Orange you a little yellow?
Monday, March 3rd, 2008I knew a girl once who’s skin turned an orangey-yellow color because she had eaten so many carrots. I kid you not! This relatively benign condition is called Carotenemia. My friend’s yellow-orange skin hue was a tell-tale sign of a beta carotene overdose resulting from her over-zealous carrot consumption. Beta carotene, along with other plant pigments generally called […]
The Grosser the Better
Tuesday, February 26th, 2008It’s an incontrovertible truth that 10 year-old boys are endlessly fascinated by all things gross and disgusting. Why not use this to your advantage and have them learn a little science too? “Oh, Yuck! The Encyclopedia of Everything Nasty” by Joy Masoff, covers the science behind over 60 tasteless topics from flatulence to […]
What does one million look like?
Friday, February 22nd, 2008Kids are fascinated by really big numbers. In particular, ONE MILLION seems to hold a particular allure. It’s very difficult to illustrate large numbers in a way that makes sense to children. After all, most of us don’t have a million of anything just laying around. …Well, except for maybe dust particles!
Here are a couple of handy […]
I can’t believe my eyes!
Thursday, February 21st, 2008Whenever we go to our local Science Museum, which is fairly often, my kids always rush to the “Hall of Senses” exhibit first. In particular, the optical illusions displayed there never seem to get old!
The science behind our 5 senses is really interesting educational fodder. I think that kids of all ages delight in having their eyes fooled! Here are […]
The Good, the Bad, and the Eyeless
Saturday, February 16th, 2008
In my last post I described how we measure visual acuity in people. That got me wondering how well human eyesight measures up in the context of the animal kingdom. Here’s what I found out:
The Good
Birds of Prey, such as Hawks and Falcons are believed to have an acuity of around 20/2, which is about […]
Eyeglasses 101
Saturday, February 16th, 2008During his eye exam last week, the Optometrist told my son that his new prescription would correct his vision to better than 20/20. Today when we picked up his new glasses he asked me exactly what that meant. As with many of the questions my kids routinely ask me, I thought it better to research […]
Great Science Magazines for Kids
Thursday, February 14th, 2008If you are stuck for gift ideas for the science minded youngster, consider giving him or her a subscription to one of these great science magazines for kids. After receiving a sample subscription to Kids Discover Magazine, I bought my son a one year subscription and he loves it!
I will keep this site updated with […]
Color me smart: 5 reasons why things are the color that they are
Tuesday, February 12th, 20081. Why is the sky blue?
A. A clear cloudless day-time sky is blue because molecules in the air scatter blue light from the sun more than they scatter red light. When we look towards the sun at sunset, we see red and orange colors because the blue light has been scattered out and away from […]
