I Slept Through Science

We've all heard it: eating turkey during Thanksgiving makes you sleepy. You might have even heard that tryptophan is to blame, but is any of this true? And what even is tryptophan, anyway? Cheryl has her suspicions, but doesn't know why. And if tryptophan isn't to blame, why do we get sleepy after Thanksgiving dinner? It's never too late to learn about the world around you. This is part of the Hol...

Another feature of Thanksgiving dinner are the side dishes like cranberry sauce and jell-o. But what allows these to go from a liquid to a, well, gel? Cheryl thinks there some sort of reaction happening, but doesn't know for sure. To find the answer she will learn how water molecules can be a bit like velcro and stick to proteins. It's never too late to learn about the world around you.   Res...

Time to start planning for Thanksgiving dinner! Many people brine their Thanksgiving turkeys before cooking them, but why? What does soaking in salt water actually do to the bird? Why would salt water make the meat more moist than simply water alone? Cheryl learns a bit about diffusion and how it helps make this holiday more tasty! It's never too late to learn about the world around you.  &nb...

Starting a new unit about the science of holidays with Halloween, complete with costumes! Cheryl wonders why carving a pumpkin makes it rot faster, which leads her to realize she's not quite sure what rot is in the first place. She also makes connections back to our Hot & Cold unit with molecules moving (Lesson 11) and cells being damaged when frozen (Lesson 15). It's never too late to learn a...

If plants use sunlight to make their own food, why do some plants eat animals for food? Isn't that the opposite of what plants do? In order to answer this question, Cheryl learns a bit more about exactly what photosynthesis does and gains an even greater appreciation for carnivorous plants.   This is part of the Houseplants unit.   Resources from this episode: Here's how plants became me...

After learning a lot about plants, Cheryl realizes the doesn't understand how plants can live underwater: shouldn't they drown? This line of questioning leads to all sorts of things, including where Oxygen comes from and why plants like poop. It's never too late to learn about the world around you.  This is part of the Houseplants unit. Resources from this episode: Aquatic Plant Plant Adaptat...

Seasonal allergies plague so many of us, but why aren't we usually allergic to our houseplants? And why don't houseplants usually produce much pollen? What even is pollen, anyway? This week Cheryl gets into the birds and the bees...with plants to learn about pollen, flowers, and where seeds come from. It's never too late to learn about the world around you. This is part of the Houseplants unit. Re...

It's healthy to have houseplants, right? But how healthy is it? What makes it healthy? Do houseplants produces more oxygen for us to breath or clean the air from "toxins?" Cheryl and Ryan talk about this, plus more in this week's episode. It's never too late to learn about the world around you.    This is part of the Houseplants unit. Resources from this episode: How many plants to produ...

Cheryl has a vine plant that has an interesting pattern of leaf size: when the vine grows horizontally, the leaves are relatively small, but when the vine grows vertically, the leaves are significantly bigger. In order to understand why, Cheryl and Ryan learn about what plants "know," how they know what they know, and even why some plants throw shade. It's never too late to learn about the world a...

Continuing to probe Cheryl's questions about her houseplants, this week she asks about root bound plants: what causes it and why is it bad for her houseplants. To answer the question Ryan will talk about what exactly nutrients are and why they are important for plants, including why fertilizers actually help plants. It's never too late to learn about the world around you. This is part of the House...

Building off of last week's lesson about overwatering, Cheryl asks about why leaves turn yellow when "bad" things happen to the plant and whether or not it's connected to why leaves change color in the fall. To answer the question Cheryl will need to remember what she learned about pigments and see if she can remember a bit about photosynthesis.   This is part of the Houseplants unit.  ...

Cheryl is into growing houseplants and realized that she has lots of questions about how they work, so we're going to do a whole unit just on houseplants! This week we learn about how overwatering and underwatering are related to each other, the things plants need to live, and why roots are so important for healthy plants. Its never too late to learn about the world around you. This is part of the...

In the last lesson of the color unit, Cheryl asks about the dress the "broke the internet" where people couldn't agree about whether it was white and gold or blue and black. To answer the question, Ryan will talk about how we perceive colors, including a few optical illusions!   This is part of our Color unit. Resources from this episode: How "the dress" became an illusion unlike any other Op...

