Science, Curiosity and Life
This week’s questions comes from the youngest junior scientist in the Science Wows household and he wants to know…
Why do we have five fingers?
As it is National Maths Week Dr. Simple is happy to be talking numbers.
References:
1. Why do most species have five digits on their hands and feet?
2. What if our hands had six fingers?
3. Why do we have ten fingers?
I have been asked a few times lately if I am going to recommence the Mystery Creature series on the blog…. so here it is. The idea behind this little series is that I post a new Mystery Creature at the start of each week and at the end of the week I will update the post to say what the creature was, along with a little information about it.
If you know what the Mystery Creature is then share in the comments below. It is all in the interest of learning and a bit of fun so feel free to ask questions, guess or even do some googling or research to find out the answer yourself.
Here is the Mystery Creature for this week… do you know what it is?
Update: Want to know what the creature is? Check out the end of week “reveal” to find out.
I recently became a member of the Netflix Stream Team and, considering the lack of quality viewing we have available from our current set up, there was great excitement when the apple TV and subscription arrived. We only have one “modern” TV in our house that could take the HDMI cable so we set things up on that one. It was surprisingly easy and painless and within just a few minutes I had registered our account online and we were good to go. I really liked that you could set your personal preferences and get individual profiles for each family member.
I was very excited about the wonderful line up of nature programs and documentaries. From Netflix own Mission Blue to The David Attenborough’s Life of Birds – I have so much to choose from. I loved the fact that I could add them to my list in my profile, ready to watch later.
So Netflix was installed and we were all set to go, the only thing I didn’t factor in was the rest of my family.
The children took to Netflix like ducks to water. The five year old had the tiny remote control sussed within minutes. For the first week he came home from school and, using his most “poor tired me” voice, asked could he have a little Netflix to unwind! I love the way he can watch an episode or two of a cartoon series and then he is happy to turn it off and walk away. He has discovered Rugrats and Lilo and Stitch, programs that never really made it onto his radar before as his older siblings tended to choose the viewing. There are also Netflix originals such as Turbo for him to enjoy.
I asked all three children what they thought of Netflix and here are their replies…
The five year old… I like having the remote, you can just watch what ever you want. If you turn it off (pause it) and turn it back on and you can watch the things you really like. Some of his favourites are Sonic, Jimmy Neutron and Sponge Bob square pants.
The eight year old… my favourites are Spongebob, Adventure time, and the fact that I can watch The Hobbit (he has notions that one!)
The ten year old… loves seeing new movies and rewatching old ones; her favourites so far are Brave, Open Season three and Wallace and Gromit
Then there was my husband…. when he realised that the last series of breaking bad was at his fingertips he was one very happy man. The only problem I had was that between the children and my husband I wasn’t getting a look in myself.
Hubby’s Netflix verdict?… he loves that there are no ads, that he can pause to make a cuppa and that if he turns it off it will resume in the same place for him the next day. Apart from Breaking Bad he has been enjoying some documentaries and was delighted to see Twilight Samurai (a personal favourite)among his viewing options.
Eventually I came up with a solution to the problem. I decided to put Netflix on the other (ancient) TV by streaming it through the Wii. I found these instructions on line and, with a fair amount of techno trepidation, I had a go. My fears were unfounded as that worked a treat too. Despite the children claiming “Oh great now we can watch Neflix on one TV while Dad watches his programs on the other!” I have put my foot down and claimed my space on the Netflix viewing couch.
With the colder nights settling in and the fire being lit it is nice to have the TV viewing sorted. I loved watching Brave with the children and when they go to bed Hubby and I have checked out a few movies and started into those Nature documentaries I mentioned (but there will be more about them later).
Last night we found a very interesting documentary called Life Below Zero – a reality adventure series follows individuals who’ve chosen to live in the remote Alaskan wilderness, miles from civilization. We are looking forward to catching another episode this evening.
So what do I like most about Netflix?… I love the fact that it is choice TV viewing on demand, no ads, no endless flicking through channels of nothing interesting. I like the fact we can watch what we want, when we want. I am really looking forward to watching those Science and Nature documentaries and checking out what else is on offer… now that I have got my hands on the remote!
