Kiddie Science: Planting the seeds of science

Solstice Science

11/30/2022

In winter, the solstice marks the shortest day of the year and the first day of the new season. That is, if you live on this side of the planet (Brooklyn, NY). Although the days will indeed grow colder, there is good news. After the shortest day of the year, the days begin to get a little longer. You also get to do a little experiment.

This year, the winter solstice is on Wednesday, December 21st.

Here's what you can do on the winter solstice:

BASIC MATERIALS:
A sunny day, notebook, pencil, tape measure. Optional: chalk.

EXPERIMENT: SHADOW EXPLORATION
Choose a sunny spot on the solstice day and have a friend or grown-up measure your shadow from head to toe. Write down the measurement in a notebook or piece of paper. Make sure to record the date and time that you measured your shadow. Write down or draw your observations about your shadow and the sun that day. If you have chalk, have a friend or adult outline your shadow on the ground.

At the same time the next day, return to the location you measured your shadow. If its a cloudy or rainy day, return on a day. It's very important to conduct the experiment at the same time. Measure your shadow and record the information in your notebook. If you have chalk, measure your shadow.

What changes can you observe from the day before?

little free library news

11/29/2022

It began with a donation of 750 books back in May 2020. While the world was shutting down due to Covid, the Brooklyn Book Bodega was just getting started on their mission to increase accessibility and ownership of books.

Over the years, they've continued providing Kiddie Science, and thus our community, with access to thousands of books for age 12 and under. At first, we hosted book swaps in front gated area, which then grew to events on the public sidewalk. Ultimately, thanks to grants and the support of donors, we established a Little Free Library right outside the Lab which holds an assortment of free books. On any given day, you can find board books, early readers, picture books, young adult novels, popular titles, and much more!

While joyous, maintaining our Library hasn't always been easy. Inclement weather once blew the doors right off, breaking one of them. With hundred of hands opening and closing the doors, the latch broke and has needed ongoing maintenance. The volume of books our Library holds ultimately caused sagging, which meant we did some creative troubleshooting to provide structural support.

Our local community and ongoing support from the Brooklyn Book Bodega means our Library is always well stocked. We often enjoy overhearing the squeals of joy as a young reader finds the perfect books.

Of course, the popularity of the Library means we're looking at making upgrades and replacements this spring to make it event better. We hope you can support the ongoing care and keeping of the Kiddie Science Lab Little Free Library with a tax deductible donation via Venmo, Paypal, or Zelle:
@kiddiescience or kiddiescience@gmail.com

FALL WORKSHOPS RE-CAP

11/29/2022

Fall has been a fun and busy time at the Kiddie Science Lab! As our gardening winds down, our inside works ramps up. Although we're still functioning on limited group size capacity, and not all our programs have returned, we've still impacted hundreds of lives through the various programs at the Lab. As we ease into winter, we look forward to presenting even more programs and events to the community.

As the days grew cooler and shorter, our time in the gardens and with the chickens was limited. We still spent as much time outside as possible, learning about leaf anatomy, local ecology, and the basic needs of chickens. As our garden transitioned from its summer of abundant growth, we learned more about compost and the importance of returning nutrients back to the soil. We also embarked on an indoor hydroponics project that had us growing cucumbers!

Program partner, Private Picassos, returns for more exploratory art during Kids & Clay! Sunday mornings, we socialize while learning clay building techniques and making unique creations. We've had a great time learning clay terms, using tools, and completing projects.

STEM Kids NYC joins us this fall with an extension of Science Saturdays for our older scientists. It's been hands-on fun as we incorporate the Scientific Method through often messy explorations.

Friday mornings continue to be for age 3 and under! We've enjoyed singing, dancing, playing, and creating art. Our young ones have enjoyed exploring age-appropriate Lab materials, saying hello to our turtle Spaghetti, and getting a little messy as we paint and create.

