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Saturday Science: Animation Illusion

Children's Museum — Sat, 31 Jan 2015 14:00:00 +0000

How do your favorite cartoons become talking and walking TV or film characters? In this week’s Saturday Science, from Science Sparks, discover animated illusions by putting your own drawings into motion just like a cartoonist!

Materials

white cardstock
color pencils
scissors
sellotape

Process

Using scissors, cut the white cardstock into two pieces.
Draw and color in some fish on one piece.
Draw and color in a fish bowl on the other.
Tape the pencil between the two pieces of cardstock.
With the pencil between your hands, rub them together.

Summary
When you rubbed the pencil between your hands, did the fish swim around in the fish bowl? You created an animated illusion!

This is the same concept animators use to bring cartoons to life! When still images that are just a tad different from each other are sequenced together and flashed before your eyes very quickly, they create the illusion of movement.

This illusion also happens when we quickly and simultaneously spin our two images. All of a sudden the two pictures become one and the fish swim in their fish bowl!

What other two things can you draw to create an illusion?

Want more Saturday Science? See all of our at-home activities on the blog or on Pinterest. And don’t forget to visit our latest exhibit, Inside Hollywood Film & TV! You're On The Set!, to learn more about how your favorite TV shows and movies are made!

Join the Instagram #OwnThatStyle Challenge

Children's Museum — Mon, 26 Jan 2015 16:20:00 +0000

There's nothing better than seeing the confident smile on a child's face when they're dressed in their favorite clothes. Whether it's a tutu with cowboy boots, or a dinosaur t-shirt with a superhero cape, kids sure know how to own their style! Adults can find inspiration in this free-spirited approach to personal style. So, this February we're doing just that. Join in the Instagram #OwnThatStyle Challenge, be inspired by fabulous textiles from the museum's collection, and show off YOUR unique style!

It's all part of our latest exhibit and digital engagement project, "What's Your Style? Express Yourself!" which showcases quirky and classic styles from our collection of over 9,000 textiles.

WHAT: Be inspired by a new look from our textile collections and share your style!
WHERE: Instagram.
WHEN: Every day in February.
HOW: Check the theme of the day posted by @childrensmuseum, then share your style using #OwnThatStyle. Style themes range from #lace and #sweaterweather to #patterns and #90s throwback styles!

We need YOUR help to make this campaign a global success! Your contributions will be showcased in a dynamic map within the exhibit, showing families that everyone can have personal style, whether you live down the street, across the country, or around the world.

We can't wait to see you #OwnThatStyle on Instagram!

Full Schedule:

Feb. 1: #SweaterWeather
Feb. 2: #Sporty
Feb. 3: #Handbag
Feb. 4: #Boots
Feb. 5: #90s
Feb. 6: #StatementPiece
Feb. 7: #BundleUp
Feb. 8: #Print
Feb. 9: #50s
Feb. 10: #Dress
Feb. 11: #Pink
Feb. 12: #VintageTee
Feb. 13: Scarf
Feb. 14: #PopOfRed

Feb. 15: #AnimalPrint
Feb. 16: #Colorful
Feb. 17: #Sunglasses
Feb. 18: #Vacation
Feb. 19: #FavoriteShoes
Feb. 20: #Boho
Feb. 21: #GatsbyStyle
Feb. 22: #Lace
Feb. 23: #Glam
Feb. 24: #Jewelry
Feb. 25: #Leather
Feb. 26: #HighSchoolDays
Feb. 27: #Hat
Feb. 28: #Prom

Why Does My Breakfast Taste Funny After I Brush My Teeth?

Children's Museum — Mon, 26 Jan 2015 14:00:00 +0000

Beeeeep! Beeeeep! Beeeeep! It’s 6:00 a.m., and your alarm is going off. You spring (or slowly crawl) out of bed and into the bathroom to brush your teeth. You finish getting ready for the day and then head into the kitchen. Your breakfast smells good. It looks good. But GROSS! It doesn’t taste good. Why does your breakfast taste funny after you brush your teeth? We answer this question with help from mental_floss.