Disclosure: As a member of the Netflix Stream Team I have received a years subscription to Netflix, free of charge, and an Apple TV, for streaming purposes. As part of Netflix Stream Team I will be posting monthly updates on what we are watching and what is on offer. All opinions expressed will be my own.
Halloween is all about dressing up and sometimes you just need a little fake blood to really set an outfit off. We love making our own and with a little science knowledge you can get just the right consistency and colour that you are after.
You will need…
What to do…
This is one of these experiments that does not come with an exact protocol, just add the following ingredients until you are happy with the appearance of it, then apply and freak out all your friends!
When you think you have the fake blood just the way you like it do a little test on a white cloth or tissue and adjust further if necessary.
If you want to experiment a little more try making your own fake blood choosing your ingredients from the following list:
So what is happening?…
The trick to making good fake blood is to get the colour and consistency right. The food colouring, washing up liquid, cocoa powder, ribena, peanut butter and ketchup will all influence the colour of the blood. You want to get a dark colour, deep red colour so the chocolate and green food colouring will often give the red a darker effect.
It is not just about the right colour though, the consistency of the blood is important too. The cornflour will thicken the blood and make the colour more transparent, as will the peanut butter, syrup and washing up liquid.
The fun is in mixing and changing until you get your ideal fake blood, then apply and freak out your friends and family, all in the name of Halloween fun.
Enjoy!
With a name like “Glowing Monster Slime” you just know this experiment is going to be fun! Just look at the photos if you need any convincing!
You will need…
*You can pick up the borax powder in your local chemist (See note below)
What you do…
To the first cup add half a cup of fluorescent paint and half a cup of PVA glue and mix well.
In the other cup add half a teaspoon of borax powder to one cup of water and mix well until all the powder is dissolved!
Now for the fun bit… pour the glue mixture into the bowl then add the borax solution, mixing all the time.
After a while you can use your hands to mix and mould until you have one big lump of slime and there is little, or no liquid left!
You can store your slime in a ziplock bag or clean jar, it lasts a very long time once you do not let it dry out. You may notice a small layer of liquid separating off the top of the stored slime. This can just be poured off and the slime will become a little more rubbery and less sticky.
If you have a UV light (black light)** you can make this experiment even more fun by checking out how your slime glows in the dark once the lights go out and the UV light is turned on.
So what is happening?…
Congratulation… you have just experimented with polymers!! In simple terms a polymer is a substance made up of lots of molecules arranged in long chains. If you imagine that the glue is like cooked spaghetti, it slides and slips around the place quite easily. When we add the borax to the glue it causes some of the molecules in the glue to stick together making the glue more rubbery and less liquid! Imagine if you took those strands of spaghetti and tied them together in places, the strands would not be able to slip and slide around nearly as much! The borax and glue mixture is just like your knotted spaghetti!
*Where can I get Borax powder?
In Ireland you need to buy Borax powder in a pharmacy. The production is a little erratic and the larger volumes are no longer available! You should be able to get a 100g tub in any pharmacy and it costs between €2 and €3.
**Where can I get a UV light?
This experiment is lots of fun without the UV light but the glow in the dark bit really does take it to a different level. My youngest nearly burst waiting for the night to fall so we could do that part of the experiment. If you are considering buying a UV light you should be able to get one fairly cheaply. I got mine from Maplin. I will be sharing lots more glow in the dark experiments, so if you do get one remember to check back here for some more ideas.
I hope you enjoy this as much as we did and please let us know if you do try it out!
UPDATE 2017: Borax powder is no longer as readily available in Ireland. here is one alternative, using very simple ingredients… check out this post on how to make silly putty.
Or check out our Ultimate Slime Guide for lots of fantastic slime recipes using contact lens solution or laundry detergent.
