Showing results by author "Amy Tao" in All Categories

Have you ever ridden a roller coaster? They’re a lot of fun, but a lot of physics is involved in making those rides work. The momentum built up by energy and speed keep those trains on their tracks and riders in their seats, even when they’re upside-down!

When a person had an infection prior to the twentieth century, they could only rely on their immune system to heal, which sometimes didn't work. This all changed when a man named Alexander Fleming discovered penicillin—entirely on accident! Thanks to Fleming, the medical field made huge advancements that have saved hundreds of lives. Learn more about Fleming's miracle mold!

Inside every seed waits a tiny plant, ready to grow. Watch the process of a pumpkin plant from tiny seed to full-size fruit! You'll also see other plant seeds, which come in many different sizes, shapes, and colors. Some can be as big as your head, but poppy seeds are so little you can hold hundreds in one hand!

Yoga is a great way to stimulate your mind and keep yourself active by learning how to mimic animal behavior. Even kids can do yoga too! Enjoy posing as a sitting butterfly, stretching your arm and leg muscles with downward dog, or posing like a cat while stretching your body and mind.

Why does a baseball travel much faster when hit with a bat than if pitched? Learn how force is applied in this fun experiment! Using a marker, a ruler, and a can, you can perform your own lever experiments. You'll understand the power of weight, such as how a balance beam operates, but on a smaller scale, while learning about the science behind balance.

See how the science of physics is utilized not only in the kitchen, but also around the house on a daily basis. Simple machines are everywhere! From brooms and rolling pins to lightbulbs and window blinds, basic everyday kitchen items transform into scientific concepts such as screws, levers, ramps, and wedges!

Everyone has a birthday! But do you know that birthdays are celebrated differently around the world? Explore the history of birthday traditions in countries such as the invention of the birthday cake in Greece, why noodles are eaten in China, and why in Russia they pull on an ear! It's a global celebration.

All of our pet dogs today have evolved from wild wolves. Humans began to tame wolves and then select their friendliest pups for keeping. Gradually, people learned how choose some dogs and breed them to do different jobs.

Do you know how new fruit is made? Learn about the different parts of a fruit plant’s flower—the stigma, pistil, and stamen—and how they use pollen to make seeds in a process called pollination! The seeds grow into new flowers, which turn into fruit after they’re pollinated!

Do your shoes fasten with Velcro straps? Have you ever wondered where this strange invention comes from? Sometimes nature provides excellent inspiration for new solutions! Plant burs stuck in his dog's fur gave Swiss engineer George de Mestral a good idea.

Click loves flowers! If he could have anything he wanted in his garden, he would choose flowers with a variety of different seeds, bulbs, leaves, and stems so he could enjoy all sorts of pretty colors and interesting plants! Did you know that orange blossoms turn into fruit, or that a pussy willow’s flowers are called a catkin? Follow along with Click and learn all sorts of cool flower stuff!

Will an orange float or sink in water? Are heavier objects able to float in water versus lighter objects? Learn about the density of materials and how water affects the objects! Make your own scientific discoveries and expand your knowledge by conducting your own experiments with water.

Red is a red blood cell. Luke is a leukocyte, or white blood cell. Patty is a platelet. What do these three have in common? They are the workers in your blood. Listen to find out why each worker is important for your body.

Your skin does a lot to make sure you are healthy and feeling good. It can keep you warm on a cold day, and cool on a hot day. It's tough and helps protect you from the sun. Its ridges help you grip things. Let's face it, your skin has you covered.

When volcanoes blow their top, watch out! They can blast out dangerous lava, rocks, ash, and steam that can contain clouds of poisonous gas. But when lava cools, it becomes rock, which in turn creates new land.

Reduce, recycle, and reuse. We can all help Earth, if we choose. In this poem, kids learn about the differences between recycling, compost, and hazardous waste.

Have you ever seen a fractal? You probably have, and just didn’t know it! These repeating shapes can happen anywhere, whether in nature or in math—it’s easy to make one out of a series of lines and triangles! Follow along and make a fractal of your own in a fun craft.