Life sure is a little strange these days, and we are all feeling a bit upside-down. Even though the Atlanta Science Festival is canceled this year, we know you are still thirsty for science. That’s why we are inviting you to share the science YOU are learning at home!

Introducing… #AtHomeSciFest

Starting Monday, March 23, post a video, image, or story of how you are learning/doing science at home using #AtHomeSciFest and tagging @ATLSciFest on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter. We’ll be sharing your content and selecting two random winners every week through April 3 to receive two Atlanta Science Festival t-shirts, an ALEX sticker, and social media bragging rights. 

You can upload a video of your latest experiment or citizen science project, post pics of nature observations or your latest science haiku, broadcast a Facebook Live event, and more! Just be sure to tag us @ATLSciFest and use our hashtag, #AtHomeSciFest, so we can share! Plus, we’ve asked our partners to share some of the content that you might have seen at the Atlanta Science Festival Exploration Expo. So look out for content from Kai XR, Piedmont Park Conservancy, CitizenScienceHD, and more. You can get started by checking out the resources below and watching these simple home science experiments for kids with Emory’s Dr. Doug Mulford!

Follow #AtHomeSciFest and Atlanta Science Festival on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter to discover great ideas for science learning at home. Keep reading to get inspired!

Share a SciKu – the Science Haiku

A science haiku is an easy idea for your first #AtHomeSciFest contribution! With our friends at Guerilla Haiku Movement, we’ve made the sciku an Atlanta Science Festival tradition. A haiku is a three-line poem – the first line should have 5 syllables, the next line 7 syllables, and the final line 5 syllables. The ancient Japanese form of expression doesn’t have to rhyme, but it should tell a story about what inspires and moves you. Chalk a sciku (science haiku) on your driveway, sidewalk, or other public space, and post a picture to your social media channels. Write about your favorite science topic, a question you’ve always been curious about, or what wows you about the natural world. Consider a public health message to your neighborhood, or translate CDC guidance into verse, or offer a message of hope and comfort to people affected by coronavirus, or a word of support to healthcare workers. Then post and tag it with @AtlSciFest, #AtHomeSciFest, and #SciKu.

Here are some examples to inspire you from our 2019 Exploration Expo!

Resources and Ideas for Science at Home

Citizen Science Activities for all Ages

• Watch SciStarter’s Intro to Citizen Science video and get started on projects to help gather light pollution data, track the flu, report litter in your neighborhood, document change in weather and climate, and help Alzheimer’s researchers analyze blood flow in brain images.
• Identify plants, animals, fungi around you with the iNaturalist app. Your observations contribute to real research on biodiversity. Or use Seek, the kid-friendly version which does not collect user information.
• Join the Earth Challenge 2020 for projects to monitor and mitigate threats to environmental and human health in your community.
• Participate in Atlanta City Nature Challenge April 24-27, 2020 and help us beat other cities to document the most species of plants, animals, fungi and microorganisms found in nature using the iNaturalist app
• Join the Pollen Nation with CitizenScienceHD to help make a pollen map of Georgia.
• Take a virtual field trip to science museums around the world.
• Solve puzzles for science with FoldIt (including a new coronavirus puzzle)
• Go birding while social distancing.

Science Activities for Kids

(Thank you to our friends at Georgia Statewide Afterschool Network for sharing some suggestions!)

• Check out Exploratorium’s Learning Toolbox.
• National Geographic Kids has a lot of free resources.
• Scholastic Learn at Home is providing 20 days’ worth of learning assets free during coronavirus restrictions.
• Get outside! Kids can learn everywhere. Check out these resources from Outdoor Classroom Day.
• Genes in Space contest (grades 7-12)
• Activities from National Inventors Hal of Fame
• Listen to great kids science podcasts Wow in the World and Brains On!
• NASA Kids’ Club and STEM resources (printable STEM workbooks for several grade levels.)

Resources for Parents/Teachers

• HHMI BioInteractive – Real science, real stories, and real data to engage students in exploring the living world.
• BioEd Online – Science Education Resources from Baylor College of Medicine
• Coronavirus lesson plans (elementary, middle and high) from National Science Teaching Association
• American Association of Chemistry Teachers is offering activities, animations, projects, simulations, and videos for elementary to high school students through March 31.
• University of Colorado’s PhET Interactive Science and Math Simulations
• The American Chemical Society provides a complete chemistry curriculum for multiple age groups.
• National Science Foundation classroom resources
• Great collection of STEM/STEAM learning resources from the Cobb County STEM team

Science ATL is always working on creative ways to engage metro Atlanta in science throughout the year. We know these are unsettling times, but we invite you to participate in #AtHomeSciFest to build science community while social distancing. For the most current information about COVID-19 and its prevention, please refer to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and Georgia Department of Public Health.