MEOW 2019-20

Did you know that April is Citizen Science Month?

Join SciStarter at https://scistarter.org/citizensciencemonth for Citizen Science month. Citizen Science is a great way for students to learn about different research projects, collect data, and contribute to large science projects.

There are a ton of these out there, some more complicated than others...

Here are a couple that you can do from the comfort of your own home. I sifted through the projects and found these that might be of interest.

• Project Squirrel (add data using your free phone app or online) It doesn't matter where you live, city or suburb, from the Midwest to the East Coast, Canada to California, whether squirrels live in your neighborhood or not, you are encouraged to become a squirrel monitor

• mPING (use the free app) ARE RAINDROPS FALLING ON YOUR HEAD? Are you getting hassled by hail? Is snow glistening in your treetops? We need your weather reports for our research!

• FeederWatch (feed birds, enter data online, win photo contests)

Project FeederWatch turns your love of feeding birds into scientific discoveries.Your bird counts help you keep track of what is happening in your own backyard and help scientists track long-term trends in bird distribution and abundance.

• iNaturalist (use the free app or enter data online)

Every observation can contribute to biodiversity science, from the rarest butterfly to the most common backyard weed.

Hello Science Fans!

In 5th grade science we have been making chemical reaction and preparing for Science Expo. Cooking is a great example of a chemical reaction. So we investigated the ingredients that make bubbles in a batter and we made waffles. Turns out that waffles are science. It also turns out that the 5th graders are bonkers for waffles. They insisted that I send out this recipe, which is, admittedly, delicious.

The lemon and baking soda combo really gives the waffle a light, airy feeling! So much carbon dioxide produced.

· 2 cups flour

· 1/2 teaspoon baking soda

· 1/2 teaspoon salt

· 1 1/4 cups buttermilk

· 1/2 cup milk

· 4 tablespoons butter, melted

· 2 eggs

· 1 tablespoon sugar

· 2 tablespoons lemon juice

· 1 tablespoon lemon zest

Your Mini Experiment of the Week is Waffles!

This week's MEOW is not an experiment. #SorryNotSorry It's dance but it's also science. Perhaps you didn't know this, but there's an annual competition called "Dance Your Ph.D" and the results just came out. I rarely recommend watching videos just to watch them - these are worth your time.

From the website:

This is the 12th year of the “Dance Your Ph.D.” contest sponsored by AAAS and Science, challenging scientists to explain their research without PowerPoint slides or jargon—in fact with no talking at all. It doesn’t matter if you’re just starting your Ph.D. or you completed it decades ago. All science should be explained with dance.

This year's winner, about zebra fish, is both beautiful to watch and fascinating science!

Please do watch and let me know what you think!

This Mini Experiment is a classic. Take a bucket of water on a string and swing if around your head. The water doesn't fall out!

This Mini Experiment is quick and easy and gives a plastic bag a new life in the name of science. Poke holes in a plastic bag with a pencil and it won't leak! Wow! Get the details and remind your kids that Science is Magic that's real.

This week we are back with a simple water cycle in a bag. All you need is water, food coloring and a sunny window.

Here's a detailed how-to. Or, if you're more of watching and learning person, here's a video of the same idea. Water cycle is a second grade standard, but phase change is a fifth grade standard. This simple activity spans the ages in terms of relevance.

Here are the links to the Hour of Code lesson resources. So much fun! Take the time to do a little programming with your kid this week, or any week. Computer skills will not be wasted on this generation!

Welcome to your Mini Experiment Of the Week. This experiment requires some adult supervision, but it's one of my all time favorites both as a kid and as an adult. You can use and orange peel and a candle to shoot flames! Find out how, here.

Try with different fruits. Does apple peel work? Lime? Lemon?

Why does this work at all? Turns out, oranges are a sneaky, strategic fruits.

How about an engineering challenge? This Week's MEOW is a balloon rocket made from straw, string and a balloon. Modify and add to your hearts content.

Also, please welcome the new additions to Room 110! These Pacific Chorus Tree Frogs were donated by a Washington family, and are here in my class on a trial basis, but I need some help. These critters are charming and hungry. I'm covering the cost of summer and breaks, but are you able to provide one week of cricket dinners for these adorable amphibians?

This is a classic science trick which never fails to be both interesting and disgusting. Dissolve the shell off an egg using household ingredients! All you need is vinegar and an egg.

Please try out the MEOW and report back!

5th graders are wrapping up a unit on Density, where we made some cool polydensity bottles. But... those are a lot of work and require some special equipment.

Here at the MEOW, we are committed to using household ingredients to do a little science fun each week. So...

Try this simple but strange experiment with our friend the orange. All you'll need is a glass of water and an orange! Here's a way to change the way you think about food AND do a fun experiment. Try it with other fruits. Limes? Lemons? Apples? What did you find?

