Message 

The U.S. Chemical Safety Board has produced an important video on laboratory safety called "Experimenting with Danger." Link to video 

For questions or more information about the videos, please contact Purdue University.
Steve Scherer 
Chemistry Communications 
scherer@purdue.edu 

Christmas coal in your science stocking

Here's a fun idea to use with your Earth Science or chemistry classes at Christmas time:

I have 3 stockings hanging, with the question--Which type of Carbon do you want in your stocking?  I have a pencil in one; coal in the next; and a HUGE diamond-ring ornament I found at Pier One Import store.

I give the kids pencils and a coupon for a homework pass as a gift.  I tell them that they've been so good they don't get coal...and I'm not rich enough to give them diamonds...so I'm giving them graphite!  They are appreciative.  I used to give out pencils with snowflakes on them (crystalline solids)...but a few years back, they requested the "yellow" ones, because the "fun" ones don't sharpen well!!  :)

Idea by Karen Delgado. Used with permission. 

Way cool science illustrations, videos, and photographs

Science magazine's winners for visual excellence show that art and science can complement each other well. Some of the winners are truly stunning while still illustrating interesting science. Click on the link to see what I'm talking about.

http://www.sciencemag.org/site/special/vis2010/show/index.xhtml

Lady Gaga and chemistry?

Lady Gaga and chemistry are certainly words that you don't often hear in the same sentence. Yet, chemistry is being used to preserve her infamous meat costume from the 2010 MTV Video Music Awards:  Lady Gaga Meat Dress Designer Tells How To Re-Create His VMA Look.  In an interview on the Graham Norton show, Lady Gaga mentioned that she has a warehouse where all of her costumes are being preserved because she'd like to someday have a museum dedicated to displaying them.  The meat dress obviously poses some interesting challenges. I guess it could have been turned into beef jerky :) but she wants the full effect of the dress to be preserved. That's where chemistry comes in to help. Here's a link to a description of what could be done to save the dress for future display....if anyone really wants to see it after it's been preserved and sitting in a warehouse for years!


Chemical & Engineering News Digital Edition - August 29, 2011
Click here to go to the issue.If you cannot click on the links, paste this link into a browser:
http://www.cendigital.org/cendigital/20110829_sub/?g=50&pm=2&u1=friend&sub_id=CMUSf4QsXdID0

How the metric system is creeping into our lives: Part 1

You often hear about "the global economy" but another thing that's becoming global is "culture". With modern communications, people all over the world can be exposed to ideas and items from other parts of the world. I started noticing about 6 months ago that I'm reading a lot of things on the internet that were created outside the U.S. Since the U.S. is one of only 3 countries that doesn't use the metric system (Crazy!), units on websites are often in metric.  More about how I think the internet is going to influence the use/understanding of the metric system in the United States coming later so stay tuned!

I came across this collection idea while looking at craft sites on the web. Issue 1 of Less Than 100g - Bottle cap collection: Create a collection of things that each weigh less than 100 g.

• What would you collect? 
• What weighs less than 100 g that you could include?

I'm going to post examples of collections of science-related goodies that I have that meet the less than 100 g limit. I checked them all with a kitchen scale that I keep at home.

First off, my wind-up toy collection:



I love these little toys. Each winds up and does something different. I'll try to put together a video to show them off. You might be wondering what this has to do with science. Well, a number of years ago, NASA had a program running on the space shuttles called Science of Toys where astronauts would test the behavior of  toys like these on the shuttle and compare that to what we see on Earth.  Check out these NASA websites for more information about the really neat Science of Toys program.
Toys in Space Investigation   
 http://quest.nasa.gov/space/teachers/liftoff/toys.html
http://shuttleexperience.nasa.gov/KidsCorner/ToysinSpace.pdf

A free resource for keeping up with current events in science

I subscribed to a couple of the Scientific American email digests earlier this summer, and I've enjoyed many of the stories that they have sent. For example, my favorite stories from today's email included: 


A Brief History of the Toilet (Forget about skyscrapers, protected harbors or capital markets. The lowly toilet is key to what makes modern cities possible.) (Note: Some of these images might not be appropriate for students.)
 http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=health-brief-history-of-toilet&WT.mc_id=SA_WR_20110825

and Check How Intense the East Coast Earthquake Was in Your Zip Code.  http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=check-east-coast-earthquake-intenity-by-zip-code&WT.mc_id=SA_WR_20110825


They have published many stories that would be great for students. Here's a link to the newsletter signup page in case you're interested. The best part is that it's FREE!

http://www.scientificamerican.com/page.cfm?section=newslettersignup

Make your own field bag for carrying your supplies

Sometimes you may want to make observations for science outside. It can be a pain for both the teacher and students to keep track of their pencils, magnifying lenses, rulers, and other supplies while studying outdoors.
I picked up this cool way for storing your field supplies while attending the Decatur Township training for the Indiana Science Initiative program last month. I don't know who the teacher was that came up with this idea, but the 5th grade teachers made these to use during their outdoor science studies. They are so simple to make! And cheap too! I'll post some pictures later to show what the bags look like when they're finished.

You'll need for each student:

1 one-gallon ziploc bag

a piece of yarn that is long enough to form a loop that can be pulled over your head

You'll also need a hole punch.

Punch one hole in each of the corners of the bag where the zip seal begins and ends. 

String yarn through one of the holes and secure it to the bag with a knot.

Repeat with the other hole. 

Put the field bag on over your head and you're ready to go!

Want something more permanent? Here's a great way to use old clothes to make a nifty bag with pockets!
Make a field bag from recycled clothes

Wow! Just Wow! Joy Hakim's Books in the Story of Science Series

I just picked up her first book in the series through a lucky purchase at Half-Price Books. (I LOVE that store!) The book The Story of Science. Newton at the Center was published several years ago, but this was my first chance to take a look at the book in person. The way she tells stories about science is so unique in scientific writing that's it's almost shocking to read at first. Even science books written for young children are largely fact based, but Joy uses storytelling to introduce the "characters"-real scientists-who made important discoveries in science interjected with a lot of humor. For example, on the first page of the introduction (p. ix), she writes, "Francis Bacon died as the result of a scientific experiment (or so the story goes). He was stuffing a duck with snow--to see if cold is a preservative. He caught a chill, and that was that." Right away you know that this is not your ordinary science book.

Each section is relatively short but is packed with interesting stories. I also love the variety of illustrations throughout the book. I've become accustomed to the formal language used in most science communications, and The Story of Science proves that you can still describe important ideas in science without using the stagnant writing style that we scientists are used to reading and, sadly, writing as well. This is definitely not your ordinary science book, and if you love science books as much as I do, it's certainly worth checking out.

Here's an article about the book series with a couple of video links about using narrative storytelling to present scientific information. She currently has 3 books in the series.

Using Narrative Storytelling to Engage Readers about Science