Fun Ideas!

MAKING GLUE WITH KITCHEN MATERIAL

Materials:

• skim milk


• baking soda


• vinegar


• measuring cup


• measuring spoons


• paper towels


• rubber band

Procedure: Did you know you can make glue from vinegar and milk? Here's how.

1. Add 2 tablespoons of vinegar to 1/2 cup of skim milk. Stir them together and let the mixture sit for two minutes. The vinegar will make the protein in the milk stick together to form small white lumps called curds. The leftover liquid is called whey.
   


2. Next, you'll need to strain the curds since you won't need the whey to make glue. To make a strainer, put a folded paper towel over an empty cup. Push it down in the center so it forms a bowl shape. Put a rubber band around the top of the cup to hold the paper towel in place. Pour the curds and whey into the cup with the paper towel. The whey will go through the paper towel and the curds will stay on top. Wait about five minutes for the whey to drain through the paper towel.
   


3. Use a spoon to carefully scoop out the curds. Put them between two dry paper towels and press down to get all the whey out.
   


4. Put the curds into another cup, stir in two teaspoons of water and then add one teaspoon of baking soda. The baking soda reacts with the vinegar that's in the curds, producing carbon dioxide. If you hold the mixture up to your ear, you can hear tiny bubbles popping. If this mixture doesn't look like glue, just add some water.

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ICE CREAM FROM A PLASTIC BAG

Materials:

• 1/2 cups milk


• 1/2 tsp. vanilla


• 1 tbsp. sugar


• 4 cups crushed ice


• 4 tbsp. salt (preferably rock salt)


• 2 quart zipper bags


• 1 gallon zipper freezer bags

Procedure:

1. Seal 1/2 cup of milk, 1/2 tsp. of vanilla and 1 tbsp. of sugar in a quart-size zipper bag, making sure to squeeze out as much of the air you can so the bag doesn't open when you shake it.


2. Double bag the mixture to avoid leakage. Place the first bag into a second quart-size zipper bag, releasing as much air as possible before sealing it tightly.


3. Fill a gallon-size zipper bag with crushed ice and nestle the double-bagged milk-sugar mixture in the ice.


4. Sprinkle 4 tbsp. of rock salt on top of the ice. Though regular salt will also work, youd ice cream won't be as solidly frozen. Rock salt is specifically designed to absord heat and and lower the freezing point of water.


5. Seal the gallon bag tightly after letting out as much air as you can.


6. Shake and gently squeeze the bag. You'll need to make sure that the inner bag is constantly surrounded by ice during this process.


7. Check the mixture about five minutes into shaking it. If it's not ice cream yet, it will be well on its way. Shake it a few minutes more if necessary, then open the bag over the sink.


8. Leave the bag with ice in the sink to finish melting and remove your ice cream.

Demo Idea: Density Spheres

Title: Steel Density Spheres
Source: http://www.teachersource.com/Density/DensityKits/SteelSphereDensityKit.aspx
Target Age: Grade 3+
Materials Required: Sphere Kit, Large glass bowl, Water
Prep Time Required: <5 minutes
Demo Time Required: <10 minutes
Description: The two spheres have approximately the same mass and appearance, but different densities and sizes. The smaller sphere sinks, but the larger floats. Before dropping the two in water, ask the class audience what they think will happen. Most likely is that the class will think that either they both sink, or only the large will sink. After you drop the balls into the water, ask the class what they think happened. Let them guess and experiment themselves by feeling the balls or dropping them in the water themselves. This experiment will help teach kids both the principle of density, and also that they should never take anything at face value, and should instead experiment to find out what's really true.

Demo Ideas

Title: Floating and Sinking Experiments
Source: http://www.sciencekidsathome.com
Target age: kindergarten scientists
Materials: Clear plastic or glass container, water, baking soda, food coloring, rice and raisons and any other small pieces of food items
Prep Time: less than 5 mins
Demo Time: 5 minutes or more

Description: Almost fill container with 3 parts water and one part viegar. Leave room at the top of the container.
Slowly add one teaspoon of baking soda very slowly, adding too much at one time will make it bubble over the top. When the bubbles settle down, slowly add another teaspoon of baking soda. When the bubbles settle, add a few drops of food coloring. notice the liquid is moving and quickly mixes in color. Now comes the fun part! Will the items float or sink? Drop in a few of the first item. usually they will sink to the bottom. Wait a few mins and they will rise to the surface, then sink again. Rice almost seem to dance! The itmes can be watched for hours. If movement seems to slow down, add another teaspoon of baking soda.

What is Happening?

The vinegar is an acid and the baking soda is a base. When you combine them, a chemical reaction produces carbon dioxide. The carbon dioxide bubbles build up on the surface of the object, it floats to the surface and releases the gas. Then it sinks back to the bottom to start the process again.

Demo Idea - Liquid Nitrogen Ice Cream

Title: Liquid Nitrogen Ice Cream
Source: http://chemistry.about.com/od/demonstrationsexperiments/ht/n2icecream.htm
Target Age: PK - 12th grade
Materials Required:
5 or more liters of liquid nitrogen
gloves and goggles recommended
large plastic or stainless steel punch bowl or salad bowl
4 cups heavy cream (whipping cream)
1-1/2 cups half-and-half
1-3/4 cups sugar
1 quart mashed fresh strawberries or thawed frozen berries
additional half cup of sugar if you are using unsweetened berries
wooden spoon
wire whisk
Prep Time Required: 15 Min
Demo Time Required: 5 Min (pouring in liquid nitrogen and stirring)
Description:

This recipe makes a half gallon of strawberry ice cream. First, mix the cream, half-and-half, and sugar in the bowl using the wire whisk. Continue mixing until the sugar has dissolved.

