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- Make a family earthquake survival kit.
- Quake safe your home. Track earthquakes on Geonet.co.nz
- Find out where your local civil defence muster station is. Could someone in the family be a cd volunteer?
- How does your family deal with organic waste? Construct a compost heap or start a bokashi bucket or worm farm.
- Do an audit of the stuff your household regularly throws away. Do you have recycling bins? Could you reduce, recycle and reuse more?
- Grow a vegetable garden. Grow herbs in pots. Germinate seedlings (natives, vegetable, flowers). Plant swan plants to attract monarch butterflies.
- Tune into the science program on National radio.
- Watch Frozen Planet. Watch mythbusters.
- Read Bob Brockie science column in the Dom Post. Discuss with family members.
- Write a letter to a politician about a scientific issue you are concerned with.
- Make icecream, beer, cheese, yoghurt, sherbets, baked Alaska, bread.
- Dinner time discussions on topical science issues eg fracking, climate change, use of palm oil, oil exploration on East Coast, mining in National Parks.
- Visit the Carter Observatory. Find south using the Southern Cross. Take a photograph of the moon every day for a month. Explain the changes.
- Download the weekly star chart and try to identify the main constellations
- Make your own home cleaners using baking powder, vinegar, meths, ammonia.
- Find all the acids and bases in the pantry, bathroom, laundry and shed.
- Check out the Khan academy – http://www.khanacademy.org
- Watch Ted Talks clips on science topics.
- Make a pinhole camera.
- Check out the nutritional info on food labels of similar products. Which is the best buy? Google the preservatives.
- Track your Kilojoule consumption using a food diary.
- Make a pedigree chart for your family going back as many generations as you can. Can you trace easily identifiable genetic traits in your family. (widows peak, hitchhikers thumb, red hair, )
- Keep a bird log of the birds that visit your garden. Make a bird table or feeding station.
- Ask a scientist a question
- Visit the beach, zoo, museum, Zealandia, Wilton’s Bush, Island Bay marine lab.
- Check out “Te Ara” on line NZ encyclopaedia – http://teara.govt.nz
- Make a solar powered light.
- Monitor and reduce household energy use. Compare energy costs of different energy companies.
- Collect and store grey water.
- Make a hangi pit.
- Get a beehive. Observe bee flight paths. Keep chickens.
- Identify all the different metals used in your home. Visit Carlucci land. Identify if any waste metals can be sold for scrap. Where do you recycle metals in Wellington?
- Take time lapse photographs.
- Make a weather station. Keep tallies of monthly rainfall. What is the prevailing wind in your area?
- Create scientific trivial pursuit.
- Plot growth of small family members.
- Monitor advertisements for use of pseudoscience.
- Take your pulse before and after a walk. Compare your pulse rates with older and younger family members. How long does your pulse take to return to normal after hard exercise?
- Investigate food preservation methods. Dehydrate fruit. Make pickles.