The breakfast ruining culprit: sodium laureth sulfate (SLS).

Depending on your favorite brand of toothpaste, sodium lauryl ether sulfate (SLES) or sodium lauryl sulfate (SLS) might also be to blame. These chemicals are the surfactants that make toothpaste foam by lowering the surface tension of the liquid.

As we brush our teeth and our mouths begin to fill with foam, our taste buds become affected by the SLES or SLS as well.

According to mental_floss, these chemicals “suppress the receptors on our taste buds that perceive sweetness, inhibiting our ability to pick up the sweet notes of food and drink. And, as if that wasn't enough, they break up the phospholipids on our tongue. These fatty molecules inhibit our receptors for bitterness and keep bitter tastes from overwhelming us, but when they're broken down by the surfactants in toothpaste, bitter tastes get enhanced.”

So thanks to these chemicals, that delicious breakfast now tastes less sweet and more bitter, and not nearly as delicious as it smells.

Tomorrow morning, wait a little longer after you brush your teeth to eat or eat breakfast before you clean your chompers.

Looking for more Never Stop Asking "Why?" questions? Catch up on all of the past "Whys" on the blog!

Microwave Soap—It's Not Magic, It's Science!

Children's Museum — Sun, 25 Jan 2015 20:17:00 +0000

By Becky Wolfe, Science Programs Manager

NOTE: Before starting this activity, please remember to be careful when pulling your soap out of the microwave. Any time you microwave something, it gets hot! The soap will too!

As one of the museum’s science educators, I spend a lot of time researching and trying interesting science experiences for our visitors. Microwaving a bar of Ivory soap is one of the demonstrations that had me yelling at my family across the house, “Hey! You have to come see this! It’s so cool!” I even threw a second bar in the microwave, just so our family could watch the reaction a second time.

So is it magic? Nope—just a bit of physics. SPOILER ALERT: I’m going to start talking about reaction, so if you haven’t tried your soap in the microwave and want to be surprised, stop here and come back when you are done. (Follow the directions in the blog post Saturday Science: Microwave Soap!)
...[Cue hold music]...

Back to the reaction. So what causes the soap to expand into a big fluffy mass? First, it’s important to know how Ivory is made. All soap is a mixture of the soap ingredients such as glycerin (this varies by type and is often proprietary), water and air. In the case of Ivory, it has a bit of extra air whipped into the soap mixture. This is why it floats in the bath tub. If your soap has cooled down, touch the microwaved soap and notice the texture. Is it the same as the bar of soap? You might notice that it’s crumbly and a bit drier, in addition to having expanded greatly in size. This is a big clue has to what is happening with the soap.

The soap expands due to Charles’s Law, named for the scientist who is credited with the calculations to explain what happens to gases when heated. This law explains that when a gas is heated, its volume expands. When soap is microwaved, the air trapped inside of the soap heats up and starts to expand. The water inside the soap also heats up and will turn to steam. As the gases grow in volume, they push on the remaining soap ingredients, expanding the bar from something small and compact to a fluffy blob. This is also why the soap feels a bit drier. The water in the soap has turned to steam, and has been released from the soap.
The same reaction you see with the soap happens when you make popcorn. Water inside of the kernel expands as the kernels are heated. Eventually, the water becomes hot enough that it turns to water vapor or steam. As the steam expands, it pushes on outer walls of the kernel until they burst exposing the yummy insides for the popcorn kernel. I actually think the microwaved soap looks like a large piece of popcorn. But don’t eat the soap!

Some of you may be asking what to do with your soap bar, now that it’s a big fluffy bar. There are a number of sensory activities that use crumbled ivory such as ghost mud. You can also use the soap like, soap.

P.S. A number of you may be wondering why I didn’t mention the “accident” that caused the invention of Ivory. A few years ago, the makers of Ivory, Proctor and Gamble, shared documents from their archives that showed the process their chemists used to develop floating soap. While a great story of a mistake leading a great invention, no worker accidently whipped more air into the soap.

