Happy New Year!
I hope everyone had a happy holiday season. I spent a lot of time with family and friends but also used the holidays to spread some polar cheer.
Homeschool Holidays
I visited the Aquarium of the Pacific’s Homeschool Holiday and talked to lots of families about the upcoming expedition. The Flag Contest entries are flying in! Don’t forget to send in your own before February!
Maverick, Charlotte and Pennelope test out the size of the EWC gear at Homeschool Holiday.
Even the staff at the event got into the polar spirit!
Staff at Homeschool Holiday get into the polar spirit!
Polar Science Family Fun Night
I also went to Experium Science Academy to help run their Winter Family Fun Night where we focused on Polar Science. Families got to rotate through three different rooms, each with its own polar science activity.
In the first room, families got to learn about what cold really is (slowing of molecules) and how cold it can get on planet earth. The coldest recorded naturally occurring temperature on earth is -128.6F at Vostok Station in Antarctica! However, scientists have used lasers to create conditions in a lab that got down to 1.7x10^-11 Kelvin (almost absolute zero)! In this lab, the scientists used a Liquid Nitrogen demonstration to reach temperatures of -320F and families got to make their own instant snow.
Families at Experium Science Academy learn about cold and polar science by experimenting with Liquid Nitrogen and making instant snow.
In the next room, families got to perform experiments to help them determine how animals and people stay warm in the polar region. They tested several forms of insulation that animals have, like fur, feathers and blubber, as well as the Extreme Cold Weather gear that humans in polar climates wear.
Families at Experium Science Academy experiment with methods of staying warm in polar climates.
Finally, in the third room, families observed a demonstration on how glaciers are formed and how they move via basal sliding—when melt water at the bottom of the glacier helps it move. They then got to make their own edible “glaciers” with blue candies representing hard packed glacial ice, ice cream for less compacted ice, whipped cream for fresh, un-compacted snow, and cookie crumbs for rocks and dirt!
Familes at Experium Science Academy learn how glaciers are formed at make their own edible "glacier."
It was definitely a “cool” holiday!