It has been a little busy in the Science Wows household of late but now it is time for some fun! We are off to Carlow on Friday for the Carlow Autumn Walking Festival (I’ve been invited on the blogger tour by Green and Vibrant) and we are all very excited. Only two more sleeps! I wrote recently about my love of Autumn and a bit of the science behind how the leaves change colour so I think it is a wonderful time of year to hold a walking festival.
Amazingly, I have never been to Carlow although I do have some friends from there and anyone I have asked seems to rave about it. These photos are certainly selling the area to me (as if I need convincing to go on a family weekend away with lots of outdoor activities to keep us all happy and entertained).
Before we had children, myself and Mr. Science Wows often headed off on walks and climbs around our local counties. More accurately, he walked… I followed, blindly!… some times to my near peril and once down a mountain (one of the twelve bens) in complete darkness, with the reassurance that “it’ll be grand!”. Mr. Science Wows told me that if we did get into difficulty we would not be able to call out the mountain rescue squad as his mum was a member and it would just be too embarrassing.
Nowadays things are a little calmer but as our children get older we are able to increase the activities we can do together. That is why this weekend is so appealing. There are a number of walks available, for the novice to the advanced and plenty we will look into as the children get older. For now though there are a couple that have really caught our eye….
…A Walk on the Wildside with Mary White, environmentalist and walking enthusiast, will include foraging for delicious edible greens and fungi, learning about the native trees and mammals around the area, identifying wild herbs and checking out the flora and fauna of Kilbrannish Woods. This is a two-hour (7.5km) C graded leisurely walk
…Walking with Wildway Adventures – Green Walk 11, a two-hour leisurely walk with Una Halpin from Wildway Adventures.The 6km stroll will begin at Clashgranny Lock and take in the trees, plants and insect life along the Barrow Way and through the Borris House Estate, ancestral home of the ancient Kings of Leinster, the MacMurrough Kavanaghs.
Our weekend will include more than walking as there are a number of other activities available. We are really looking forward to a canoe safari trail on the river Barrow. We have dabbled in canoeing on previous family holidays but usually one of us was left holding a baby and waving from the bank. This time round it will be all inclusive as the event has been developed with families in mind.
We also plan to hire bikes to round off our active weekend. Our youngest decided to dispense with the stabilizers this Summer and due to his stubborn persistent nature, perfected the art in no time. We have travelled with bikes before in Ireland and in France but this time we will be getting five bikes for our family of five and we will all be pedalling under our own steam.
We love cycling as a family activity and the fact that we will be off road in Carlow is a great reassurance as we will be able to relax and enjoy the wonderful scenery knowing the children are safe.
It is easy to forget about all the wonderful activities available to us in our own land but Ireland really does have so much to offer. For us this festival will really tick all the boxes for the entire family:entertainment, outdoor activity, exercise and lots of nature. It seems that a lot of thought has gone into planning this event to appeal to the young and not so young, the novice to the experienced with plenty of fresh air included free for all!
For more information on the event check out these two blogs by Greenside Up and Vibrant Ireland. You can see all that is available on this online brochure or you can go directly here to pre-book your chosen events.
If you want to share or follow the event the hastag is #WalkCarlow
Schools, children, parents, teachers… listen up! There is a great competition (by Reel Life Science) running at the moment where pupils from both primary and secondary schools are invited to make a three minute science video with a chance to win €1000 for their school.
The competition is a wonderful way to get pupils, their schools, and families interested in Science from a new perspective… from behind the video lens. Launched last year in Galway the competition was so successful it has now gone nationwide!
The competition is broken down into a number of different categories so there is a lot of scope to develop and document your own favourite scientific topic.
PRIMARY SCHOOL TOPICS
SECONDARY SCHOOL TOPICS
If you need some inspiration there have been a number of guest posts from professionals in each area sharing some of their research or opinions on each topic. You can check them out here.
There is even a post from Dr. How’s Science Wows to help inspire you on the topic of Science in the Garden. However, I enlisted the help of some resident “experts” so you may find it more humorous than inspiring. Check it out here if you want to see what happens when you combine “mischief” and science!
