Citizen Science: Wish upon a Star....

If you have any great wishes to make, tonight and tomorrow night are going to be the two best nights to view the Perseids Meteor Shower .

Each year in August stargazers get a chance to view meteors from the comet Swift-Tuttle that create 'shooting star' effects in earth's atmosphere.

A great article on Nasa's website about the meteor shower can be found here as well as the best times and locations in the sky to view it.

The meteor shower can be seen from July 17th 2009 to August 24th 2009, but peaks on August 12th.

Some superstitions say that wishing upon the first star you see will grant that wish, so make the first one a good one!

Happy Stargazing,
~Kristen

Citizen Science: Cheers to the Bald Eagle!

As many of you know, the Bald Eagle is our national symbol. It stands for freedom, strength and power. The eagle, as well we several other species of birds, suffered an unfortunate decline with the use of an insecticide named DDT. DDT was first used in WWII to stop the spread of malaria and to kill mosquitoes. As DDT was killing the mosquitoes it was also damaging the environment.

In 1962 Silent Spring by Rachel Carson was published. This book drew lots of attention to the rise of DDT and decline of bird populations. Silent Spring was one of the main reasons for the environmental movement, which gave rise to the Endangered Species Act of 1973. DDT was banned on a world wide level in 1972, just 10 years after Rachel Carson's book was released.

The main effect of DDT on bald eagles was a thinner egg shell. This caused the egg's to break under the weight of the parent eagles, causing a rapid decline in the species. The eagle has come a long way since 1962 (and before) and is now removed from the endangered species list. The bird will be continue to be monitored for the next 5 years, to ensure that the species is on the rise!

Piedmont Wildlife Festival

As many of you know, the spring is the busiest time for museum outreach. We travel all over the triangle, go to all types of events, educate people about the museum as well as cool science, and much more.

Last weekend we went to the Piedmont Wildlife Festival, in Durham. There were lots of solid education venues there; SEEDS, the Eno River, the Falconers Guild, Piedmont Wildlife Center and many more. It is always nice to see what our counter-parts are doing and its great to chat with them about whats going on at our museum!

We focused on NC wildlife this time out; so we took a few of our animal friends, skulls, animal track identification, did a little bit of promoting bat day and bear awareness week and a few freebies. As far as animals go - we took Ed the alligator and Optimus Prime the pine snake.

We always have fun when we are given the chance to go out into the community.  We will be hosting our own events and going out in the triangle all summer long, so come visit us!  

Cool Tools: Hey Kool Aid! Oh Yeah!

Hi everyone, Nancy here.

I am a bit of a vintage TV commercial connoisseur and thought the old Kool Aid ads were hilarious. You'd see these children out playing sports or games in the hot sun. The one thing they know that can bring them relief is a nice, ice-cold pitcher of their favorite flavored drink mix. So they beckon for the giant mascot represented as said ice-cold pitcher and he breaks through a brick wall bringing the children something cool and fruity to drink. I have been calling for him myself when I am outside walking in Explore the Wild on hot summer days and he has yet to surface. Oh well...

So, I promised in this episode that I'd provide a food-based activity for you all to try. It is one I created for our Summer Science Camp, "Snack Science". One of the days, we focus on food that contains crystals. We examine sugar and salt crystals and look at the crystalline structure. We put a teaspoon of each in some bug boxes with a lid that acts as a magnifier. It is a great way for children to really get a good look at the individual crystals.

We also look at powdered drink mixes like Kool Aid and use it in activities from everything like chromatography to making a textured and scented modeling dough. Making dough is a great activity. Not only does it introduce science process skills like measuring, comparing and observation, but it also teaches children to follow directions in order to perform an experiment and create something they can use for fun sensory enrichment.

To make scented modeling dough, you'll need:


1 cup flour
1/2 cup of salt
2 tsp cream of tartar
2 tbsp unsweetened powdered drink mix
1tbsp vegetable oil
1 cup of water
food coloring to your liking

Put dry ingredients into a large mixing bowl. Stir together .
Add oil and water. Stir until dough is formed. Add food coloring to create hues.
Knead the dough on a floured surface until it is the same color and all of the drink mix crystals have dissolved.
Have fun playing with the dough, rolling it flat, making a ball and whatever else you try!
NOTE: Keep your play-dough in a plastic resealable bag to keep it fresh so it will last a long time.

Incorporate kitchen tools like crust crimpers, garlic presses, cookie cutters and rolling pins to create new shapes. Enjoy!

You can do some online research yourself or contact us for more ideas on how to incorporate Kool Aid in your hands-on activity. Check out this link about how you can use it to dye wool!

Stay tuned and stay curious,
-Nancy

Citizen Science: Have a Slice of Pi!

Greetings friends!

If you read the subject line then I am sure you are conjuring up some ideas of Boston Creme, Lemon Meringue or Strawberry Rhubarb...

Well, it's not that kind of Pi. Tomorrow, March, 14th, marks two momentous occasion in math and science culture: The birthday of Albert Einstein and Pi Day!