Fall means we transition to physical science as our main exploration topic. Young scientists in all our programs explored different aspects of physical science, which implementing the Scientific Method. We enjoyed exploring chemistry, expanded our physics exploration, learned more about energy, explored color science, and learned more about the states of matter.

It's been an amazing time learning and exploring together. We look forward to more hands-on fun at the Kiddie Science Lab this winter!

Upgraded Chicken Coop!

11/25/2022

Thanks to donations from our supporters, we're able to upgrade and fix what's needed at the Lab. This time, our wood chicken coop needed a lot of love and attention. Purchased four years ago, it was the coop we could afford for the budget we had. We made modifications to extend its use and sealed it every year to protect it from the elements.

Over time, moisture seeped into the roof parts and began breaking it down. For the past year, the wood coop has been sheltered under a tarp, which allows it and the ground around it to remain dry year-round. This extended the coop's use, but we knew there were urgent needs building up. After reaching out to the manufacturer, we learned that our coop was discontinued a few years ago, and getting replacement parts would not be possible. We were able to access replacement hardware parts, but the entire roof and droppings tray were no longer available.

Faced with the choice of purchasing another pre-fabricated coop or getting a quality custom built one, we opted for longevity and ease of use. This meant we needed to set aside a modest budget for the project and reach out to the right person for the job.

Our community is a very special place with amazing, talented neighbors. This is our chicken coop before, which comfortably houses up to four hens.

We reached out to a local neighbor who happens to keep chickens, has experience building chicken coops, and turns out has the same coop sitting in storage in their basement. Our custom build suddenly transitioned to a creative coop modification. A lot of existing parts and pieces were re-used and repurposed.

Our existing roof was in far worse shape than we thought, and easily came apart in our hands. For the sake of longevity, we transitioned to a plastic roof and that same material was then used as part of the droppings tray under the roosting bars. Since our hens lay eggs in a separate location, the nesting box that juts out was reconfigured to become a larger sleeping area. This now allows the coop to comfortably house up to six hens.

Over the course of three days, there was a lot of measuring, cutting, connecting, and creatively re-imagining what the coop could look like.

Check out a video tour of the upgraded coop!

Thank you for your continued support!

Leaves, Leaves, Leaves!

11/21/2022

When you look at a leaf, what do you see?

Here at the Kiddie Science Lab, and in our partner schools, we've dived into a hands-on exploration of leaves, trees, and plants. Our goal is to guide young scientists into looking at the trees and plants in their community differently. We want them to appreciate how amazing plants/trees are, and to look at them with scientific eyes. To reach this goal, we have spent the last six weeks exploring the anatomy of leaves, observing pine cones from near and far, learning basic leaf/tree identification, and providing direct care to plants.

With autumn upon us, it's a perfect time for leaf exploration! Some ideas you can try with your young scientist:

Collect Leaves
Go on a nature walk and collect leaves! Back at home, categorize them according to color, shape, size, ect. This simple activity helps young scientists compare and contrast observable features of leaves. Older scientists may wish to learn more about the trees in their community by learning how to identify the leaves collected. Common NYC trees include oak, maple, gingko, and ash. You can learn more about the trees in your neighborhood through the NYC Street Tree Map.

Leaf Rubbings
Combine science and art with a simple leaf rubbing. A leaf rubbing allows you to still explore leaf anatomy while not having to keep the leaves around for very long. We suggest finding a dry leaf that is fully intact and using regular copy paper (card stock paper is too thick). For younger scientists, the paper can be folded in half and the leaf placed inside. If you have a clipboard, you can clip the leaf's petiole with the paper on top. We recommend placing the leaf 'face down' so the rubbing is done from the underside of the leaf.

Leaves in the Supermarket
Once you start learning about leaves, you seem to find them everywhere! At the supermarket, take a close look at what foods are leaves. Here's a clue: it's much more than lettuce! See how many leaf products you can find.

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Solstice Science

little free library news

FALL WORKSHOPS RE-CAP

Upgraded Chicken Coop!

Leaves, Leaves, Leaves!

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