A beautiful and well crafted tale about how a bit of ingenuity and co-operation can take a challenging situation and turn it into a serious opportunity. Told from the perspective of a young girl whose family is very poor. They live on a windy farm at the top of a hill and one day the wind is so strong that it blows half their house away! "Never mind" says Grandpa. Follow what happens next as the evil oil baron uncle refuses to help out and the family learn to harness the power of the wind. This book is a fabulous springboard for discussions about finite and renewable resources as well as the i ..read more

"I work with the ocean because it's vast and unknown and filled with really different, wonderful creatures" Dr Sharon Hook As a kid Growing up Sharon Hook was a kid who was always outside. She absolutely loved animals, and still does. As she got older, she knew that she wanted a job that would help to “save the world” and make a real difference. Sharon was inspired by Rachel Carson, a marine biologist and ecologist, who wrote a book called “A silent spring” about the impacts of DDT (a powerful and environmentally disastrous insecticide) on birds. Rachel Carson is widely credited with having ..read more

Dr Charis Teh is a Senior Postdoctoral Fellow (i.e Trainee Scientist) thriving in the field of immunology. Even from a young age, Charis’s creativity, involvement with nature and love of science were what she most enjoyed exploring. Early life Growing up in Borneo, Malaysia, Charis fondly remembers her family trips to the rainforest reserves and walks observing the wildlife including bats and monkeys. Ballet and piano were activities Charis pursued for more than 10 years. She was inspired by many people in her life including; her piano teacher, a wildlife conservationist, a doctor and a dedica ..read more

We love art as well as science in this house. There is rarely a day that goes past where Lily and Ethan aren't found at the dining table drawing away after dinner. They are both quite prolific, which is lovely because of the joy it brings all of us but I often feel guilty about the amount of paper that we go through, even though it is recycled. Following on from our recycling sorting activity the other week, I thought that it could be good to go through an exercise where the kids could get an idea of what happens to the materials after they are taken away.  This activity similarly uses the pr ..read more

This experiment explores a variety of scientific concepts all stemming from the core concept of surface tension. But how are we meant to understand these extended concepts when we don’t even properly understand surface tension? Let’s take it back to the basics to develop and extend our knowledge. The Surface Tension Introduction Experiment encourages independent decision making and a basic level of comparative analysis through an exploration of the unique properties of water. Materials Water Cooking oil (We used peanut oil) Syringe or eye dropper Tooth pick Wax or baking paper Method Drop a ..read more

This post is the first in an ongoing series that about amazing people in science in Australia. The posts are written as short stories that you can read to your kids. They are designed to inspire and excite children about the amazing possibilities for a STEM career. I would love to know if you enjoy these stories. So please pop a comment below and tell me what you think. A love of "The Wild" When Dr Phoebe Meagher was little she loved everything that was “The Wild”. Her passions were animals, being in nature and the ocean. Growing up Phoebe was inspired by her grandmother who was an avid camp ..read more

Ready for Easter? We actually leave on our epic Disney World adventure on Easter Sunday so we’ve informed the kids that the Easter Bunny will be leaving a single egg on their beds that they can take with them to the airport (nothing like a sugar high when you are stuck on an 18 hour flight). Anyhow, I’ve got something you can do with all of those discarded foil wrappers that is both educational AND fun. This safe and simple experiment puts the typically discarded wrappings of Easter eggs to scientific use. Having this task ready to go takes the pressure off entertaining the kids these holidays ..read more

It’s never too early to start talking about environmental issues with kids. I set up this fun activity with Ethan so he could learn about the first step in recycling the different things that we put in the bin. This activity is fun, engaging and involves active investigation. It’s also a beneficial introduction to recycling that can prompt important conversations about waste and climate change. Gather your supplies Toy garbage or dump truck (for one similar to the truck pictured try this) and a toy person.  Clean recycling items such as paper, cardboard, metal and plastic bottle tops and lea ..read more