If you are making vanilla or chocolate ice cream, whisk in vanilla or chocolate syrup now. Add any other liquid flavorings you might want.

Put on your gloves and goggles. Pour a small amount of liquid nitrogen directly into the bowl with the ice cream ingredients. Continue to stir the ice cream, while slowly adding more liquid nitrogen. As soon as the cream base starts to thicken, add the mashed strawberries. Stir vigorously.

When the ice cream becomes too thick for the whisk, switch to the wooden spoon. As it hardens more, remove the spoon and just pour the remaining liquid nitrogen onto the ice cream to fully harden it.

Allow the excess liquid nitrogen to boil off before serving the ice cream.

Experiment- Invisible Ink

Title: INVISIBLE INK

Source: http://www.sciencekids.co.nz/experiments/invisibleink.html

Target Age: Elementary

What you'll need:

• Half a lemon
• Water
• Spoon
• Bowl
• Cotton bud
• White paper
• Lamp or other light bulb

Instructions:

1. Squeeze some lemon juice into the bowl and add a few drops of water.
2. Mix the water and lemon juice with the spoon.
3. Dip the cotton bud into the mixture and write a message onto the white paper.
4. Wait for the juice to dry so it becomes completely invisible.
5. When you are ready to read your secret message or show it to someone else, heat the paper by holding it close to a light bulb.

Why this Works?

Lemon juice is an organic substance that oxidizes and turns brown when heated. Diluting the lemon juice in water makes it very hard to notice when you apply it the paper, no one will be aware of its presence until it is heated and the secret message is revealed. Other substances which work in the same way include orange juice, honey, milk, onion juice, vinegar and wine. Invisible ink can also be made using chemical reactions or by viewing certain liquids under ultraviolet (UV) light.

Demo Ideas

All these experiments came from this website;
http://www.theteachersguide.com/Sciencedemos1.htm

Some offered sources, some didn't, and some information is slightly different but the concepts and experiments are straight forward. It did not offer any idea of how long each experiment would take to prep and perform but I think most of them are pretty cut and dry while the scientific method experiment might take a bit longer.


1.
Subject Area: Physics Concepts
-Volume
-Change of State
-Volume of Gases
-Atmospheric Pressure

Grade: Middle-High School

Title: THE COLLAPSING CAN

Materials:
One empty aluminum can (354 ml)
A Hot plate or burner
Large bowl of water
Tongs to hold pop can

Procedure:
Put about 5 ml of water in the pop can (just enough to cover the bottom).
Heat the can over the hot plate or burner.
Let the water boil vigorously.
In a single motion, remove the pop can from the burner and INVERT it in the bowl of water.
Submerge the opening to the pop can in to the water. The can will IMPLODE instantly.

Questions:
What was in the can besides water?
What happens when water is boiled?
What do you think will happen if the can is inverted in the bowl of water?
What happens to the air in the can as water vapor is formed?
What force is working on the outside of the can?

Rationale:
Before heating, the can was filled with water and air. By boiling the water, it changes states, from liquid to gas (water vapor). The water vapor (steam) pushes the air that was inside, out of the can. By inverting the can in water, we are cooling the vapor very quickly and constraining the potential for rapid flow of air back into the can. The cooling condenses the water vapor back to water. All of the vapor which took up the interior space of the can before is now turned into a few drops of water, which take up much less space. This causes the pressure to drop and the atmospheric pressure is therefore pushing on the can and crushing it.
The total force working on the outside of the can is the total of the can's surface area in cm. multiplied by 1 kg.

Application:
Production of vacuum containers
Home canning


2.
Subject Area: General Science

Grade: Middle School

Title:MAGIC LID

Objective: To show students that atmospheric pressure is not just a downward force, but is a force acting in all directions.

Materials:
1-one gallon jar
1-glass dish large enough to cover mouth of jar
Procedure: Fill jar completly full, so the meiniscus stands high. Place glass plate on top of the jar. making sure that no air is trapped between jar and glass plate. Then quickly turn the jar upside down. It may take a couple of times to get this right, so this should be done over a sink area.

Questions:
What will happen to the plate? Will it fall or stay in place?
What causes the plate to stick to the jar?
What conclusions can one draw from this?
Is atmospheric pressure greater than water pressure?
How tall would a cup have to be in order for the water pressure inside to overcome the atmospheric pressure outside?

Rationale: This is an application of atmospheric pressure. Most students think that atmospheric pressure and the force of gravity have only a downward effect, the latter is true, but atmospheric pressure exerts force in all directions. This is what allows the plate to stay attached to the jar.

3.
Title: B Squared (Burning Balloons)

Source: Robert Ruisinger

Grade: 7-12 (chemistry)

Materials: One balloon filled with water, one balloon filled with air to an equal volume, and matches.

Procedure: Hold the lit match to the balloon filled with air and it will pop immediately. Next, hold the lit match to the water balloon and notice that it will not pop. It is advisable not to hold the match in one place for too long, because it may eventually pop! You may want to one before the other one, depending on your application.

Concept: The air balloon explodes immediately because the heat from the lit match quickly burns through the rubber wall. The water balloon, does not explode because the water inside absorbs the heat and disperses it throughout the volume of water. It does not let the rubber wall get to it's melting point. You can tie this demo into a lesson on heat capacities, melting points, heat absorption, conduction, etc. . Credits: South Windsor High School, South Windsor, CT 06074

4.
Source:Toni Orso

Subject Area: General Science
Grade:(7-12)

Concepts Covered by Demonstration: Scientific Method

Title: The Black Whole

Materials:
A coffee can which is specially constructed (a slanted metal piece attached on the inside to keep water in.
A glass of water

Procedure:
Hold the coffee can above the observers to ensure that they can not view what is inside.
Pour a glass of water directly into the coffee can. Note: do not let observers see inside to coffee can.
Tip the can over on the side which will allow no water to spill out of the coffee can.

