A Science Trick to Try at Home

Instructions from Margriet Ruurs

You -- yes, you, right there -- can turn two solids into one liquid. It's not magic. It's science.

How can you turn a solid substance into a liquid without adding any liquid? Here’s a fun trick to try at home. All you need is a spoonful of sugar and some fresh yeast. You can buy fresh yeast at any bakery.

Instructions:

Fresh yeast. Image by Hellahulla, from
Wikimedia Commons

• In a small bowl put a small slice of the fresh yeast.

• Sprinkle a spoonful of sugar on top.

• Just let it sit for a few minutes. You’ll notice the yeast turning darker.

• After a while, take a teaspoon and stir the two solid materials. 

You’ll find that both solid ingredients have turned into a liquid all by themselves! This process is called osmosis.

White sugar is made up of solid crystals -- until the crystals
meet the moisture in the fresh yeast.

The sugar crystals dissolve because of the humidity (dampness) in the fresh yeast, forming a highly concentrated sugar solution. But the sugar concentration inside the yeast cells is low.

The liquid containing a large amount of sugar has a natural tendency to mix with the liquid that has less sugar and even out the sugar concentration. The yeast cell membranes separating the two solutions aren't strong enough to overcome that force, so the membranes break down. Then the water inside the cells bursts out. Pretty soon, all the sugar is completely dissolved in the released water.

And presto! -- Osmosis has turned your two solids into one liquid. It's a little magical, but it's science magic!

Get Your Hands into Science in Your City

Science doesn’t just happen in big facilities far away. There is science happening right in your city. On May 13 the universities and the nature clubs, the industrial researchers and the backyard tinkerers invite you to come out and play with them at the free 10th annual Science Rendezvous.

What Happens

Every booth wants you to poke, pet, produce, prime, punch, or pedal to partake in the science they are excited about. There are things that explode, float, or twirl. There are technologies that make our modern world run, and technologies looking for new applications. There are ancient technologies like telescopes and modern ones like Frisbee-throwing robots.

Out of the lab and into the streets, more than 6000 groups entertain over 300,000 visitors on this free day of discovery. Get a peek at state-of-the-art laboratories and research facilities, and get a glimpse into the career of a scientist. Meet animals, bike to light up an infrared camera, try the CSI tools, or map your own DNA. Each location is different because it is made up from the local community.

The emphasis is on getting your hands into the action. Takeaways give you activities to do at home and ideas for ways to put more since in your life the rest of the year.

Not Just for Kids

While each festival location definitely has activities for the community’s smallest members, there are hands-on activities for people of all ages. Kids, it’s a great way to inspire your parents to try some cool experiments at home.

Where

From Inuvik and Vancouver to Windsor and St. John’s, there are more than 34 sites holding free festivals on May 13. Find a location near you on the festival’s webpage.

BREAKING NEWS

June 30, 2016 -- Author and speaker Shar Levine, a founding member of Sci/Why, has been appointed a Member of the Order of Canada. The appointment, announced today, is for "her contributions to making science easier for children to understand through her hands-on workshops and for her work to involve parents, teachers and librarians in science education."

The Vancouver-based author, known as The Science Lady, said she is still numb with the news. "It's a win for all science writers," In particular, she said, she shares the honour with her long-time writing partner, Leslie Johnstone.

The Order of Canada recognizes outstanding achievement, dedication to the community and service to the nation.

A Day in the Life of a Park Ranger

Note: Canadian parks generally have park wardens rather than park rangers, the term used in the United States. Apart from the difference in name, the job is much the same on both sides of the border. If you go to a park this summer, watch for the park rangers or park wardens - and remember the Oregon park rangers described here by author Margriet Ruurs. -CE

If you are interested in science - biology, ecology, being outdoors and leading a life of adventure - you might want to consider a career as a Park Ranger. Park Rangers, or wardens, manage wildlife, the environment, but also people who visit parks and interact with wild animals.

When Julie goes to work, she doesn’t know what will happen that day. Some days she drives her truck through the park to make sure everything is okay. Or she glides across the lake in her kayak to check the water depth and quality. Other days she has to cut down a tree that poses a danger to campers, writes a ticket to someone who broke the law or sits behind her desk to do paperwork.

