Tumble Science Podcast for Kids

Latest Episodes:

Do Bugs Have Elbows? Aug 16, 2024

Show notes

This is a rebroadcast of one of our favorite episodes from the past. Do bugs have elbows? That’s what Clare wants to know. Her question starts a debate between Team Bug Arms and Elbows, and Team Bug Legs and Knees! Choose a side, and come on the trail of a bug bod mystery with superstar entomologist and dragonfly specialist Jessica Ware. Turns out, dragonflies are a lot weirder (and ancient!) than you might think!

Hear more from our interview with Jessica! Check out our bonus interview episode, available to patrons who support the show at just $1 a month or more. It’s on our exclusive ad-free podcast feed, along with all of our other bonus episodes!

We also have free resources of cool bug and dragonfly science on the blog at our website, sciencepodcastforkids.com.

To go see our live performance in Brooklyn, go to http://bit.ly/DinoTastic for tickets!

Hearing the Stars Aug 02, 2024

Show notes

This is a rebroadcast of one of our favorite episodes from Season 8! This was voted on by our patrons on Patreon--if you want to help us pick our next AND FINAL REBROADCAST OF THE SUMMER--just go to patreon.com/tumblepodcast and vote. You don't have to be a supporter to vote, but we'd appreciate it if you were!

Can we hear and touch the stars, if we can’t see them? Yuma Decaux is trying to put the night sky into everyone’s hands, through technology and engineering. Find out how stargazing captured Yuma’s imagination when he was six, and how losing his sight inspired him to explore the cosmos in a whole new way - making astronomy accessible to everyone.

Astreos, Yuma’s app, is currently in Beta. That means that when you try it out, you can give Yuma feedback on how to make it better! Download it on iOs here: https://astreos.space/

Listen to our bonus interview episode with Yuma to learn more about how he developed Astreos and what accessibility means to him. You can hear it when you support us on Spotify or on Patreon at patreon.com/tumblepodcast.

There are free resources, including a transcript, about this episode on the blog on our website, sciencepodcastforkids.com.

This material is based upon work supported by the National Science Foundation under Grant Number # 2148711 - Engaging Blind, Visually Impaired, and Sighted Students in STEM with Storytelling through Podcasts. If you're an upper elementary teacher, and you'd like to join our project for Year 3, just go to this link and fill out the survey: https://bit.ly/SSPTeacherY3. Our research team will contact you later if you are selected.

Sounds in the episode are courtesy of Astreos and Cricket Ambi by VMan533 on freesound.org

The Science of Bubbles Jul 19, 2024

Show notes

This is an encore episode, picked by our Patreon supporters. If you want to go vote for our next encore, just go to patreon.com/tumblepodcast to go vote! You don't have to be a patreon supporter to vote, but it does help!

Why do bubbles pop, and why do bubbles have shadows? We’re in double bubble trouble with two listener questions. Luckily, Dr. Bubbles is here to save the day! We’ll find out how a normal, everyman physicist named Justin Burton became a superhero bubble scientist, on a quest to make a scientifically proven recipe for giant bubbles. Along the way, we’ll discover the answers to our listeners’ bubbling curiosity.

Hear from the inventor of edible bubbles, Li Wei Tan, in a bonus interview episode available on our ad-free Patreon feed! It’s available for just $1/month when you pledge to support Tumble at patreon.com/tumblepodcast.

We’ll have free resources about bubbles on the blog on our website, sciencepodcastforkids.com.

If you want to buy tickets to our live event in West Stockbridge, go to bit.ly/TumbleLive! We'd love to see you there!

The Science of Candyland Jul 05, 2024

Show notes

Happy Halloween! We’re headed to Candy Land, a sugary laboratory where mathematicians found a mysterious candy dagger appear - over and over again. So gather up your candy box, and let’s discover out why mathematicians are studying candy to understand the real-life landscapes around us. Mathematician Leif Ristroph shares how he stumbled into making sweet experiments.

Want to learn more about the reason behind Leif’s experiments? Listen to our bonus interview episode, available for Patrons at the $1/level a month or higher. Pledge now at Patreon.com/tumblepodcast!

We have Leif’s special recipe for “research-grade candy” on our website. Check it out on the blog at sciencepodcastforkids.com!

Want to see Lindsay and Marshall perform LIVE at the Foundry in West Stockbridge, MA? Go get tickets here.

The Kid Scientists' Galapagos Adventure Jun 21, 2024

Show notes

This is an encore of one of our favorite episodes from Season 5! If you'd like to help us choose our next episode, go to our Patreon and VOTE! You don't have to pledge to support us in order to vote, but if you do we'd appreciate it a ton!