Questions:
Describe exactly what you observed.
Based on your observations, describe or draw what might be in the coffee can.
Are you making an educated guess about what occurred?
What is the scientific word for making and educated guess?
How might you collect further information to support your educated guess?
Write down some examples in which scientist have made educated guess about natural events that occur to try to explain what is happening in the world.

Rationale: This demonstration is an excellent way to introduce the Scientific Method because it deals with observing and recording those observations. Furthermore, the students can make an educated guess (hypothesis) about what might be occurring.
Students can also be introduced to the idea that in science there are many wonders that scientist can not fully explain. Scientist can only make observations and try to collect as much information as possible and based on the knowledge they gain from these observations they can hypothesize about what is happening. For example, scientist did not actually see the dinosaurs that lived during the Triassic Period; However, they can predict because of the evidence that was left behind in the fossil record.
It is important to inform the students that even though their educated guess about what was inside the coffee can was correct, that they would have to do millions of test to state that it was because in order for a hypothesis to become a fact or theory an enormous amount of data must be collected to support the hypothesis and millions of tests must have taken place.

Demo Idea

Title:  Diving Ketchup

Source:  http://www.stevespanglerscience.com/experiment/00000090

Target Age:  Elementary and Middle School aged students
Materials Required: 

• Plastic soda bottle (1-liter size works great)
• Ketchup packets from a restaurant
• Tall drinking glass
• Soda bottle cap
• Water

Prep Time Required:  10 minutes

Demo Time Required:   10 minutes (or however long you want to perform the experiment!)
Description:  

1. First, you'll need to perform a œfloat or sink test to see how the ketchup packet works. Fill the bowl with water and drop the packet into it. If it floats, great! If it sinks to the bottom, no sweat. This shows that atmospheric pressure in the packet is pressing hard enough on the air bubble inside the packet to sink it. If this happens, you get to make more trips to your favorite fast-food restaurant to find a ketchup packet that just barely floats!

2. Scrunch the packet in half lengthwise and carefully push it into the soda bottle. Fill the bottle full to the brim with water and screw on the cap. Squeeze the sides of the bottle and hold the squeeze to make the packet sink. Let go and it rises.

Demo Idea

Title: Outrageous Ooze

Source: http://www.exploratorium.edu/science_explorer/ooze.html

Target Age: young children

Materials Required:
-newspaper
-measuring cups
-1 cup of dry cornstarch
-large bowl or pan
-food coloring (if you want)
-1/2 cup of water

Prep Time Required: 10 minutes to prepare ooze

Demo Time Required: 5 minutes to explain and 5 minutes to play, or as long as kids want to play with their ooze for

Description (Preparing the Ooze):

1. Put newspaper down on your counter or table top.
2. Put the cornstarch into the bowl. Add a drop or two of food coloring. (Use whatever colors you like.) Add water slowly, mixing the cornstarch and water with your fingers until all the powder is wet.
3. Keep adding water until the Ooze feels like a liquid when you're mixing it slowly. Then try tapping on the surface with your finger or a spoon. When Ooze is just right, it won't splash--it will feel solid. If you Ooze is too powdery, add a little more water. If it's too wet, add more cornstarch.

Description (What's Going On):

Ooze is made up of tiny, solid particles of cornstarch suspended in water. Chemists call this type of mixture a colloid.

As you found out when you experimented with Ooze, this colloid behaves strangely. When you bang on it with a spoon or quickly squeeze a handful of Ooze, it freezes in place, acting like a solid. The harder you push, the thicker the Ooze becomes. But when you open your hand and let your Ooze ooze, it drips like a liquid. Try to stir the Ooze quickly with a finger, and it will resist your movement. Stir it slowly, and it will flow around your finger easily.
Your finger is applying what a physicist would call a sideways shearing force to the water. In response, the water shears, or moves out of the way. The behavior of Ooze relates to its viscosity, or resistance to flow. Water's viscosity doesn't change when you apply a shearing force--but the viscosity of your Ooze does.

Back in the 1700s, Isaac Newton identified the properties of an ideal liquid. Water and other liquids that have the properties that Newton identifies are call Newtonian fluids. Ooze doesn't act like Newton's ideal fluid. It's a non-Newtonian fluid.

There are many non-Newtonian fluids around. They don't all behave like Ooze, but each one is weird in its own way. Ketchup, for example, is a non-Newtonian fluid. (The scientific term for this type of non-Newtonian fluid is thixotropic. That comes from the Greek words thixis, which means "the act of handling" and trope, meaning "change".)

Quicksand is a non-Newtonian fluid that acts more like your Ooze--it gets more viscous when you apply a shearing force. If you ever find yourself sinking in a pool of quicksand (or a vat of cornstarch and water), try swimming toward the shore very slowly. The slower you move, the less the quicksand or cornstarch will resist your movement.

*I copied the directions and explanations directly from the website so for more details check out the website listed under sources.

Demo Ideas

Title: Chinese Spouting Bowl

Source:Educational Innovations

Target Age:All who are interested by what appears to be magic! (Young and Old!)

Materials Required: (1) Chinese Spouting Bowl ($179.95), (1) Spouting Bowl Pad ($14.95), Isopropyl Alcohol, Soap and Water

Prep Time Required: About five minutes to get everything ready to work.


