Topic - It’s Not Science But…

Are We Overbooking Our Children & Ourselves in a “Race to Nowhere?”

By Guest Blogger Debbie Leibold

I’m tired.  I have two sons (ages 13 and 10), I work part-time, I volunteer at both the elementary and the middle school, and I sit on a non-profit Board.  I drive the Mom taxi every afternoon back and forth between every sports practice known to man, piano and band practice, school ceremonies, volunteer opportunities, and a few play dates (when we have time to play).  I try to help with homework, manage a household, and get dinner on the table (when we aren’t stopping at Subway or some other drive-thru), and I try to have time to be a good Mom, wife, and friend.  Time for me is always on the bottom of the list.

I think many of us would agree that life seems crazy.  We are always in a hurry, always trying to get from one activity to the next, and always trying to do the right thing to help our children become the best students, athletes, musicians, leaders, and citizens.  I mean well, as I know you do, but lately I’ve started to question this roller coaster,

Leprechauns Beware: Beautiful Trap Ahead

Ann and her granddaughter shared their leprechaun trap with us earlier this week. They used our leprechaun trap as inspiration but “made it more girly.” Instead of PVC pipe, they made a tree from branches with green glitter and added green Lucky Charms for leaves. The bait is also Lucky Charms Double Clover Leaf edition. When the leprechaun tries to steal the Lucky Charms, the trap will spring. The trap is cleverly disguised in a pot of gold. The pot has a hole on the bottom and will cover the leprechaun and trap it inside.

We haven’t heard if the trap was successful overnight.

Did you try to capture a leprechaun? What kind of trap did you build and what did you use for bait?

Update: Ann and her granddaughter Makayla gave us an update on how their trap fared  - “Unfortunately, the leprechaun escaped today. He left us a note saying good try & better luck next year. Those leprechauns are pretty tricky. Ours sprung all the traps in the classroom & left green footprints everywhere!”

Are You Organizing a School Event this Spring? Need a Little Help Coordinating Your Volunteers?

With spring fast approaching, the volunteer season is kicking into high gear — and parents are getting called on to volunteer from multiple directions.

Are you planning a science fair or science birthday party this spring? Maybe it’s an end of year class party or a field trip. Whatever it is, you will rely on the help from volunteers.

All the organization involved is enough to give any busy parent pause.

If you are an overworked volunteer coordinator and are drowning in the slew of reply-all emails and phone calls, we have a tool for you.

Make life simpler for both the volunteers and the organizer by suggesting they first check out the FREE online signup sheets at VolunteerSpot.com. In one easy-to-use online coordination tool you’ll save the sanity of all the people involved, and feel good doing good!

What is VolunteerSpot?

VolunteerSpot is a fantastic tool that lets anyone coordinate volunteers, (even the less techy organizer) and it’s great for parents to get more involved in new and old projects alike! By permitting everyone easy access to a complete group volunteer sign up sheet, everyone can quickly choose jobs and shifts to

One Lucky Facebook Fan Wins $1,500 Snow Day for her Class

Have you LIKED Steve Spangler Science on Facebook yet? We love our Facebook fans so much, that we spoil them with special offers and giveaways. Last night, we hosted a Snow Day party in honor of the schools being closed in the Denver area due to snow and subzero temperatures. We gave away lots of cool science prizes with a grand prize valued at $1,500!

Teresa Marx, our lucky winner, won 400 Insta-Snow Test Tubes and a one-pound bag of Insta-Snow for each teacher at her school. It was enough snow for everyone to make their own snow day.

Our parties move fast and have us refreshing our page almost constantly. Answers come in under 10 seconds after I post a question. I need extra eyes to watch the responses. During our party, we asked questions like “Why does Insta-Snow feel wet?” “How can you change the color of Insta-Snow?” “How long does hydrated snow last?”

We gave away mini snow days for correct answers and also gave all of our Facebook fans a special discount of $10 off a bag of Insta-Snow. So won’t

Can’t Watch Spangler Science Videos at School? How to Remove the Ban

My team and I have worked hard to create hundreds of science demonstration and how-to videos available on YouTube and our SteveSpanglerScience.com site for teachers, parents and students. But we hear from a lot of teachers who are frustrated that YouTube videos are blocked at their school. They cannot watch a video to work on a lesson for their students and they cannot show the videos to their class. The blocks are usually placed at the district level and it can be difficult to get them removed.

Teresa, an 8th grade science teacher at John Glenn Middle School, wanted to watch our science videos on YouTube so she submitted a request to the district. When they asked for the reasons why she needed the site, Teresa copy and pasted all 9 California State Standards along with the more than 50 sub-standards on her request.

Her request was approved within 24 hours.

“All of Spangler’s videos can be linked to a standard any where in the country.  What I discovered, is anytime I put in a request that I linked to standards, it