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Life on Earth depends on the light and heat from the Sun. While the warmth from the Sun gently warms you on a sunny day, the core of the Sun is a mind-blowing 15 million degrees Celsius ( 27 million degrees Fahrenheit), and the surface is 5500 degrees Celsius ( 10000 degrees Fahrenheit). That’s hot […]
Today’s new STEM challenges celebrate all things spring! Here at Science Sparks, we are looking forward to better weather and all the new growth, colour and life that spring brings. Try these easy spring STEM Challenges to get the new season off to a great start. What is Spring? Spring is the season between winter […]
Keep the kids busy over the Easter holidays with my FREE Easter Science Quiz. Do you know why chocolate eggs melt, why eggs are oval, and what the name of the famous egg rolling game is? Find out with our egg-citing quiz! Easter Science Quiz More free Easter activities for kids Try one of my […]
Have you ever seen someone flick a tablecloth out from under plates that stay in place? The plates stay in place because of a concept called inertia. A slightly easier way to demonstrate inertia is by dropping an Easter egg ( or other object ) into a container. We usually do this science demonstration with […]
Butterflies play a vital role in the natural world and are crucial to healthy ecosystems. Caterpillars eat plant matter and are a food source for many animals. Butterflies are important for pollination and also an integral part of the food chain. Butterflies are known to be sensitive to environmental changes, and their population numbers are […]
Have you ever wondered how far Jupiter is from Mars or Venus from Earth? Our handy calculator makes it easy to find out! All distances are average and approximate, as it’s difficult to be accurate with such large distances. Planets are also at different distances from each other depending on where they are in orbit […]
You’ve probably seen or experienced most of these common science phenomena before, but you may not have thought about why they happen. From sticking a magnet onto your fridge to colourful lights in the sky, we explain ten fascinating phenomena and offer ideas for learning more about each one. Get ready to delve into the […]
Einstein Rings are a type of gravitational lensing in which the light from a galaxy or star passes a large object, like another galaxy or black hole, and is bent around it. If the alignment is right, the light appears as a ring around the large object. The galaxy or black hole closest to the […]
This activity uses Skittles to demonstrate radioactive decay. The rate of decay depends on the isotope of the element and is referred to as the half-life. Radioactive decay is a random process. To understand the concept of a half-life, we’re going to pretend Skittles are radioactive atoms. Skittles that land with the S upwards are […]
The spring equinox marks the astronomical beginning of spring in the Northern Hemisphere. The balance of daylight shifts, marking the start of warmer, longer days. In the Southern Hemisphere, it marks the start of autumn. Equinox means equal night. At the spring equinox, the sun is directly above the equator, and day and night are […]