Author Archives: Kathy-Ceceri
Leftover Valentine’s Chocolate? Use It to Measure the Speed of Light
If you’re a long-time reader, you may remember the great leftover Easter Peeps microwave experiment. Well, today we’re going to be nuking leftover Valentine’s Day chocolate to demonstrate one of the constants of physics, the speed of light. Chocolate makes a very appropriate medium, because the heating property of microwaves was first discovered by a […] Continue reading
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Tagged chocolate, microwaves, Physics, Projects and Activities, Science, Science and Education
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Five Great Geeky Chick Flicks for Valentine’s Day
In a year when the top chick flicks involve vampires, it’s hard to say what makes a geeky chick flicks stand out from the rest of the genre. But it’s safe to say geek women are drawn to films with intelligent dialogue, an interesting premise, a strong female lead and a leading man who’s quirky […] Continue reading
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Tagged Armchair Geek, Hacking the Holidays, Movies
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The Physics of Bicycling
Luther F. Davis III, a physics teacher at Lake Mary High School in Florida, likes to give his students memorable lessons. He has smashed cinder blocks over his chest while lying on a bed of nails to illustrate pressure and had students drag him around the football field with ropes to show how forces direct […] Continue reading
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Tagged American Diabetes Association, Bicycling, Physics, Science and Education
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What’s That Stuff? The Chemistry Behind Everyday Products
Right around the time I started writing for GeekDad, I embarked on an adventure of learning about chemistry at home with my kids. Since I’m the type to obey any warning about using things only as directed, this was a giant leap for me. By the end of the year, though, we had performed more […] Continue reading
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Tagged AmericanChemicalSociety, Chemical Engineering News, Chemistry, Education, Science and Education
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How to Get Your Kids to Like Literature
My kids are probably among the last whose family gets a daily newspaper with substantial, if somewhat dated, funny pages. (As I learned by reading his Twitter feed today, the 14-year-old gets a particular kick out of the absurdity of Mark Trail.) And of course, having access to their dad’s comic book collection, they’re familiar […] Continue reading
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Tagged Armchair Geek, Books, Comics
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Why Kids Like Modern Art
We dropped in to our local art museum the other day, and I was reminded of why taking kids to see art – especially contemporary art – is such a serendipitous experience. Just past the coat room is a space that is sometimes used for educational programs and special exhibits. But this time it was […] Continue reading
Happy Birthday, Sir Isaac Newton!
Today is Sir Isaac Newton’s birthday, as you know if you’ve been on Google’s homepage. In addition to laying out the Laws of Motion, he also did innovative work on the properties of light, as can be seen in this Lego re-enactment. I’ll be reviewing a new kids’ book about Newton — who was quite […] Continue reading
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Tagged Google Doodle, Isaac Newton, Lego, People, Physics
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Researching The Shape of Space With Your Kids
The kids and I have been looking into modern physics lately – you know, relativity, quantum mechanics, string theory, that sort of thing. I’ll be blogging about some of the cool stuff we’ve been learning in the near future. But trying to wrap my aging brain around these far-out concepts makes me envious of my […] Continue reading
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Tagged Armchair Geek, Jeff Weeks, shape of space, topology
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Some Razzleberry Dressing Would Be Nice
Disney’s A Christmas Carol, favorably reviewed by GeekDad’s Jason B. Jones, is but the most recent in a long line of screen adaptations of Dickens’ classic. And through the years, I’ve argued with many fierce partisans over their favorites.
There’s the 1951 black-and-white version with Alastair Sim, considered by many to be the defining Scrooge. (I’m […] Continue reading
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Tagged A Christmas Carol, animation, Hacking the Holidays, Television
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Candor is Stepford for Kids- But Is That So Bad?
There’s disagreement in the Ceceri household over Candor. The GeekTeen, who is always happy to test-drive YA novels that are sent for review, was ultimately unimpressed. I found it an engaging read that raises some interesting issues. The difference, I suspect, is gender-based. Because Candor is speculative fiction with a lot of kissing in it.
First-time […] Continue reading
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Tagged Armchair Geek, speculative fiction, young adult books
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