Julie knows one thing for certain: no day on the job is ever the same!

Julie has been a Park Ranger for almost 20 years. When she was a kid, Julie loved to go camping with her family. It was back then that she decided that she would like nothing better than to work in the outdoors. “If you like camping and hiking and boating, there’s no better job!” she says.

Park Rangers learn about law enforcement and help to ensure that park visitors respect and learn about their natural environment. “Park Rangers are a kind of policeman in the outdoors,” Julie says. She helps to protect wildlife, such as bears or bobcats, that may live in the park and makes sure that both people and wildlife are safe.

Not everything about the job is exciting: Park Rangers may also have to paint picnic shelters and tables, clean outhouses and fire pits. Some Park Rangers work in Historic Parks that preserve an important historic place for the future.

Doug is one of Julie’s colleagues. He works at a historic heritage park. Here he shows a family how an old grist mill uses the power of water to grind flour in the olden days. Interpretation of nature or history, and teaching people how to interact with their environment can be a big part of the job of a Park Ranger.

At night, Julie often patrols campgrounds. She walks around with another ranger. They chat with the campers while making sure that they treat their environment with respect. Often Julie works long days and, by the time she crawls into bed, she is tired but happy to be a Park Ranger.

What she likes best about her job is that no two days are ever the same. “I love the variety!” Julie smiles. Who knows what tomorrow may bring!

Become a Junior Park Ranger

In American parks, if you are interested in protecting wildlife and learning more about natural areas, you can become a Junior Ranger. Many State and National Parks have Junior Ranger Programs. You can participate in special programs such as interpretive hikes and campfire programs. Often, you will get a special certificate or badge.

Most parks have special programs in the summer:

• In Grand Canyon National Park, you get a special handbook for Junior Rangers that will help you to learn about the environment. 
• Louisiana State Parks will give you a special punch card to get punched each time you visit a State Park’s event. After three punches, you will receive a Junior Ranger Handbook full of activities. Once you complete the activities, you receive a special Junior Ranger patch, a certificate and a personalized letter from the Director of State Parks in Louisiana.
• In Yellowstone National Park, you can even go on a Junior Ranger snowshoe hike in the winter.

Be a Web Ranger or an Xplorer

If you can’t visit a Park in person, the U.S. National Park Service offers a “Web Rangers” site where you can learn about dinosaurs' diets, turtles in Florida and cave drawings made by Native Americans hundreds of years ago.

In Canada you can sign up for the Xplorers program before visiting a National Park.

All photos by Margriet Ruurs.

Science fairs and competitions: Young scientists lead the way

By Marie Powell

In 2010, 14-year-old Rui Song discovered the molecular markers for two fungi killing lentil crops in Canada, Bangladesh, Syria, and Ethiopia.

In 2011, 16-year-old Marshall Zhang made the groundbreaking discovery of a drug cocktail to help treat cystic fibrosis, a disease affecting the lungs and digestive system. The following year, 16-year-old Janelle Tam became the first to show the antioxidant properties of wood pulp. And in 2013, Arjun Nair developed an experimental cancer therapy using gold nano-particles.

Photo by Stilfehler (Creative Commons)

These ground-breaking discoveries began as projects for the national Sanofi Biogenius Canada competition. Science and math are known to be subjects where young minds can lead the way. Science fairs across the country help Canadian students explore science concepts in a hands-on participatory way, and share results in a display or report.

There's even a virtual science fair that posts reports and projects online. Many science fairs offer prizes and accolades for the winners, as well as an opportunity to advance new ideas in all fields of science.

The Google Science Fair also has a Canadian competition resulting in significant breakthroughs, such as 18-year-old Hayley Todesco's sand-and-bacteria filters for cleaning up toxic waste. The Google competition is open to anyone 13 to 18, and offers a variety of prizes.

The Sanofi Biogenius Canada competition offers high school and CEGEP students from across the country an opportunity to submit biotechnology projects for consideration. Those chosen work with mentors who are experts in their fields to develop these projects for regional and then national competitions.

