| Picture this scenario: | | | | certainly most of us would not be able to apply our |
| You are sitting at home on the weekend bored out of | | | | minds as Mr. Einstein did - but we can all still do |
| your skull. Everyone else in the house seems to have | | | | science. This is because science is all around us. In fact |
| something to do, except you. The obvious thing to do | | | | science IS us (think about it)! |
| is to switch on the TV or the computer and let an | | | | So let me give you a starting point - switch off the TV |
| impersonal screen entertain you while your brain | | | | - go outside and start observing. This is where all the |
| wastes away! | | | | great scientific discoveries started. |
| Let me give you a healthy alternative. Simple science | | | | To help you even further, here is a list of "problems" |
| projects. Wait - before you run - science projects ain't | | | | you can try and figure out using stuff around the |
| necessarily hard work and boring! | | | | house: |
| I am a scientist by trade - and in my opinion, science | | | | - How would you make a simple burglar alarm using |
| rocks! Think of NASA - yup, full of scientists. Another | | | | some electrical flexi-wire, a battery and it's holder, a |
| example? - When the name Einstein is mentioned, no | | | | buzzer, a clothes peg and 2 thumb-tacks? |
| matter who you are there is a glimmer of awe that | | | | - How would you get drinking water out of leaves of |
| shoots through your now almost immobile brain (that is | | | | plants using a box, a cup, a piece of plastic sheeting, |
| if you watch too much TV). | | | | some duct-tape and a rock? |
| The Westernized world needs to wake up to the fact | | | | - How would you make a simple compass using 2 |
| that, although computers and TV are fantastic tools | | | | sewing needles, some cardboard and a magnet? |
| for brain stimulation if used correctly, abuse of them | | | | Have I wet your scientific curiosity? I hope so. |
| has the opposite effect. What I am talking about here | | | | Do you need the answers to the above problems? |
| is a healthy balance. | | | | Well, here is where the computer, and specifically the |
| "That is great", you say, "I see your point - but where | | | | internet, comes in handy. Start the scientific process by |
| do I start?" | | | | doing some investigating - yup the answers and |
| Good question - let's face it, as much as many of us | | | | methods for each of the problems above are online. I |
| would like to, we cannot all go and grace the halls of | | | | know because I put them there. |
| NASA with our extreme scientific knowledge, and | | | | "Let's do science. |