Photo courtesy of Mike Mozart on Flickr.
“So now we can’t eat mac and cheese. Is there anything we can feed our kids?!” That was the cry heard across the land from moms and dads who read the Scary Mommy or New York Times articles on phthalates in mac and cheese. Both of the articles are based on a report put out by a coalition of environmental groups concerned about toxic chemicals in processed food. (If you want to be super data-geeky, here’s the actual data.)
We have our very first guest post here at We’ll Eat You Up, We Love You So! It’s courtesy of Scott Beller, who is the “Chief Word Nerd” at the blog Raising Nerd. As a completely unabashed nerd myself, I was proud to write a guest post for him last week on inspirational female scientists in movies. He’s returning the favor this week, with a blog post that ties together three of my favorite things: Mystery Science Theater 3000, science and Santa.
My daughter giggled as she watched the gigantic blue and yellow egg hatch. The glowing blue larva emerged, surrounded by hundreds of worshipping natives on Infant Island. It was coaxed into action by two miniature, telepathic fairies in distress.
My daughter’s eyes widened.
“Is this real?” she asked, giggling some more.
This post explores the biology and ecology of feathers. It’s part of a series I’m doing on using everyday situations to help young kids explore science – particularly ecology and biology – more in depth.
The opportunity:
With birds winging their way south for the winter, it’s the perfect time to investigate their most unique trait: feathers. Find a feather on the ground to examine it!
The scientific context:
While feathers are unique to birds these days, they’ve been around for far longer. Unlike when I was a kid, scientists now think that many dinosaurs had feathers as well. Although they didn’t fly, dinosaurs’ feathers probably served many of the same purposes bird feathers do today.
This post explores the biology and ecology of seashells at the beach, including the animals who use them and how they create them. It’s part of a series I’m doing on using everyday situations to help young kids explore science – particularly ecology and biology – more in depth.
The opportunity
As the summer wraps up, many families head out to the beach. While you’re there, use the opportunity to learn about seashells and the creatures that once lived in them.
This is a series I’m doing using everyday situations to help kids explore science – particularly ecology and biology – more in depth.
The opportunity
PokemonGo, which is massively popular, is based on the idea of capturing wild animals and fighting each other for “research.” As a trained ecologist, I call shenanigans on the scientific validity of this method. But this fun game can help spark conversations about how real wildlife biologists study animals, including trapping them.
This is a new series I’ll be doing using everyday situations to help kids explore science – particularly ecology and biology – more in depth.
The opportunity
Baby bunnies are nesting under the slide at my son’s preschool.
The scientific context
Finding baby animals in the wild provides a great opportunity to teach kids about animal behavior and life cycles. Babies are adorable and wild animals are inheritantly engaging.