Science Wows is all about sparking children’s natural interests in Science!
It is learning while having fun!Whatever the event, whatever the venue it is Hands-on Science for children. Party entertainment, school visits, fun days, corporate events …. there are even local science camps during school holidays.
If you can’t explain it to a six year old, you don’t understand it yourself”
That is (apparently) one of Einstein’s many quotes. It took me a while to realise just how true these words are, but once I did I was able to marry a love of writing with a love of science. I discovered that once I broke things down to their most simple components
Dr. How’s Science Wows was set up by me (Naomi) in 2011. My background is biochemistry with a PhD in Molecular Biology; I have worked in the Medical Diagnostic Industry and lectured at third level colleges but the crux of what I do lies in many years working with children; from two to 20 they all have one thing in common…. curiosity!
This week’s Mystery Creature was the indian Purple frog (Nasikabatrachus sahyadrensis). A very unusual looking frog found in certain parts of India;
Here are ten facts about this unusual creature…
1. The Indian purple frog is so called because it tends to have a dark purple colouring. It is also referred to as the purple frog or the pig-nose frog.
2. Unlike most frogs the body of the purple frog is round and bloated looking, with a very small head and short, whitish snout like nose. The legs of the purple frog are short and protrude out from the side of the body, the hind legs are strong with wart like lumps that appear to aid digging. They have partially webbed feet with rounded toes.
3. The tadpoles of the purple frog have oral suckers to allow them live in fast flowing streams.
4. The purple frog spends almost it’s entire life underground – only emerge for about two weeks at the start of the monsoon season (around May) for mating; The frog’s strong hind legs are used for digging, acting like shovels and scooping the earth out of the way, as the frog reverses into the newly created tunnel. It can burrow up to 3.7 metres below the surface. The frogs need soft, moist soil; a dry, hard terrain makes digging impossible for them.
Unlike most other burrowing frogs the purple frog feeds underground. They eat mainly termites which they are thought to suck up with their fluted tongue. The diet also includes ants and small worms.
6. Purple frogs grow to no more tham 7cm in length. They are sexually dismorphic, the males are smaller than the females (about a third of the length of females).
7. During the mating season the males use sound to attract females. They start their calls from underground, giving a very unusual sound, like a chicken or wild fowl.
8. These reclusive creatures are listed as endangered species – threatened mainly by deforestation for coffee, cardamom and ginger.
9. The purple frog is considered a living fossil. It provides evidence that Madagascar, the Seychelles and India were all part of the same land mass at one point. Genetic analysis confirms that their closest living relatives are frog species found in the Seychelles.
Ancestors of the purple frog shared the earth with the dinosaurs; These frogs are unique in that they have evolved independently for over 130 million years, surviving mass extinctions and the break up of a continent. Their solitary life underground has probably been their saving grace.
10. Despite the fact that the purple frog species has been around for 130 million years, it was only formally recorded as a species in 2003.
I saw 2014 out with a bit of reflection, now it is time to look forward with some predictions and projections (let’s call them anything but resolutions). My first thought when starting this was to keep it short and simple, I am doomed to fail if I make more than a few “changes”. Clearly I have failed already…. I finished up with ten! But they are necessary and they overlap… in places… if you look hard enough. Just trust me and take a look!
1. TIME, TIME, TIME
OK, so I have learned that I can’t make more of it but I really have to work out how to manage it a lot better. This year my focus is on compartmentalising my time, dividing my day into its appropriate parts and then sticking to it. Working when I should be working, cleaning when I should be cleaning and most importantly, being a present and calm mum when my children are around me.
This leads me to the second point… to stay calm. I find that the further behind I slip on my to-do list the higher the stress levels. Remembering to simply take a few deep breaths can quickly ease the stress… I just have to work on making it a habit!
New research shows that lungs are the primary excretory body for weight loss with a staggering 84% of fat burned off in the body released as carbon dioxide; this definitely gives me double the reason to remember to take some daily deep breathes in 2015.
