Shawn Carlson Publishes Science Projects in Real Simple Magazine

Real Simple magazine is a leading women’s lifestyle publication designed for simplifying the lives of busy women. According to the Real Simple web site, the magazine is noted for , "Its concise, useful strategies, coupled with a clean, inspiring design, focus on making busy women’s lives easier, from preparing a fast, healthy breakfast to getting a good night’s sleep. In essence, Real Simple helps its readers do what they need to do, so they have more time to enjoy what they want to do."

And this extends to science projects suitable for the children of busy moms.

As most families know, science fair time can also be panic time. So Real Simple asked Dr. Shawn Carlson (Fig. 1), Executive Director of the Society for Amateur Scientists and founder of the LABRats program, to provide general instructions for five good science projects.

Shawn's projects can be found here: Five Prize-Worthy Science-Fair Projects. (The site is free to AOL users but may require registration for others.)

The projects include:

Project No. 1: Extract DNA in Your Kitchen

Project No. 2: Measure the Metabolism of Insects.

Project No. 3: Photograph an Insect’s Insides.

Project No. 4: Build a Video Microscope.

Project No. 5: Bathtub Aerodynamics.

For many more science fair project ideas, visit Shawn's scifair.org, "The Ultimate Science Fair Resource."

Forrest M. Mims III