Demo Time Required: The reaction happens very quickly. The more practice you have with the bowl the better you will be able to create the desired reaction.

Description: What you do is put the brass bowl onto a damp towel or Spouting Bowl Pad (something that will prevent it from slipping but allow it to still vibrate). Then after you wash your hands thoroughly to rid them of any and all oils, and after you have cleaned the bowl with isopropyl alcohol, you fill it up half way with clean water.











Then you dip your palms into the bowl to get them wet.
You place your hands on the handles of the bowl and rub them back and forth, from finger tips to the bottom of your palm.


Soon the vibrations will build so much that the water reacts by shooting out of the bowl, up to 20 inches!


More pictures and a more accurate description can be found here.

Demo Idea: Clear Spheres!

Title:
Clear Spheres aka Jelly Marbles aka Water balls
Source:
http://www.stevespanglerscience.com/product/clear-spheres-kit
Target Age:
Kindergarten and up (while they can be enjoyed at any age, they might be dangerous to really young kids)
Materials Required:
flasks, water, clear sphere pellets, big bin with water, clear glass brownie pan, paper w/ MAS logo
Prep Time Required:
Need at least 3 hours in advance to let the balls grow
Demo Time Required:
the demo itself will probably take about 5 minutes with the reveal and explanation, but the people we are showing them to should be given ample time to play with them :o)
Description:
We have 2 identical flasks, one with plain water, one filled with water and water balls. We ask the viewers of our demo if they notice anything about either flask. We have a volunteer first stick his hand into the flask with just water, and then have them stick their hand in the flask with the water balls in them and be surprised. We explain that the water balls are made of this special polymer, or chain of molecules, that are super-absorbent. We show them a dry pellet, and a fully-grown water ball and tell them that the pellets absorb water up to 300x it's original size. We also say that they look invisible in water because they refract the same amount of light as water does, which means that our eye perceives these water balls to look the same as water does. We show them the clear glass brownie pan that has nothing but water balls in it. The brownie pan is sitting on top of a picture of the MAS logo, which looks jumbled. We ask a volunteer to pour water in and the crowd to unscramble the message. See the video below for more experiment ideas!

Assignment for Wednesday!

Hello again everyone!

For reading, please read Journalism 2.0: How to Survive and Thrive, Chapter 5 about Blogging. Please do this for class Wednesday so we can have a discussion! (w00t)
The link is to your right on the blog sidebar, under Internship Reading Material. When you click on the link and get to the actual website, you have to scroll down a little bit on the page that it takes you to. The reading is in the gray box on the left/centerish on the page....ugh, know what? I'll just post a picture...

Please note the spastic arrows. Double click for a closer look.


Here is the blog assignment due before Wednesday's class. Please have it posted to the blog by 9:00AM!

On Wednesday, I'm going to be doing a simulation of a typical school visit. I'll show you some of our tried-and-true demos that have been a hit so far with the youngins. Your task is to do a little background research and post a cool demo or experiment that you've found!

Some places you might want to check out:
Educational Innovations
Steve Spangler Science

Here is a format to post, to make your life a little easier...and if there is a video or pictures, post that too!

Title:
Source:
Target Age:
Materials Required:
Prep Time Required:
Demo Time Required:
Description:

+any pictures or videos

Use the label Demo Ideas for this assignment!

I'll post an example for this above!

See you Weds!

~Sara

disposable shoes!

It was a normal day in seventh grade. I had the most boring math class in history, but this is what I usually think after every math class I have ever take. After the torture of the ecuations and numbers, it was time of my biology class, which I really liked, not because of the science, which I was not very into in seventh grade , but because of my cool teacher; he is one of the funniest men I have eve met.

He came into the room with his usual colombian coffee in one hand and his books in the other. " I have a surprise for you kids" , he said. The big surprise was about a state contest. Every kid in
the state from 7th to 12th grade was invited. the contest consisted in creating a new object, that had never been invented before, and it had to be oriented to science, the sky was the limit. But that was not all, the winner will get 1000 dollars.

All the kids went crazy; after school, they all went to their houses to work on their projects. I did not know what to do for mine, and I did not have time to work on it either; I had to got to my ballet practice and then my gimnastics practice, then sleep if I was lucky.

By the end of the day I was exhausted. My feet hurted more than any other day and I was desperate for something to release the pain.Out of the nothing I grab some analgesic gel and put in on a disposable clinical hat that I wore as a shoe. My pain was gone, and then I had an idea: What if there was a shoe that could release pain everytime you wore it? I got it!

The next day I grabbed a creosote bush from my backyard, some eucalyptus, mint, and some ethylic alcohol. I asked my school if I could use a lab, and I made a substance out of this plants, then I put hte substance on the disposable shoes that I made with my mom's help. the product was ready, a disposable shoe that is analgesic,decongestant, prevents athlete feet, and that made your feet smell nice!

In this moment was when I realize that I maybe do like science, not because of the books, or the weird formulas that nobody actually likes, but because of what science can do for you, or in my case, for my feet.

Oh , and guess who won the contest?

Informal Science Xperience

I havent really had a real "wow" science experience. However, the one thing that does come to mind is the time my father explained to me about the female menstrual cycle. Now I know some men might find this topic a bit awkward, and believe me it was for both of us at first. Having my father sit me down in a casual setting, explaining to me the actual scientific process of ovulation using his vocabulary of course, really got me fascinated on how the body works. Our bodies are created in such an ingenious way that there will always be something new to learn about it. That experience also proves how the knowledge of science is important. As for guys, talking about something like this might make you uneasy but its good to overcome that feeling because it’s a natural and important process that you may have to explain to your daughter in the far future!

