Science at Cal at Home – Activities

Science at Cal at Home

Activities

Science at Cal @Home editions

Bernie Peyton

Origami with Bernie Peyton

Bernie Peyton is a wildlife biologist and origami artist who uses his art to raise awareness for environmental and conservation causes. He is a passionate activist, artist, and teacher.

“I am encouraged that origami has a bright place in that future, as a reliever of stress, a means to means to create understanding between cultures, and as a catalyst for solutions such as foldable cheap housing. When I teach a simple origami figure I am also teaching a creative way to think and solve problems. Designing something out of a single uncut square has taught me how to think outside the box and greatly contributed to my ability to ask better research questions as a scientist.  Just maybe someone I have introduced to origami will take that knowledge to make a positive difference. “

Download diagrams for folding some of his animal designs

berniepeyton.com

Colorme Ph.D.

Color Me Ph.D . is a free resource for students, educators, scientists, and members of the community of all ages to engage in current PhD level research in science and engineering. Each coloring page contains original art developed by PhD student researchers, and is accompanied by a description of the PhD work, summarizing recent scientific publications in words for a general audience. Explore c oloring pages and download a free PDF of ColorMePhD Volume 1 to learn about real research projects by fabulous emerging scientists!

“Hi! My name is (Dr!) Julie Rorrer and I recently graduated with a PhD in Chemical Engineering from UC Berkeley. … After publishing my first scientific paper, I was motivated by my love of art, science, and teaching to create a drawing of my research to explain what I do to the non-scientific community, especially to the young students I volunteered with through the CRS Bay Area Scientists in Schools ( BASIS ) program and to the young women we reach out to through the  Expanding Your Horizons  program.”

Download free STEM coloring pages

ColorMePhD.org

Rube Goldberg Bar of Soap Challenge

Rube Goldberg Bar of Soap Challenge
Play Rube Goldberg Bar of Soap Challenge Video
Want a fun STEM/STEAM activity to do at home for all ages? Build a Rube Goldberg Machine in 10-20 steps to drop a bar of soap into someone’s hands.
Learn more about the contest, find tips for building, and check out many more cartoons of contraptions at RubeGoldberg.com
If you build one, share it with Science at Cal too!
Understanding Global Change

Understanding Global Change

Understanding Global Change
The Understanding Global Change application allows users to experiment and build models that explain how the Earth system works.
Earth is a dynamic place with many components that interact and shape our habitats. Using this interactive tool, you can create visualizations of the connections among different processes, human activities, and measurable changes, that impact our planetary systems.

Be your own botanist

BYOB: Be Your Own Botanist

While the UC Berkeley Botanical Garden is currently closed, they want to find ways to support each other as a Garden community and stay connected. They encourage you to share either a memory about the Garden or an example of how you’re gardening from home. The more happy memories they can share, the better, and hopefully, they can help us to remember that the Garden will be there in all its glory when we return!
To participate, share your photos along with a short description on social media ( Facebook ,  Twitter ,  Instagram ) with the hashtag #beyourownbotanist, #houseplanted, and tag @ucbgarden.