Cheryl asks a deeper question about color: what actually makes an object the color it appears? She applies what she's learned about different wavelengths of light to answer the question and along the way learns about other colors of light that humans can't see, like x-rays, gamma rays, ultraviolet, microwaves, and even radio waves. It's never too late to learn about the world around you.   Th...

Building off of last week's lesson about why the sky is blue, now Cheryl wants to know why sunsets aren't blue! Ryan tries to create some visual aides on the fly, struggles, but still get's the idea across. By the end Cheryl is really starting to get the hang of talking about color!   This is part of the Color unit. Watch the podcast on YouTube Follow us on Facebook , Instagram , & Twitte...

The quintessential question from growing up, why is the sky blue, gets answered today! One of the commonly given answers ends up not being correct and Ryan gesticulates wildly. It's never too late to learn about the world around you!   This is part of the Color unit. Watch the podcast on YouTube Follow us on Facebook , Instagram , & Twitter Theme Song: Swing 39 by Latché Swing Licensed un...

We have a special guest exchange student this week with her own science question - our Podcast graphic artist, Beth! As an artist, Beth has a good understanding of colors and paints, but doesn't understand how glow-in-the-dark paint works, so she joins Ryan & Cheryl to see if they can help. It's never too late to learn about the world around you. This is part of our Color unit. Resources from...

What actually forms a rainbow? Where do you need to be to see a rainbow? And most importantly, can Cheryl have her own personal rainbow? It's never too late to learn about the world around you.   This is part of our Color unit. Resources from this episode: EarthSky Information Palace Watch the podcast on YouTube Follow us on Facebook , Instagram , & Twitter Theme Song: Swing 39 by Latché...

Based on a song from preschool, Cheryl asks about the real number of colors in the rainbow (and yes, Cheryl does sing the song for us). This leads to lots more questions about light, rainbows in general, and even a bit of history. This is part of the Color unit. Resources from this episode: Science Learn Scientific Minds Watch the podcast on YouTube Follow us on Facebook , Instagram , & Twitte...

Cheryl tells a story from her childhood that fuels her desire to see the Northern Lights. But what actually causes them? Is it the Sun? Is something reflecting? Does something generate the light like some organisms can generate light? The answer is even more interesting and cool, so come learn with us today. It's never to late to learn about the world around you. This is part of the Color unit. Re...

Happy 4th of July! We start a new unit this week all about color and what better way than by talking about fireworks! Cheryl doesn't think she knows much about fireworks, but we push on anyway and learn that at least some of how fireworks work is simpler than initially though. This is part of our Color unit. Resources from this episode: American Chemical Society How Professional Fireworks Work (Yo...

At the risk of being awkward, this week we learn about how chickens make eggs! Things stay PG, but there is discussion of where eggs and chicks come from...as well as quite a bit of talk about food (which makes Cheryl happy). Come along and learn with us; it's never too late to learn about the world around you! This is part of the Biology unit. Resources from this episode: Thank Chickens Sciencing...

Living in the Pacific Northwest, Cheryl & Ryan see a lot of evergreen trees. But why don't they lose their needles when trees with broader leaves do every winter? Learn the answer to this question as well as why evergreen trees are "the camels of the plant world" according to Cheryl in this week's lesson!   This is part of the Biology unit.   Resources from this episode: EarthSky Tre...

Where does eye color come from and how is it connected to a bunch of squares? Learn with Cheryl a bit of how complicated and fascinating the genetics of eye color can be, including why some traits are dominant and others are recessive. This lesson is part of the Biology unit. Watch the podcast on YouTube Follow us on Facebook , Instagram , & Twitter Theme Song: Swing 39 by Latché Swing License...

Cheryl gets to talk about penguins again, look at pretty maps, and even has a special surprise at the end of the lesson. Oh, and learn a bit about biodiversity as well. This is part of the Biology Unit. Resources from this episode: Biodiversity map Plant biodiversity map Watch the podcast on YouTube Follow us on Facebook , Instagram , & Twitter Theme Song: Swing 39 by Latché Swing Licensed und...