3. JUST SAY NO
No I am not starting an anti-drugs campaign, I just need to learn to use the word a little more (except when talking to my children, then, apparently, I use the word all the time). I have a tendency to just keep saying yes to every request, adding projects and tasks to my list, thinking I will manage. This year I hope to be more realistic – taking on less and achieving more.
I am all about memories, I have even written about them here a few times. But sometimes I am so busy creating new memories that I forget to stop and remember the ones I already have. Technology is great… these days you can capture a moment with so many different devices and within minutes they are safe in some form of cloud storage. But that is where too many of mine are ending up… in the clouds! This year I hope to actually write moments down a little more or even print some photos out and update our wall art a little.
I even received a cool new present to help me out on this one… (once I have read the manual!)
6. ME, ME, ME
This one is predictable I know but we could all do with a bit more me time right? I plan to find simple ways to look after myself a little more which brings me on to…
7. KEEP IT REAL (OR MAKE IT DO-ABLE)
This is usually where I fall down. I come up with some of the best plans that are going to turn me into everything I ever wanted to be. But then I fail! The secret, as I have finally learned is to keep it real. I know me well enough to know my own limitations. I have placed skipping ropes beside my laptop as I work (they go unused as the timer beeps).
I have failed to implement changes even when they involve things I actually want to do. So now I know I have to keep it simple… and do-able. Here is one example… every year I say I’ll dance more as it is something that really lifts my spirits, but I never seem to do it. But if I put on some funky tunes while I do the dishes then it might just work… I just can’t help but shake this booty when it’s all about that bass!
8. BE IN THE MOMENT
This will be my hardest challenge. If anyone had to ever spend more than a few moments in my head (*shudder) they would agree. But time (there it is again) is moving quickly and my babies are growing fast. I have so much in life to be grateful for, I just want to take the time to enjoy what I do have, when I have it.
It just so happens that my other half trains people in mindfulness meditation… I think it is about time I tap that resource and find out what it is really all about! This time next year I could be a whole lot more zen baby!
9. FEEL THE FEAR AND DO IT ANYWAY
Corny I know but we all succumb to self doubt, right? Some more than others, maybe. It has certainly been knocking on my door of late; but I have some new ideas for Science Wows … some big plans for 2015 and although they fill me with both fear and excitement I am determined to give them a shot. I’m ready to dive right in and hopefully when I look back at the end of the year I will have reached the shore.
10. TURN IT AROUND
We all have traits within ourselves that are perhaps not the kind we like to brag about. I have come to acknowledge and accept mine (or most of them). It seems they are not for shifting, so instead I am planning to use them to my advantage. I am planning to put my pig headed (teeth gritting) stubbornness to good use… and call it tenacity. Last year I used it to increase my fitness, change my diet and even slim my waist a little. I may have slipped off that wagon but knowing I have the tenacity to do it makes me look forward to taking on the same challenge in 2015.
I also have a bit of a hang up with anything to do with numbers. Getting those five a day into my kids used to literally keep me awake at night. If I don’t keep myself in check then blog stat watching can get to obsessive levels. This year I am planning on using this numerical OCD to my advantage, by tracking my daily activity. Another nifty present I received over the festive season will hopefully allow me monitor movement, activity, sleep and all that jazz. Once I can get some numerical feedback there will be no stopping me… with daily, and even hourly targets to set myself I can change my figure while watching the figures (sorry couldn’t resist that one).
This post is part of another linky… a great idea from the wonderful Busy Mama blog with the theme of Imagining the New Year. Click on the image below to see what other people have in mind for 2015… well worth a look.
This time last year I was deciding whether to continue blogging, or not, and now another year has gone by and I am so glad with my decision. This year blogging has really become a way of life, an integral part of me; when I lived in France (sooo many years ago) I knew I had made a leap in learning the language when I started thinking in French. I felt the same way this year about blogging, I realised I was ‘thinking in blogs‘.
So, time to reflect on my second year of blogging and what better way than to take in the 14 from ’14 blog linky by the wonderful Sadhbh from Where wishes come from blog. It has been a good year, here is the journey…
The most popular experiment on the blog was this one.