Pi Day is traditionally celebrated by Math enthusiasts and educators alike each year on March 14th. 3.14 or Pi is the ratio of a circle's circumference to the diameter. It began as a Museum-based celebration at the Exploratorium in San Francisco in 1988, and has become a day to celebrate math.

"Pi says to e: Get real!
e says to Pi: Get rational!"

If you would like some math resources - we have lots of great activities, math kits and posters that you can check out! Let us know if we can make your pi day any sweeter!

Stay tuned and stay curious,

-Nancy

Citizen Science: 2009 Year of Science (YoS)

YAY! YoS, finally a whole year dedicated to learning, teaching, communicating and discovering more about science!  I am very excited about 2009:)

To many teachers and parents science can be a little bit over whelming and understandably so...but if you break it down to the fundamentals, it is pretty easy to develop a child's curiosity and desire to investigate and learn more about science.  

The scienctists behind YoS have set out to make science easy and fun to communicate to one another. They have broken science down into 12 topics, one per month, then into grade groups, giving examples of activites, images, teacher resources and assesment tools...these folks have really covered their bases!  

January's topic is : Process and Nature of Science; Communicating Science.  The title sounds a bit long and once again over whelming....but use this flow chart to help you discuss science with your kids.  Start by asking them what they want to learn about (science related), read them stories about that topic and about the scientists involved.  Ask them questions to get their wheels spining, try to re-create the experiment or do an activity that goes along with their topic.  

You can rent a Science in a Suitcase kit that includes activities and materials already prepped and gathered, our Schoolyard Science kit  would be GREAT for understanding the nature of science & communicating science!!  If you would like to set up an appointment to come in and see the resource center, email me at kristenw@ncmls.org.  

I will be back to talk about Febuary's topic:  Evolution.  If you have any Evolution activities that you would like to share, please do so! 

Citizen Science: A Break through in the break down of plastic bags!

We, as consumers, use A LOT of plastic bags! They were invented specifically for the convenience of a busy shopper and as the amount of things we purchase grows...so does the amount of plastic bags in the environment. I found this statistic on another blog called "The Rage Diaries."

"According to the Food Marketing Institute, the average American makes 2.1 grocery shopping trips weekly, and picks up $28 worth of food each time -- six to ten bags' worth, depending on how they pack. That's twelve to twenty plastic bags weekly, per person. According to Retail Traffic, there's an estimated 20,000 visits per week per grocery store, on national average.
20,000 * 12 = 24,000 plastic bags used weekly per average grocery store in the U.S. There are about 34,000 grocery stores in the U.S. 24,000 * 34,000 = 816,000,000 bags used weekly nationwide."

Thats a really scary number; and thats exactly why Daniel Burd picked this topic for his science fair project! Daniel is a 16 year old who conducted this experiment as a science fair project, and ended up with a revolutionary solution to the plastic bag plague that has laid waste to ecosystems around the world. Burd isolated two strains of bacteria (Sphingomonas and Pseudomonas) that work together to consume polyethelene plastic! Daniel discovered that this bacteria combination broke down a plastic bag 43% in 6 weeks.

Daniel, and many others, feel that this could be the answer that we are looking for. It is efficient, cheap and could be used on an industrial scale! “All you need is a fermenter . . . your growth medium, your microbes and your plastic bags,” says the top prize winner of the Canada-Wide Science Fair.

Good work Daniel! It just shows that great science fair projects can pave a path for the future!

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

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!

Cool Tools: School is in session!

Hi everyone, Nancy here.

Can you believe it? Durham Public Schools (DPS) Staff, Students and Teachers on the traditional calendar are already in their second month of school.  We have already got our first round of science kits back to refurbish as our friends on the Year-Round calendar have tracked out. We are very busy in the resource center and at our off site location at Durham Public Schools Internal Services preparing to turn these science units around so that they will be ready for the next rotation.

Over the summer,SERC staff had the pleasure of sitting alongside DPS teachers at a staff development session at Oak Grove Elementary. We were treated to two dynamic hands-on sessions on the 6 E Model of learning. There is a great article here from the National Science Teachers Association that talks about the model and how it is changing learning in the classroom by reaching all kinds of learners and creating lasting connections. DPS teachers are implementing this method in their science instruction and it's design is also providing opportunities for cross-curricular learning in math, language arts and social studies as well as physical education and the arts.

The SERC has 6E resources available for review in our library for pre-service educators and current teachers. Parents and caregivers are welcome to peruse these to gain a better understanding of what their children are experiencing and we can give you tips on how to support your children's teachers.

There are two links I got from the workshops that I found very useful and I wanted to share them. The first is Teachnet, a website that has lesson plans and ideas in all subjects that other educators contribute.

Mathematics is a strand that is pervasive throughout our school career and our lives. A fun way to learn and review math concepts is through my second recommendation, analyzemath.com. As I'm helping my 13 year old with his schoolwork, I find this site to be helpful, especially for someone like me who has "fuzzy" recollections of middle and high school math. The site has all kinds of math concepts and has engaging computer-generated problems to solve.