Sources:

Saturday Science: Microwave Soap

Children's Museum — Sat, 24 Jan 2015 14:00:00 +0000

It’s a beautiful day with big puffy clouds … of soap! In this week’s Saturday Science experiment, found on Steve Spangler Science, discover what happens to Ivory soap when you heat it up in the microwave!

Materials:

Bar of Ivory soap
Various bars of another brand of soap
Deep bowl of water (or a plastic tub)
Paper towel
Microwave oven

Process:

Fill the bowl with water.
Drop the bars of soap in the bowl of water.
Did the Ivory soap float?
Place the bar of Ivory soap in the middle of a piece of paper towel and place the whole thing in the center of the microwave oven.
Cook the bar of soap on HIGH for 2 minutes and watch closely.
What does the soap look like now?
Allow the soap to cool for a minute or so before touching it. What does it feel like?

Summary:
Did the bar of Ivory soap look like a puffy white cloud but feel hard and rigid?

Unlike many other bars of soap, Ivory soap is able to float in the water because air is added to it while being manufactured. When soap is heated, the bar becomes pliable and traps the air bubbles that form as the water in the bar of soap vaporizes.

According to Steve Spangler Science, “this effect is a demonstration of Charles' Law. Charles' Law states that as the temperature of a gas increases, so does its volume. When the soap is heated, the molecules of air in the soap move quickly, causing them to move far away from each other. This causes the soap to puff up and expand to an enormous size.”

If you tried to heat one of the other types of soap, without added air, in the microwave it would just melt into an ewwy-gooey mess!

Want more Saturday Science? See all of our at-home activities on the blog or on Pinterest.

Inspired by the Museum: The Fun is Just Beginning!

Children's Museum — Thu, 22 Jan 2015 21:06:00 +0000

This post was written by Children's Museum Blog Ambassador, Samantha Cotten. Follow Samantha's posts on the blog or follow her on Twitter @samanthacotten.

It's a hard to believe that my stint as a member of the Blog Ambassador Panel with The Children's Museum has already come to an end. Didn't we just get started?!

I have to admit that six months ago, as the mother of a then 9-month-old, I was skeptical about the benefit my family would see in the museum. In my mind, the exhibits and programs were just a little too advanced for my little baby, and I couldn't imagine how she would enjoy it at such a young age.

I was so, so wrong.

We, as a family, have been inspired—just as the name of this series states. Since our first visit, we have seen a huge change in our daughter. Her creativity has been ignited, her curiosity is ever-present, and her mobility is at an all-time high. She's hit so many milestones—many of which become more apparent each time we visit. Her imagination is growing, in large part due to her time at the museum, and it never ceases to amaze us.

Over the last six months, we have explored (and climbed) every part of Playscape. We have driven IndyCars, rode on locomotives, dug for dinosaur bones, and have even flown to China. We attended a delightfully spooky Halloween bash, welcomed Santa Claus to Indianapolis, and of course we can't forget the time we watched Bucky come to life in the atrium.

But perhaps the best part of our new-found love of The Children's Museum has been the incredible inspiration for play and learning within our own home. Water tables have transferred over to bath time play, stairways have become mountain climbing courses and every pot and pan has become a musical instrument.

Everything is an adventure when you're 15-months-old!

Even though my time as a Blog Ambassador has come to a close, the fun is just beginning for our family. I hope you've enjoyed following us, both on this blog and via the #BlogTCM hashtag, as we reacquainted ourselves with the museum and brought the inspiration and wonder home with us. I hope to see you all soon at The Children's Museum!

Inside The Children's Museum's New Textiles Closet

Children's Museum — Mon, 19 Jan 2015 13:26:00 +0000

By Jennifer Noffze, Children's Museum Registrar and Archivist

Over the past two years, I’ve worked with our two Textile Assistants, Chief Conservator, and American Collection Curator to update storage conditions for our wonderful 9,000 piece textile collection! Obviously, we need a lot of space to store that many objects—could you imagine having a closet big enough to store 9,000 pieces of clothing? Our textile collection comprises everything from special outfits like baptismal gowns, Girl Scout uniforms, and wedding dresses to everyday items like jeans and sweaters and even fun items like Halloween costumes!