For example, in 2014 students submitted more than 200 biotechnology projects, proposing research in such fields as diabetes, stress management, Alzheimer's research, pulp production, and chromosome research. The 15-year-old national winner Nicole Ticea developed an innovative test for diagnosing HIV in newborns.

For more information on these competitions and projects, try the following links:

Sanofi Biogenius Canada: http://biogenius.ca
Articles: "Calgary student takes prize for 'nano-bullet' cancer research," CBC, http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/calgary/calgary-student-takes-prize-for-nanobullet-cancer-research-1.1369403; "British Columbia student's new method for diagnosing HIV in Newborns...," Market Wired, http://www.marketwired.com/press-release/british-columbia-students-new-method-diagnosing-hiv-newborns-wins-sanofi-biogeneius-1915010.htm

Canada-wide 2015 Virtual Science Fair: http://www.virtualsciencefair.com

Science Fair Project Ideas: http://www.sciencebuddies.org/science-fair-projects/project_ideas.shtml

Google Science Fair: https://www.googlesciencefair.com/en/
Article: "Calgary's Hayley Todesco wins Canadian Google Science Fair," CBC, http://www.cbc.ca/news/technology/calgary-s-hayley-todesco-wins-canadian-google-science-fair-prize-1.2704257

Drift Cards for Citizen Science

Science is done not only in labs by people with white coats and clipboards, but also in the field. And "in the field" can mean on the water, and on the beach. So paddlers and beach-walkers can keep your eyes open this month for some citizen science opportunities on the Salish Sea!

These opportunities aren't as high-tech as the Neptune and Venus projects off-shore on the continental shelf. I've written about those before on the Sci/Why blog. Nor are they as specialized as the clam gardens research done on Quadra Island that was noted on the Kayak Yak blog, too. Nope, these current opportunities for ordinary citizens to participate in a science project involve picking up cards.

This photo is from the Raincoast Conservation Federation website.

 That doesn't sound very science-y at first. It doesn't sound like it has anything to do with kayaks, either. But hang on. These yellow cards are biodegradable plywood cards with detailed labelling, and they're being released at particular locations on the Salish Sea. If you find one while you're out in a boat or on a beach, pick it up and contact the scientists, who are part of a team involving the City of Vancouver, the Raincoast Conservation Federation, and the Georgia Strait Alliance. You will have helped track the way that floating items drift in real-life, real-time conditions.
There's an article about this drift card release on the CBC website at this link, and another more detailed article on the Vancouver Observer website at this link. You can also go to the website for the Salish Sea Spill Map, where the locations of card releases and recoveries are being tagged on a map. Is your home base on this map? Maybe you're planning a paddling trip and want to look up that location. Maybe you're thinking about what could happen if, instead of cards, there were other things released such as fossil fuels from a tanker? And now, this project makes a little more sense.

A close-up of one of the cards, from the Vancouver Observer article.

 Citizen science is not only about allowing ordinary untrained people to participate in projects by real scientists. It can be about seeing real science in use in the lives of ordinary citizens. We citizens interact with the environment when we're out on the water in our small boats or walking along shorelines. We can gather data in many more places than a scientist could ever get funding to cover. We get to be part of the community of learning.

Stories in Slate: Touring an Underground Mine

By Marie Powell (Photos by L. L. Melton)

A tour of an underground mine offered a hands-on science opportunity during a recent trip to the Braich Goch slate mine in North Wales.

We spent more than two hours in the mine tunnels with our expert guide Mark of Corris Mine Explorers. During that time, we explored the abandoned caverns, learned a little mining history, and examined original artifacts used in this once-prosperous slate mine.

The underground tunnels date to 1836, and by 1878 the mine employed about 250 workers producing 7000 tons of slab and roofing slate. In its heyday, families negotiated for mining rights to the chambers, which were known as "bargains," Mark told us. Men and boys aged 10-35 worked the mine in near darkness, hoarding the tallow candles made from sheep fat that provided their only light source. They used clay to carry the candle with them and fix it to the slate walls of the mine as they worked

We had a chance to see several original artifacts used in the mine and left there. These tools date back to the 1860s, Mark said. Using the mallet, a worker would strike the rod three times, then turn and strike three more, for a total of nine strikes. Black powder was packed into the hole. They used copper and brass rods because they don't spark, he added.

