#2: Virus Science, Coding Games, and more
Hello everyone,
We hope that everyone is safe in well. We have been going through our materials and resources to deliver even more easy STEAM exploration activities. In this week’s STEAM at Home, we highlighted some of our favorite outdoor explorations, coding games online, and supply-easy activities explaining the science behind COVID-19 and virology. We’re interested to hear about what everyone has been up to and what learning at home has been like for families. If you try any of our activities or have been up to anything else exciting, we would love to see what you’ve been up to!
Explaining COVID-19 Through Science
We are all well aware of the situation regarding the COVID-19 pandemic. As families and children are talking about the virus, it is also a great opportunity to explore the science behind it. Better understanding how it works can calm and empower, and also be a lot of fun!
Virus Science, in a Nutshell
Viruses are non-living clusters of organic matter, smaller than cells and bacteria. They are made out of DNA or RNA - genetic information that allows them to replicate and use the cells of a living creature or human to reproduce. This video is a good, straightforward breakdown of how viruses work in cells.
Quick Lab: How does Soap Work?
What might be particularly helpful for children to learn is how soap and scrubbing fight the virus. Take any clear jar and fill it with water and oil. Have your kids help you do this, and ask them about what they see happening. As we know, water and oil don’t mix. But add soap to this mixture and mix it around, and you can see everything mixing together.
The cell membrane - the outside of the cell - regulates what goes in and out of a cell. Viruses have an outer layer of protein that lets them into cells of living things. That’s why they infect humans and animals. Germs, dirt, and oils, stay with us until we use soap to break it up. Because soap molecules have an end that loves water (hydrophilic) and an end that hates water (hydrophobic), it can separate the stuff that makes us stick from our bodies by getting between them. Water by itself will wash over virus cells, but soap lets everything mix and can even pull viruses apart! How long does it take for soap to do this? About 20 seconds.
more COVID-19 Science resources and activities
Our friends at Exploratorium have shared a number of cool videos and easy-supply activities to answer some questions around viruses, such as:
Viruses love to use the energy and resources in our cells. Our cells know how to create proteins and do all of the wonderful things through our DNA. Cells and DNA are usually too small to see unless we extract them. In this WonderLab and science classroom classic, you can use household materials to extract the DNA from everyday fruits!
Brainpop has free resources and elementary-aged videos explaining Covid-19, how viruses work, immune systems, and more. They have materials on health for K-1 learners and for upper elementary students.
Do they have specific questions around public health, outbreaks, vaccines, and “flattening the curve”? Another notable resource is UKRI’s Coronavirus explains, which breaks down a lot of these tricky questions by category in simple language.
ParentChild+ also has a number of resources around explaining COVID-19, including comics and videos.
Even More to do: Indoors and Outdoors
Nature Spotlight
We have two suggestions for this week’s nature spotlight.
With the seasons changing, and for some, more time to get outside, this is a great opportunity to see what is changing. How many colors can you find? Can you hear the wind? Smell the rain? Do you see any animals? Try to use all five senses to see what is changing and what is in nature. Need more ideas?
Got a leftover pizza box? You can make a pizza box solar oven with household items. There are plenty of treats you can make, but we recommend camp-classics like s’mores or cinnamon buns.
Coding Games
Of course, kids and parents both need alone time or time to do other things. When kids are having tech-time, they can still be learning. Here are some of our favorite free coding games.
What We’re reading
Boredom: Could it be creativity's spark—or a cause for concern? - Harvard Medicine
Burning questions? Ideas to share? You can reach us at wonderlabsteam@gmail.com or fill out the form on the contact page. In the meantime, have a great weekend and stay healthy.