Facts About The Octopus

The Octopus is our next area of exploration.  Some fun and exciting facts about the octopus are:

-Octopus have 3 hearts

            -One systemic heart pumps blood throughout its body.

            -Two brachial hearts send blood through each gill of the octopus.

-Octopus have 8 arms, usually having suction cups.

-Camouflage is the octopuses most commonly used defense.


To explore the octopus along with us you will need:


-1 Frozen octopus (Buy Frozen Octopus:  http://amzn.to/2tkBoGc).

-1 Pyrex pan

-1 pair of stainless steel tongs

We hope you enjoyed the ION Doll Science Video about the OCTOPUS.  We will see you in the next lesson!

St. Patrick's Day: Simple Experiment

We are EXCITED to share our St. Patrick’s Day Borax RAINBOW Experiment with everyone!  This is a super fun and easy experiment to explore a little science!  Always get parental permission before beginning any experiment.  Always use a towel over your workspace to avoid as much clean up later.

You will need:

-Rainbow colored pipe cleaners.

-A glass jar.

-Borax powder.  Use 3 tablespoonsfuls of borax powder/cup of boiling water.  We should note, that we used water run through our coffee pot instead to lessen the chances of getting burned.  The water doesn’t boil in a coffee pot, but comes close and from what we found, works the same as boiling water for this experiment.  Only adult should work with the boiling or hot water.

-String

-Popsicle stick

-Boiling, or very hot water as explained above.

Directions:

-Link pipe cleaners into rainbow shape, twisting ends together on both sides.

-Attach about 1 foot of string to popsicle stick.

-Attach rainbow to string.

-Suspend in glass jar with borax powder solution mixed as instructed above.

-***Make sure to leave the lid off the jar overnight.  The room air is needed to help the borax solution crystallize on the rainbow in the jar.

We hope you enjoyed our fun Borax RAINBOW experiment!  We look forward to working with you next time!

How To Cook Lobster With Kids

Ion Doll had a blast cooking lobster and teaching Gabby some of the biology and anatomy as well.  Some basic lobster facts are:

-Lobsters have a crusher claw (larger claw) and a pincer claw (smaller claw).  The crusher claw can be either on the right or left claw.

-Lobsters can weigh up to 40 pounds & grow up to 4 feet in length.

-Lobster meat is high in protein, up to 28 grams of protein per cup.

-Lobsters are a good source of heart-healthy omega-3 fatty acids.

-Lobsters can live up to 100 years.

For the lobster boil, make sure you have a parent cooking for you.  You will need:

-1 8 qt. pot.

-Stainless steel tongs.

-1 Pyrex pan.

-1 live lobster (Buy Live Lobster:  http://amzn.to/2rJ70YG).

-2 tablespoons (tbsp.) of OLD BAY Seasoning.

-BOIL for 10-12 minutes.  Make sure water is BOILING before adding lobster to water so you do not OVERCOOK it.

-Vent & stir

We hope you enjoyed learning some basic facts about lobsters, as well as how to boil a lobster.  We look forward to seeing everyone in our next episode!

Cooking Crabs With Kids

This is our first Biology Science Experiment.  We are super excited because ION Doll loves to explore and cook sea creatures.  We will start by listing a few crab facts.

-Crabs skeleton or bones are called an exoskeleton, which is the outermost layer of their bodies.  The inside of the crabs’ bodies is soft & squishy.

-The front 2 legs of crabs are most often referred to as claws and are NOT used for movement.

-Many crabs can carry & lay a million eggs at a time.

-Unlike a lobster, which has its stomach on its back, a crab has its stomach under its main shell.

To perform this experiment with us you will need:

-1 Bag of frozen crabs (Buy Frozen Crabs:  http://amzn.to/2sL4r8M).

-1 8 qt. pot.

-1 pair of stainless steel tongs.

-1 pyrex pan.

- 1 Tablespoonful of Old Bay Seasoning.

Boiling Crab Recipe

-Remember to have a parent do this part for you.

-Make sure the water is BOILING before placing crabs in the water.  If crabs are put in the water before it comes to a boil, the crabs will overcook.

-Add crabs to boiling water.

-Add 1 tablespoonful of OLD BAY Seasoning

-Cook for 5 minutes

-Vent & Stir

You should now have cooked and seasoned crab to enjoy with your family & friends.  See you all in the next experiment!