At-home STEM Activities: Pumpkin Pi
Back in March, we talked a little about the history of pi and saw an interesting way to calculate the mathematical constant with Buffon’s Needle Problem. Today, let’s return to everyone’s favorite irrational number with an autumnal twist—using pumpkins to explore pi!
Catch up on the summer's Super Stellar Friday webinars!
This summer, the Discovery Center took our monthly guest speaker series online. Our educator Dave McDonald kicked off our virtual Super Stellar Friday back in June, with his presentation on the summer solstice. In July, our Membership and Volunteer Coordinator, Katie Marinoff, put her math degree to use by talking about the Pythagorean theorem, and in August, our Education Director, Mirka Zapletal, shared her doctoral research on carnivores along the Louisiana coast.
At-Home STEM Activities: How Many Seeds?
In honor of National Wildflower Week, this week’s Distance Learning offerings are focusing on the plant world.
When fruits and other seed plants reproduce (make more of themselves), a tiny new plant embryo forms inside their seeds. The seed protects the embryo and stores food for it. Seeds are released by the parent plant and dispersed (sent to new places) by wind, water, or animal activity. If the seed lands where the conditions are right, the embryo germinates and grows into a new plant.
In this all-ages activity, we’ll practice our estimating, counting, basic math, and motor skills using the seeds from fresh cherry tomatoes! This activity is modified from a lesson developed by National Agriculture in the Classroom.
At-home STEM Activities: Tides and Moon Phases
Dreaming of summer trips to the beach? This week we’re exploring different aspects of aquatic systems.
Ocean tides are one of the most predictable natural phenomena. One cycle of tides occurs about every 25 hours, and the main cause of the rise and fall of the waves is the gravitational pull of the Moon. Since the Moon is the main reason we have tides, this leads us to the question: Is there a relationship between the phases of the Moon and Earth’s tides?
Investigate this question by analyzing data, graphing your findings, and creating a flip-book of your results!
At-Home STEM Activities: Platonic Solids and Euler's Formula
We live in a three-dimensional space. That means that solid objects around us have length, width, and depth. In geometry, we can talk about specific types of solid objects, one type being Platonic solids.
This is a geometry activity that is good for all ages—some younger learners might need an adult’s help constructing the solids and there is a link to a deeper explanation of Euler’s Formula for more advanced learners!
At-home STEM Activities: Geometric Mandalas
Geometry is applied in many fields outside of mathematics, including physics, architecture, and art. One example of the meeting of art and geometry is a mandala. Mandalas are geometric designs that often rely of symmetry around a circle. In various spiritual traditions, mandalas are used as an aid in meditation. The beauty of mandalas lies in their symmetry, and the creation of mandalas is often associated with restoring inner peace.