I think we have not been spending enough time talking about all the wonderful things that readers can do in Rhode Island, which is too bad, because for a state which is so small and compact, there are actually a surprising number of things to do. In particular, did you know there was a STEAM center? That’s right, an entire center for children (and their caregivers) to be involved in science, technology, engineering, art, and math (STEAM!) activities. While most of what you fi

Special thanks to many of my colleagues in the chemistry department at the University of Rhode Island, who contributed substantial time and expertise to making chemistry camp so exciting. This particular experiment came from Professor Jay Kim, who taught the camp participants about thermochemistry (chemistry involving heating and cooling) before leading through an interactive experiment in making their own cold packs and hot packs. The instructions: To make a cold pack, you c

We’re coming up on a long weekend, readers, and the unofficial start to summer! Who decided that Memorial Day Weekend was the unofficial start, though? Well the answer to this question is tied in with the history of Memorial Day itself, which means that it is a little more complicated than simply saying that pool and grill companies wanted more opportunities to make money. To be honest, though, the remembrance of fallen soldiers happens to occur now in a way that enables a t

This experiment, #5 in the series, is not actually one that we did during chemistry camp, but we did it during a Passover science event back in April, and it was fun enough that I decided to talk about it on the blog. It turns out that salt can melt ice, which is not surprising to anyone who lives in New England and has used salt to melt all kinds of walkways, staircases, and other exterior surfaces all winter long. Why does this work? Well, the melting temperature of the ice

Apparently it is “kite” weekend around Boston, with a Franklin Park Kite and Bike Festival on Saturday (https://mommypoppins.com/boston-kids/event/free/franklin-park-kite-bike-festival) and another one on Sunday at Revere Beach (https://mommypoppins.com/boston-kids/event/free/revere-beach-kite-festival).Were you wondering what makes kites fly so nicely on some days, and crash into trees and birds and the grounds on others? Have no fear, science has the answers! Because kites

So we talked some about dry ice in our experiment series last week, but it is an interesting enough substance that I want to devote a full post to it. In case you missed it, dry ice is simply carbon dioxide that has formed into a solid under high pressure and low temperature conditions. Dry ice, instead of melting into water like regular ice does, goes directly into carbon dioxide vapor (i.e. gas) in a process termed “sublimation.” What are some experiments you can do with dr

This is a great weekend for science, blog readers. WGBH is running a special “day of exploration” program from their offices in Brighton, MA, which will provide lots of opportunities for children to explore science, arts, and music through a variety of hands-on activities. Check out their website below for more details and to sign up: https://www.wgbh.org/event/wgbh-a-day-of-exploration-a-kids-and-family-event. Also, it’s Mother’s Day! So happy Mother’s Day to everyone who is

Hi Readers! This is experiment #3 in our series of science from chemistry camp, talking today about things we can do with corn starch and different stages of matter. One of the things that we spent a lot of time talking about during chemistry camp was different stages of matter, and particularly how things can transition from being a solid, to a liquid, to a gas, or back in the other direction. In some cases, like for “dry ice,” we can even skip the liquid stage entirely and

It’s almost another weekend, which means it’s time to think of more fun and exciting things to do. First of all, if you have a child between the ages of 4 and 7 who is struggling to learn how to ride a bike (as we do in our family), REI in Boston is running a class that will (hopefully) teach them how to do this! Check out this link for more information and to register: https://www.rei.com/events/9999/how-to-ride-a-bike-for-kids-for-ages-4-7/238800. Because bike riding has so