Journey to Mars – A Collection of Resources for Teaching and Learning About Mars
Earlier this year SciShow Kids published a series of four videos all about Mars. To wrap-up that series SciShow Kids recently published a compilation of all of those videos in one video titled Journey to Mars. I’ve embedded that video below. The compilation video above doesn’t include an earlier SciShow Kids video about Mars. That […]
Why Wet Dogs Are Smelly – Another Lesson Inspired by My Daughters
Spring and summer so far have been exceptionally wet here in Maine. It’s starting to make us all a little nutty. Regardless of the weather, our dogs still need to run around and go for walks. A few days ago I took our dogs for a walk in the pouring rain. When I returned my […]
Three Fun Science Lessons to Try This Summer
As of yesterday afternoon both of my daughters are now on summer break. We have lots of plans for doing fun things this summer. We’ll be riding bikes, going fishing, visiting Story Land, and going to a couple of science museums. There will also be days when we don’t have anything planned. On those days […]
Kindergarten and the Summer Solstice
Tomorrow is my oldest daughter’s last day of Kindergarten. We’re going to celebrate with ice cream! We might also stay up and play outside a little later tomorrow. We can do that because it won’t get dark until late in the evening as it will be the longest stretch of daylight of the year. That’s […]
Designing a Mars Rover
A couple of weeks ago I published an all about Mars post that included a video from SciShowKids titled Meet the Mars Rovers! SciShow Kids has published a follow-up to that video. The follow-up is titled How to Design a Mars Rover! How to Design a Mars Rover! explains to elementary school students how scientists […]
All About Mars
Earlier this week SciShow Kids published a new video titled Meet the Mars Rovers! The short video explains to elementary school students what a Mars rover is, what they’re used for, and some basic background information about Mars. The notes below the video on the YouTube page for it include links to lots of helpful […]
The Science of Gardening
Every year we plant a small vegetable garden in our backyard. Some years it does better than others. There was a year when it seemed like we were picking seven cucumbers a day. Last year the cucumbers didn’t do well, but we had cherry tomatoes by the gallon! Our kids like helping in the garden […]
Short Lessons and Activities for the Start of Spring
The snow in our yard is at least two feet deep right now. This was concerning to my youngest daughter who asked me on the way to school, “can we have spring if it’s still snowy?” My answer, of course, was that spring will still start even if our yard is buried in snow. That […]
Get Ready for Groundhog Day With These Short Lessons
Tomorrow is Groundhog Day! Those of you who teach pre-K or early elementary grades you may have some students who are as excited about it as my pre-K and Kindergarten daughters are. If that’s the case, you may be interested in watching the following videos that provide brief explanations of the origins of Groundhog Day. […]
A Virtual Owl Pellet Dissection Activity
For the last couple of weeks my oldest daughter has been eagerly anticipating the opportunity to dissect owl pellets at school. She was supposed to do that today. But we have a snow day today. None-the-less, her excitement this week has reminded me of a couple of helpful owl-themed resources from my archive. An old SciShow […]
All About Reindeer
My daughters are very excited for Santa and his reindeer to visit our house tonight. We’ll be leaving out snacks for him and his reindeer. Last year they spent weeks asking if reindeer are real. Since then they’ve learned that reindeer are real, but only Santa’s reindeer can fly. Last year I let my daughter […]
Fun Facts About Turkeys – And a Digital Turkey Project
We frequently have wild turkeys come through our backyard. And almost as frequently one of my dogs will chase them until they fly off. I was recently telling a friend about this pattern and he said, “I didn’t know that turkeys can fly.” That’s actually a pretty common response if you don’t live where wild […]
Lessons to Answer Common Questions About Fall
Yesterday morning my youngest daughter and I were walking one of our dogs when she asked a question that her older sister asked a couple of years ago. That question was, “why do we have fall?” I did my best to explain it to her (she’s four, five next month) in terms that she could […]
Fun With Soda Pop – A Nice Weekend Science Experiment
SciShow Kids recently published an updated video about a “classic” science experiment. That experiment is dropping Mentos candies into a bottle of soda pop. But before doing that and explaining what happens, the video briefly explains how beverages are carbonated and why the bubbles stick to some objects better than others. If you’re looking for […]
Why Do We Get Dizzy? – Another Question from My Daughters
We’re going to Storyland today for the sixth or seventh time this summer (it’s one of our favorite family activities). My daughters love to go on a ride called the Turtle Twirl. I don’t love it because it makes me quite dizzy and feel a bit of nausea. I’ve seen many other parents gingerly walk […]
Double Rainbow Lessons!