Don't forget the SERC for all your "Back to School" resource needs. Besides our extensive science collection, we have a wide array of math games and manipulatives (suitable for Pre-K-5th grade) available for loan.

Here's to a great school year!

Stay tuned and stay curious,
-Nancy

Cool Tools: Bird Feeder Activity!

We talked about posting activities for people to do at home, so here is the first one..pretty basic!

What you need: A bowl of Cheerios (plain)
Pipe-cleaner (one per feeder)
What to do: Thread Cheerios onto the pipe-cleaner, you should fill it up! Then, bend the pipe-cleaner into a circle and twist the tips together to secure the feeder. Now you have created a bird feeder in seconds! You can hang them on a tree or outside of a window to watch the action! Its quick, cheap and environmentally friendly!!! Don't forget to remove the pipe-cleaners from the tree when the birds are done.
Want to do more? An option for continuing this activity is to make lots of these feeders and hang them all over your yard, at many different heights! Observe and keep a log of the feeders!

• Write down everything you see
• The different species of birds at each feeder
  
• Are the same species of birds at every feeder or just that one because of its height?
• Can you see the birds beaks?
• Draw comparisons between all the birds
• Whose feeder still has the most Cheerios after one week, whose has the least?
• Which height is the most popular?

There are many more things you can do with this simple idea! Play around and let me know of any cool observations!!

P.S. Watch out for Squirrels! They LOVE Cheerios ;)

Kit Tidbit:Getting ready for a DPS kit rotation!

The resource center has so many functions! We are here for our own employees, our members, teachers, home schoolers and parents. We also work with Durham Public Schools (DPS) to supplement their science curriculum. The students get a chance to get down and dirty with science!!!

This is going to be a super quick overview of DPS's Science Initiative...I know you're excited :) The program works with Kindergarten through 6th grade. There are 4 kit topics per grade level, all are designed to target the NC Standard Course of Study. We (The Museum) help DPS by refurbishing all of these kits. The schools receive them on a rotational basis, and they will get all 4 kit titles each year. Every kit is unique, with everything needed for all the experiments from pencils and paper down to the gravel and animal cards!

One kit in every grade receives a title that is animal focused. This means that it comes with an animal card; which means when the teacher receives the kit, she will order his/her animals for that kit. They will come to him/her in the mail. These science kits are really cool and there's no better way to learn than to actually use your hands and do it!

So, we are getting ready for our third rotation this year, we have about 3 weeks to refurbish
A LOT of kits! We are making labels, counting supplies, shopping and getting mentally prepared to do this! It's a lot of work, but it is such an awesome program and that makes it totally worth it!

(This picture is of the first grade Solids and Liquids kit!)

Cool Tools: Teacher Tube!

Have you ever needed a quick, easy and modern way to communicate something in your science class...like a video!?! This site is specifically designed for teachers and teachers only, it is called Teacher Tube. It has tons of videos ranging from this one (Bill Nye) to Schoolhouse Rock all the way to clips of teachers rapping about fractions!

There are many advantages to this website: there is no inappropriate content, you can post your own video clip, the information is useful & current. Sometimes it is nice to see how other teachers convey their ideas and principals on certain topics and materials.

I included this clip of Bill Nye because he has a fantastic way of teaching science concepts and relating it to real life...all through a tv! Enjoy this site and if anyone adds their own video, let me know! I would love to see how you are teaching science!

Nice to meet you!

Greetings friends!

Nancy here. Most of you have seen me out and about either at the Museum or out in the community sometime over the last 10 years. Many of you call me "the Museum Lady" and I have been proud to serve teachers, families and students in our Resource Center.

We hope our blog will be a launching point for you to make all kinds of science, math and life discoveries. We can't wait to hear about some of the cool things you have done and hope you'll share your experiences with us.

I haven't been the most computer savvy (but I'm excited to learn more!) and I'm certain some of you will sympathize with me as I begin my blogging journey. You have always been able to call, email me and come by and visit. Think of these posts as another way we can stay in touch.

Stay tuned and stay curious!

-Nancy

Hello World - Welcome to the SERC!

Hi, Hey, Hello! My name is Kristen Wolfe. I am a Science Education Resource Center (SERC) Assistant at the Museum of Life and Science in Durham, NC. I am creating a blog to tell people about the awesome resources we have available. Upcoming posts will talk about new things we are doing, interesting science topics and ideas from websites and community contacts. We want to be a general science contact for inquiring minds!!

In the weeks to come, there will be new posts from my colleagues. Until then, I want to tell you a little bit about Science in a Suitcase kits. They are a great RESOURCE for parents, teachers, home schoolers, babysitters or any one working with kids!! These age-specific kits are aligned with the North Carolina Standard Course of Study - everything you need for a fantastic science experience is included! AND there are discounts for MEMBERS!!!:).