VanCleave's Science Fun

Your Guide to Science Projects, Fun Experiments, and Science Research

Hummingbird

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If you have humming bird feeders, you need to hang them out of sight of each other. This is because hummingbirds are very territorial and will aggressively protect nectar sources, be it flowers or your feeders. For such small birds, they are very fast with an average flight speed of about 25-30 mph, and they […]

Test

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Notes from Janice’s Desk Many people are not good test takers and I am one of them. I seem to go into “brain freeze” when I have to take a test. I am 67 and the only test I get concerned about now is my blood sugar level. But more than two million students this […]

Song Birds

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Notes from Janice’s Desk We whistle by puckering our lips and blowing. It takes a bit of practice, but some people can whistle beautiful songs. Not me. I make more noise than a pleasing sound. Birds do not whistle songs. One reason is that they don’t have lips to pucker. Instead, birds have a song-making […]

Left Handed Facts

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Notes from Janice’s Desk Are you right or left handed? I write with my right hand and it is the hand that I use the most. So, I am right handed. Scientists at Queen’s University Belfast in Northern Ireland wanted to know if cats have a preference to their right or left paw.  They discovered […]

Hawaii: Kauai

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Notes from Janice’s Desk My visit to Kauai, one of the Hawaiian islands, was awesome. Like all the Hawaiian islands, there was too much to see in just one visit. A helicopter ride over the island gave me a bird’s eye view of the beautiful sites from the lush tropical forests that cover Mount Waialeale, […]

Lava Types

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Notes from Janice’s Desk I’ve to visit several of the Hawaiian islands.  Hawaii is the name of the largest of the islands and is commonly called the Big Island. It was on this island that I saw up close an erupting volcano. Kilauea volcano on this island has been erupting since January 1983. As the […]

Why Do Science Projects?

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Too often science fair projects are viewed by students as more stuff to read. From a kid’s point of view, experimenting is fun. It’s all the reading and writing that most object to. But even this can be “less painful” if they start out with a plan. In other words, they have to be organized. […]

Deductive Reasoning

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Notes from Janice’s Desk I am able to control my diabetes with diet. Basically this means that if food tastes good I should spit it out. Nothing made with sucrose (table sugar) , that covers everything that I like–cake, cookies, chocolate candy, chocolate candy and did I say chocolate candy? I have to limit the […]

Scientific Method:Cleaning Kitchen

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Notes from Janice’s Desk I’d like kids to use the scientific method instead of just defining it and listing its steps. The scientific method is a valuable life-skill tool that is used in solving everyday problems. It is especially useful in emergencies.  For example, I got a call from a local TV reporter that she […]