2. FAVOURITE POST
It is very hard to pick a favourite but if I could narrow it down these are my top three…
Mum, marigolds and memories… Mother’s day gave me the opportunity to tell my Mum just how much she means to me!
The Science of Imagination – is it more important than knowledge?… you only have to watch children at play to observe the wonder of imagination. It is a subject that fascinates me, especially since I became a mother. This post was in my head for a long time and finally I got to put it all together in once post. I was happy with the results and the response from others too.
Three little words… sometimes the blog acts as a diary of important moments and events. Writing them here I have somewhere safe to store these memories. This is just one simple example.
3. FAVOURITE PHOTO
They say a picture tells a thousand words and to me this picture says it all; the people I love in a place I love during a wonderful and memorable family day out this Summer. It was included in a post where I let the pictures speak for themselves.
4. BEST ADVENTURE
This year we were very lucky to go to the Carlow walking festival as part of a blogging tour set up by Green and Vibrant. It was such a great experience it required two posts to cover it all… as we got to go on a canoeing safari and a family cycling trip, all in one weekend.
5. FAVOURITE EXPERIMENT
We had so much fun in the Science Wows house this year creating and testing experiments to share on the blog. Most of them are found on the Fun Friday spot; Again it was hard to pick just one so here are my top three from 2014…
I was not even sure this one would work but as I was set the challenge by Dee Sewell from Greenside Up I had to have a go and was really pleased with the results!
At Halloween we decided we wanted to make our own glow in the dark slime, we were all delighted with how our recipe worked and it has been a big hit with children and adults alike! It was great to receive photos and message from people who had tried this one out with their children too!
We had a real laugh with this one… especially when I offered it up for dinner in the Science Wows house!
There have been some unusual search terms that lead people to my blog… here are my three favourites from this year…
“How many hugs a day do you need to survive?” – I really love how important hugs are to that person, literally life or death, I like the way they are thinking! I suspect this was the post they found.
“Maggot hair rabbit extraction“… I have absolutely no idea what that search term means nor do I know which post it lead to!
“Goblin juice density” … I imagine that search arrived here but unfortunately there was no recipes for Goblin juice to be found, even worse, no reference to its density!
7. FAVOURITE COMMENTS
I am sooo delighted when I see a comment pop up on my blog so a huge thank you to everyone who has commented this year! Some of my blogging highlights include a number of articles for The Journal; It was a great experience for me but as always, when you put yourself out into a bigger domain you open to all kinds of comments. For the most part I was lucky with the comments I received. My favourite comments were in response to this article on appreciating the simple moments in life!
The post on the blog that received the most comments was this one, part of Learner Mama’s blog linky on lessons of parenthood!
8. BEST MOVE
There were BIG moves for Science Wows this year… in February I moved the blog from blogger to Word Press, and amalgamated it with the Science Wows website as well. It was definitely a good move, but took a lot of time to get used to!
9. FAVOURITE CHANGES TO THE BLOG
Apart from the BIG change to Word Press there were other changes around here. A new character arrived on the scene in June, the every-geeky Dr. Simple was created to answer a science question in just 30 seconds. I was delighted with the very positive response he received and plan on having him around a lot more in 2015!
Dr. Simple
I also created a “school corner” on the blog; although I had a good idea of how I wanted it to look it took a good bit of tweaking to create what I had in mind. I love a good challenge and am very pleased with the end result.
10. BEST BLOG MOMENT
There were many but top of the list was probably making it to the finals of the Blog Awards Ireland, in the Education Category and attending the awards in Clane in October. I got to meet up with many bloggers I had previously only know virtually.It was a great night and a great blog high to get that far!
This year something I wrote got a mention on Ryan Tubridy and lead to an on line interview on The Spin 103.8 radio. I even had five seconds of fame with a tv appearance on RTE junior during Science Week.
11. MOST BIZZARE BLOGGING MOMENT
As I mentioned, there were radio interviews and a tv appearance for me this year, leading to the most bizzare blog related moment in 2014. The radio interview with The Spin 103.8 was conducted by phone from Mallorca and required me to literally hang out of a top floor window in order to get a good mobile reception;
12. FAVOURITE TITLE
I do not come up with the most creative of blog titles but perhaps a favourite is “Like the scientists on da telly” a tongue-in-cheek look at the reality of life in a lab compared to how it is portrayed on tv.