This is a fantastic opportunity and is a very unique competition in Ireland, so please spread the word and get your school or classroom involved.
CLOSING DATE FOR VIDEO SUBMISSION IS FRIDAY OCTOBER 17th SO DUST OF YOUR LENS AND PUT YOUR THINKING CAPS ON AS IT IS TIME TO LET THE CAMERAS ROLL.
You can check out the Reel Life Science website for tips, advice and guidelines or follow them on twitter and facebook to keep up to date!
Dr. Simple is back with another really cool question. This one comes in from Jill, who can often be found here, when she is not pondering such questions as….
why does your voice sound different on the radio?
So if, like me, you cringe when hearing your voice from any recording then sit back, tune in and check out what Dr. Simple has to say on the matter…
Happy Autumn Equinox! With all this lovely weather we have been having it was easy to forget it. I thought it was apt that the weather became more chilly today as it is the official Autumn Equinox, marking, for many, the start of Autumn.
I have written before of how we Irish like to define the seasons in our own bizarre ways. The same post also describes what an equinox is, if you want the nitty, gritty detail. Personally, I judge the seasons more by the cues in Nature and I certainly have noticed the birds starting to gather for their migration, the days beginning to shorten and the leaves on the trees beginning to change colour. I always thing the colour display of Autumn is worth the colder nights and darker days.
Did you ever wonder why and how the leaves change colour? Well it turns out I wrote about that too, in my first ever blog post. Today I get to share it with you again while joining in a blog linky by lovely fellow Galway blogger, Aedin, over at Minis and Mum, as she invites people to share their first ever post in celebration of her lovely blog’s three year anniversary.
So here is a repost of mine…
CARROTS, CABBAGES AND CUPS OF TEA…
It’s funny how Autumn comes around every year and I realise how much I love this time of year…. it’s as though I seem to forget I like it all throughout the other seasons. Of course we have had a particularly nice Autumn this year in the West of Ireland and maybe that has re-enforced my happy memories of the season. The days have been bright and crisp showing off all the beautiful colours in all their glory and splendour.
I grew up in Co. Wicklow surrounded by some beautiful deciduous woods and forests and this Autumn has really brought my childhood memories flooding back. My mother brought us often to the woods as children and we would hunt around for hidden treasures and delights to bring home and turn into some “masterful” collage in homage to the season. There was also the foraging, a distinctive primordial instinct in us all, there is nothing as pleasing as returning home with your bounty… be it blackberries or sweet horse chestnuts- to be turned into jams and tarts or painstakingly peeled off all nasty layers to reveal the divinely sweet, fruity, nutty delight beneath. In fact the joy that came with eating the nut always made it suddenly worth your while to start the arduous task of peeling all over again!
…and I hope that I will never outgrow the delight of running, kicking, shuffling through a crisp new crop of fallen leaves!
Carotenoids are the pigments responsible for the orange colour of carrots. If carotenoids are present their colour tends to dominate leaving the leaves yellowy and orange.
In the absence of carotenoid, anthocyanin is the dominant pigment. Anthocyanin (the same pigment found in red onions, red grapes, red apples and red cabbage) is a natural pH indicator, meaning that it can change colour depending on the levels of acids or bases/alkali in its environment. In fact one of my favourite experiments that I often do with children is to demonstrate this colour changing using anthocyanin extracted from red cabbage (but that’s a whole other blog in itself). At the beginning of Autumn the levels of sugar in the leaves tends to be quite high, increasing the acid levels in the leaves, this strengthens the red colour of Anthocyanin if it is present in the leaves.
At the end of Autumn the leaves die off and the levels of carotenoids and anthocynins die off too, leaving another pigment to dominate… and this is the brown pigment of tannin, the same pigment that give a cup of tea it’s colour!
We have come over a little healthy of late in the Science Wows household, the adults anyway! #Freefrom this and #freefrom that and of course caffeine is out. Which means herbal teas are in; and the best thing about herbal teas is that you can do this with the teabag…
Seriously, if you were only ever to do one experiment from this blog, make it this one!!!