Kit Tidbit: Building a Science In A Suitcase kit from start to finish!! (part 1)

These next few blog posts are going to be about our most recent project in the SERC, creating a new Science In A Suitcase (SIAS) kit from the very beginning to the end. The topic for this kit is going to be Wetlands, and will be targeting grades 6-8. So...here we go!!

The first step to this process is figuring out the topic and budget for our new baby. We decided that a Wetlands kit concentrating on middle school science is going to be great for many reasons. The main thought is because we have an awesome Wetland at the Museum, and we really want educators to take note and use the resource around us! Another reason we chose this topic is because we can incorporate lots of field study activities...and get ready - an ENVIROSCAPE!

For those of you who do not know what an EnviroScape is, its a table top model of an Environment in which you can manipulate different aspects of it. The model we chose is titled "Wetlands" and it shows all the different industrial reasons a Wetland can become polluted. Because we're all about interactive science and work with lots of inner-city schools, this quote really sold me on including this resource.

"We go out in pairs with the EnviroScape to inner-city after school programs and Native American resource centers. Many people are unaware of the importance of wetlands. With EnviroScape we can dramatically show the points we are trying to make and the kids love it. Everybody gets a chance to interact and they get excited about learning something new."

JANE SCHMITT, League of Women Voters, Henrietta, NY.

The next step is to create great hands on activities for the kit! This is where we are now. Soon to come I will explain the process is this too! For me, it is all a trial and error because this is my first time creating a SIAS kit!!! Until next time:)

Citizen Science: CFLS...The Return!

Hi everyone, Nancy here.

Kristen submitted a great post about the Lamp Corporation's green fundraising initiative utilizing sales of CFLs (Compact Fluorescent Lights).

CFLs are efficient, save money and help reduce air and water pollution.

Many of us are starting to replace incandescent bulbs with CFLs. We have even started using them in the "Earth Moon, Sun" and 5th Grade "Weather" Science Kits we refurbish for Durham Public Schools! However, because these bulbs contain a small amount of mercury embedded in the glass tubing, it is important to make sure they are disposed of properly and safely.

Here are some sites that were recommended as part of a continued effort to educate Museum staff and volunteers as well as our members and folks in the community about sustainability.

This is a link to a list of 4 places in the area where you can recycle/dispose your light bulbs.

Home Depot announced that they were a nationwide recycling center for CFL bulbs sometime last month.


If you know of any other local sites that accept CFLs for safe disposal, please share them with us.

Stay tuned and stay curious,
-Nancy

Cool Tools: Steve Spangler anyone?

Doing research for our blog, I stumbled upon a man named Steve Spangler. He is an author, a teacher, a toy designer and someone who creates a mess where ever he goes! His crazy and laid-back personality allows him to make science experiments fun and messy!

He has been featured on the Ellen DeGeneres Show, in the Wall Street Journal, Inc. Magazine and TIME Magazine where on-line readers voted him #18 in the Top 100 Most Influential people of 2006!


Check him out! Steve loves science, people and teaching. He might be characterized as a "mad scientist!" Let me know if anyone tries out any of his exciting experiments!

He also has some great Halloween science experiments and products!  Enjoy:)

Kit Tidbit: Finalizing Science in a Shoebox

We are almost done working on the prototypes for Science in a Shoebox! We have written, re-written and are on the final copy of each activity guide. To refresh your memory, we chose three Science in a Suitcase topics: Eco Explorers, Rocks and From Seed to Plant. We pulled some activities from the existing kit and also wrote a few new ones! Each Shoebox comes with enough materials for 5 people, books, non consumable supplies (hand lenses, trowels, specimens), a recommended literature list and a vocabulary page.

These kits allow you to explore different activities, connect what you learned with real life practices, learn more about the professions involved and share your new knowledge with others! We are getting ready to jump back into our schedule of Second Science Saturdays after the holidays, so we will let you know what our guests think!  If you would like to rent a Science In A Shoebox, email me at kristenw@ncmls.org.  

Earth Science Week!