In 2012, the museum was awarded a prestigious IMLS Conservation Support grant in the amount of $125,000 with additional generous financial support from Gerald and Dorit Paul. We used these funds to hire two temporary assistants to help with inventory, moving and re-storing the items in a fabulous new shelving system. As Registrar/Archivist, it’s my job to keep track of everything in the collection; this means making sure that each item has a database record, digital image, and storage location.

Before moving the textiles, I worked with the two assistants to inventory the entire collection. This alone took us close to two months! We then moved everything out of the collection. Finding somewhere to store the items during this time was a challenge, but we used aisles in our over-sized storage space. Let’s just say that area was cramped for a while!

Once the new shelving was installed, our Textile Assistants started moving the items into the new space. I created a worksheet for them to use for gathering additional information about each piece including condition, measurements and types of materials. They also took a digital image of each piece that I added to the database—I've now seen every piece in the collection! It’s been great seeing new and fun items that I didn’t know we had. I’ve started a whole new list of favorite pieces including this fabulous 1960s dress!

The previous textile storage rooms were cramped and the overcrowded conditions were not safe for moving the pieces. It also made it hard to show off the collection to our visitors! With our new space it’s much easier to share our collection on special tours. The photo above shows our Director of Collections, Chris Carron, showing off the Campbell's Soup dress in the new, upgraded storage. The items are now less cramped and we can easily find pieces with the addition of hanging tags which list the accession number (the unique identification number that is given to every piece in our collection.) We were also able to upgrade storage conditions for specific groups of objects, like these incredible parasols!

Watch out next week for a brand new This Week's WOW, when Josh takes us inside the upgraded Textiles Storage to show us his top 5 favorite pieces!

Saturday Science: Crazy Putty

Children's Museum — Sat, 17 Jan 2015 14:00:00 +0000

Squish it. Squash it. Mold it. Bounce it. In this week’s Saturday Science experiment, found on Science Kids, learn how to make Crazy Putty!

Materials:

2 different size food storage containers.
Water
Food coloring
White glue
Borax solution (ratio of about 1 Tbsp of borax to a cup of water)

Process:

Fill the bottom of the larger container with white glue.
Add a few tablespoons of water and stir.
Add 2 or 3 drops of your favorite food coloring and stir.
Add a squirt of the borax solution (possibly a bit more depending on how much white glue you used).
Stir the mixture up and put it into the smaller container.
After some time, the mixture should have putty-like consistency.
This is when you’re putty is ready to get a little crazy! Squish it between your fingers. Mold it into your favorite shape. Bounce it on the ground!

Summary:

What made your crazy putty so CRAZY?! Two things: polyvinyl acetate, a polymer found in glue, and sodium borate, a chemical, found in Borax.According to Science Kids, when you combine the polymer and the chemical together in a water solution, their molecules react and join together as one giant molecule. Because this new compound is able to absorb large amounts of water, a crazy, putty-like substance is formed.

Want more Saturday Science? See all of our at-home activities on the blog or on Pinterest.

What's Your Style? Be Inspired, Be You, Join In

Children's Museum — Sat, 17 Jan 2015 02:53:00 +0000

By Lori Phillips, Manager of Digital Content

As fashion stylist Rachel Zoe has said, "Style is a way to say who you are without having to speak."

Everyone can show off their personal style, no matter their age. Kids especially love to look crazy-cool, and they certainly know how to own their own style! This inspired us to bring style into the spotlight for our latest Digital Engagement Project. What’s Your Style? lets grown-ups and kids from around the world show off who they are through their own unique style, online and on-site, and all around the world—wherever you may be!

You'll be inspired by fashion finds from one of the coolest “closets” around—The Children’s Museum's 9,000-piece textile collection! Take a look at featured ensembles at the museum, or see even more in our Online Gallery. We hope these unique pieces will spark your own style memories that you can share with your family and friends. Do you have a favorite pair of shoes, or a prom dress or suit that will go down in history? Does your kiddo refuse to take off their superhero cape when they go to bed? We want to hear about your memorable styles, and we want to see them, too!