My daughters love rainbows. They have rainbow dresses, rainbow bracelets, rainbow stickers, and anything else that can have a rainbow on it. So they were super excited last week when we saw a double rainbow from our front porch! (You can look on my Instagram for better pictures of it than the one in this […]
Short Lessons About the Longest Day of the Year
Perhaps my favorite thing about living in northern New England is the amount of daylight we have in the summer. I enjoy the early sunrises even more than I do that late sunsets (before I had kids it was the other way around). The longest day of the year is coming up and if your […]
Unpoppable Bubbles – Another Fun Summer Science Lesson
Last week I shared a handful of resources for building solar ovens. The week before that I shared some at-home summer science lesson resources from Discovery and 3M. Today, I have another summer science lesson resource to share with you. Earlier this week SciShow Kids published a new video titled Unpoppable Bubbles. In the video […]
What is Lightning? – Another Question from My Daughter
On Saturday we had the first thunderstorm of the summer at our house. I made it back from a bike ride just as the thunder and lightning started to crack overhead. The storm prompted my five-year-old to ask, “what is lightning?” We tried to give my daughter a short explanation that lighting is electricity traveling […]
Pickles, Popcorn, and More Food Science
Like many four-year-old children, one of my daughters is a picky eater. Cucumbers are one of the only vegetables that she’ll eat these days. She’ll also eat pickles. In fact, she loves pickles! That’s why I was happy to see SciShow Kids release a new video all about pickles. What Are Pickles? is the latest […]
We’ve Got Worms! And More Questions from My Daughters
Earlier this week we had some relatively warm days and were able to do a little spring yard work. My daughters like to try to help with some of it. But like most four and five year old kids, they quickly get distracted. Such was the case when they discovered some worms under some leaves […]
The Mystery Pollinator!
This morning my local television news station broadcast a segment about hummingbirds and when to put out hummingbird feeders. We always put out a few hummingbird feeders every summer so I watched the segment with slightly more interest than some of the other filler stories they show every morning. One little aspect of the story […]
Maple Syrup Sunday! And Maple Syrup Sundaes
Today is Maple Syrup Sunday here in Maine. It’s a day when many maple syrup producers open their operations to visitors. All of them offer some type of educational program about the production of maple syrup. Many of them will have samples of their products. My favorite one has maple syrup ice cream sundaes! A […]
Winter Scavenger Hunts and Bingo
The sun is shining longer in the northern hemisphere these days. We’re really starting to notice here in Maine where the sun is still shining when we’re having supper. That means it’s slightly warmer in the afternoon and we have more time to play outside after school. In other words, it’s perfect for going on […]
Making Snowflakes and Sundials
Last week I shared a couple of good places to find ideas and plans for at-home, hands-on science lessons. Here’s a couple more ideas to try courtesy of SciShow Kids. In this SciShow Kids video students learn how a sundial works and how they can make their own sundials. The video could be the basis for […]
Questions From My Daughters – What Are Freckles?