We live in California where we don't get all that frozen stuff falling from the sky. So it's up to us to make our own! Try this experiment and soon you'll be growing ice! All you need is a freezer, a small piece of starter ice, and some very cold water. If these guys can do it, you can too!

It's Thanksgiving season and I'm grateful for my supportive Washington community of parents and teachers. Research tells us that being grateful can change your brain!

But what's more Thanksgiving-y than gratitude? Right. The cranberry. Delicious. Filled with nostalgia and vitamin C. And now an excellent way to write secret messages.

Here's a link to writing messages with canned cranberry. Here's a link to writing messages with cranberry juice.

This year in science we have been doing a lot of "magic" tricks. (shhh... It's science!)

Here's one that only needs magnets and paper clips.

If you don't have magnets, please consider adding them to your holiday gift list. Magnets are a great present. The neodymium ones or rare earth magnets are really strong! (Best if don't have very little kids at home who might swallow them!)

If your family is anything like mine, there's way too much candy in the house right now. It's time to use it up on some perfectly good science.

Turn name brand candy into generic candy by putting your M&M's in water and letting M's float off of the M&M's. Questions: Do all colors go at the same rate? Does this work with peanut M&M's? What about Skittles and the S?

All you need is candy and a dish of water. Check out the full write up here.

A pumpkin after halloween can be a sad, lonely, neglected creature. Science to the rescue! Here are some creative and scientific (ish) suggestions of things to do with your gourds.

1) Let them rot. All sorts of things happen if you just let that pumpkin rot. Here's one family's rot journal.

2) Pumpkin volcano. Classic baking soda and vinegar.

3) For the 4th graders out there, deep in our electricity unit, how about making a pumpkin clock? This requires a little more materials prep but its pretty awesome.

This week's M.E.O.W. is another hit from class - 2nd graders are doing it this week, first graders will try it next week.

Everyone knows that raisins are lifeless grapes with their souls hollowed out. In this super spooky experiment we took dead grapes, put them into a special potion and made them rise and fall, temporarily, and eerily, bringing them back to the realm of the living. I used raisins and mountain dew, but anything bubbly works.

Find the link here

This week's M.E.O.W. is a great excuse to get a get some more rainbow magic in your life. A spectroscope is an instrument used to split light into different wavelengths, which we see as different colors of the rainbow. This MEOW is a little bit engineering challenge, a little bit glam, a little bit dumpster diver. Using nothing but a cardboard tube, and an old CD, you'll be making a spectroscope and enjoying rainbows all over the place.

Find the link here.

If you need supplies because CD's are so 1990, try going to the Depot for Creative Reuse.

Don't forget to check out different types of light. Vintage neon tubing is super fun.

This week's M.E.O.W. is a tricky treat. We tried out this edible chemical reaction in 5th grade science and the kids had some mixed "reactions" to it. Anyhow, I promised to send it home.

Here's the recipe for Sherbet powder along with an explanation. It's an acid-base reaction that begins when the mixture gets wet. Carbon dioxide is produced, so fizzy, little, bubbles form on your tongue as you eat it. I hear it's an Australian thing. Any Australians willing to weigh in on it?

I am demonstrating this week's MEOW to first and second graders in class, but they were so excited they wanted to try it at home, too. Using only the power of air pressure and condensation, you will crush a can!

This video shows how to really crush it and includes a nice explanation of the science behind the phenomenon.

Can you try it? Yes, you CAN!

This edible experiment is what I call a "Snacktivity".

5th graders are starting in on a chemistry unit soon, but everyone loves mixing acids and bases. Feeling creative? Try different fruits, and then try baking powder instead of baking soda. Baking soda should produce bubbles no matter which fruit, but baking powder only fizzes with acidic fruits. Craziness!

This boat experiment is powered by soap.

4th and 5th graders have been investigating surface tension the past few weeks so they should be excited to try this, but it's simple enough for little kids to do as well. You'll need a bowl of water a piece of paper and some liquid soap. Here's why it works.

I wonder if it works in the bath tub...

Hello, Science Fans!

Welcome to MEOW (Mini Experiment Of the Week) #2, where we will explore making a hole in your hand with no blood.

This nifty optical illusion requires nothing more than a paper tube. Make your own paper tube or use an existing one from a roll of toilet paper. What size tube is most effective? Try it and find out! If you do this experiment, please send me photos. I love to know what folks are up to.

Back by popular demand for the 2019-2020 school year is the Mini Experiment of the Week aka your MEOW. For those of you new to Washington, the MEOW is a fun, easy way to do a little extra hands-on science with your kid using (mostly) household materials.

This week we take a peek into plants and see photosynthesis in action. All you need is water, a leaf and a jar.

Here's the experiment.

Here's a video explaining what's happening and why it's awesome.