Here are all of the ways you can participate in What's Your Style, and even have your style digitally showcased in the museum!

Explore at the museum

See inspired designs and quirky accessories like the 1970s Telephone Purse or Gianni Versace's Warhol-inspired suit.
Make the cover of our style magazine! Check out the on-site photo opportunity and share your cover story!
Try out the What's Your Style? app to mix and match fashions from the collection on your digital mannequin. Then download it for your home tablet, too!

Share and learn more online

Share your style stories. Did Mom rock “big hair” in the ’80s? Tell us your tales of style!
See even more fashions, from the classics to the bizarre, in our Online Gallery.
Download the What's Your Style? app, and mix and match styles from the museum's collection at home! Available for Android tablet (download) and iPad (download.)
Explore our Pinterest style board, and re-pin your favorites.
COMING SOON: Learn the stories behind some of our most unique fashion objects on the blog.

Join in on Instagram

Show off your style on Instagram! Join the #OwnThatStyle Challenge in February, or share your favorite looks throughout the year using #ownthatstyle, then check out style submissions from around the world in the museum and on Instagram.

Fashions may be fleeting, but style is something you own—it’s unique and personal. We can't wait to see you #OwnThatStyle!

Why Dracorex hogwartsia Is a Dinosaur, Not a Dragon

Children's Museum — Wed, 14 Jan 2015 20:05:00 +0000

By Mookie Harris, Lead Interpreter for Dinosphere and Treasures of the Earth

It's a question we're often asked in Dinosphere—why is Dracorex hogwartsia considered a dinosaur, not a dragon?

In 2003, amateur paleontologists in South Dakota discovered fossils which they believed to be from a Pachycephalosaurus. The fossils were sent to The Children’s Museum of Indianapolis’ Paleo Prep Lab for preparation. It was discovered during this process that the bones were not from a dinosaur we already knew about, so our paleontologists got to name the new dinosaur species.

Because most people don’t spend as much time staring at dinosaur fossils as Victor Porter (pictured) and the rest of our paleontology team, museum guests who saw the new specimen said that it looked like a dragon or a crocodile—or even an alien.

Victor took all this into consideration. He named the small-toothed, herbivorous dinosaur Dracorex after the Latin words for “dragon king.” Why? Because it sounds really cool!

Dracorex is in good company, too. Of the over 1,000 named dinosaur species, several others have been named after creatures from myths and folklore.

Dilong and Guanlong, two Chinese dinosaur species, are both named after the mythical “long,” or Chinese dragon. In fact, since “di” means “king” in Chinese, Dilong is also a “dragon king!”
Siats is named after a man-eating giant in Ute legend.
Seitaad gets its name from a mythological Navajo monster that buried its victims under the sand.
Jobaria is named after the Jobar, a gigantic mythical beast from Touareg legend.
Tarascosaurus is named after the Tarasque, a lion-dragon monster in medieval French folklore.
Harpymimus and Garudimimus are named after Harpies and the Garuda bird.
Anzu is named after a lion-headed bird from Mesopotamian mythology.
The prehistoric flying reptile Quetzalcoatlus is named for the Aztec deity Quetzalcoatl who had the combined features of a snake and an eagle.

Dinosaurs were real wild animals that once walked the earth, but are now extinct. Everything we know about these creatures comes from our discoveries of fossilized evidence of their bones, footprints, dung, and in extremely rare cases, mummified soft tissue (blatant plug for Leonardo).

Dragons are magical creatures from fun stories. Sometimes, dinosaur fossils or even living creatures remind us of dragons. But the evidence tells us that dragons only exist in those stories.

Fortunately, as long as we have imaginations and the ability to tell stories, dragons will never go extinct.

Special thanks to Thomas Holtz for his encyclopedic assistance during the writing of this blog post!

