Picture this scenario:

You are sitting at home on the weekend bored out of your skull. Everyone else in the house seems to have something to do, except you. The obvious thing to do is to switch on the TV or the computer and let an impersonal screen entertain you while your brain wastes away!

Let me give you a healthy alternative. Simple science projects. Wait - before you run - science projects ain't necessarily hard work and boring!

I am a scientist by trade - and in my opinion, science rocks! Think of NASA - yup, full of scientists. Another example? - When the name Einstein is mentioned, no matter who you are there is a glimmer of awe that shoots through your now almost immobile brain (that is if you watch too much TV).

The Westernized world needs to wake up to the fact that, although computers and TV are fantastic tools for brain stimulation if used correctly, abuse of them has the opposite effect. What I am talking about here is a healthy balance.

"That is great", you say, "I see your point - but where do I start?"

Good question - let's face it, as much as many of us would like to, we cannot all go and grace the halls of NASA with our extreme scientific knowledge, and certainly most of us would not be able to apply our minds as Mr. Einstein did - but we can all still do science. This is because science is all around us. In fact science IS us (think about it)!

So let me give you a starting point - switch off the TV - go outside and start observing. This is where all the great scientific discoveries started.

To help you even further, here is a list of "problems" you can try and figure out using stuff around the house:

• How would you make a simple burglar alarm using some electrical flexi-wire, a battery and it's holder, a buzzer, a clothes peg and 2 thumb-tacks?
  
• How would you get drinking water out of leaves of plants using a box, a cup, a piece of plastic sheeting, some duct-tape and a rock?
  
• How would you make a simple compass using 2 sewing needles, some cardboard and a magnet?

Have I wet your scientific curiosity? I hope so.

Do you need the answers to the above problems? Well, here is where the computer, and specifically the internet, comes in handy. Start the scientific process by doing some investigating - yup the answers and methods for each of the problems above are online. I know because I put them there.

"Let's do science."

By Neil Madgwick -
Passionate about science!
Website: http://www.good-science-fair-projects.com

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