3rd Grade Field Work?

One day back in elementary school, I remember talking about bugs and animals one day in class. At recess, me and a friend set our minds to bug searching for bugs. After crawling around in the grass for a while we found a massive dead grasshopper in the sandbox. We proceeded to "dissect" it by it apart by the joints and inspecting it. Even at this young age I was really inspired and interested in animals and biology.

Science Experience

I have had many science experiences outside of the classroom.  The first one that I can remember took place in the fourth grade.  My class was working on the annual science project which consisted of a research project and a presentation.  My topic was focused on the evacuation of Pompeii during a volcanic eruption in the 1st century.  Instead of giving an oral presentation, I made a paper mache volcano and made the volcano erupt using baking soda and water.  I remember having so much fun making the volcano with my mother and the class loved the volcano eruption.  

Science is electric!

When I was in the 5th grade I had a teacher named Mr. Sadaski who was a retired electrician. In his class we used to conduct all sorts of science experiments with electricity. For example, my friend Juan and I made a "calculator" for practicing times tables. We wired all of the equations on one side to all of the answers on the other, and made it so if you connected the right equation (e.g. 4x4) with the right answer (16), a light bulb would light up and indicate you were right.

In order to get all of the kids interested in science and electricity Mr. Sadaski would bring an old generator to class and shock everyone. He would have everyone in the class hold hands in a big circle and the people on the end would touch both ends of the generator when he cranked it and everyone would get a little shock. Since there were so many of us, the shock wasn't enough to hurt anyone, but it sparked an interest in electricity in many of my friends. Juan ended up going to trade school to become an electrician, and I worked with Mr. Sadaski as an electrical apprentice two summers ago. He's a teacher I will never forget and thats due largely to his "outside of the box" teaching techniques.

Science Fun Outside of the Classroom

I have always enjoyed science outside of the class mostly because of influences from my dad and my grandmother. My grandmother lived on a small farm in Connecticut and there were always animals around. My aunt who didn't live to far from her worked for a wildlife reserve so whenever she had too many animals to take care of she would send them over to my grandmother's house. I used to love helping her take care of all the different animals she would have there. The most memorable of these animals for me were two baby chickadees and two baby flying squirrels. I remember feeling so proud that my grandmother would trust me to feed the chickadees all by myself.

As I got older my dad became more of an influence when it came to science outside of the classroom. He has always been interested in science, in particular chemicals and the way things work. During long car rides he would explain how our eyes see, or how a lava lamp works. If I ever had a question as to why something was the way it was my dad would know or help me look it up. In fourth grade for a science project he helped me build my own lava lamp. We researched the chemicals needed and how to put everything together. My dad still has our lava lamp and it still works (only for short periods of time though). I remember this being really fun because we were able to make something ourselves that I previously had thought you could only buy already assembled in a store.

FIRST SCIENCE LOVE

When i was about 7 years old I was very close with one of my cousins, Cheryl. One day when we were running around the woods we found a few dead bugs and a few injured bugs and we collected them all in one of those old bug cages ever child used to have. After a little while we got what we thought would be a great idea! We took an old wooden box from the garage at her house and painted the words BUG HOSPITAL on it. We took it upon our selves to rip broken or injured legs off of limping bugs and replace them with parts from dead bugs that we had found using both scotch tape and super glue. It was really fun, even though the patients kept dieing haha. We couldnt understand that it was not very good what we were doing or that it was not beneficial in any way, but we thought that we were scientists. So from then on I have had a lot of fun in the sciences figureing things out, like why those legs wouldnt work when we put them on other bugs!!!
___________Jack

Informal Science Experience

As a kid I always enjoyed science. I like to be outside, and I was always curious about how things worked. However, only a few experiences have really stuck with me.

One I shared in class was the 6th grade science fair at my school. People could basically design their own projects with few limitations. All of the grades would go and visit the fair from PK to 5th. Because of this, by the time you were in 6th grade you knew how much the younger kids were going to look up to you. This made it that much more important o put a lot of time and effort in to your project so you could have the coolest one. Another reason this was important was because the 7th and 8th graders who had already done a fair were going to come and judge your projects and those that won would get prizes. It was really a school wide event that the students really looked forward to no matter what age group they were in. I think the best part about this fair was that it got kids to really take initiative in getting involved with science. They weren't just doing it because their teachers said to. We all had our own motivation.

Another experience that I really loved was raising ducklings in the 2nd grade. We had the ducks from the point at which they were eggs. We kept them in a back room in an incubator until they hatched. Every other day our teacher would take us back two by two to look at the eggs and see if they had changed. There was a light we shined on them so we could see inside. Then we got to watch them hatch one day. We all got called in early from recess to see the process. After they had hatched we got to keep them for the rest of the year until we gave them to a farm. Every student that wanted to take them home got to sign up for a weekend. I remember having them in my house and feeling responsible for taking care of these small animals even just as a second grader. I really cared about the ducklings which motivated me to really observe their growth process even at such a young age. I think that living animals are a great way to get kids involved, especially if they feel that they are responsible for part of taking care of them.

In the 5th grade we also raised Monarch Butterflies. We got them as eggs, which then became caterpillars, then they formed a chrysalis, and then they became butterflies. We let them go after this but we had a tag put on their wings. We then had a website where people would report seeing butterflies with tags on them. Our class would check the site continually, and one of our classmates actually had a butterfly that was reported seen in Mexico, which is where we learned they migrated to. It was exciting to know that we had raised these butterflies and that they were migrating just like we had learned about. It was a great way to make what we had learned real to us.

