The other morning I was out walking with Tesla in the woods when we hit a patch of prairie. The thistles are in bloom, and a busy buzzing bee brought my eyes to the flower below, but by the time I got my camera phone out, she had flown off. And then I noticed this 2-inch long grasshopper taking his morning sip of nectar from the flower. I don't know that I've witnessed that before. A photo posted by Kim Moldofsky (@kimmoldofsky) on Sep 2, ... [ Read More ]
Sponge Balls and Cicada Killers
Today I'm over at Bedtime Math showing you how to make sponge balls, a fun, easy and green alternative to water balloons! I also recently shared how to turn a summer hot dog meal into something crazier, but still simple. In other news, although I don't plan to coach entomology again next year, the award-winning girls on my team have a year-round interest in insects, so I try to stay attuned to that. When I find, say, a dead moth on my ... [ Read More ]
Bugs: A Pop-up Book
As a recent Science Olympiad entomology event coach, I look at creepy crawlies insects in a new light. So when the folks at Candlewick Press offered to send me a review copy of Bugs: A Stunning Pop-up Look at Insects, Spiders, and Other Creepy-Crawlies (affiliate link) I eagerly accepted. Bugs, written by George McGavin and illustrated by the detail-oriented Jim Kay, is surprisingly informative for a book that's only 12 pages long. And don't ... [ Read More ]
Silkworm Science Fun with Little Ones
In keeping with the theme of tomorrow night's 8/21/12 #STEMchat on Twitter, raising kids who love science, I thoughts I'd share a silkworm science experiment (gone partially awry) that we did six years ago when my newly minted 7th grader was just a wee elementary schooler. Inspired by Linda Sue Park's wonderful book, Project Mulberry (affiliate link), and my young boys' classroom study of the Silk Road, we decided to raise silkworms for a science ... [ Read More ]