Last night one of my daughters asked, “what are freckles?” I did my best to explain that freckles are spots of melanin in our skin. Of course, I then had to try to explain to my five-year-old what melanin is. She then asked why she has freckles and one of her classmates doesn’t. That was […]
Anesthesia and Tonsils
One of my daughters had a tonsillectomy this week. Prior to the surgery we talked with her about what was going to happen that day and why she was going to get so much ice cream afterwards. She’s too young to really understand the science of how anesthesia works, but she did understand the idea […]
Whiskers and Transcripts
One of the many things that I love about being a dad to two little girls is all of the questions they ask me. Many of their questions are about things that I haven’t thought about in decades. For example, the other night my four-year-old asked about our cat’s whiskers. Specifically, she wanted to know […]
All About American Buffalo
I read Steven Rinella’s American Buffalo: In Search of a Lost Icon last week. It’s a fascinating book about the history of humans’ relationship with American buffalo (bison) in North America. The telling of the history is intermixed with Rinella’s own stories of finding a buffalo skull in Montana, visiting historic buffalo jumps, and hunting […]
Reindeer Facts and a Ride With Them
My daughters are very excited for Santa and his reindeer to visit our house tomorrow night. We’ll be leaving out snacks for him and his reindeer. For weeks they’ve been asking if reindeer are real. Reindeer are real, they’re just not capable of flying like Rudolph and his pals (I leave that part out when […]
All About Cats and Dogs – A SciShow Kids Compilation
SciShow Kids has produced a lot of fun and educational videos over the last six years. I’ve featured some of those videos in blog posts. Some of my favorite are the videos about animals including those about cats and dogs. In their latest release, SciShow Kids combined some of their previous videos to create one […]
Why Do We Have Winter? – Another Question from My Daughters
Yesterday afternoon I was playing outside in the snow with my five-year-old daughter when she asked, “why do we have winter?” She didn’t ask in a complaining way (she loves playing the snow), but in a genuinely curious way. My short answer was that where we live on Earth is tilted away from the sun […]
Solving Problems With Simple Machines
A couple of weeks ago one of the most popular posts of the week was A Cute Series of Videos About Engineering. That post was about a SciShow Kids series containing a lesson about what engineers do and two lessons about using engineering to solve problems. This week SciShow Kids released a new video that […]
The Science of Cake! – And 83 Other Food Science Lessons
If you ask my five-year-old what she wants to be when she grows up she’ll say, “a cake maker!” She’s been helping decorate cookies and cakes since before her third birthday. She loves it when we let her watch clips of The Great British Baking Show. That’s why I was excited to come across an […]
Questions from My Daughters – Why Do We Sneeze?
My daughters ask me lots of questions that I haven’t thought about since I was their age (4 and 5). Many of those questions I write in a list titled Questions from My Daughters that I have saved on my phone via Google Keep. “Why do we sneeze?” is one of the questions that my […]
What Would We Eat on Mars? And Other Fun Science Questions
Long-time followers of my blog have probably noticed that I really like the videos produced by SciShow Kids. Their videos cover a wide range of science topics and almost all of them answer questions that elementary school students are apt to ask. For example, one of the recent releases from SciShow Kids asks, “what would […]
How Rockets Fly – And DIY Model Rockets
This morning Jeff Bezos is blasting into space on a new rocket designed by his company, Blue Origin. The BBC has a succinct overview of how the rocket is designed to work. For a kid-friendly explanation of how rockets work, turn to SciShow Kids. Last week SciShow Kids released a video titled How Do Rockets […]
A Few Short Lessons About the Longest Day of the Year
It is going to be warm and sunny here in Maine today. That temperature will make it feel like summer a few days before the summer solstice. Many refer to the summer solstice as the “longest day of the year” when they really mean “longest period of daylight in a day.” But that’s beside the […]
A Great Series About Redwoods
The Redwood National park is one of the natural wonders that I hope to share with my daughters in a few years. While the tall trees are the “stars of the show” there is much more to the redwood forest than just the trees. SciShow Kids recently released a series of videos that explain the […]
All About Plants – Three SciShow Kids Lessons
Spring has finally, fully arrived here in Maine. Our flowers are in full bloom and this weekend we’re putting together garden boxes for growing vegetables. Planting flowers and vegetables is a great way to spark kids’ curiosity and to develop some hands-on learning experiences. If you can’t plant flowers or vegetables with kids, but want […]