Since the mine is full of ledges and drops, and candles were scarce, it was important to have a reliable method of finding their way around the mine in almost total darkness, he said. They used a form of echo-location, orienting themselves to the sounds of dripping water in the cave, or to their own singing.

Most of the time we were able to walk upright, but at times there was barely enough room for a person to crouch. At one point Mark tied us to a rope and let us look out over a drop in the mine to a level below. Staring down at the eerily echoing caverns far below us, we were glad of our headlamps and gear, and hyper-aware of the danger the miners faced every day.

Artifacts lined the mine at strategic locations. Mark pointed out the expected ones, such as a detonation box, explosives, and a "bugle" of black powder. Among the artifacts we saw a 19th Century example of recycling: a jar for W P Hartley's marmalade, probably re-used for drippings from sheep fat, since bread and drippings were a staple of the miner's diet.

These historical artifacts also show the effects of rust, which occurs when water and oxygen goes to work on iron, especially cast iron as would have been the case in the late 1800s.

The walls themselves are a study in stratification, or the layers of rock that form over time. We stopped more than once to examine them.

Mushrooms were visible in several places as well, and Mark pointed out that these fungi can act as agents of erosion on some artifacts, such as this oxidizing nail covered in what looked like red-orange fuzz.

The ochre coloration, generally from iron oxides or limonite, gave the walls of the mine a striking look in places as well.

The geological processes we could clearly see at work in this underground environment made it well worth the trip, and having a knowledgeable guide willing to let us explore at our own pace was invaluable.

Marie Powell is the author of seven books for children, including Dragonflies are Amazing (Scholastic Canada) and a six-book Word Families series (Amicus Publishing). 


http://sci-why.blogspot.ca/2014/01/stories-in-slate-touring-underground.html

Massive open-house of thousands of laboratories across Canada coming May 11!

By Pippa Wysong

What has a million legs, a few thousand open doors and things that make you go ‘ooh!’ and ‘aww!’? If you said Science Rendezvous, you’re right! This is a nation-wide event that will take place Saturday May 11, and it’s for the whole family.

What is Science Rendezvous? Think of it as a massive open-house where thousands of laboratories across the country open their doors to the public. The whole family can visit labs at universities and other institutions and see where real research is done. You can meet scientists who will answer your questions, give tours of their labs, and do demos – many of which you can try out yourself.

Explosive fun from Science Rendezvous 2012.
For more blasts (and other stuff) from the past,
check out Science Rendezvous's video gallery.
Photo courtesy of Science Rendezvous.

I ventured into the Science Rendezvous festival the last two years, and found it an amazing experience. I got to talk to geologists, astronomers of various types, and even spoke to a researcher working with flat-worms who was trying to figure out what it is that makes these creatures grow new body parts and be basically immortal. (Read a previous blog I wrote about it.)

This year, I’ve gotten involved. In fact, I’ll be at this year’s event all day, hosting a vaccine education tent that will be on the University of Toronto campus on St. George Street. Look for the tent where people are handing out surgical masks and letting you visit our actors portraying people sick with diseases such as Spanish flu, polio and smallpox.

There will be things that appeal to all ages. Across Canada, there will be experiments and activities for the kids, lectures for the adults, and displays for people of all ages. And not everything is indoors. There will be tents erected on university grounds where various demos and exhibits will reside and contribute to a festival atmosphere.

There will be even be science activities at a shopping Mall! Cape Breton University is hosting the Mall of Science at the Mayflower Shopping Mall where there will be a variety of hands-on activities.

Toronto has 17 venues participating, including 4 universities, 2 hospitals, research centres, libraries, and the Ontario Science Centre.

This is the only science festival of its kind in Canada, and the biggest. What makes it different from other science outreach events is that it’s the only one where the public gets direct access to real-live researchers and their labs, and find out exactly what novel areas they are working on. Other science outreach groups mostly focus on doing hands-on experiments that demonstrate basic scientific principles.