INFORMAL SCIENCE: A TRIP TO SIX FLAGS NEW ENGLAND

During my last year in Burlington High School in Burlington Massachusetts. I took an honors physics class with Mrs. Flanagan. I loved physics soo much I would spend extra time with Mrs. Flanagan to get to know more about physics and its laws.
On a thursday afternoon we were learning about friction,G force, normal force and centri. Force of attraction. We were also learning about displacement, force of attraction between atoms and how to calculate their force. So as a class we all decided to have a field trip to a place where we could learn more about physic and at the same time have fun. So we all came to a conclussion that we wanted to go to six flags new england.
At six flags we rode the superman and batman man of steel roller coasters. We then regrouped afterwards to discuss about how physics revolved around the making of the roller coaters and basically everything in the park. It was amazing.

Eureka

From a very young age I was always asking questions or at least thinking about questions concerning how it is that I, we, the whole planet got to be the way that it is. How do plants do whatever it is that plants do? Why do animals behave the way they behave? What are the universal laws of nature? I suppose some of my questions where being answered in pieces, each school year offered more and more information that helped put the puzzle pieces together but I still yearned for a view that was comprehensive, something that unified all the fields of science. What torture it was to get tidbits that seemed related but didn't quite fit so snug, then I was introduced to the theory of Evolution.
It was fascinating reading Darwin's words, so elegant and poetic yet so easy to read and understand. His argument was plain and simple and it relieved a hidden truth that gave me that eureka moment; their is common descent between organisms on every and any scale, life came to be and what we see today is the result of Evolution. I was first introduced to the idea of Evolution in high school but it was not until I got to Umass did I begin exploring the theory more deeply, it is a passion that has given me a sense of resolve while sparking my intrigue to a level I didn't think possible. Every time I feel lost or confused I try to think about how Darwin would approach that problem, reasonably, rationally and with a keen eye for observation, the result is that I get to create many eureka moments from thinking in terms of evolutionary theory.

Courtney Brooks- The Woods

There have been many times throughout my life when I could identify a situation as an informal science experience. The most memorable and impressionable times would have to be the summers I spent at my grandfather's house when I was ages 7-13. He lived in an area surrounded by woods, which I found, was the most interesting place to be. It began my passion for all forms of wildlife. My cousins and I would pretend we were famous explorers as we wondered the wild. I, the most daring, was never afraid to catch snakes, salamanders, toads, or other squirmy critters. I would often bring them back with me and make a substitute habitat in a big container because I had made up my mind, that these were my pets. That is, until my mother would discover the animal I managed to catch and scream at me (esp. if it was a snake) to let it go, mainly because she is petrified of them. I was always trying to examine animal behavior. At the time I just found it cool, but looking back, I would spend hours fascinated by watching a toad eat crickets or collecting frog eggs and waiting for them to hatch. I realized that I was extremely excited about animals during this duration in my life. I wanted to be a veterinarian. Since this time, I have put a lot of thought into my career and have begun exploring medicine. I am still indecisive at this point, but know I have a passion for animals. In my life I have had many animals... snakes, birds [I have actually hatched and raised quails twice], lizards, cats, dogs, a horse, rabbits, mice, hamsters, guinea pigs, and once I took care of a baby squirrel for three days...

Blog Assignment for Monday

Hey Everyone!

Yesterday in class we discussed different forms of informal science education. In my opinion, one of the coolest things about science is that eureka moment everyone has when they see something they think is interesting. It's a unifying and universal experience that we all share at some point in our lives, which I think is something that is really unique to science.

Yesterday we discussed different experiences that we've had that have made us think differently about science. I know I mentioned the owl pellets I dissected in 5th grade. For class on Monday, I want you to post an experience you've had like this...something that went above and beyond the normal class lecture or textbook. If you can't think of a time when this happened to you, try to brainstorm ideas of what we could do as a group to make that happen for someone. Have fun with this assignment, and I will see you on Monday!

Sara

Introduction

• Name: Matthew Panechelli
• Year: Junior
  
• Major: BDIC-Evolutionary Biology and Science Education
  
• Hometown: Franklin, Ma
• 
  
• Why did you get involved in the internship?

I have always had a passion for Biology and this internship should fit my BDIC major very well, you could say the MAS is a perfect fit for me.

• What do you hope to get out of this class?

I hope to gain some technological/multimedia skills that I severely lack. I also hope to have some fun experiences when we visit local schools. Hopefully this class will lead to bigger things.

• What do you like to do for fun?

I'm open to almost anything, I'm a bit of sports nut, animal fanatic, movie buff, part time coach potato(anything on the discovery channel or natgeo) and would like to get outdoors more often by taking up hiking/camping.

• What do you want to do when you graduate college?

I'd like to teach but I'd also like to take part in some research in the evo-bio field. My BDIC major is designed to create an educational initiative with regard to science,biology, and evo-bio, so hopefully I'll have some interesting adventures in that regard.

• Any other fun facts about yourself?

My father's side of the family were and are farmers so cow tipping is not cool. I like mini-golf and sometimes I like golf when I'm not terrible at it. As a youth I used to spend every summer with my twin brother chest deep in the pond across the street from my house, digging up and catching whatever critters we could. I'm a closet nerd, the Land Before Time is quite possibly the best movie ever and it has inspired me to create an animated series of biolog learning videos for kids. I like to eat(you name it and I'll probably eat it), I like to go fishing, worked with 4-14 year old kids at a Daycare for roughly 5 years. Mitt Romney took my financial aid away from me when I had a 3.4 at Umass Dartmouth so I shoveled concrete for 4 years before regaining my independent student status. I like people but not pretentious ones. I'm obsessed with trying to answer some of the most interesting questions concerning life and the natural sciences, therefore I'm kind of a jack of all trades and master of none to some degree. Going green is going to be very interesting and I'd like to travel at some point( I want to make a list of the coolest things in the world to see and do and get after it).

