If My Kids Get Wind of This, I’m in Trouble

MacBeth Derham, homeschooling naturalist extraordinaire, has posted a recommendation of Betsey Dexter Dyer’s book, A Field Guide to Bacteria, over at the Real Learning boards, complete with instructions for setting up your own windowsill bacteria farm. As if I needed help raising bacteria—ha! Isn’t that what kitchen floors are for?

But for you bacteria-deprived types, MacBeth’s post includes a link to a nifty animated demonstration of all the chemical changes and Other Scientific Stuff that happens inside a winogradsky column, which is the fancy technical name for windowsill bacteria farm. Icky, but cool.