To find out more, tune in to the Discovery Channel’s Daily Planet show. Each day for the week leading up to May 11, scientists participating in Science Rendezvous will be on the show describing and showing off a tiny sampling of the things you’ll experience.

Mark May 11, 2013, on your calendar now! Here are some highlights of things to come:

• Science on Stage at Toronto’s Yonge-Dundas Square, Ontario. With Daily Planet’s Dan Riskin. Ryerson University hosts the Science on Stage event at Yonge-Dundas Square in Toronto. See the ever-popular Sumo Robot Competition, a machine-vs-machine battle to the death, the Dance of Science featuring Ryerson’s renowned performing arts programs, and a spectacular fire show! Dan Riskin will host and do some amazing science himself!

• The Role of Gender in Science Communication, Vancouver. As a prelude to the main event happening on campus, University of British Columbia (UBC) will present a public lecture on the role of gender in science communication on May 10th, 2013 from 5:30-7:00pm. Open forum and panel discussions will be led by Dr. Jennifer Gardy from UBC. On May 11, UBC labs will open their doors.

• Science Jeopardy, Oshawa, Ontario. The University of Ontario Institute of Technology (UOIT) presents flaming gummy bears, liquid nitrogen fun and Science Jeopardy. Examine forensic evidence to solve a crime scene, levitate a magnet, discover the sensational sliminess of creating polymers, create a Maggot Masterpiece, and isolate your own DNA.

And much, much more!
For more details: http://www.sciencerendezvous.ca/2013/

Fuel Spills

Do science and outdoor sports go together for you? They do for me! I do a lot of thinking when out in my kayak. Sometimes the things I see when kayaking remind me of birdwatching and climate change science. But most recently, while out in my kayak I passed a floating plastic bag that might have blown off a boat, and a sunken tin pie pan that was probably frisbee-ed from shore. Seeing human trash reminded me of why I had to get to my computer and write this post. There have been a series of fuel spills locally, where I live in Saanich, part of Victoria.
You can read about one of the first recent spills in the Saanich News in their article appropriately titled "Oil spill stains urban miracle." It's on the front page, with a sub-heading "Catastrophe strikes Coho-laden creek." I hadn't thought of an urban creek being the subject of study for working biologists, but it is. And there are school visits to the creek as well, so that students can learn about Nature in their own home neighbourhood.

My friend John Herbert took this photo of Colquitz Creek. That's the salmon stream that we've written about here, the one that runs from Beaver Lake through Panama Flats to Portage Inlet.

This spill was from a home heating oil tank that leaked. It happened when a fuel delivery was made to the wrong address, and the wrong home's unused tank was filled with home heating oil. A pipe leading from the fuel tank sprung a leak, and over a few days released an estimated 1,000 litres of heating oil into Swan Creek, which drains into Colquitz Creek. Once the oily sheen on the stream was pointed out to Saanich municipal workers, they traced the fuel up to the source of the leak. Other leaks have since been traced back to other tanks.


These fuel tanks weren't mine or in my own neighbourhood, but I must have walked within a hundred yards of them several times before eating and relaxing at a nearby home of friends or family. That's it, for me. Not in my back yard. Not in my friends' and families' back yards. Accidents happen, but fuel tanks are owned by people who can look after them. No excuses. When I walked back from the beach, I put the kayak away and looked at my landlady's fuel tank. No visible leaks. Not in my yard.
I'm no fuel-servicing expert. I'm not a marine biologist, or a fresh-water biologist either, but I do get out on the water often in my kayak. Every small boat user interacts hands-on with the water in a personal way. We can understand the effects of fuel spills on waterways, effects that some people don't easily understand because they don't see the plants and animals like we do. Now I'm trying to put that understanding to use.
Another recent spill of home heating fuel into the watershed in Greater Victoria can be read about here at the Times-Colonist newspaper website. The Times-Colonist article noted that:
A fact sheet from the provincial Environment Ministry says homeowners are potentially liable for cleanup costs whether they are aware of the existence of an oil tank or not.
Scary thought, eh? And home insurance doesn't cover fuel spills. One of the recent cleanups cost the homeowners $35,000.
Apparently, an old fuel tank can go from "looks ok" to "leaking" pretty darned fast... even when it's been checked by an expert from the fuel oil company. As one homeowner with an unexpected leak said to the Saanich News:
“We had a platinum protection plan where (our oil company) would do sonic testing of the tank to check the thickness of the walls. We were also using their oil that’s supposed to have additives in it that retards corrosion,” Keith says. “We were sort of relying on that plan, to some extent, to give us a head’s up if something was up. At the end of the day that didn’t help us out. We’re kicking ourselves now – it was an old tank, why didn’t we just replace it? For $2,000 we could’ve avoided a ton of grief.”