13. FAVOURITE INFOGRAPHIC
The great thing about the blog is that it has reintroduced me to another hobby of mine, graphics and design. I had great fun designing logos and layouts and creating Dr. How and Dr. Simple. This year I have dipped my toe into the world of infographics. Nothing too big or complex but enough to light up my creative side. I hope to expand on this in 2015 but my favourite so far is this one… “Should we be burning plastic? That is the burning question!”
14. WHAT MY BLOG DID FOR ME IN 2014
When I look back over this year of blogging I am really happy with what I see. The new blog design and format are still a work in progress but I am pleased with the way the blog is developing. Writing for The Journal and talking on the radio are certainly nice achievements from my second year of blogging. For me though, the best thing about the blog is the people it has introduced me to; this year I got to meet some virtual friends “in the flesh” and they were even more lovely than I imagined. That it is why I love getting comments and interactions through the blog, either directly here, or through social media. It makes the experience of blogging more interactive, more alive and more human.
So thank you all for your support, encouragement, questions and comments through 2014… without you all this blog would just be words on a page. Your support and interaction give my words a new dimension and this year I hope I get to meet even more of my virtual friends.
I wish you all a happy, healthy and fulfilling 2015!
This post is part of a blog linky hosted by Where Wishes come from, one of my favourite blogs by a very creative lady! There are many great 14 from ’14 posts included in the linky, just click on the image below to check them out… that’s my new year’s day reading sorted 🙂
Christmas is finally here, or almost. We have made it to the final day and the excitement is mounting by the hour. Businesses close, friends and family arrive and last minute shopping is performed with lightning speed. Adults tally gifts, count the seats around the table and check that there are enough brussel sprouts for all. Children meanwhile think only of Santa and his all-important cargo that will be dispensed this very night. If their minds wonder to food at all it is usually just to consider what treats they will leave out for the big man and his furry friends. In this house the current dilemma is whether Santa would prefer a mince pie or some Christmas cake. There is no debate in the Science Wows HQ about what to leave out for the reindeer though, that was sourced in yesterday’s adventure. The children ventured out in the wind and rain, up the lane, through the fairy field and into the little wood with the plentiful supply of LICHEN; Rudolph and his friends will be well fed tonight!
In the spirit of this festive season, I thought it might be nice to share a few facts you may not know about our red nosed friend and her buddies.
LIKING THE LICHEN!
Lichen is the staple food of Reindeer (or Caribou); there is even a type of lichen named after them, called “reindeer moss”. Most species of reindeer also eat grasses, mushrooms and mosses; Just like cows, reindeer “chew the cud” first digesting half chewed food into one stomach, only to regurgitate it, chew it some more and swallow it into another stomach.
ON THE HORNS OF A DILEMMA
Unlike other deer species both male and female reindeer usually have antlers. The males lose theirs in Winter, (usually at the end of the mating season in early December) but the females keep theirs until after they give birth, in the spring; that is why all Santa’s reindeer must be female as they still have their antlers on 25th December!
Reindeer antlers are a bit like human fingerprints, no two are exactly alike! They are made of bone with a rich supply of blood and can regenerate fairly quickly. Reindeer antler growth and regeneration has been much studied in the areas of science and medicine in particular. Deer antler velvet be given in the treatment of such conditions as rheumatism, sports injuries and weakened immune system and is being studies for possible application of certain cancer treatment.
OH BABY IT’S COLD OUTSIDE
Reindeer are very well adapted to their cold habitats. In winter months their fur grows longer and the hairs of their winter coat are hollow, helping to trap air and insulate from the extreme weather conditions. The fur around their muzzles grows also protecting their airways from the bitter cold air. They can also alter their blood circulation allowing a higher core temperature to be maintained in their upper body.
Reindeer have an acute sense of smell, allowing them to detect lichen under the very deep snow. Their hooves are well adapted to digging in the snow, changing in structure during the colder months to assist in shovelling through the snow, as well as improving their traction on the frozen ground.