What’s it like to be a kid doing experiments in one of the most famous science places in the world? Oscar and Mae Johnson were nine and twelve when they traveled to the Galapagos Islands with their scientist dad. The Galapagos are isolated tropical islands made famous by Charles Darwin, who came up with the theory of evolution based on his research there. Mae and Oscar followed in Darwin’s footsteps. With help from their parents, they conducted their own research and got it published in a scientific journal - a big deal for scientists of every age! Hear Mae and Oscar tell their own story of science discovery in this episode.

See photos of Oscar and Mae doing their experiment on our blog at sciencepodcastforkids.com! We also have more resources to learn about the Galapagos there.

Want to learn more about Mae and Oscar’s great science adventure and experiments? We have a special bonus interview episode available for our Patrons. Just pledge $1/month for this and all our scientist interviews at patreon.com/tumblepodcast.

The Cave of the Underground Astronauts Jun 07, 2024

Show notes

This is a summer encore episode of one of our favorite episodes from Season 4 of Tumble!

Do you love fossils, adventure, and spending time in small spaces? If so, you could become an underground astronaut! Marina Elliot, Becca Peixotto, and Kenni Molopyane found this unusual job description through a Facebook ad, and landed deep inside a cave that few people can access. The team of archeologists talked to Tumble in the middle of excavating Homo Naledi, one of the biggest recent discoveries on the human family tree. Find out how they squeeze through a 7 inch gap on their daily commute, and how their work could change the way we understand early human history.

If you want to vote on Tumble's next re-broadcast for the summer, go to https://bit.ly/SummerTravelPoll and vote!

While you're there, think about subscribing at the $5 level or higher to get birthday shout outs, interview extras, and more!

Can We Time Travel? May 24, 2024

Show notes

Is it possible to build a time machine? Can we time travel someday? That’s what Tumble listener Willa wants to know. Clifford Johnson, a theoretical physicist and film consultant, says that there’s real science behind the time travel - and he’ll tell us what it takes to do it.

To learn more about time travel, go visit our blog at sciencepodcastforkids.com, where you can find all sorts of awesome resources to go along with this episode.

This is our last episode of season 9! If you like what we do, why not support our show on Patreon? Just go to patreon.com/tumblepodcast and support us at any level for ad-free episodes, or for $5 a month you can hear a happy birthday wish on our show.

Visit our Threadless shop to get awesome tumble t-shirts: tumblepodcast.threadless.com

Will An Asteroid Hit Earth? May 10, 2024

Show notes

How do scientists find out if an asteroid might hit our planet? And what do they do if it’s on a collision course with Earth? We’ll meet a planetary defender - an astronomer who uses radar telescopes to defend our planet from space rocks! Edgard Rivera Valentín grew up in Puerto Rico, next to Arecibo, the world’s most powerful radar telescope. Hear the story of how Edgard became a scientist superhero, and the supervillain asteroids they’re up against.

A bonus interview episode with Edgard is available to Patreon members who pledge at the $1 level or higher at patreon.com/tumblepodcast.

Check out more resources about Arecibo and asteroids on our blog, at sciencepodcastforkids.com.

Listen to Tumble en Español! Search for “Tumble en Español” wherever you get your podcasts, or on our website under “En Español.”

Why Do Cicadas Live Underground for So Long? Apr 26, 2024

Show notes

How did cicadas evolve to go underground for so long? Why do cicadas spend so much of their lives underground? That’s what listeners Gus and Zachary want to know. This spring, up to a TRILLION cicadas will emerge across 16 states in the U.S., in an event that hasn’t happened since 1803. Cicada scientist Chris Simon helps us dig into the surprising science of cicadas - and figure out how they’re changing on this science podcast for kids.

Listen to our interview episode with Chris Simon, available to Patreon members who pledge at the $1 level or higher at patreon.com/tumblepodcast.

We also have free resources on our website - including maps of the emergence and links to download Cicada Safari, a citizen science cicada project. That’s on the blog at sciencepodcastforkids.com.

Buy Tumble gear at our threadless shop!

¿Hablas español? Hay más episodios de nuestro podcast Tumble en Español en nuestro sitio web, https://www.sciencepodcastforkids.com/tumble-en-espanol.

The Alien Bacteria Abduction Apr 12, 2024

Show notes

Scientists stage an alien abduction to learn how bacteria avoid antibiotics, in this fact-meets-fiction episode! Meet our alien bacteria invaders (fiction) and our real life scientist, Caroline Blassick (fact) as they face off in a battle of microbial life and death. We’ll find out how Caroline implants mind-control devices in bacteria to improve human health, in bioengineer Mary Dunlop’s lab.

Our bacteria are played by Clara and Elijah, middle school STEM students.

This episode is supported by the National Science Foundation under award number MCB 2032357.

Learn more about “alien bacteria” on the bonus interview episode on our Patreon, at patreon.com/tumblepodcast.

We have more free resources about bacteria and antibiotics available on the blog on our website, sciencepodcastforkids.com

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