Curiosity Zone

Gas & Ants

2011-03-31T15:41:00.003-04:00

I learned two very interesting things so far today. First -- ants -- there are a lot of them around this time of year. I learned that they like to live up inside flower pots. Russ noticed a bunch of ants in our sunroom, so we watched them march to find the source. Hmm, they seem to be going under that big pot over there but not coming out the other side. Lift -- ugh! -- ant colony in the house. Is it possible to have a million ants in one place? Pot is now outside. In a timely twist, I also read a fascinating blurb about ants in the Wash Post this morning -- apparently farmer ants herd aphids like cows and "milk" them using their feet and antennae for a syrupy substance they produce called "honeydew." They keep them anesthetized with a susbtance the ants secrete, and clip the aphids' wings to keep them from flying away. Now that is dern interesting! Curiosity Index: 10.

Ok, so my second lesson of the day was about gas. We had a lovely propane leak today at the house as well, and I learned that you can isolate the leak by spraying a soapy solution on the pipes. If there is a leak, you get bubbles. We got bubbles. So I am now home waiting for Amerigas. Ah, the joys of living off the grid with a propane tank. At least the leak was outside. And a funny problem to have this week, because we are studying gas in classes this week at Curiosity Zone. . . .

Dirt & Stripes

2011-03-30T12:19:00.001-04:00

I was thinking about our garden adventures this weekend, and trying to calculate in my head how many hours I spent rolling around in the dirt. At one point my stepdaughter, J.M., said, "Memoo (they call me Memoo), what are you doing?" I was actually accomplishing something -- pruning hollies, spreading mulch, clearing dead branches, fertilizing. . . . But it never occurred to me NOT to throw myself down into the dirt while doing those things. Literally, on my front and back, rolling around. So then I thought - wow, maybe that's not normal. Fortunately I have a couple of friends in my life who remind me that it's OK to be a little odd. Makes me think, though, of all the parents out there who tell their kids not to get dirty, or not to roll around in dirt. Come on, moms and dads, it's fun! Let a little unbridled energy flow! I was also sad this weekend when I was repainting our old mailbox and suggested we add stripes -- both Russ and J.M. cringed like they'd never heard anything so dumb. Come on, what's wrong with a striped mailbox? Who says mailboxes have to be black? I'm just saying. . . .

Planting Seeds

2011-03-29T20:45:00.001-04:00

The kids and I had a great time getting the garden ready this weekend. We kicked off the project by planting lots of seeds in one of those starter kits from Home Depot. They sell trays now with neat little shrunken peat pellets that expand and crumble into dirt when water is added. That was a big hit at our house -- kind of like those instant capsules that dissolve in water and expand into creatures -- except this was actually useful. It gave us an opportunity to talk about inventions and design -- I'm sure someone has a patent for that cool expanding pellet idea! J.M., our fifth grader, carefully picked out the plants she wanted to start, and was so interested in the different sizes and shapes of the seeds. She carefully planted them and drew a grid to map what was planted where. She also used a little math to figure out how many seeds she needed for the allotted garden space that she had. Later we had a good time in the garden when we moved a few pieces of wood that had been stationary all winter and found bugs and worms everywhere. This led to a discussion of who eats what, where bugs go in winter, and how worms eat. Good questions all!

Late Night

2009-12-03T02:17:00.001-05:00

I am up late tonight (2 a.m.) trying my best to finish up a pile of work. I seem to forget every year how much work the holiday toy season is. It seems like so much fun going in, asking kids to flip through our catalogues and carefully hand-picking every toy that will appear on C-Zone's shelves. But man, once you order everything, deal with the inevitable blowback from the wholesalers, then get the toys in and have to unpack, process, price and place somewhere on the shelves -- whew, it's a lot of work! Add in our holiday open house this Friday (4:30-6:30), a visiting relative and the imminent launch of our record company's new website -- and wow, I just need a dern nap. My profound science observation of the night: caffeine really does keep you awake. I was also curious about what's making my hair suddenly go grey from the tips in, but I haven't had time to research. Anyone know? By the way, our new series of experiment videos is live now -- this one shows how to turn science projects into cool holiday gifts. Check them out in the experiments section of our website at http://www.curiosityzone.com/. The bath bombs are the best -- so much fun!

Great Green Globs on Live TV

2009-11-13T11:07:00.006-05:00

Miss Angela and I had fun yesterday appearing on Channel 8's Let's Talk Live! We blew up a globby green volcano, then walked through how to make bath bombs. You can watch the video and get the experiments on our website, http://www.curiosityzone.com/. We felt a little conspicuous trudging through the streets of Rosslyn with a large bottle of vinegar and a box of beakers and test tubes. . . . And then of course there was the Noreaster that blew my "camera-ready" hair into a soggy wet mess . . . . (Sadly, the underground parking for the studio's building was full.) The studio, which is Channel 7 and Cable Channel 8 combined, was fascinating. We saw a lot of familiar faces, including Arch Campbell and Joe Witte, and of course, Natasha Barrett and Doug Mckelway, hosts of Let's Talk Live. Everyone was so kind and friendly; it was a wonderful experience! Though the situation was very fluid -- I'm sure TV folks are used to things being very last minute, but Miss Angela and I had to stay very focused to get everything set up on time and staged appropriately. We had almost no idea what to expect in terms of setup and timing. I was thrilled that they let the segment go for more than 8 minutes, but at the same time, I had no idea whether I was supposed to keep talking, or wrap things up, or let them talk, or. . . . It was fun to see the hosts really get engaged in the project and have some fun. I even got them to wear silly goggles! It was fun to meet the other people who were appearing on the show as well -- it is so true that everyone has a story to tell. The most nerve-wracking part was setting everything up while a live show was broadcasting about 10 feet away. You can't help but think -- oh gosh, what if I knock this thing over! It's funny how big sets seem on TV when actually they are tiny areas all strung together - maybe 15 x 15. Fascinating stuff all the way around to see behind the scenes. I'd give this whole experience a Curiosity Index of 10, and would encourage everyone to go on a studio tour at some point. And when you are watching TV, wonder about who or what is immediately to the left or right of the person talking, just out of camera range. You might be surprised!