Cecilia Prado

• Name : Complete is Santa Cecilia Prado Guerrero ( not kidding) , but just call me Cecilia
  

• Year: freshman


• Major: Pre-Med / Political Science , weird combinatination , I know, I am really passionate about both of them and I really want to help to improve my country's health care program.
  


• Hometown: Monclova, Coahuila , Mexico.
  


• Why did you get involved in the internship? I am addicted to school activities, I thought this would be a cool thing to do, besides, I am really good teaching kids and teenagers about topics.
  


• What do you hope to get out of this class?A good experience.
  


• What do you like to do for fun?I dance, play soccer, go for a run,watch movies, camping, organize parties with my friends, go to soccer games,travel, read, go to sports games and yell at people , and I am very into politics.
  


• What do you want to do when you graduate college?I want to get into Medical School, become a surgeon, and coming back to Mexico.
  


• Any other fun facts about yourself? I like to do a lot of outdoor activities, The craziest things always happen to me , I get crazy when it comes to politics, I always have soemthing to say, I went to two missionary trips in Mexico, and I used to teach cathechism to little kids and teenagers.
  

Webster

• My name is Webster
  
• 
• I was born on July 23rd ,1987
  
• I'm double majoring in both Biology(pre-med) and microbiology
  
• Burlington,Ma
• I got involved with this internship because of the passion I have in spreading good things about science. I love to talk about what I have learnt and to allow others to share what they have absorbed from science. Discussions about scientific findings and how it's changing our world is amazing.
  
• I hope to get more knowledge about science and how it's a good outreach.
  
• I like to read new scientific research findings about stem cell research in my spare time.
  
• I want to head to medical school after graduation. My intent it to become an endocrinologist or a neurosurgeon.
  
• I love to read scientific books and I am a big fan of stem cell research.
  

Rose Schack

Year: Freshman

Major:

Biology/Pre-Med

I got involved with this internship because it looked interesting, different, and a good way to get involved with science. I hope to get a different kind of experience from this class as opposed to sitting and listening to a professor lecture.

After I graduate I would like to go to medical school to become a dermatologist. In high school I went to a vocational school for Cosmetology and discovered that my interests were not so much in styling hair as they were in the science behind hair, nails, but especially in skin. One thing I especially enjoyed in my high school was the way we learned in my Cosmetology class. We did a lot of hands on activities and the class felt more personal because of the ways we interacted with each other and with our teachers; I think this class will be very similar to that style of learning. I hope that this class can get younger kids excited about science by combining it with their other interests, like learning about the science behind skin did for me!

Rhys Ursuliak

Freshman
Bio Major
Lancaster, MA
I was looking for a new biology class to replace a gened that I dropped right as I received the recruitment email.
I'm really hoping to get more experience as to what a biologist actually does, and I love being on the public side of things.
I love going out and wandering around with friends, around town or around campus.
I really don't know what my plans are after college. I'm not quite sure what they are in college even.
I was born in NJ, lived in CA, and moved to MA before 2nd grade. I go to Canada every summer to visit family!

Mr. Nathan Davies

My name is Nathan, but my friends call me Nate (for the most part).
My plan is to graduate in 2010 with a Bachelor's in Journalism with a cultural anthropology minor.
I grew up in Turners Falls, a village in the town of Montague, 20 minutes north of Amherst.
I got involved in this course solely because I trust Sara's judgement and could use the credits, not to mention science is cool!
I hope to get some good training with youngsters in the science department and also learn how to better project positive ideas on people in the community. And to get down with science!
For fun I spend a lot of time with friends, I ride my mountain bike and kayak and scuba dive and sail in the sun when I can and snowboard in the winter when I can't. I enjoy spending time with my younger siblings and friends and I like bringing positive energy to people around me, especially when they need it.

I think informal science education is learning science having fun! Experience science as it lives, not as it is in the text book!

Nikki's

Nekeisha Nixon
Junior
Public Health Sciences
Springfield, MA

I got got an email and I checked out the MAS website, i found it to be very interesting as I've always had a weird passion for science and how things work. I have never done anything like this before, so i thought it would be a good learning experience.
I hope to learn more about science and I'm very excited to work with kindergarten kids.
I consider myself pretty boring, but my favorite past time is hanging out with friends and family especially when good food is present.
After I graduate, I hope to pursue my Masters in Public Health for a better chance of getting in my career field.
Fun Facts:::: I love to cook and experiment with different types of foods. I'm West Indian/Jamaican. I'm a MAJOR procrastinator!

Sara Cody

Name: Sara Cody
Year: Senior, 2010
Major: Journalism, Minoring in Biology and Art History
Hometown: Franklin, Mass
What do you like to do for fun?
One of my all-time things to do is go to the movie store, rent a movie, buy tons of candy and just stay in in my jamies watching a movie and pigging out. I like hanging out with people, going to art museums, going to Red Sox games, and doing arts and crafts.
What do you want to do when you graduate college?
I'm not exactly sure what I want to do when I graduate college. I know I want to write a book to get it published. And I want to go to grad school at some point for science writing. I'm really into multimedia journalism.
Any other fun facts about yourself?
I have really bendy fingers. And I love talking with people.