Indiana's Top 5 Sky-Watching Events in 2015

Children's Museum — Tue, 13 Jan 2015 18:32:00 +0000

By Claire Thoma, Evaluation Research Coordinator—and astronomy enthusiast!

I have a very fond memory of waking up in the middle of the night to watch a meteor shower with my dad when I was 8 years old. It was really cold, so we huddled inside sleeping bags in the yard. We only saw a few meteors, but we had so much fun together, and the experience deepened my love of science. If you’d like to introduce your family to some of the more exotic celestial sights, mark your calendar for these events (no special equipment needed)!

Double the Planets, Double the Fun: Conjunction of Venus and Jupiter: JUNE 30 (and OCT 26)
Shortly after sunset, in the west-southwest sky, two bright planets, Venus and Jupiter, will be strikingly close together. They will appear to be separated by only about half the apparent width of the moon, making for a very eye-catching sight. Then, on October 26, Venus and Jupiter will engage in another close conjunction, this time separated by about twice the width of the moon. Venus will pass to the southwest (lower right) of Jupiter and shine more than 10 times brighter than the huge gas giant.

Observing Tips:

Don’t despair if it's cloudy on these dates! Venus and Jupiter will still appear close together for many days before and after. It would be a cool project to chart their positions at the same time every night over a week or two to see how they move closer and then apart again!
This is a good event for binoculars. Even fairly small binoculars should be able to show the two planets as discs, rather than points of light, and you will probably notice a difference in color between them.

Perseid Meteor Shower (AUGUST 12)
The Perseid meteor shower is usually considered to be among the best of the annual meteor displays thanks to its high number of shooting stars. Lucky observers can sometimes see up to 90 meteors an hour during the shower. Last summer, the moon was waning gibbous (more than half full) and presented a major nuisance for those who wanted a dark sky to watch the shower. But in 2015, the moon will not rise until just before daybreak, leaving most of the night dark for prospective observers.

Observing Tips:

You should plan to spend an hour watching the skies, so bring blankets and pillows and make yourself comfortable on the ground. A fun game is to make up your own constellations or stories while waiting for the shooting stars. You will be able to see the brightest meteors even with streetlights around, but you will be able to see many more if you can get to a darker spot.
Binoculars are not helpful during meteor showers because they restrict your field of view to a small amount of the sky. You’re more likely to miss a shooting star than see it through binoculars!

Now You See It, Now You Don’t: Aldebaran disappears behind the Moon (SEPTEMBER 4–5)
The last-quarter moon will pass in front of one of the brightest stars in the sky, Aldebaran (pronounced al-deb-or-on), the orange “eye” of Taurus the Bull. This occultation will be visible over Indiana around 1:00 am, but there will be another visible early on Nov. 26—Thanksgiving morning.

Observing Tip:

The most striking moment of this event will be when the star disappears behind the moon’s edge, so plan to get outside to locate the moon and star a few minutes before the actual occultation. Aldebaran is the bright reddish star in the constellation that looks like a sideways “V” near Orion. If you have binoculars, check out the moon’s craters and see if you can locate the nearby Pleiades star cluster. Because the moon and Aldebaran are both so bright, you don’t have to worry about streetlights for this event.

Lunar Eclipse (SEPTEMBER 27-28)
Eclipse watchers in Indiana will see the entire lunar eclipse from start to finish. Totality (the time during which the moon is completely in the Earth’s shadow) will last 72 minutes. The Earth’s shadow begins moving across the moon about 9:10 pm, and the moon will be in total eclipse at about 10:10 pm.
It's helpful to have detailed information on the timing of the different eclipse phases for Indiana.

Observing Tip:

The entire lunar eclipse process, from the time the Earth’s shadow first starts creeping over the moon until the moon is completely out of the shadow, lasts almost 3.5 hours. I like to check periodically as the moon goes into eclipse and then make sure to see it fully in shadow (when it looks reddish). No binoculars or dark sky needed, although it is fun to look at the moon’s craters with binoculars!

BONUS EVENT: International Observe the Moon Night (SEPTEMBER 19)
If the timing of the lunar eclipse doesn’t work for you family, or you would like to check out the moon through a telescope with other sky-gazers, looks for an event near you during this international event!

