Forced to Inquire

I was trying my darndest to think back to a time that I participated in science inquiry as an adult.  I was digging through some old photos and BAM.  I remembered that one time where I was forced to inquire.  SWARM OF UNGODLY FLYING MINI MONSTERS I MEAN CICADAS.  Do you remember that?  How could you not?

Begin cycle of "Eww!  What in the world?  I'm gonna take a picture!"

"Eww!  What in the world?  I'm gonna take a picture!" #1:

Well, I had a hunch, but it turns out that I did indeed catch these cicadas in a....private moment.  They were using their wings for some privacy and I just obnoxiously snapped a picture.  My deepest apologies to them, but I did learn that male cicadas have a drum-like thing in their bellies to call out to females to invite them, and a female gives him a thumbs up by rubbing her wings together in a certain way.  Neat!

"Eww!  What in the world?  I'm gonna take a picture!"#2:

This is the weirdest thing in the world, yes?  I thought that I had snapped a pic of the rare albino cicada, but after a little digging, I was disappointed to find out that this was not the case.  It turns out that teneral adult cicadas are white just after their final molt, but darken within an hour.  Still pretty cool, I suppose.

"Eww!  What in the world?  I'm gonna take a picture!" #3:

A cicada got stuck in my hair while I was driving.  Relationship over.

Vinyl Science

First, let me be clear:  I'm no audiophile.  But my boyfriend definitely is.  He tries to spark an interest in the subject in me, but I mostly just want to hear the damn song.

Still, I definitely have a favorite music consumption method, and that method is vinyl.  I'll admit, it has less to do with the audio quality and more to do with the feeling of vinyl (holding the album with giant, beautiful cover art, the mindfulness needed to flip the side b, etc.).  But Captain Audiosnob disagrees.  He thinks it's silly to fuss with vinyl when, in terms of sound, the simpler way does the job better.

But c'mon, is there really that much of a difference either way?

After having having this argument...I mean discussion, a million times, I was pleased to stumble upon this article from NPR (from Talk of the Nation).  Check it out!

"Spread your wings and fly, butterfly..."

I'm pretty anti "science kit."  For the most part, they just seem like a list of instructions for students  to follow and then at the end some sort of science happens.  It just seems like the antithesis of what inquiry-based learning should be.  However, I think that some of these kits might be useful as a tool in an authentic science learning experience.

These "grow your own butterfly" kits seem cheesy and ridiculous, but year after year I've witnessed pre-k learners have meaningful educational encounters with those little critters.  I think that it all depends on how we as educators use these kits.  If we go through the instructions and hand them a worksheet, then it is unlikely that much real learning is taking place.  But if we guide them to ask thoughtful questions, then we are creating a valuable opportunity.

By the way, I have a perfect butterfly survival rate record.  That's very rare, and I'm pretty proud.

The kits are for sale here for $14 (plus a free voucher and 7.95 shipping for the larvae).

Also, if you sang along to the title of this blog post, then we probably would have been friends as awkward preteens.

Bread and Butter

One of the very few memories that I have from kindergarten is making butter.  I remember being so proud when my mom came to our class Thanksgiving celebration and we buttered our bread rolls from the little glass container (that held baby food in its previous life) that contained the butter that I made myself.  Mostly, I was just amazed that I made it.  Though five year old me may not have grasped the exact science of the butter-making process, it definitely got me interested in cooking and introduced me to the relationship between food and science.

The above story came to mind while I was making homemade rolls on Thanksgiving.  I'm a fairly experienced baker, but baking with yeast is not something that I do super regularly.  I feel like it's mysterious and magical and finicky and I can never predict when it's going to come out well.  It either does its thing or it doesn't.  But when it does work out, I feel a little bit of that "Wooowwww, I did that!" feeling that I got from making butter.  However, I am not five anymore, and I thought that it was probably time to investigate just why my rolls this year were successful (Yes!).

The first proof was a little...underwhelming.  I was worried that my my loved ones would be forced to gnaw on doughy rocks while politely nodding with a forced smile.  The second proof however, was the bomb.  Those little suckers doubled in size and then some!  I brushed them with some honey butter and popped them in the oven.  Fifteen minutes later I had golden brown carb-y glory.  But why?  I did some sciencing and I'll spare you the full report, but essentially:  the second rise was more successful because I had the dough vessel sitting on top of the warm oven!  Apparently yeast is most active (feeding on sugar and releasing carbon dioxide) around 80 degrees and the extra heat from the oven helped out a lot.

So I now feel super confident moving into my next bread-baking experience.  I apologize for the lack of photos, but to be fair I was cooking like 7 things at once.  I feel like I should get a pass!  Here's the recipe that I used, though:  http://www.melissassouthernstylekitchen.com/honey-yeast-rolls/

The Most Magnificent Thing

If I had to choose a favorite book from all of the books I discovered when completing my bibliography project, I think that I would choose The Most Magnificent Thing by Ashley Spires.  It is the story of a girl who loves to create things.  One day she decided to make the most magnificent thing.  Only when she sets out to make it, she has a hard time getting it right.  She gets frustrated, melts down, but tries, tries, and tries again.  Eventually, with lots of persistence and some flexibility, she creates the most magnificent thing.  

I love this book.  It speaks to kids (and...ahem, adults) who sometimes need a reminder that it is okay to fail.  Especially when in pursuit of something great.

I also love this youtube video of the book.  It was animated by the students of Elmood School in Ottawa, Canada.  What an amazing extension!

Marble Mayhem

Welcome to perhaps the most equally frustrating and exciting class challenge yet.

Our mission:  Transport a marble down a six foot length of string with a 20 inch slope and have it land on a target.  The materials that we were allowed to use included:  about 8 feet of string, six inches of tape, scissors, a paper cup, two paperclips, an index card, a rubberband, and a coffee filter.

Jennifer, Jeremy #1 and I teamed up and started sketching out a plan.  Knowing that we would need a lot of time for trial runs, we came up with an option that everyone thought had a shot and got to work.  We attached the cup to a straw with a rubberband in hopes that it would glide smoothly down the string.  Our idea was to cut a hole in the bottom of the cup, nestle in a coffee filter strung with a paperclip pull, and put the marble inside.  Ideally, when we gave the string connected to the coffee filter a tug, it would have slid out, allowing the marble to gracefully glide onto the target.  Well, this is what actually happened:

We felt like our main idea was solid and just needed some tweaking.  We ditched the coffee filter, and wrapped the paperclip directly around the marble.  A few tries later...viola!

Though this may not be a solution that the author of the question would approve of, we stand behind it!