During the colder months reindeer migrate south. In fact some reindeer species migrate further than any other terrestrial animal, clocking up more than 900 kilometres in one year.
Reindeer are the only mammals that can see UV light which helps them detect a number of facts in their “winter wonderland” environment, from food to predators.
Whatever you leave out for the reindeer this year, or at what angle Santa lands on your roof, I hope that you all have a very happy and healthy Christmas (or with a new phrase I learned “Happy Elbow”).
As a child Christmas was always my favourite time of year. As an adult I think it still is… the lists, the planning, the choosing of gifts, the food, the lights, the parties…. and the tree. My husband seems to think that if I was left to my own devises our house would look like an exploded Christmas cracker! I will concede that Christmas may be a time for going a little over the top… from food and festivities to (over) decorating! For me Christmas is also about memories…. The recent ones, the distant ones, and the ones we have yet to make! One common feature in many of my own Christmas memories is the Christmas tree.
My very first memory contains a Christmas tree… it was my third birthday and I remember sitting by it, playing with a newly received present and turning my back on all my little party friends.
For many years as I grew up, Christmas day meant a big breakfast in my Nanny’s house. My Nanny was a wonderful woman with a very big heart and a very small house but she always filled it with family. She had 35 grandchildren and instead of buying each and every one a gift, she would let us pick something from her Christmas tree that she would fill with lots of little trinket. One year in particular stands out for me…. I picked a little satin purse with the image of a little girl on it. That little purse has stood the test of time and every year since has had a place on our Christmas tree. Even now as I am all grown up and have a tree of my own, I always take a moment, as I place it on the tree, to remember the wonderful woman who gave it to me.
Fast forward a few years and I got the chance to buy and decorate my very first Christmas tree. I was in my early twenties and sharing a house with two other student friends. We all decided we had to have a REAL tree to get the full effect and got a little carried away while choosing it (they DO all look a lot smaller when viewed outdoors!). We chose the biggest tree we could find but had to cut half of it away just to get it in the front door. Another few branches had to be trimmed to get it into our tiny sitting room and still more to stand it upright. We could hardly fit into the room with it but oh how we loved that tree. The closest we could come to Christmas carols was a Bing Crosby CD we found so we played it on a loop and danced around the house decorating every surface we could find. Perhaps inspired by my Nanny and her “TARDIS” like home, that little house held many a Christmas party, bursting at the seams with the number of people contained within… and always under the twinkling lights of an oversized, over decorated tree.
These days the student Christmas parties have been replaced with more family friendly celebrations. We love putting up the tree together – we are still getting a very large tree but at least the tree can actually fit in the door of our family home. As the boxes of decorations come down from the attic the excitement increases… a treasure trove of memories just waiting to be rediscovered. We decorate and marvel at our carefully chosen tree, with Christmas carols blaring in the background and hot seasons drinks and treats to add to the festive fervour. Adding to the Christmas glow is the knowledge that we are creating new Christmas memories for us all.
Every year, as we decorate the tree, myself and my husband chuckle away as we recall a Christmas memory our first born son created for us. When he was one he became truly fascinated with the big tree with the sparkly lights that his parents placed in the corner of the room. Whenever he could escape he would sit under the tree and placing a Christmas light in his mouth. We would turn around to see a little boy sitting quietly, his two cheeks glowing from the bulb. He used to have such a serene and contented look on his face.
This Sunday we will all go together to pick our tree and spend the afternoon decorating, admiring and remembering. We will prepare for the big event by making our own new decorations to add to the tree, a fairly new tradition we have kept up over the past few years.
Homemade Crystal decorations
Perhaps this Christmas, we will create another new memory or two to carry fondly with us into future Christmases, yet to arrive. Memories are great stories to share so that is why I am inviting you all to share some of your Christmas memories with me. If you want to join in this seasonal linky just write your post and click on the blue button below to add it to the list. There is even a badge (below… just click, save and use) you can include in your post. Of course you don’t need a blog to get involved, feel free to add your memories to the comments below!
