If you have ever experienced a thunderstorm, you have learned a few important things about sound.  First, sound travels more slowly than light.  The lightning strike you see during a storm is followed by thunder several seconds later, depending on how far away the lightning was.  Another thing you may […]

People of all ages find mazes to be fun, but did you know they are also good for your brain?  As you solve the path through a maze, your brain is busy reasoning, remembering, and problem-solving.  Just like any skill, the more you practice, the better you will be at

Have you ever mixed vinegar and baking soda (and maybe a little red food coloring) to create a homemade volcano?  It’s fun to see the reaction of these two common household chemicals.  But what is happening at the molecular level that makes these two substances react?  This reaction is known

Take a deep breath.  Along with that life-giving oxygen, you are inhaling, there are quite a few other things mixed into the air you breathe.  Let’s start with the gasses.  Air (on Earth, anyway) is made up of 78% nitrogen and only 21% oxygen.  Your lungs take up the oxygen

Water covers about 70% of our planet’s surface, and it makes up around 60% of our bodies.  It is such a common substance that people often think it is “plain” or “boring.”  But water actually has some interesting properties that make it a very unusual chemical!  One of water’s interesting

If you were painting and ran out of black paint, what would you do?  You might try to mix many of the colors you have together to create a dark pigment to use.  Black ink is typically made out of several colors combined.  Not all black pigments are the same! 

Bouncy balls are a lot of fun to play with. When you drop them, they come right back up. Put a little force into the drop, and they will bounce even higher, sometimes with unpredictable results! Why does this happen? It has to do with the properties of the material

Have you ever noticed how some objects float in water, while others sink? Boats float because of their shape, but once that shape is damaged, they sink. Some materials, no matter what shape or size, will float in water. For example, loggers who cut down trees would transport those logs

When you think of your sense of taste, what part of your body comes to mind? The tongue, of course! The tongue is covered in little bumps called papillae, which contain many taste buds. These little receptors are responsible for helping us distinguish salty from sweet, bitter from sour, and

Oil is an important resource used to make fuel, create electricity, and many other products. As we drill for oil deep in the ocean, and transport oil from place to place in large ships (called tankers), there are risks that the oil will spill into the ocean. Several oil spills

What if you had to pick up all of your food using only your mouth? No forks allowed! You would probably get some strange looks from friends and family. You also wouldn’t be able to eat many of the foods you enjoy now. Imagine eating a taco without picking it