Tim's blog

After completing Round 1 of the Great Bean Experiment, teens have been asked to design their own experiment. What is the best combination of resources (bags, water, beans, napkins) in order to get your bean to sprout the fastest? Teens worked in groups to design their new experiments. Stop by the Hurston Room and check them out! Don't forget to check out our photos on Flickr!

Check out our Flickr.com Photostream for more photos from this and other events!

On Saturday January 23rd, YES teens participating in the Science Corner component were asked to create a simple experiment: starting with a control group of a closed plastic bag filled with 5 beans (of their choosing), a paper towel, and one dropper full of water, design a project to test one of the variables in the experiment. 

The following variables were identified by the YES teens: # of beans, type of bean, type of absorbent material (paper towel vs napkin vs cotton ball), status of plastic bag (open vs closed), and amount of water. This week, teens set up their project with the control and experimental groups next to each other. 

As part of the explorations, teens also dissected wet and dry lima beans. In case you didn't know, dry lima beans are very difficult to dissect. Soaking the beans overnight not only makes them slightly larger, but softens them enough to cut open carefully with a small plastic knife.

Say hello to the three newest members of our building: Brandon, Lance, and Cindy! What? You say you've already met them? Let us take a look...

Meet Brandon...

Our new Chameleon guest. He enjoys climbing around his cage, eating wax worms, and licking water droplets off the plants leaves in his tank.

Meet Lance...

Our Albino Corn Snake. He enjoys climbing (our arboreal friend!) as well as coiling up in his tank. He likes to eat small mice and be undisturbed while he is eating. Yum yum yummy!

Meet Cindy...

Our special Box Turtle. Originally thought a female, Cindy decided to mount everything in sight once reaching puberty, so now we think she is a he...not quite sure. Cindy is a rescue from owners who thought keeping a turtle in a dark concrete basement would be fine, leading to her distinctive gait due to her crooked legs and underdeveloped shell because of lack of sunlight. She is full of energy and spunk!

When the St. Louis Science Center asked its employees recently to don Monsters! decals on the side of their cars as an aid to promotion of the event, many were reluctant to step up. Few were willing to invite the decorative robotic eyeball and red SLSC logo onto their methods of transport. Staff morale was at an all-time low and times were tough at the Science Center...but that's when everything changed.

People throw the word HERO around loosely these days. You'll often hear it in reference to a sports player, a first responder to an emergency, or a single mother struggling to make it on her own. But when I think of what a HERO is to me, I think of Lance Cutter. As Director of Community Programs, Lance Cutter knew that people need a role model. When Lance saw that people were wary of placing decals on the cars, did he ask why? No. Did he reprimand his staff for non-participation? No. He stepped up to the plate and placed not 1 or 2, but 8 decals on his brand new BMW. Now that's a HERO.

There is no one I strive to be more than Lance Cutter. Lance Cutter is a beacon of hope in a dreary world.