Looking Into the Top of a Tornado

My kids are fascinated by extreme weather, especially tornadoes. They are avid fans of Storm Chasers, and had to explain to me what the TIV is. When Ds#1 saw this video he could even identify the doppler in the background.

Living Science Author: Eric Sloane

Eric Sloane (1905-1985) was an artist and author whose work spanned most of the twentieth century. His books about weather and all sorts of things Americana, filled with spectacular detailed line drawings, are both a pleasure to read and to browse.

While Weather Book and Book of Storms are technical, great for advanced weather studies, Look at the Sky and Tell the Weather is a wonderful collection of short stories that are great for a read aloud. The stories in succession follow a weather front from western Canada to New England, describing how people and weather interact.

All of these books are available as oversized paperback reprints through Dover publishing.

In 1975 he also painted a wall mural, Earth Flight Environment, for the Smithsonian Air and Space museum. We're headed that was this month so we're hoping to see in person.

Next webinar is June 30th

I am having another free live webinar: Science At Home: Cohesion and Adhesion, June 30th at 8:30 pm EDT.

Cohesion, adhesion, surface tension, capillary action--this webinar will explore them all through a variety of experiments put together with whatever I can manage to find around the house. Click here to register.

I hope you will join me!

Science Saturday Challenge #10

Buckyballs and Molecular Biology

I found this article to be an interesting if unusual connection between biology and math.

Buckyball Computer Simulations Help Team Find Molecular Key To Combating HIV

ScienceDaily (2009-05-25) -- Researchers have identified specific molecules that could block the means by which HIV -- the deadly virus that causes AIDS -- spreads by taking away its ability to bind with other proteins. Computer simulations were used to test more than 100 carbon fullerene, or "buckyball," derivatives initially developed for other purposes to see if they could be used to inhibit a strain of the virus, HIV-1 PR, by attaching themselves to its binding pocket.

You can build a buckyball with Zome, or use toothpicks with marshmallows or large gummy candies (yum!) If you look carefully at the picture you will see the model combines pentagons and hexagons in a soccer ball type pattern. Each hexagon has attached to it alternating pentagons and hexagons. Here is the Zome flyer with directions from the old web site should you get stuck.

For an extension, try building a molecule with a binding pocket into which the buckyball "fits" (or at least sits in.)

To help round out your lesson you can read more interesting information about fullerene.

Science Logic Curriculum

I recently saw this interesting science series. What intrigues me the most is that it is written by a science-teacher-turned-homeschooler mom that I "run into" at a lot of Charlotte Mason and Classical homeschooling sites.

Makita sees as I do a lack of solid middle school science for homeschoolers that is not written from a Creationist perspective. (It's great that such excellent Creationist material is available, BTW, since you are unlikely to find anything about it at your local library.)

As a result she created Science Logic: Sciences for the Logic Stage. While I have not seen the whole package, she has a free sample download of her first one, Earth Logic, and it looks excellent. You can order it spiral bound, unbound, or as a pdf file. She plans on releasing Life Logic and Physics Logic later in the year. Nice job, Makita!