Today I want to talk about traveling, because for the past 4 months, my family and I have been on sabbatical in Israel. Getting here and enrolled in school and adjusting to daily routine here was interesting, to say the least, although relatively uneventful as far as these things go. I am particularly interested, though, in the effect of this travel on my children, and especially on their psychological/emotional/intellectual development. So I asked all my science sources, Wha

What’s on your schedule this weekend, scientists, parents, and scientist-parents? If you are in the Boston area, a great Saturday event is FREE FERRY DAY (http://www.bostonharborislands.org/free-ferry-day), where you can take the ferry for free (thanks, captain obvious!) and also enjoy a whole variety of kid-friendly activities (and adult-friendly too!). Did you know that there have been boats in the Boston Harbor carrying passengers since 1630? Yup it’s true! Means we are no

Today is the opening of the outdoor pool in the city where I am spending sabbatical in Israel, and in honor of that, let’s talk about the science of swimming and swimming pools. 1. CAN I PERMANENTLY DAMAGE MY EYES FROM SWIMMING WITHOUT GOGGLES AND WITH MY EYES OPEN? This happens to me all the time because my kids are always stealing my goggles, and then demanding that I go underwater to locate all kinds of non-buoyant toys. Luckily it turns out I am not permanently damaging m

It’s MOTHER’S DAY this weekend, so for those people who have living mothers (or who are mothers), chances are, you will be busy doing something related to that day on Sunday. In honor of that, here are some facts you may not have known about this special day: 1. Mother’s Day was established as a national holiday in the United States in 1914. 2. More phone calls are made on Mother’s Day than on any other day of the year. 3. Mother’s Day has its origins in “Mothering Sunday,” a

If your kids are anything like mine, they eat a lot, and so I find myself in the kitchen a lot. Invariably, they follow me in there (“Mommy, what are you doing? Mommy, can I see? Mommy mommy mommy mommy…”), and so I thought, what about setting up some science things for them to do in the kitchen? Here are my 10 favorite ones. Note: many of them may be messy. We like mess in my house, but you may want to put down extra plastic tablecloths/tarps before you begin. 1. Volcanoes: