Science Ideas

Can someone give us ideas on science which are geared for asthmatics and wheelchairs and home-bounds and so on. What does this exclude? Pets and nature centers and outings.

Now how does science tie in with all of the fun we're having doing medieval history? We know they began using simple tools for larger tasks, but how to study this? And the science experiments seem to sort of fall flat. When my lovely child says, so what Mom? What do I say?

Well, there's always cooking. Lots of scientific magic in the kitchen. How does bread dough rise? How does cookie dough turn into cookies?

Magnifying glasses and binoculars are fun tools, particularly if you give them to the child and let her use them as she sees fit.

Anatomy, health and nutrition are all easy to do at home. What good things does your body get from the foods you eat? When you have a cold, how does your body fight off the invaders? Where's your liver and what is it used for? There are inexpensive anatomical models and some very good books on anatomy. Tie anatomy and microbiology into the Renaissance.

Astronomy can be fun to do, right from your back yard. Star maps and books with the constellations, complete with myths and amusing stories. Bring Copernicus, Kepler, Galileo and the Catholic Church into it. We have a magazine that has photographs of all the moons of Saturn. They look like beautiful jeweled marbles.

Geology fascinates our daughters, particularly vulcanology. We have several good books about volcanoes and earthquakes. Living in California, we don't even have to take field trips to experience geological forces at work.

Fluid dynamics can be studied right in your own home. You can make a water rocket using an old plastic soda bottle, a cork and a basketball pump. Get a cork that fits snugly in the soda bottle. Fill the bottle about 1/3 full of water. Cork it and push the pump needle through the cork. Stand the bottle upside down, outdoors, and pump until the cork pops out and the bottle shoots into the air. They can go up 30 - 40 feet.

Most children like to experiment with lenses and magnets. Prisms are fun and they also demonstrate some basic facts about the nature of light. Colored gels for flashlights can be fun, too.

You can grow a carrot or sweet potato top in a cup of water. How about sprouting an avocado pit? You can grow real grass for your Easter basket instead of the plastic stuff. Line your Easter basket with plastic wrap, fill the basket with vermiculite (soil is too heavy) and sow grass seed in the vermiculite. If you start a few weeks before Easter, you'll have a luxurious crop of grass for your Easter eggs.

Given that your daughter is already science resistant, I wouldn't present any of these activities to her as science. Instead, I'd just pick up some books on various topics, get some science manipulatives and leave them lying around. You might want to choose a topic that interests you and explore it on your own, leaving your daughter to follow if she so desires.

We like cultural anthropology, and she loves people.

There are often good biographies of scientists. The history of science is pretty interesting. If you like people, learn about, say, Copernicus or Galileo or Isaac Newton.

Can science ever be made fun for us artsy types? Help needed.

There is no subject that is boring. They are made boring by people who don't understand them. The French say "I'm bored" by saying "Je m'ennuies", which means "I annoy myself".

Start with what you love. If you love painting, then you might want to learn about making your own paints. If you love rocks, then you might want to learn why different rocks are different. If you love roses, then plant genetics and physiology might come naturally.