Sherlock Bones – A Virtual Owl Pellet Dissection Activity
One of the great things about living where I do is that a walk in the woods is always just a few steps away. One of my favorite things about walking in the woods is finding all kinds of neat, natural things including dropped moose and deer antlers. While those are rare finds, I do […]
A Sweet Science Project
My daughters, like almost all children, love candy! So my daughters and I are going to attempt to make our own rock candy this weekend. They love doing little projects like this and I’m hoping that they’ll like this one as well. The inspiration for doing this came from watching a recent SciShow Kids episode […]
Build a Solar Oven – Hands-on Science Project
This week SciShow Kids released a new video about a favorite hands-on science project, building a solar oven. As you might expect, the video explains the science of using solar energy and explains the basics of how to build a solar oven. However, the video isn’t quite detailed enough to be the only source that […]
Edible Glass Hearts and Other Lessons About Valentine’s Day
Valentine’s Day is this coming Sunday. My daughter’s preschool is having a little celebration on Friday during which little cards will be exchanged. She’s very excited about Valentine’s Day as is her little sister. As I write this they’re making Valentine’s Day cookies (with supervision). Another Valentine’s Day activity that they could be doing (with […]
Four At-home Science Experiments for Kids
Winter in Maine has lots of short and cold days. While I take my kids outside for sledding and skiing as much as possible, we still need to keep a list of fun indoor activities. That’s why I subscribe to the SciShow Kids channel on YouTube. It regularly features science experiments that are perfect for […]
The Growth of Mount Everest – A Math and Geology Lesson
Mount Everest is nearly a meter taller than it was a day ago. No, it didn’t actually grow a meter overnight. China and Nepal have agreed on a new measurement for the height of Mount Everest. There are at least two lessons that can be developed out of this news. One of the reasons for […]
Learn About Exploration and Compasses by Making Your Own
Today, many of us just use an app on our smart phones when we need to get directions and navigate from point A to point B. Most of our students have never experienced getting directions in any other way. So they may be surprised to learn that we used to use maps and compasses to […]
Three Video Lessons That Are Full of Poop
SciShow Kids has long been one my favorite YouTube channels for elementary school science videos. It went on hiatus for a while then it came roaring back a few weeks ago. One of the new releases on SciShow Kids is all about dung beetles. That, of course, brought out the ten-year-old in me and I […]
SciShow Kids Returns Next Week!
A little over a year ago SciShow Kids, one of my favorite YouTube channels, announced a hiatus. I thought that was going to be then end of the channel. Much to my surprise this afternoon I saw an update from the channel announcing its return. SciShow Kids returns next week with new videos for elementary […]
A Super Shark Lesson for Kids for Shark Week
Every summer Discovery runs a week of programming all about sharks. They call it Shark Week and it usually has some interesting content even if it is a bit sensationalized. That said, my daughters won’t be watching it with me and I don’t recommend it for other young children. But if you are looking for […]
Vacation Project – Build the Coolest Machine Ever!
I know that the vast majority of you are on vacation right now. I also know that many of you have children who will be looking for fun things to do during vacation days. SciShow Kids has a couple of videos about hands-on science projects that kids can do at home. The first video is […]
How Frost Appears on Plants – A Science Lesson
Here in Maine we’re way past worrying about frost in the morning. That’s because we’ve already had a few snow storms. But some of you may have frost on plants in the morning. SciShow Kids has a new video all about what causes frost to appear on plants in the fall. By watching It’s Time […]
What are Spices and Herbs? – And What is Pumpkin Spice?
We are in full-blown pumpkin spice season here in New England. Everywhere you look stores are selling pumpkin spice coffee, donuts, cakes, candles, and anything else that spice can be crammed into. This, of course, begs the question “what is pumpkin spice?” That’s the question that is addressed in the latest episode of SciShow Kids. […]
How Submarines Work
SciShow Kids is one of my favorite YouTube channels for kids. SciShow Kids publishes a steady stream of science lessons for elementary school students. The latest video lesson from SciShow Kids is all about how submarines work. The video does a nice job of covering the basics of how submarines are sunk and how they […]
SciShow Kids Answers “Why Do Animals Have Tails?”
