Peak Curiosity

For the months of September and October my 4th grade science club students have been working on engineering projects. We start by learning about the strongest shapes, then I usually discuss different types of materials and move to building bridges, towers, and then simple machines. It is probably one of the favorite of all our club units. Kids LOVE building stuff!

I absolutely love the fall season for science. There is always so much to discover! Changing leaves, bird migrations, dwindling daylight and so much more. I especially love all the exciting chemistry that can fit within a fall or Halloween theme, but, sometimes, we need an activity that isn’t so messy and that’s where this fun paper lantern comes in. This activity is perfect for fall or winter when the sun goes down sooner, the air is chillier, and we all start seeking out some coziness.

Fall is one of my favorite seasons to teach science. There are so many opportunities to bring seasonal activities into the classroom and my students always love a festive theme.  I have a few other blog posts on different spooky science themed experiments but I also wanted to share a few fun pumpkin-themed activities that my students love in September-November. This was inspired by a very fruitful year in our school garden pumpkin patch.

Last week, my family had the chance to watch a lunar eclipse together. We stood outside, looking up as the Moon SLOWLY changed. I'm not going to lie, the experience was a bit underwhelming, but we did get have a great discussion about why a lunar eclipse happens and how so many people have the misconception that the phases of the moon are related to the Earth's shadow.

A few years ago, in one of my science club sessions, we did the "magic milk" experiment. It's a classic experiment that I do often with my younger students because it's visually exciting yet simple and predictable. I've done it a bajillion times (I suppose that's not a true mathematical fact) and it has never failed... until... We put the q-tip with soap into the food coloring suspended in the milk and NOTHING HAPPENED. The kids were heartbroken. I was confused and tempted to panic. But, I've learned from years of doing demonstrations for students (as well as doing real lab research) that sometimes things don't go as we expect and as scientists our job is to find out why.

This summer, I had the opportunity to attend Steve Spangler’s Science in the Rockies conference. It’s an event I’ve wanted to attend for years, and it did not disappoint. We spent several days learning how to use exciting and surprising demonstrations to get students engaged in science. I seriously had so much fun doing science experiments with 200 science educators from across the country!I highly reccommend attending this if you can!

If you’re like me, it’s only the first week of June and your kids have already consumed enough screen time for the entire summer. We’ve slept in, lounged around, beat Super Mario Odyssey, and now the kids are “bored.”

My family does Pizza Friday every week, and we take turns choosing the TV show/movie to watch while we eat our pizza. My husband and I (who are unapologetic PBS nerds) picked an episode of NOVA The Fabric of the Cosmos: The Illusion of Time  (season 38 episode 17) and my middle-schooler became enthralled with the idea of spacetime.

This week I hosted the Science Fair at my favorite elementary school, and honestly, it went way smoother than in the past. It wasn’t because the projects were simpler or the expectations were lower, but because I think I’ve finally homed in on a structure that works for even our youngest students. This is going to be one of my longer blog posts because I really want to share aaaaalllll the details of how we ran this science fair and how it revolutionized how I will run them in the future.

I am so excited for the 2026 Winter Olympics to start this week! Every Winter Olympics feels a little magical in our house. My family has a watch party for every Games,  cheering as athletes from all over the world come together to celebrate sport, culture, and community. Growing up in Colorado, I’ve spent my life on snowy slopes (both skiing and snowboarding) and also took figure skating lessons for many years as a child, so winter sports have always felt close to my heart. I’m especially excited to watch fellow Colorado athletes compete in Milan this year.

Every year on January 5, National Bird Day invites us to pause and notice the birds around us. Those that have known me for a long time probably know of my fondness for birds. I used to have an entire room dedicated to my small flock of 6 parakeets where they could fly freely between cages and perches. However, for many people, birds are a merely a familiar background presence. They’re something we hear in the morning or glimpse from a window but rarely stop to think deeply about. Yet birds are essential partners in keeping ecosystems healthy, balanced, and resilient. From pollinating plants to shaping entire forests, birds quietly perform jobs that support life on Earth in ways we often overlook.

We are mid-December here in Colorado and have only had ONE snowstorm so far. My kids are anxiously awaiting the soft, quiet, sparkling, and endlessly fun fluff to fall from the sky. While we wait for snow to come, I thought it would be fun to dive into the science of snow because behind every snowflake is a beautiful mix of chemistry, physics, and chance. From their six-sided symmetry to their dazzling whiteness, snowflakes offer an incredible opportunity to explore how science shows up in everyday life.