My kids tell me that we had hummingbirds at our old house. We had a wall of Honeysuckle against our detached garage and the hummingbirds would visit when the flowers were in bloom. My kids said that they were tiny — about the size of a large bumblebee — which is probably why I never…
Category: STEM/STEAM
Science non fictions books and fun experiments for kids to do at home.
We Are Made of Stars: Stars in KidLit
Stars are like nuclear reactors. They take a fuel and convert it to something else. Hydrogen is formed into helium, and helium is built into carbon, nitrogen and oxygen, iron and sulfur—everything we’re made of. … So most of the material that we’re made of comes out of dying stars, or stars that died in…
Painted Lady Butterfly Migration is AMAZING!
Painted Ladies migrate as far north as the Arctic Circle. The 9,000 mile round trip is almost double the length of the famous migrations undertaken by Monarch butterflies in North America. The apparent lack of a return migration of the late-summer generation of Painted Lady butterflies was one of the greatest enigmas in insect migration ecology. from…
10 New Great STEM Kids’ Books
Heads and Tails by John Canty This is a beautiful picture book that sets up each page spread as a guessing game with clues about each animal. There are visual clues too! Canty shows the rear end of the animal with the clues and the reader flips the page to see the head. This is…
Vex Robotic STEM Toy!
My husband found this toy at Costco and gave it to our son for his 14th birthday. My son likes Legos and building kits so this was a natural fit. This would be my STEM toy recommendation for the holiday season. I love how it teaches simple machines in a really fun way. My son…
A Unit to Learn About Water Scarcity
It’s easy to take clean water for granted. I know that I do. But what does it mean not to have easy access to clean water? I explore that in this post with: water scarcity booklist water scarcity activity water supply STEM unit list of clean water nonprofits Let’s learn about water and what that…
Why Do Chameleons Turn Colors? It’s not to blend in!
Chameleons are fascinating. One old theory is that chameleons changed color to match their surroundings. That turns out not to be true according to the latest research! Their color change is actually a form of communication! Their mastery of camouflage is behavioral using movement! They also have a fascinating tongue that projects up to two body…