Gabriela Baquerizo

Name: Gabriela 'Gabby' Baquerizo
Year: Senior
Major: Communication Disorder
Hometown: Boston the 617'



~Why did you get involved in the internship?

I joined the MAS internship last year and I had a blast! I learned new and different things I wouldn't think had anything to do with science. I joined because I love working with kids and seeing how they interact when new things are presented to them. It amazes me that kids do have interest in science. I also joined because I was interested in how to make a podcast. It was hard work but all worth it at the end.

~What do you hope to get out of this class?

More information about what MAS has set for this year. Also more school visits!

~What do you like to do for fun?

I play sports, softball and soccer. Music is a big thing, so whenever I'm bored I start listening to my Ipod and the fun beginnings. I like to hang out with friends when I'm not busy, who doesn't right? Finally, drawing!

~What do you want to do when you graduate college?

Well I recently got a management position at my job, so I think I will work for a year. Afterward I plan on applying to grad school. Some school close to New England.

~Any other fun facts about yourself?

*I'm a fan of Lil Wayne and Beyonce! lol. .. . I'm also facebook addict ->Theres no cure for that yet. .. . I love comedy: Kat William being in my list of top 5. .. .and I have a bad habit of cracking my knuckles and ankle

Jack Mulone

Hello,
My name is John Mulone but I answer to Jack. I am a Microbio major and really enjoy everything about it. I hope to use my degree to go into biotech sales in the European market as it is currently stronger than our own. Plus, who doesn't want to be based out of Rome!!!
I am also training in jiu jitsu heavily at the moment and studying for my CDL. I can pretty much sell salt to a slug if needed and have no problem with placing my morals aside in order to do so.
I am very outspoken and in some sense weird. I always enjoy a good conversation and even more so a debate. I have a tendency to say things that I do not actually believe in order to get a rise out of people and spark an argument.
Working with people is a very strong point for me. I much prefer to be in front of a group relaying my ideas and being the center of attention. The larger the crowed the better i perform.
I never accept anything for what it is and will challenge it to the end. I will help anyone to the best of my abilities and will never admit to not being able to perform a given task. I rec climb quite consistently both trees and rocks. If anyone wants to give it a go just let me know! Feel free to ask for anything or just chill whenever.

Bailey Mannix

Class year: 2012 (sophomore)
Major: Communications, Minor: Biology
Hometown: Brookline, MA

I got involved with this internship because it combines my two interests really well. I was in BioTAP last year. I loved the program and learned a lot from it, but one of the things that I learned was that although I love biology, it wasn't the right major for me. This class allows me to still be involved with biology, while combining it with what I really feel I want to do.

I hope this class will give me good experience with presentations. I have never worked with podcasts before, so I am excited to learn about them. I also love working with kids, so I'm really excited about the school visits.

Outside of school I try to keep busy. I like having a packed schedule, so I'm usually up for trying new things. Recently, I have been trying to teach myself to paint. I still have a lot of work to do. I also play golf. I have been playing since I was really young and played varsity for four years in high school. I haven't been playing a lot in the past year, so if anyone wants to, let me know! I also love listening to music and I'll try listening to just about anything. I really don't like classical music, but other than that I'm not too picky. I'm really excited about Jay-Z coming to UMass!

I have absolutely no idea what I want to do when I graduate.

Courtney Brooks

Courtney Brooks

• Freshman
• 18 years old born December 23, 1990 [Christmas babyyy]
  
• Biology
  
• Rochester, NH
  
• Want to explore science other than BIO
  
• I would love to work with/observe animal behavior. Once I was sitting outdoors and I started watching a spider. After approx. 10 minutes, a daddy long legs wondered into this particular spider's trap! I was astonished as I watched the significantly smaller spider slowly but surely attack the daddy long legs... I guess I am easily amused.
  
• I horseback ride, spend a lot of time outside, hike, and work as a waitress.

• Initially I wanted to be involved in medicine but more recently I have begun resorting back to my old feelings... wanting to work with animals. I am very interested in research.
  
• I compete in horse shows across New England. I am completely comfortable around all types of animals ex. snakes, lizards, spiders etc.
  
• Fears- Sharks and Hornets

• Name: Julie Pulda
  
• Year: Senior
  
• Major: Biology
  
• Hometown: Worcester, MA
  
• Why did you get involved in the internship? The internship sounds like a great way to get involved with science outreach in a unique way.
  
• What do you hope to get out of this class? I hope to be able to reach out to the non-science community because science is an enormous part of everyone's lives. I also hope to conquer my fear of snakes...that's a reach though.
  
• What do you like to do for fun? I love to travel, play sports, play the piano, spend time with my friends and family.
  
• What do you want to do when you graduate college? I would like to go to medical school and get my masters in public health (eventually). In the future, I hope to practice medicine and health education internationally. Immediately after I graduate, I would like to work or volunteer abroad in a 'developing' area. I am always in search of 'paid adventures'.
  
• Any other fun facts about yourself? I lived in South Africa for a year and I'm obsessed with Sub-Saharan Africa. I'm allergic to peanuts. I love playing sports, including 'extreme' sports. I'm related to Henry Winkler (The Fonze). I am a classically trained concert pianist. I fall all the time.
  

Get to know the interns!

Hey everyone!

In order to get to know each other, and the blog a little better, grab a picture of yourself off the internet and post a few things about yourself to the blog!

• Name
• Year
• Major
• Hometown
• Why did you get involved in the internship?
• What do you hope to get out of this class?
• What do you like to do for fun?
• What do you want to do when you graduate college?
• Any other fun facts about yourself?