Model Cells

My four year old is starting to get interested in human biology, which is tremendously exciting to me. Of course he's already pretty knowledgeable about the excretory and digestive systems (in less fancy terms), but he's also fascinated by what he's learned about most of the organs and the skeleton. I've been trying to impart that all these systems are made up of smaller bits, called cells, but I'm not sure how much it's sinking in.

So to help illustrate this point, we made a 3-D model cell! This was an extremely easy project that was perfect for a preschooler attention span. I followed the guidelines here, but I know I've seen this activity written up elsewhere around the web as well.

What you will need:
Light corn or karo syrup
Two sandwich baggies
Assorted foodstuffs and toys for organelles
Picture of a cell for reference--I found the one below to be the right level of detail for our purposes:


What to do:
First put one baggie inside the other (there's your bilayer membrane!), and then fill with syrup (cytoplasm). Now, go crazy adding in your organelles!

I spent a fair bit of time organizing my ingredients, and trying to assign an object to each cellular component. I attempted to explain what each thing represented, and gave a very brief description of what it's role in the cell would be. Here's what we used:


And here's our finished product:



So, in the interest of full disclosure, my son was much more interested in eating leftover organelles than learning about the mysterious workings of the cell. I don't think he really absorbed anything other than "mitochondria make energy for the cell" and the term "golgi " (because come on, who doesn't find that funny?). However, we had a good time working on this together, and he loved squishing things about when it was done. I think this would be a fun activity to try again in a few years, when he will perhaps understand a bit more about basic biology.

The Colors of Fall: Leaf Extraction Experiment

Fall is in the air, and that means leaves are EVERYWHERE! For a kid, jumping into a freshly raked pile of leaves is probably the most exciting thing to do with them. However, here's a little activity with leaves that might be almost as much fun, as well as provide some insight into the science behind the changing colors of Autumn.

Leaf Pigment Experiment: (I found this activity here, and it was very easy to follow)

What you will need:
- leaves
- small jars (like baby food jars) or glasses (I used small juice glasses)
- cover for jars or plastic wrap
- rubbing alcohol
- paper coffee filter
- shallow pan
- hot tap water
- plastic knife or spoon

What to do:
The first step is to go outside and find some leaves! We (I did this activity with my four year old son) decided to get a few different colors and sizes. You will need 2-3 leaves of each kind.


Next, cut or rip the leaves into small pieces and place them into the glass or jar. I recommend ripping--this part was a lot of fun for everyone!


Now add enough rubbing alcohol to cover the leaves, take plastic spoon or knives and start to pulverize those leaves. You really want to break down the leaves as much as possible. After this process is complete, loosely cover your glasses and put them into their hot water bath (hot tap water in a shallow pan). But don't wander off! They will need some attention whilst soaking--make sure the water stays warm (replace if necessary) and give 'em a swirl every few minutes. Let the leaves soak for at least half an hour.


While the leaves are soaking, cut the coffee filters into long, thin strips. After the leaves are done with their bath, remove the glasses from the water and uncover. Place a strip in each glass, making sure it touches the alcohol, and gently tape the paper to the side of the glass.


Wait about 30-90 minutes, for the alcohol to evaporate and the color to travel up the filter paper. Here's what our filters looked like when we were done:


The color demarcation wasn't quite as impressive as I was hoping for, but our crude paper chromatography still yielded some interesting results. I didn't really discuss much of the HOW the extraction process worked with my son, but he understood that there were different pigments in the leaves which gave the them their color, and that this activity let us separate out those pigments. I'm glad we used a variety of leaves to see the different colors each sample produced. If we were to do this experiment again, I'd vary the size of leaves and the types of paper as well. Overall, this was a fun and fairly easy Fall activity!

Welcome!

We are Suzanne and Sharon, two scientific professionals (chemistry/physics educator and biomedical researcher, respectively) turned stay-at-home mothers. We are passionate about instilling our young children with a strong scientific foundation. The best way to do this, we feel, is to merely capitalize on little kids' innate curiosity about the natural world, and provide them with some FUN first forays into scientific thinking and experimentation.

Our goal on this blog is to provide a thoughtful compilation of resources for early science education, including reviews of helpful websites and publications, annotated experiments for you to try at home with your children using everyday items, and our own observations on making science entertaining. Follow along with us as we celebrate the joy of science!

Asking Thoughtful Questions

As a former chemistry and physics teacher, one thing I found to make a huge difference in helping students think about science (or really any) concepts is asking the right questions. I have learned that it's best to stay away from "yes" and "no" questions and focus on questions that require a more detailed response.

"What do you think will happen when I...."
"What happened when we....."
"Why do you think that happened?"

Staying at home with my 2 year old- I'm working on creating little science moments (not major science experiments that require a lot of setup) that will help her to start thinking like a little scientist. Many of my postings, will explain how I created these little moments and give examples of questions I asked her. One thing to note is that my two year almost never answers the questions "correctly"...but that's not point. My goal is not to make sure she has a deep understanding of density, light refraction, etc. (though eventually, I hope she will learn these things as she grows up). My goal for now is to help her to start thinking in a scientific way- which, I hope, will help her in all areas of life.

These science moments can be created most anywhere and anytime with a little creativity; at the park, in the car, in the kitchen, on the stairs, playing with toys, etc.