Sunday, January 29, 2006

Biology student of year

Yes, that was me- I got to go up on stage at the school assembly to receive my certificate and award (A small medal that says biology student of the year) Along the way, though I abandoned my love of hard science for a career in "soft science". Truth is I decided I liked people better than microscopes. As I mom though, I get to relive my passions and science glory with my boys. Currently our house is a mini-science museum and i am Science Smart Mama-- hey i can even pin my medal on a lab coat to feel official.
Here is an update on our current experiments...
1-We currently have 30 cactus sprouts in our odd pod cactus garden- complete with "moon rocks" and a cardboard space backdrop.
2-We have parsley, spearmint, and green onions growing in our mini hydroponic greenhouse- although so far parsley is the only thing sprouting (I sent dh for seeds he and ds came home with turnips
3- Forcing paperwhites , which has become our annual tradition (which are gorgeous but really smell funky-- and make me think something in my kitchen is rotting)
4- The classic favorite-- A set of six agar plates "aka bacteria farm" (okay you want to talk funky smell- try boiling up that gelatin culture medium- bleccchhh!) growing various bacteria swabbed from locations around our house (let's just say the toy train is growing far nastier microbes than the kitchen floor)
5- Last but not least the Gel works Ant habitat complete with blue LED illuminator -yes no ordinary ant farm- the nasa designed gel style so you can see all their tunnels (although we have no ants yet) It glows an eerie blue for the neighborhood to see through the playroom window. we always have a ton of ants appear in the spring so i have decided we will catch our own instead of ordering the ones for 4.95 with the "CAUTION:ants bite and sting warning" attached to them.

waiting on deck (north's bedroom closet)-- paint you own "root view" garden and butterfly habitat.

Oh my biology teacher would be so proud--we've got some serious science going on here.

2 comments:

ShelahBooksIt said...

sounds illuminating.

Lei said...

Wow, Les. What wonderful ideas! We do well to plant apple seeds and lima beans, lol.