My daughters and my dogs’ tails have a close relationship. Sometimes that relationship is tested by a quick grab of a tail and sometimes tested by a swishing tail to the face. But no matter what, my dogs always wag their tails when we come home. That, of course, begs the question, “why do animals […]
4 Fun Summer Science Activities
Now that summer is here in the northern hemisphere it’s a great time to go outside for a science lesson. SciShow Kids has four suggestions for outdoor science lessons. In Fun Summer Science adults and children can learn about the science of bubbles, kites, ice cream, and solar energy. Each segment includes an explanation of […]
DIY Solar Updraft Tower – A Hands-on Elementary Science Lesson
SciShow Kids has a playlist of videos titled Super Simple Machines. The videos in that playlist feature explanations and demonstrations of simple machines that students could make in your classroom. One of those videos is Spin a Wheel With Sunlight. By watching Spin a Wheel With Sunlight students can learn how solar energy can be […]
A Hands-on Science Lesson for the Spring
When I was in Kindergarten we grew marigolds in Styrofoam cups and took them home in spring (probably for Mother’s Day, but my mother will have to confirm that detail). I was reminded of that little project when I watched a new SciShow Kids video. Earlier today SciShow Kids published a video titled Grow Your […]
Squirrels!!! Why Are You Digging In My Lawn?
Along with the birds returning my yard, the squirrels and chipmunks are starting to dig around in my lawn. The same thing might be happening in your students’ yards too. SciShow Kids has a new video that explains why squirrels are dormant for much of the winter and why they dig in the spring and […]
A Couple of Short Lessons About Changing Seasons
Today is the first day of spring in the Northern Hemisphere. Although the five foot tall snowbanks around my house make that hard to believe. Why do we have seasons? What causes the changes in weather patterns throughout the seasons? The answers to those questions and more are found in the following SciShow Kids video […]
Why Do We Get Sick? – A Lesson for Little Kids
My daughter and I have colds right now. While she’s still too young to understand why she has a cold, it won’t be that long before she does. When she’s older, I might show her this SciShow Kids video that explains to kids why we get sick and how to prevent getting sick. Applications for […]
How to Make a Terrarium
Build a Tiny Plant World! is the title of a new SciShow Kids video. The video explains how plants stay alive inside of terrariums and what you need to create your own plant terrarium. The video does a good job of explaining what students will need to create a terrarium and the elements within the […]
4 Fun Facts About Reindeer
Thanks in part to Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer some children don’t believe that reindeer (caribou) are real animals. SciShow Kids seeks to remedy that in their latest video 4 Facts to Know About Reindeer. Through the video kids can learn why reindeer are called caribou in North America. The lesson also teaches students how reindeer […]
A Handful of Lessons on the Water Cycle
SciShow Kids is quickly becoming one of my favorite YouTube channels for educational videos for kids. The most recent video released on SciShow Kids is a concise explanation of the water cycle. The video, titled Where Does Water Come From?, explains how clouds are formed and why water is released from clouds. The video also […]
One More Halloween-themed Lesson – 4 Fun Facts About Ravens
A couple of weeks ago I shared four Halloween-themed video lessons from SciShow Kids. This morning I discovered another SciShow Kids video that falls into the same category. In 4 Things You Didn’t Know About Ravens students can learn that crows and ravens are not the same bird and how to tell the difference. The […]
Four Halloween-themed Lessons from SciShow Kids
SciShow Kids is a YouTube channel produced by the same folks behind the massively popular SciShow. SciShow Kids offers short video lessons on a variety of topics from animals, to space, to fun science experiments that could be done with a parent or teacher. Recently, SciShow Kids organized a playlist of videos covering topics that […]