If sharing these linky posts on social media please use the hash tag #christmasmemories.
Add the linky badge to your blog post
I hope you all get to make many happy new memories this Christmas too!
It’s beginning to look a lot like Christmas around here and already I am looking forward to the Christmas unwind! Lots of food, lots of family time, roaring fires and plenty of chilling in front of the TV. With the knowledge that Netflix will be releasing a new kids series on 19th December I think we have a least some of the viewing sorted! I am looking forward to this new series myself actually as the star of the show is non other than King Julien… the lovably, all singing, all dancing lemur from the movie Madagascar!
King Julien is here to party, and no one can stop him from ruling with an iron fist … in the air, wavin’ like he just doesn’t care! All Hail King Julien brings the wild world of Madagascar to a totally original, totally hilarious and totally insane television series in which the king takes on the craziest adventures the jungle has to offer. With a new cast of fantastic, colourful characters joins King Julien himself, along with his second-in-command Maurice, and the eternally devoted Mort. It’s a riot of colour — not to mention a laugh riot!!
To celebrate the release of “All Hail King Julian” Netflix will be hosting a coronation party at the Odeon Cinema at The Point Village on Sunday, 14th December. And YOU could be going too as Netflix are giving my lucky readers a chance to win tickets for a family of four to the “All Hail King Julien” Premiere and a 1 Year Netflix subscription. Woohoo… don’t you just love Christmas?
To enter just scroll to the end of this post and follow the instructions BUT be quick as the competition closes at 12 pm on Sunday 7th December.
While you wait to see if you are the lucky winner you can brush up on your lemur facts with this little infographic…
And here is how you win just click on the link below…. Good Luck!!
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.
It seems the subject of space travel is everywhere at the moment. Here are just a few topics that have cropped up in my time line in the last few weeks.
COMETS
Firstly there was the timely and obliging space probe that landed on a comet right in the middle of our national Science Week, but for a while it looked like an inappropriate fashion choice would overshadow the momentous occasion.
Image credit: ESA–C. Carreau/ATG medialab
It was always an ambitious project of the European Space Agency (ESA), to get the rosetta spacecraft to rendez vous with Comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko, but, after ten years in space it arrived at its destination on 4th August 2014. Even more spectacularly, Rosetta sent out her Philae Comet lander which successfully landed on the comet on 12th November. The initial joy turned to fear as the science team involved, watched by the rest of the world, realised that Philea did not stay in the initial landing point but “bounced” along the surface on the comet, coming to rest, finally, in the shadow of a cliff. There was much worry as to whether the probe would receive enough sunlight in that location to power all its scientific equipment expected to perform a series of investigative experiments on the surface of the comet. In the end all fears were allayed and all data was collected and transmitted back to earth. The team were able to heave a collective sigh of relief, marking a new line in the history of space exploration. Hopefully the event will be remembered for its scientific breakthrough rather than the #shirtgate hash tag it spawned.
MARS
I really enjoyed a conversation last night with my nine year old and his friend as we discussed what our favourite planets were and could we really live on Mars. When I spotted this video I had to share it with him and it certainly made him giggle.
THE MOON
Speaking of space travel, it would seem that the moon is now back on the map for space exploration, this time spearheaded by the UK and funded by the general public. The very ambitious Lunar Mission One project plans to use crowd funding to finance a trip to the moon. The original mission will be a robotic exploratory project with plans to drill deep into the moon’s surface (possibly as deep as 100 Metres). The lunar rock that will be mined from these depths is expected to be about 4.6 billion years old and it is hoped that it will shed new light on the original formation of the moon and indeed the earth and the entire solar system.
The incentive for potential funders is obviously to be part of such exploration, but, as an added bonus, each person who pledges money will be able to include something into a public archive, a type of time capsule that will be buried on the moon during the mission. This archive will include information on must of our planet’s historical events, as well as DNA from people who have funded the project.
NASA SPIN OFF TECHNOLOGY
Of course NASA take credit for the original moon landing and a lot more besides, but did you know that a lot of items of everyday use stem from technology originally created for space exploration? This infographic lays it out really well and I was certainly surprised at a lot of the items listed.
