Let’s take a look at some of the diverse science-related opportunities ongoing and coming up.
See the Geminids Meteor Shower
It is meteor shower time again. According to StarDate, the best viewing for the Geminids meteor shower will on the morning of December 14, anytime after midnight. Winter viewing of meteor showers can be challenging because of the cold, but the longer night means you and your family can get up a more reasonable hour and it will still be dark enough the see meteors shooting across the sky. Other, smaller showers also occur in December.
Participate in a Science Contest
The Pulse of the Planet’s “Kids’ Science Challenge” is open right now to students enrolled in 3rd through 6th grade at a public, private, parochial, or home school located in the US. To participate, students register and then submit an idea, question, or problem for a scientist to solve. The registrations and submissions must be uploaded, faxed or postmarked between October 1, 2010 at 12:01 AM EST and 11:59 PM EST on February 28, 2011, according the the website.
For more information, be sure to read:
Information for Teachers and Parents
Thanks to Karen for bringing this to our attention.
Count Birds
Although Audobon’s Christmas Bird Count is coming up, we have found the Great Backyard Bird Count to be highly kid-friendly. This one always sneaks up on us, so start planning now. The next count will be Feb. 18-21, 2011.
Get Ready for The International Year of Chemistry
The fact that 2011 is the International Year of Chemistry will inspire some of our weekend science fun activities in the next few months, and we’ll keep an eye on the website for other kid-friendly events as the year progresses. A comic book history of women chemists is already in the works and there’s also a video contest for high school students.
Please let us know if you participate in any of these events. or if you find any fun science contests/projects open to children that you’d like to share.
I wonder if we’ll count any cactus wrens this year.
We did the backyard bird count two years ago. Thanks for the reminder for this upcoming year.
Do you remember which birds you saw? We did it last year and can’t wait to see if we get the same results.