I had the opportunity to visit Mrs. Heaton’s 5th grade GT / advanced learning class at Willow Creek Elementary this afternoon with one goal in mind… To learn about Newton’s Laws of Motion. The class is currently reading October Sky by Homer Hickam. As part of the study, Mrs. Heaton builds on the science concepts within the story to create a number of great hands-on science lessons. Every good teacher tries to build a mental image of the story or fact that they’re teaching, and the name “Wayne Newton” just popped out during the first part of the lesson. I tried to convince the students that Wayne Newton was Isaac Netwon’s brother who was better at singing than he was at science. Fortunately, only a few bought into the story! There will be some interesting conversation around the dinner table this evening. In an attempt to learn about Newton’s First and Third Laws, the students participated in a number of hands-on activities including the hex nut in the bottle trick.
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I’ve written about Kenny Luna, an 8th grade science teacher in North Babylon, New York, who wants Oprah to help him give every child in America (PreK-12) just one Compact Fluorescent(CFL) bulb in an effort to reduce electricity costs and lessen the impact on global warming. Kenny just sent me a follow-up with an interesting photo…

“… at the press conference i’m going to talk about how “we’ve asked oprah to stand up with us in the fight against global warming, and that the home depot already is standing up with us here today… is there anyone else who also cares about our childrens futures, and is willing to stand up with us?” We’re going to have all my students standing behind me, holding signs that spell out “HELP US OPRAH!!” That should help too:) “

The picture says it all…

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I will never forget St. Patrick's Day 2006. This morning I woke to the screams of our almost four year old twins, Mark and Scott.

"Daddy, wake up! Look at what those Leprechauns did," yelled Scott. I jumped out of bed to find the twins picking up green and gold coins that peppered the living room floor. Traces of gold dust covered the counter top, and a glass of water that was left next to the sink was now green. By this time, our seven year old, Jack, was scouring the house in search of more evidence of Leprechauns.

"Mom! Dad! Bring the boys here. Look at what I found in the toilet," screamed Jack.

You guessed it… the toilet water was green. This was sufficient evidence for the twins that our home had been visited by Leprechauns - they took the bait hook, line and sinker. As I glanced over at Jack, I could see his wheels were spinning. While he never said anything out loud, his facial expression told me that he wasn't buying this whole Leprechaun thing.

"What do you think about those Leprechauns?" I asked. "Oh, it's pretty cool," Jack replied. Then he whispered to me, "Daddy… I kind of know that Mommy just colored the water with food coloring."

For the first time as a parent I felt his disappointment. He wanted so badly to believe, but his ability to think and reason was getting in the way of him believing in Leprechauns. My little boy was growing up - figuring things out - becoming wise to the ways of the world. In the mean time, Jack's brothers were caught up in the frenzy, searching each toilet and sink for more green water. In a split second I had to respond. Read the rest of this entry »

 

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The Colorado State science fair judges were not the only ones who were impressed with Raleigh Burt, an 8th grader from Sargent Junior High School in Alamosa, Colorado. His first place, award-winning project caught the attention of many people who often wondered if they really needed to wear a bicycle helmet. After recording a podcast interview with Raleigh several weeks ago, I invited him to join me on 9News 4 O’Clock Show to demonstrate his ingenious contraption in person. Raleigh agreed to share his project write-up on-line to give people a chance to see the research and data behind his conclusion.

Download Dangerous Decision: The Consideration For Helmet Use At Any Speed (1.1 MB)

The project grabs your attention from the opening lines… Read the rest of this entry »

 

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By 10:30 AM on Friday, March 10th, the place was out of control. Roughly 600 early childhood teachers who attended my featured session - How to Keep Your Children Excited about Science - were smacking each other with giant 8 foot long balloons and learning about carbon dioxide by dropping Mentos candy into 2-liter bottles of diet Coke. I think we broke the previous 16 foot record for erupting soda - the soda shot up and almost touched the 20 foot ceiling. Okay, why is doing this crazy stuff any better than making the 600 teachers sit through a PowerPoint presentation about teaching science? Read the rest of this entry »

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The dates for Science in the Rockies are etched in stone. Mark your calendar for August 3-5, 2006 (that’s Thursday through Sunday) in Denver, Colorado for another year of bubble blowing, slime-making, potato launching fun… educationally speaking, of course. Last year we had 99 teachers who attended our summer workshop and a small handful were brave enough to do a few science demos on live television at 6:30 AM. Watch the video and read teacher comments from 2005.

Learn more about Science in the Rockies 2006

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What happens when you have a build-up of gas? Please don’t answer that question! The gas in question is carbon dioxide and the explosion is nothing short of fun. This experiment uses film canisters and Alka-Seltzer to create a rocket. Warning: It’s impossible to do this activity just once. It is addicting and habit-forming. Proceed at your own risk!

Watch the video

Read the Experiment

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What does it take to be a state science fair winner? Listen to my podcast with Raleigh Burt, an 8th grader at Sargent Junior High in Alamosa, Colorado. This young man has a tremendous amount of wisdom and great advice for anyone who wants some “inside tips” on how to create an award-winning science project. Read more about Raleigh Burt’s project on bike helmet safety.

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