DIY science is the perfect way to use your creative skills and learn something new. With the right supplies, some determination, and a curious mind, you can create amazing experiments that open up a whole world of possibilities. At home-made laboratories or tech workshops, makers from all backgrounds can explore new ideas by finding ways to study their environment in novel ways – allowing them to make breathtaking discoveries!
Here is a variation on the Menocino Motor project. The Mendo Motor is a solar-powered magnetically levitating motor invented by super maker Larry Spring, of Mendocino California. This is a great project to do with high school kids. The Motor incorporates woodworking, electricity, magnestism, troubleshooting, and can also be used as a way of teaching […]
Happy Birthday Al! On this day, in the year 1879, a person was born whose name would become synonymous with our popular concept of genius. When we take a closer look at Albert Einstein’s contributions to science, it’s plain to see why. Within a single year, working at a Swiss patent office, Einstein wrote a […]
Well Happy Pi Day to you! This little video came to me a few years ago via two alumni of my high school technology and engineering program. Math geekery made fun! The Math Forum at Drexel has some good Pi Day activities. if you are looking for some classroom resources for Pi Day, you might […]
Today is the birthday of Joseph Priestley, the 18th century scientist, teacher, and political wonk who had a tremendous impact on the worlds of science and politics. He is credited with the discovery of oxygen (isolating it in its gaseous state). Priestley has been the subject of two “recent” books, The Lunar Men (actually five […]
Meteotek is a Spanish high school project to build a meteorological sounding balloon equipped with temperature and pressure sensors, GPS, radio, and a still camera. They had a successful launched on February 28, 2009. Their Flickr pages are in (Catalan) Spanish, but the photos speak for themselves. It’s just endlessly amazing to me that the […]
Brian O’Connor gave this recent presentation at DorkBot SoCal (March 8, 2009) on combining a homemade moisture sensor, an Arduino, and a Chumby to create a system for monitoring the health of his plants. Video: Arduino + Chumby = Fun! with Brian O’Connor [Thanks, Thomas!]
Patti Schiendelman, Maker Media index, and New World Geek, posted a piece about using Cat-5 cable to create a garden trellis on her fence. She writes: Last year I did a webby-looking twine support for my green beans – it worked really well, plus it was entertaining to look at while waiting for the beans […]