Geminid Meteor Shower (DECEMBER 13-14)

If there is one meteor display guaranteed to put on an entertaining show, it is the Geminids. Most meteor experts now put it at the top of the list, surpassing even the August Perseids in brilliance and reliability. The moon will be a narrow crescent and will set early in the evening, leaving the sky dark all through the rest of the night — perfect conditions for watching shooting stars. This will be your chance to see an average of as many as two meteor sightings every minute, or 120 per hour in a dark location!

Observing Tips:

You should plan to spend an hour watching the skies, so bring blankets and pillows and make yourself comfortable on the ground. Sleeping bags, hats, and gloves would be a good idea since Indiana is cold in December! A fun game is to make up your own constellations or stories while waiting for the shooting stars. You will be able to see the brightest meteors even with streetlights around, but you will be able to see many more if you can get to a darker spot.
Binoculars are not helpful during meteor showers because they restrict your field of view to a small amount of the sky. You’re more likely to miss a shooting star than see it through binoculars!

Like mother, like daughter

Children's Museum — Mon, 12 Jan 2015 15:34:00 +0000

By: TryItOut Visitor

I always wear big sunglasses and loud dresses. My daughter at only 3 years old had the chance to pick out her own outfit. She picked out the biggest sunglasses and an orange dress with ruffles. She isn’t scared to wear what she likes just like her mom.

Why Does My Laugh Sound This Way?

Children's Museum — Mon, 12 Jan 2015 14:00:00 +0000

The chortle. The guffaw. The titter. The giggle. The yuk. The snicker. The heehaw.

There is a reason there are many different types of laughter—we all laugh a bit differently. But why? We answer this question with help from Mashable.

When something tickles us, our limbic system, larynx, lungs, and respiratory muscles, work together to produce a sound that we call our “laugh.” While the “primal vocalizations,” as well as our sense of humor, might be inherited, to understand the variation in laughter, we turn to psychology and human behavior.

The truth is that most of us have more than one laugh. When we are nervous, our laugh sounds different than when we are happy. When we are alone, our laugh sounds different than when we are with a group of people.

Body language and behavior expert Judi James explains to Mashable that, "We all have a range of different laughs that we use for different purposes and circumstances. Most are within the 'social masking' spectrum — that is, we do them to be polite or to create social bonds."

Our genuine laughs—the ones that are not affected by our surroundings—are the ones that burst out unexpectedly. James explains that these are the laughs with loud snorts and wide mouths that many of us find embarrassing.

Another place to find authentic laughter is with children.

“A lot of it has to do with inhibition,” according to Mashable. “Children, James explains, produce the most spontaneous form of laughter because they lack the inhibitions we acquire later in life. Adults will often cover their mouths, or bend to hide their faces.”

So, once again, children can teach adults something. Whether your laugh is a loud cackle, full of snorts, or a bird-like snicker … don’t hide it. Use it!

Hahaha!

Looking for more Never Stop Asking "Why?" questions? Catch up on all of the past "Whys" on the blog!

Saturday Science: Creating Colorful Icicles

Children's Museum — Sat, 10 Jan 2015 14:00:00 +0000

When the temperature drops below 32 degrees Fahrenheit, everything begins to freeze. Rain turns snow. Ponds harden into ice skating rinks. Droplets of water take the shape of icicles. With this freeze, the last of fall’s vibrant colors fade and shades of white, blue and brown take their place. But what if we could make icicles less clear and more colorful?

This winter, brighten things up! When the temperature drops below freezing, use this Saturday Science experiment, from Housing A Forest, to create your own colorful icicles!