It seems that tank leaks can happen suddenly and aren't as obvious as the crack along the coaming in my second-hand Pamlico kayak from Wilderness Systems.
So I will remember the statements by experts in the local newspapers: twenty-year-old fuel tanks can and do fail suddenly. I don't have to be a fuel expert to help my landlady make a proper plan for the fuel tank at her house! That's practical science we can put to good use. With planning, this home heating system will never be the cause for an expensive and environmentally damaging spill.
We can't stop all the fuel spills in the world, but we can each look after our own equipment. And if you see any fuel spilled on the ground or water in BC, in town or out in the boonies, call the 24-Hour Spill Line toll-free at 1-800-663-3456.

What Makes an Octopus Blush - and How Exactly Do They Do It?

Posted by Helaine Becker

We've all heard about octopi that can change color to mimic their environment. But how do they do it? I discovered the answer when writing The Big Green Book of the Big Blue Sea for Kids Can Press.

The book is designed to present information to kids ages 8-12, but also to engage them with cool hands-on (or do we call that "experiential" now?) activities. Most people learn best by doing, and doing stuff that involves splashing water is pretty well a can't-fail learning opportunity.

The problem with octopi, though, was that I couldn't find a good activity anywhere out there to explain color-changing skin. I had to invent one.

Coming up with ideas is pretty easy for me. But coming up with ideas that any klutz, I mean kid, can do (And I am the klutz in question; if I can't do it successfully, it won't go in the book) wasn't a piece of cake. Luckily, cake was not required. Waxed paper and food coloring, however, were.

For all you lucky readers, here, in it's entirety, is the activity I invented. You'll find it, and many other fun and kooky things to try and do in The Big Green Book of the Big Blue Sea. Check it out, please!



 Seeing Spots?

Make your own octopus skin in less time than it takes an octopus to blush.

Image courtesy Pamsclipart.com

You Will Need

a large sheet of newspaper 

2 sheets of waxed paper about 30 cm (12 in.) square

yellow food coloring

1.     Lay the newspaper on your work surface to protect it.

2.     Lay down one sheet of waxed paper. Can you see the grayish newspaper through it? That’s the color of your octopus skin.

3.     Staying away from the edges of the waxed paper, carefully place 10–20 drops of food coloring on the waxed paper about 1 cm (½ in.) apart. Can you still see the gray newspaper between the colored dots?

4.     Hold the second sheet of waxed paper above the first sheet. Gently place it on top of the first sheet. See how the spots seem to spread out? Gently press on them with your thumb to spread them out even more. Can you still see the gray newspaper? Or does your octopus skin look yellow?

5.     Lift the top sheet of waxed paper off the bottom sheet. Do the dots return to their original size?

What’s Going On?

An octopus can change color to hide from prey or predators by blending into its surroundings. Many scientists think octopus also use color to communicate and express emotions, such as fear or dominance.

But how do our wriggly friends achieve this tint-o-riffic trick? Octopus skin contains microscopic pigment-filled structures called chromatophores, represented here by the dots of food coloring. Real chromatophores are so small, you can’t usually see them.

When an octopus wants to change its hue, it changes the size and shape of its chromatophores. Your thumb, forcing the dots to expand, acts like the small muscles in the octopus’s skin. They pull on the chromatophores to widen them. Now the skin they’re in is filled with color!

When the octopus relaxes, the chromatophores shrink back to their normal size. The octopus’s skin returns to its original color.*

*Excerpted from The Big Green Book of the Big Blue Sea, Copyright 2011 by Helaine Becker, Kids Can Press, Publisher. All rights reserved.