Appearance on Let's Talk Live

2009-11-11T10:14:00.002-05:00

We just got word that we've been invited to do an appearance on Channel 8's Let's Talk Live tomorrow (Thursday). I would love to bring the kids with me, but I suppose it's not worth pulling them out of school. Though I know they would love to see a real TV studio! I took them to a recording studio a few months back when we were producing our first podcasts and they loved it -- they even put on the headphones and recorded some dialogue. Anyway -- the show airs live tomorrow from 12-1. Not sure when our segment will be, but it will be approximately 5 minutes long. We've been running around trying to figure out what experiments to do. . . . We want to focus on putting science into the holidays. I have to arrive "camera ready" which means lots of makeup -- but how much?? If I look like Frankenstein tomorrow, it's because I have no idea what I'm doing!

We Met the Nuts

2009-11-10T12:43:00.000-05:00

Author Mary Rand Hess read from her new book "The Day I Met the Nuts" at Curiosity Zone's Preschool Storytime yesterday. The book introduces kids to nut allergies through a fun and beautifully illustrated story. Mary was a joy to meet -- so passionate about her work creating books that will inspire and teach young kids while doing good in the world. Not only did she write the book, but she has launched an independent publishing company called Earth Day Publishing. I love that I get to meet so many cool & talented mom entrepreneurs at the C-Zone! You can pick up the book at the C-Zone, or visit these websites: http://www.maryrandhess.com/

http://www.earthdaypublishing.com/

November Camping

2009-11-09T09:37:00.004-05:00

The weather report looked good for the weekend, so we hopped in the car after J.D.'s soccer game and headed for Skyline Drive. Actually, hopped makes it sound like it was easy to take two kids and two dogs camping. In reality, the car was stuffed with scooters, helmets, Lego pieces -- I even saw a stuffed brain cell toy from the Curiosity Zone in one of the duffels. Wouldn't want to leave behind your brain cell. . . . We had reserved a camp site ahead of time -- you can do it online at http://www.reserveamerica.com/ -- and were psyched to be able to get a site on the E loop at Big Meadows (about 2 hours from Leesburg). The E Loop skirts the side of the mountain and has jaw-dropping views, especially this time of year when the leaves are off the trees. Russ bought us a new tent last week that is big enough for all of us (2 kids, 2 dogs, 2 grownups). The last time we camped I woke up with both the kids and dogs on top of me -- it was definitely time for a bigger tent. But we still had a tiny tent compared to our friend Ms. Donna's tent -- she had the giant MacDaddy tent big enough to sleep 20! (Ms. Donna came with us and brought her two boys, C.S. and T.S., who are 9.)

Once we got everything set up, we set out to hunt for wood. Though you can buy wood at the camp store (which we did as well), we always enjoy the hunt. The kids gather up kindling and along the way notice all kinds of fascinating things. This weekend, we found a spring (a chance to talk about ground water and the water table), lots of deer, and quite a few ladybugs (a chance to talk about beetles and their elytra -- the hard outer shell of the beetle that protects its wings and distinguishes it as a beetle). The kids became fascinated by Russ's axe, and when we returned to the campsite, decided to engineer their own using pointed, flat rocks and sticks. We happened to have extra string in the car, so the grownups helped the kids construct their tools. Several fell apart, but we ended up with a couple of axes so strong the kids could actually chop through branches 2-3" thick (great trial & error lessons in design). The kids also figured out they could make a bow and arrow using the rope and strong, bendable branches. We had an injury in the process, however -- C.S. slipped with the small saw blade and cut his knuckle. He immediately turned to me to show me, very calmly, what looked like his knuckle bone sticking out of his skin. I took a deep breath and relayed the information to his mother as the blood began to rush into the cut and gush out onto his hand. It was like slow motion, and actually completely fascinating to watch his body respond, and it helped that, for whatever reason, he remained completely calm. Somehow Donna and I stayed calm too, wrapped his hand in paper towels and found a ranger, who sent us to the emergency room in Luray. We learned lots of great science words over the next couple of hours -- coagulate, laceration, subcutaneous, Tetanus. It turns out, he had not cut to the bone -- the subcutaneous layer of tissue under your outer layer of skin is snow white, so it looks like bone, but mercifully, is not. C.S. was psyched when the doctor glued him shut and applied butterfly bandaids -- he had no idea you could glue skin closed! The catastrophe turned into a joy as we drove back to the campsite along Skyline drive -- the sun was setting and the deer were everywhere -- so completely beautiful!

At the campfire that night we tried to take our family Christmas card picture. (Theme: Warm Wishes) Russ worked and worked with the settings on the camera to get that perfect fireside picture. We never quite got the shot, but the kids had a great time playing with the settings and getting all kinds of sparky, glowing shots. The wind was howling, so we all turned in early and were very grateful for our new tent. The outer covering kept all the wind out, and we were snug as bugs.

The next day we went hiking in the big meadow, checked out some pack horses, and found all kinds of fascinating seed pods. J.D. discovered he could send a cloud of seeds flying by using a stick like a bat -- and declared himself "The Dandelion Slayer." We explained these weren't dandelions -- but the name was cool, so it stuck. The kids slept all the way home. Great weekend!