Author: Roberta (Page 529 of 561)

Growing With Science Website Reveal

October 31, 2008 / Roberta / 0 Comments

After several months of heavy construction, the new Growing With Science website is ready for reveal.

The website has science activities organized by age and theme. I’ve tried to keep the pages simple and direct. There will probably occasionally be a few typos and oddities as I develop it over the next few months. Let me know if you have major difficulties with anything.

Here is the URL address:Â http://growingwithscience.com/Welcome.html

The first theme is growing plants from kitchen scraps, or other items found around the kitchen. Most of these activities can be carried out indoors for little or no cost. Simply click on the science activity link and then pick one of the links listed under your child’s age level.

The second theme is Weather for Kids. If you like pretty photographs of clouds,Â visit the cloud classification activity and try the slide show.

Hope you find a fun activity that you just have to try.

Bug of the Week: Cabbage Looper

October 29, 2008 / Roberta / 10 Comments

Itâ€™s cabbage looper season here again. In some places cabbage loopers might be considered to be pests, but in our yard they are considered to be pets. They are hardy, will eat a wide range of foods, and they show up every year.

cabbage looper

The looper gets its name from the fact it â€œloops upâ€ in the middle while walking. The caterpillar has two sets of appendages. Its six true legs are right behind the head. Towards the rear is another set of fleshy, wider appendages called â€œprolegs.â€ Scientists don’t count the prolegs, so the caterpillar still has the six legs characteristic of insects.

cabbage looper

The caterpillar holds on with the true legs and brings its back end forward. The prolegs meet the true legs, and the back forms a loop. Then it releases the true legs. The head and front spring forward. The looper holds on with its true legs and the process repeats.

This one was nibbling my mint, but I’m not too concerned. The mint is prolific and the caterpillar has a lot of enemies. It is eaten by birds, wasps and parasitic flies. So, loop on little buddy.

Edit: The cabbage looper moth is featured in a later post.

Do Apples and Pumpkins Float?

October 27, 2008 / Roberta / 0 Comments

Some questions came in from the previous post on apples and pumpkins about whether apples and pumpkins float. If you can, you should try floating them yourself, because it is fun.

If it’s too cold where you live to be outside playing in water right now, take a look at how our experiments turned out.

floating pumpkin