At the museum, we feel that learning about the world around you is a very impoartant thing.  This is why we are hosting a week long event called Earth Science Week!  Earth science generally recognizes 4 areas of science; the lithosphere, the hydrosphere, the atmosphere, and the biosphere. These correspond to rocks, water, air, and life.  As you can tell, earth science is an all encompassing subject.

Nancy has worked really hard on our earth science week and I am really excited to share it with you! Some of the events we have planned are Gem Mining, Vermicomposting, a Fossil Find, and even a story time with the book Diary of a Worm for our little peeps!  It will be a very exciting a busy week for us!  

Check out the schedule of events to see when you can make it to one of our programs!!!

Hope to see you there:)

Citizen Science: Daily Tips for Going Green- the cool way :o)

Hello Readers!

My name is Megan, and I'm the newest member here of the SERC team. For my blogging debut, I really wanted to find some sites for people new to going green. I myself am somewhat new to this lifestyle, and am always looking for ways to improve my way of life and the environment around me. On the flip-side of that, many sites that are great resources for living a greener lifestyle can be a bit intimidating for newcomers.

One great website that I came across to check out is www.idealbite.com

"A Sassier Shade of Green" is their motto, and it fits completely.

I wanted a site that gave people the opportunity to sign up for daily green living tips, and there are plenty. If you are hardcore about the 'living green' idea, then sites such as Treehugger.com , inhabitat.com , the Planet Green Channel are all great.

For newbies though, I thought that a site that was a little less overwhelming would be a great start. That is where Ideal Bite comes in, and I so far I love it.

Their top 10 Tips for going green include getting rid of junk mail, the a/c versus windows down issue, and Phantom Loads (you'll just have to click to find out about this one!).

Each new tip has a Bang for the Bite fact that shows how much impact can be done with the tip.

A Cocktail Fact is also included, which are neat tidbits that can be used as ice breakers to to start a discussion about the green living tip of the day.

Their concept of making green living a trendy idea definitely will appeal to many people who are a little afraid of taking the larger leaps into green living. They even include a blog section, as well as a 'share your own tip' section so that new ideas are always being contributed.

Go check out Ideal Bite and share with all of your friends, especially the ones a little afraid of Going Green. :o)

Citizen Science: "One Simple Change For A Brighter Future"

The company 'Lamp Corporation' is promoting a new energy efficient green fundraiser campaign titled "ONE SIMPLE CHANGE FOR A BRIGHTER FUTURE." The fundraiser contains a 4 pack of 13 watt CFL light bulbs compared to your traditional 60 watt light bulbs. This fundraiser is for any school or charity that wants to do something good for itself, the community and the environment.

Check it out! And remember October 3rd is National Change a Light Day!

The Guest List: Solving the Mystery of Traffic Jams

Have you ever been stuck in traffic for hours, only to come out at the end of the traffic jam to see no apparent reason for the cars to have stopped in the first place? Driving back from Nashville after Thanksgiving last year, this happened to me twice on a particularly long and rainy stretch through the mountains near Asheville. I was glad to see that nobody was hurt, but wondered how I could have been in crawling, stopped traffic for over an hour without any apparent cause.

Soon afterwards, I saw that Science Daily announced that a team of mathematicians have developed a model that explains why this happens:

"Their model revealed that slowing down below a critical speed when reacting to such an event, a driver would force the car behind to slow down further and the next car back to reduce its speed further still. The result of this is that several miles back, cars would finally grind to a halt, with drivers oblivious to the reason for their delay."

So, the lesson for drivers seems to be one that is common-sense (yet always seems to bear repetition) - stay alert and react quickly but appropriately to the traffic around you.

One way to demonstrate this concept at home is to take out a sleeve of plastic cups and a stopwatch and sit at the kitchen table. Have everyone sit around the table, except for one person who runs the stopwatch. Mark one of the cups to identify it as the "lead car" and time how long it takes to pass it around the table. Then add additional cups, with a 1-minute penalty if any of the cups touch each other as they are passed around the table. It will take longer each time for the lead cup to get from start to finish. This should be a good demonstration of the ripple effect of adding variables (traffic).

It's interesting to see how some complex scientific and mathematic theories (such as chaos theory, in this case) affect our everyday lives!