Materials

4-5 (or more) disposable containers
Water
Food coloring
Freezer
Cookie Sheet
Ladder
2 liter soda bottle
6 long pieces of yarn
Plastic syringe

Process

A day or two before you create your colorful icicles, make some colorful ice blocks! Fill the disposable containers with water and stir in your favorite colors of food coloring. Place in your freezer and let freeze. When the ice blocks are frozen, you’re ready to create colorful icicles!
Take your ice blocks out of the freezer and pop them out of their disposable containers. Spread them out on a cookie sheet. If you have extra blocks, you could even build an ice castle!
Set up the ladder and place the cookie sheet and ice blocks underneath it.
Make a small hole in the bottom of the 2 liter soda bottle and thread the yarn through it.
While you’re inside, soak the threaded piece of yarn, as well as the other 5 pieces, in water.
Go outside and place the bottle on the highest step of the ladder.
Tie the other end of the yarn to the broom handle. Tie the remaining 5 pieces of yarn to the handle as well so that all the pieces of yarn are touching.
Stick the other ends of the yarn to an ice block. Use the syringe of water to help the yarn stick to the ice. Your yarn should be in the shape of a tent.
Carefully fill the soda bottle with water and add a few drops of food coloring. Stir and let the water drain down the yarn.
Every 10 minutes repeat Step 9 adding different colors to the water. The more water you add, the bigger your icicles will be!
Let the icicles freeze overnight.
In the morning, go outside and check out your colorful icicles!

Summary

What do you see? Is the yarn covered in colorful icicles?

This happened because the temperature outside was below water’s freezing point: 32 degrees Fahrenheit. As the colorful water from the soda bottle drained onto the yarn, small droplets ran down towards your ice blocks and the cold air eventually froze them in place.

This is how icicles form naturally, too! On cold but sunshiny days, bits of snow and ice melt from the sun’s rays. But as the water droplets begin to run off the side of your house or the edge of a cliff outdoors, they freeze again. If enough water droplets freeze in the same place, an icicle forms!

Want more Saturday Science? See all of our at-home activities on the blog or on Pinterest.

Celebrating National Mentoring Month

Children's Museum — Thu, 08 Jan 2015 16:16:00 +0000

It's National Mentoring Month, and our former interns are celebrating the amazing mentors here at The Children's Museum by sharing their thanks on Instagram! In the Internship Program's 26-year history, 240 mentors have supported 1,271 interns. In 2014 alone, 32 mentors hosted 54 interns. We've compiled today's Instagram posts here on the blog. Thank you to all of our incredible mentors!

Allyson Ferrari, Interpretation Intern
Mentors: Carey Meier and Rachael Matthews
I know all of the mentors at The Children's Museum do a fantastic job at mentoring their interns and giving them the support they need. Carey and Rachael provided invaluable support, opportunities, and advice that I know I will use consistently in my future as a museum educator.

Olivia Day, Science Programs Intern
Mentor: John McCollum
John is an excellent mentor that always went above and beyond to make sure I got the most out of the intern experience. He always took the time to give individualized advice and offer his insight on projects as well as professional endeavors.

Brittney Beck, Professional Development Intern
Mentor: Deb George
Deb allowed me to explore my project independently, while also giving me necessary guidance to create an extraordinary finished product. I was lucky to have gotten to work with her and I will always think back to the lessons and laughs she brought to my experience at The Children's Museum.

Molly Mersmann, Collections/Archaeology Lab Intern
Mentor: Ashley Ramsey Hannum
My mentor always managed to put a smile on my face every morning. Ashley was ever willing to assist me in my projects, gaining confidence, and even giving me nonstop encouragement the days before my GRE. It is difficult to sum up my mentor into a few sentences, but in short she was amazing. –

Andrew Kimmel, Volunteer Services Intern
Mentors: Debbie Young and Mary LaVenture
My mentors are like a suspension bridge -- there's a lot of different types of support happening, but I got to take the project from point A to point B. It's a terrible analogy that can't quite capture the esprit de corps that resonates in volunteer central.

Sarah Lange, Digital Marketing Intern
Mentor: Lori Phillips
My internship at The Children's Museum was one of the most valuable experiences of my college career. Not only did my mentor provide me with countless shadowing opportunities and hands-on marketing projects--including writing blogs, drafting social media campaigns, and researching bloggers--I even got the opportunity to see Ruby Bridges speak and have an in-depth private collections tour!