Steve Spangler's Blog

Eggceptional Eggs-periments Day 2 – Dying Easter Eggs Naturally

Naturally Dyed Eggs Courtesy Crunchy Domestic Goddess

By Blog Editor Susan Wells

Go into any grocery store or department store this time of year and you will be bombarded by Easter egg dye kits. Most of these kits use vinegar and an artificial dye to color the shell of the egg. I know I’m not the only one who gets concerned when I crack open my Easter egg for egg salad and see blue splotches on the egg white.

We are bombarded by artificial dyes in everything from fruit snacks, candy, mac and cheese and soda. Artificial dyes like FD&C Red No. 40, or Tartrazine Yellow No. 5. These synthetic colors are made from petroleum and other chemicals. These dyes have been found to cause cancer, hives, hyperactivity and other issues in adults and children.

My friend, Amy Gates, who blogs at Crunchy Domestic Goddess, developed a system for coloring eggs using dyes from nature. Not only is this safer and less toxic than the store bought dyes, this also uses a little science

Eggceptional Eggs-periments Day 1 – Rubber, Bouncy, Naked Eggs

For the next two weeks, we are celebrating the incredible edible scientific egg with experiments that you can do using an egg. Or several.

We start with making Naked Eggs.

Did you know you can dissolve an eggshell and make a rubber egg that bounces? All you need is a little kitchen science know-how and some patience and you can do it.

Materials

• Raw egg
• Graduated cylinder or tall glass
• Vinegar
• Patience

1. Place the egg in a graduated cylinder or tall glass and cover the egg with vinegar.
2. Look closely at the egg. Do you see any bubbles forming on the shell? Leave the egg in the vinegar for a full 24 hours.
3. Change the vinegar on the second day. Carefully pour the old vinegar down the drain and cover the egg with fresh vinegar. Place the glass with the vinegar and egg in a safe place for a week – that’s right, 7 days! Don’t disturb the egg but pay close attention to the bubbles forming on the surface of the shell (or what’s left of it).
4. One week later,

Teachers Making a Difference – Mrs. Z and her Oobleck Pool of Goo

Some teachers teach from the book and others make learning come alive. Judie Zoromski, or Mrs. Z,  (say it fast and she’s called Mizzy), teaches science at Mary, Seat of Wisdom Grade School in Park Ridge, Illinois.

She is one of those teachers who gets it home to the dinner table. Her Friday Finale lessons make the “kids and their families live science.”

Mrs. Z taught for six years then took some time off to raise a daughter. When she went back to the classroom, she taught second grade for two years, fifth grade for two years and then “landed” in junior high science. She teaches 7th grade biology and 8th grade physics and chemistry.

She describes herself by saying, “as a person and a teacher I like to bring things to life and create a lot of excitement.”

When taking the science teaching job, Mrs. Z didn’t sit down and start writing out lesson plans, instead she looked for ways to make an impact on her students’ lives. In her research, she discovered our website, SteveSpanglerScience.com and from that Mrs.

A Behind the Scenes Look at Science Fair Judging

By Blog Editor Susan Wells

A few weeks ago, I was asked to be a judge at a local middle school’s 8th grade science fair. I was so excited to volunteer to take on title of Science Fair Judge for the first time.

I had no idea what to really expect or how to perform my judging duties as I drove to the school that morning.

This science fair consisted of honor science students’ projects. The two science teachers picked the top 20 projects out of their classes for the judges to interview, but the gym was full of project boards.

Before we began, I really enjoyed wandering around and looking at all of the projects. There were so many creative and unique ideas and all of the kids did a great job. I was glad we didn’t have to narrow the field based on the boards. That was a tough decision.

Judges were given sample questions, a few instructions and were then broken into groups of three to interview students

Can You Really Balance an Egg During the Equinox?

This is an encore posting of an article we ran in spring of 2010 about balancing an egg on the equinox. 

The first day of spring and the vernal equinox is this week. The vernal equinox marks the start of spring, an autumnal equinox marks the start of fall.  During the spring and fall equinox, the sun is directly over the Earth’s equator and day and night lengths are equal for most of the planet – 12 hours of light and 12 hours of darkness.

The earth rotates around the sun on a tilted axis, which doesn’t change. When the Northern Hemisphere is tilted toward the sun, it experiences warmer, longer days. When the Northern Hemisphere tilts toward the sun, the Southern Hemisphere is tilted away, experiencing colder and shorter days.

As the earth continues on its path around the sun, there are two points at which the sun hits the Earth perpendicular to the axis. When the earth is in this position, the sun is directly over the equator and there is an equinox. The earth then continues to tilt the opposite side of the sun and the seasons change to winter