It was a fun and exciting morning at the Kiddie Science Lab during our recent (and very first) chess tournament. Over 20 players participated, and were divided into rated and unrated groups. Four rounds were played, with medals and trophies given to highest scoring players in each group.

Special thanks to our chess teacher, Simon, who directs and organizes chess tournaments through out NYC. Save the date for Sunday, May 19th for our next tournament at the Kiddie Science Lab!

Special thanks to Diana's Event Space for the extra tables!

Tot Squad NYC returns to the Kiddie Science Lab! On  SUNDAY, APRIL 14TH, Tot Squad will be on-site from 10am to 2pm to provide a variety of cleaning and repair services for your baby/toddler gear. For each item cleaned/repaired that day, Tot Squad will donate 10% to support Kiddie Science programming.

You must reserve your spot in advance! Your card is not charged until services are complete.

Here's how it works:
- Reserve your spot using this form. Choose the item(s) you wish to have cleaned and the type of cleaning you desire (package details below)
- In the location section, please put 'Kiddie Science Lab'
- The date is SUNDAY, APRIL 14TH and you can choose a preferred drop-off time between 10am and 1:30pm.
- Once you've reserved your spot, simply show up to the Lab at your chosen time on April 14th with your item(s) and a Tot Squad staff member will be there to assist you. The Kiddie Science Lab is located at 509 Rogers Avenue (door on the right)


PRICING DETAILS:
For strollers and double strollers (starting at $39.99)
Car seat cleaning starts at $29.99
Wheel detailing and mold treatment available. Tot Squad also cleans other baby gear.

What a fun and busy midwinter break exploring science! During a recent School Break Science workshop, we explored engineering, microscopes, and solubility.

During our engineering exploration, we explored, built, and tested, different types of bridges. Our young scientist worked in a small group to complete a rotation of engineering-based challenges that explored arch, beam, and suspension bridges. We ended our exploration with a very specific challenge which involved straws. Given a specific amount and type of materials, our young scientists needed to plan for and build a bridge that was structurally sound and could span across two tables or chairs. 

During our solubility exploration, we asked the question 'does it dissolve?' Exploring how things do and do not dissolve in water introduced us to the word 'soluble'. Our highly anticipated activity was the Space Sand exploration. Thanks to a generous donation, we were able to purchase larger quantities to explore with. So what's the big deal about this sand? For starters, its more than just sand. Space Sand is hydrophobic, meaning it repels water. Once we had a general understanding of solubility, it made our Space Sand exploration extra fun.​

We ended the midwinter break by taking a closer look at things. Our young scientists explored the unseen world while learning about magnification and exploring the idea of 'taking a closer look'. We began our exploration with simple magnification using magnifying lenses. From there, we looked even closer at basic items inside the Lab. 

​Thanks to a generous donation, each young scientist was able to take home a Foldscope paper microscope. Although simple in design and use, these microscopes do allow for users to take a detailed look at slides and samples. Each young scientist received two sample slides to explore at home.

Generally speaking, a hen reaches egg-laying age at roughly five months of age. The Lab hens, Sweet and Sour, both started laying in early to mid October. Since then, they've laid the average one egg every 25 hours. This laying schedule is based on the hen's reproductive system. Shortly after the eggs is laid, the hen's body starts to produce the next one. Once the yolk is released, it is about a 25 hour process to assemble the rest of the egg around it until it is ready to lay. 

In a typical week, Sweet and Sour begin by laying quite early in the morning. By the time they're being checked on, there's usually two eggs. By midweek, it becomes less likely that eggs will be found first thing in the morning. Instead, the hens start to lay later in the morning, sometimes as late as noon. Toward the weekend, it is expected that we'll find just one egg, as each hen skips one laying day. Typically, Sweet and Sour lay twelve eggs per week.

​Except for this week....

 On Thursday, two eggs were collected as expected. Friday morning, only one egg was expected. Imagine the surprise when at 8:30am three eggs are found (picture on the left)! It was a very exciting find. We meant to share this find immediately, but wanted to do some research first since it was so unexpected. No eggs were expected for Saturday morning, but again there were three!

Based on what we know, we hypothesize the following:
We think the picture on the left has two eggs laid by Sour. These eggs are usually more elongated and speckled. Sweet, on the other hand, tends to lay rounder, smaller eggs. This leads us to believe that the picture on the right has two eggs by Sweet and one by Sour.

According to our research, its possible for hens to lay more than one egg per cycle, but it doesn't happen often. When it does occur, its usually in mature hens, during their first year of laying, and is not something that continues for an ongoing period of time.

Tomorrow is Sunday and no eggs are expected. Stay tuned....