Enterprising engineers and graduate students are creating low-cost devices and methods for conducting basic neuroscience research. Using iPads, apps, blue LEDs, and other off-the-shelf items from Radio Shack, products like Backyard Brains are cropping up to support the DIY biology hacking movement. Building affordable scientific instruments is perhaps the biggest hurdle to accessible research in [...]
Archive for the ‘Biology’ Category
DIY Makers Bring Neuroscience Research to Everyone
Posted by ginac on December 2nd, 2011
Posted in Biology, Chemistry, Electronics, Make, Science, technology 
Tags: backyard brains, Biology, DANA Foundation, DIY, hacking, Makers, Neuroscience 
Comments OffImmigrant Science Award Finalists Credit Attitudes
Posted by ginac on November 1st, 2011
Children of immigrants took 70 percent of the finalist slots in the 2011 Intel Science Talent Search Competition, an original-research competition for high school seniors. According to LiveScience.com, only 12% of Americans are foreign born, so statistically, “one would expect only one child of an Indian (or Chinese) immigrant parent every two and a half years [...]
Posted in Biology, Chemistry, Culture, Diversity, Eclectic Homeschooling, Physics, Science, social change, technology Tags: culture, family values, immigrants, intel science award, Science, science award, success, tolerance Comments OffTen Lesson Ideas From a Walk in the Yard
Posted by ginac on August 30th, 2011
Learning opportunities are everywhere. One of the best places to start is in your own backyard. Here are ten lesson ideas that don’t need lots of materials, specific curriculum, or special ability. These lessons focus on learning together, encourage a project-based approach, and are fun for kids of all ages. We’d love to hear some [...]
Posted in Activities, Art, Biology, Environmental Conservation, Games Tags: Art, ecology, Fibonnaci, golden ratio, insects, microscope, observation, photography, play, weather Comments OffLearn The Parts of the Eye Through Virtual Dissection
Posted by ginac on July 27th, 2011
Eschoolonline has a simple but effective online tool for learning about the anatomy of the eye. In just a few minutes, users can review the parts of the eye on the website. Next, users take a turn at virtually dissecting the eye and categorizing the parts into the proper containers. Although lacking in in-depth detail [...]
Posted in Activities, Biology, Online Tools, Science Tags: anatomy, Biology, eye dissection, eyeball anatomy, online tools Comments OffSummer Citizen Science Ideas
Posted by ginac on May 18th, 2011
Just because school’s out doesn’t mean kids should sit around watching TV or playing video games all day! There are some really fun citizen science participation opportunities that are not only fun for the participant, but useful for real scientists who analyze the data to further their research. How cool is that? Here are a [...]
Posted in Activities, Biology, Crowdsource, Environmental Conservation, Games, Online Tools Tags: Christmas Bird Count, citizenscience, Educational Resources, Environment, NASA Comments OffHowtoons: Geeky Comics Show Kids How to Make Stuff from Household Items
Posted by ginac on February 26th, 2011
Howtoons is a comic-based website full of rich comic strips containing ingenious instructions on how to make things using basic science and engineering principles. Aimed at 8 to 12-year olds, Howtoons uses rich, colorful animation and a fun story to engage children’s natural interest in humor, comic strips, and having fun. Our youngster gravitated to the marshmallow [...]
Posted in Activities, Art, Biology, Chemistry, Computer Programming, Eclectic Homeschooling, Ecology, Environmental Conservation, Interdisciplinary, Make, Music, Physics, Science Tags: Arts, comic, Comic strip, Howtoons, Online 2 Comments »DIY: How to Extract DNA
Posted by ginac on July 29th, 2010
Juan Enriquez, Senior Research Fellow and Director of the Harvard Business School of Life Science Project, wrote a book entitled ‘As the Future Catches You: How Genomics and Other Forces Are Changing Your Life, Work, Health, and Wealth’. An excerpt from his book reads The dominant alphabet is rapidly becoming the language that codes for [...]
Posted in Activities, Biology, Chemistry, Experiments, Online Tools, technology Tags: DNA, genetics, Harvard, homeschool, Juan Enriquez, Learn.Genetics, Science, science experiments, University of Utah Comments OffSophisticated Science Gadget How-Tos on Scitoys.com
Posted by ginac on December 31st, 2009
Scitoys.com has an impressive array of science gadgets that kids and adults will enjoy making. The website even has an online store that sells everything you need to make some of the gadgets. However, your local RadioShack should have much of the items needed. What sets this website apart from most other science websites for [...]
Posted in Biology, Chemistry, Eclectic Homeschooling, Electronics, Gifted, Math, Physics, Science Tags: Electronics, homeschool, Science, science projects Comments OffMake: Science Room – A Homeschool Science Fan’s Wish Come True
Posted by ginac on December 14th, 2009
Homeschoolers that are interested in science, particularly chemistry, will love the Make: Science Room website. The Make: Science Room website provides free chemistry lab experiments, offers advice on setting up a home lab, provides tips for maintaining a lab notebook properly, and offers professional quality glassware kits so that kids can learn to use real [...]
The Microscope Book
Posted by ginac on November 15th, 2009
We recently discovered a great microscope companion book, perfect for the beginning science buff. This book has many fun and easy activities, but the best thing about the book is its explanation of how and why. Additionally, it offers really useful practical tips on improvising when you don’t have all of the tools. For [...]