INTERSTELLAR – SPACE EXPLORATION ON THE BIG SCREEN FOR CHRISTMAS
It would seem that space exploration is a hot topic in Hollywood too with the recent release of Interstellar. In the movie the mission is to travel farther than ever before to find a new home for humanity as earth will cease to support life within one generation. To travel these distances the team must use wormholes, a theory that some hope will one day become a reality. The expert advice on this one however is that wormholes, as we know them would never be able to support human travel. They would require more negative energy than space can provide, in order to stay open long enough to allow such travel.
It is Science Week in Ireland this week and to mark the occasion I thought I would share out top five science and nature picks from Netflix.
Our Netflix Science and Nature picks
1. The Human planet (BBC Production)
We are loving this documentary series covering the life, habitat and customs of a diverse number of tribes and cultures;from the tree dwelling Korowai tribe of Papua New Guinea to the Bajau people of Indonesia who live their entire lives on boats on the water.
2. Africa
Anything with Sir David Attenborough is worth watching and this series is yet another gem. There are some wonderful and “never before” scenes covering the night life of the rhinos (who knew that males are known to adorn themselves with antlers to impress the “ladies” down by the local watering hole) and a spectacular fight between two male giraffes.
3. Mission Blue (Netflix original)
An eye opening documentary with some wonderful under water footage with an honest and startling look at human impact on our oceans.
Oceanographer and eco-activist Sylvia Earle’s urgent mission to expose the dire condition of Earth’s oceans is captured in this documentary directed by Fisher Stevens, Academy Award-winning producer of “The Cove,” and Academy Award nominee Bob Nixon. Earle explains that the condition of our oceans, rapidly dying due to pollution, over-fishing, and acidification, is an ecological catastrophe soon to have a devastating impact on all life on Earth.
Mission Blue
Sylia Earle is an articulate and inspiring woman ….
“If you take something apart to see how it works, always remember to keep all the pieces so you can put it back together again; when we take the ocean apart we are loosing the pieces … we will be unable to put it back together!”
“If we continue as ‘business as usual’ we are in real trouble”
“no ocean – no life”
4. The life of Mammals
Another documentary featuring Sir David Attenborough, this time looking at mammals, from the well known to the bizzare, including two of my favourites (and previously mentioned here on this blog)… the only two monotremes (egg laying mammals)… the Echidna and the duck billed platypus.
5. Virunga
This is brand new, just streaming on Netflix since Friday 7th November. We have this bookmarked as our Friday night Netflix treat!
Netflix is teaming up withLeonardo DiCaprioto release the documentary Virunga. The film from director Orlando von Einsiedel centres on the conflict between park rangers striving to protect endangered gorillas from poachers and industry encroaching on their habitats in Virunga National Park in the Democratic Republic of Congo.
The film follows an embattled team of park rangers at Virunga National Park, home to the last of the planet’s 800 mountain gorillas, as they work to fend off encroaching forces of industry, poaching, corruption and war. The award-winning film debuted at the 2014 Tribeca Film Festival, earning a nomination as Best Documentary Feature, and was named Audience Favourite at Hot Docs Film Festival and Best of Fest at AFI Docs, among other awards.
So there are just five of our current favourites but there are so many more to choose from, we will be back with more very soon. And of course the best thing is that it doesn’t have to be Science Week to watch them… you can watch these documentaries any time you want!!!
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.
And we’re off! Science week 2014 officially kicks off today. Dr. How’s household has been busy preping for two weeks of school science fun, bringing The Science of Sound into 15 schools. I had a house full of kids today, all happy to help me put the finishing touches to things 😉 The children made a bowl of oobleck and I showed them the effect of sound on this non Newtonian fluid. I love the reaction from children and teachers when we do this experiment in school and I will share it with you later in the week.
The fun of ooblecks
The workshops will include buzzing balloons, singing pipes and a whole lot of making noise! If I am not coming to your school you can still catch the workshop at the NUIG Science and Technology Festival Exhibition on Sunday 23rd November.
