Jul 04 2022
From dogs using speech buttons to fish playing soccer, we are now seeing more and more animals surprise us with their intelligence and communication skills. But the biggest modern breakthrough in animal intelligence may have been when Koko the gorilla learned to speak sign language. Koko had a vocabulary consisting of over 1,000 signs, and …
May 23 2022
Happy #WorldTurtleDay! As I mentioned in my recent endangered species post, the Hawksbill Turtle is on the critically endangered list, and turtles everywhere are threatened by plastic and other unwanted debris in the ocean every day. A few ways you can help show your love for these beautiful creatures is by using less plastic, recycling …
May 22 2022
May 22nd is the International Day for Biological Diversity, a time to reflect on the importance of different species around the globe that are threatened by human activities. Here are thoughts on preserving our biodiversity (which comes from the term “biological diversity”) and ecosystems. Our global ecosystem is home to earth’s entire collection of living …
May 20 2022
Today is Endangered Species Day, a time to remember the importance of different species on our connected planet and the importance of protecting them. Here we are observing seventeen of the most threatened animals on the planet. These are animals currently on the critically endangered list according to the WWF, which means that they are …
Apr 21 2022
One of the largest concerns on the planet today is plastic waste, especially with poisonous expanding landfills and the growing Pacific Garbage Patch. TED-Ed has an informative lesson on where plastic waste goes, how the patch is formed, points out that there are more patches in the ocean, and tells us why it’s important to …
Apr 21 2022
Australia’s Great Barrier Reef is the world’s largest living structure, yet at alarmingly rapid rates, it is becoming the planet’s largest dying structure due to rising ocean temperatures. The Great Barrier Reef stretches over 134,000 square miles off of the coast of Queensland, Australia, and is home to a vast array of fish species, turtles, …
Apr 21 2022
Earth Day is just around the corner on April 22, so I wanted to take a few days to share awareness videos and discussions. TEDTalks has an educational radio hour called “The Big Five,” where experts talked about five massive crises in today’s world, number one being climate change. One of the clearest and most …
Apr 08 2022
Well, since I did a cheat sheet on volcanoes, and I have talked about them a few times, I thought I would give you a how-to on building a volcano. This is actually a pretty fun activity and many kids can take advantage of this when they need a science project in school. It is fairly …
Feb 27 2022
You have probably seen this experiment before but it is one of my favorites so I wanted to share. If you can’t tell by the photograph, I do this activity often enough to warrant purchasing the big box of baking soda. I think it has something to do with the fact that I feel like …
Feb 12 2022
Happy birthday to naturalist and biologist Charles Darwin, born February 12, 1809 in The Mount House in Shrewsbury, England. “If the misery of the poor be caused not by the laws of nature, but by our institutions, great is our sin.” –Charles Darwin, Voyage of the Beagle Here is Sir David Attenborough describing Darwin’s inspirational influence on …