Tumble Science Podcast for Kids

We're going on an indoor expedition to discover the species in our own home! You’ll never look at the bugs in your house the same way again. Ecologist and author Rob Dunn is our guide to exploring what he calls, “the unknown we wake up in every morning.” We’ll find out how many species live in the average home (it’s more than you think!) and tell you how you can conduct your own scientific survey inside your house. It’s an activity that could help scientists discover indoor wildlife all around the world. To learn how you can sign up for Rob’s citizen science project, Never Home Alone, check out our blog at www.sciencepodcastforkids.com/blog. Our friend Science Mom has created a downloadable coloring book and indoor bug guide, special for this episode! It’s available to our Patreon members at all levels. To get it, just pledge any amount to support the show at https://www.patreon.com/tumblepodcast.

What’s it like to go inside the world’s largest bat colony? In this special bonus episode, we’re sharing part of our interview with Jessica Dreyer, modern day Bat Woman and biologist. (Remember her from “The Journey to the Bat Cave”?!) Find out why a cave just outside San Antonio, Texas is home to 15 million bats - the largest gathering of mammals anywhere on the planet! Want to get behind-the-scenes of our stories of science discovery? Join our Patreon campaign to get bonus interview episodes with every new episode of Tumble! Starting at only $1 a month, you’ll get access to a special podcast feed with all of our regular episodes, PLUS interviews! A Patreon subscription is a great holiday gift for any Tumble fan. Better yet, your support helps us keep making the show! Here’s the rest of our great Patreon rewards: \$5 a month: A shoutout when you join, a special birthday greeting, and the chance to answer OUR science questions on the podcast. \$10 a month: All that plus a Tumble t-shirt. \$20 a month: Superfan level! We send you everything plus a handwritten postcard from Barcelona! Pledge now at patreon.com/tumblepodcast to pledge at any level. Every little bit helps! We can’t wait to share more stories of science discovery with you.

Today we’re presenting the first episode of Becoming Mother Nature, a show from our friends at Gen-Z Media. It’s recommended for listeners 9 and up. For the rest of our listeners, we’ll be back with a new Tumble episode next month! When Chloe is sent off to live with her mysterious and eccentric grandmother, she learns an unbelievable secret. Grandma Ivy is none other than Mother Nature herself! And Chloe is next in line to assume the power and responsibility of the job. Can a twelve-year-old learn to balance the entire world’s ecosystem while just trying to fit in at her new school? Only Mother Nature knows.

Not a true crime story, but a true science story! Starring a murder of crows, a person in a creepy mask, and one very curious scientist named Kaeli Swift. We unravel the mystery of what appears like scene from a Halloween fright night, but is actually an experiment designed to reveal the reasons for some very weird crow behavior. Turns out, you can get a lot of strange looks on the road to science discovery. NOTE: This episode is about the scientific study of death in animals. No animals die in this story, but listeners uncomfortable with this topic might want to skip it. Other Halloween episodes are “We Ain’t Afraid of No Ghosts!” and “The Laboratory of the Haunted House.” To see a photo of someone wearing the mask, and watch a video of Kaeli’s study, visit our blog at sciencepodcastforkids.com. We have more from our interview with Kaeli, on our special ad-free Patreon feed! Learn about how Kaeli followed her curiosity from this experiment, to fascinating studies on what crows might actually be thinking during a crow funeral. Pledge starting at $1/month today, at patreon.com/tumblepodcast. Send us your science questions, and tell us about your Halloween-inspired experiments! Email us at tumblepodcast@gmail.com. Happy Halloween!

It’s a scientific controversy of planetary proportions! Is Pluto a planet, or not? You decide, after we present two sides of an epic astronomy argument. Back in 2006, the International Astronomer’s Union voted on a definition of the word “planet” that excluded Pluto and other newly dubbed “dwarf planets” from planethood status. Astronomers - and everybody else - quickly chose sides. We dive deep into the debate and learn that Pluto’s not the only Space Object Formerly Known As A Planet. Then we’ll ask you to weigh in with your opinion, and see if you can find “consensus” on what should be called a planet. Featuring planetary astronomer Kirby Runyon. We have a present for your birthday!! We’ll be doing birthday shoutouts for our Patreon members, beginning next month. Want to hear a message on the podcast just for your special day? Pledge at the $5 level at patreon.com/tumblepodcast. You’ll be helping us make the show, and we also have extra audio goodies for you. Hear more from our interviews with scientists! For this episode, Kirby Runyon expands on the different types of planets, and the fascinating features you can find on each one. There’s more about planets, on our website at sciencepodcastforkids.com. Don’t forget to subscribe to Tumble and tell your friends!

A volcanologist imagines a world without volcanoes, and tells us how her recipe for homemade lava bombs might lead to discoveries about ancient volcanoes in outer space! It turns out that volcanoes do more for planets than create natural pyrotechnic displays. You’re guarenteed to be blown away by volcanologist Erika Rader’s EXTREME VOLCANO SCIENCE PROJECT. Spoiler alert: It involves a huge cauldron of molten rock, an aircannon, and a forklift. Tell Erika what YOU would do with a lava machine: Email us at tumblepodcast@gmail.com with a drawing or recording, and we’ll pass your ideas on! Join our Patreon campaign to hear more from our interview with Erika, on our ad-free podcast feed: patreon.com/tumblepodcast Special thanks to Rob Griffiths for his help with this episode! Check out his podcast, Bedtime.FM and Peace Out on the Kids Listen app - kidslisten.org.

Join us on a field trip to the biggest bat colony in the world! Bracken Cave is home to 15 million Mexican free-tailed bats. It’s the largest concentration of mammals on the planet, and it’s made up of only mothers and their babies. On our visit, we’ll meet a real-life Batwoman. Jessica Dreyer is a bat biologist who is studying how bats learn to be bats. Now… TO THE BAT CAVE! To see photos from our trip, as well videos of “bat rain” and the evening “batnado,” check out our blog at sciencepodcastforkids.com/blog. We’ll also have information about how you can visit Bracken Cave in person, with Bat Conservation International. This week, our Patreon members are getting exclusive audio bonus content from our interview with Jessica! Hear her describe what it’s like to go inside the cave, as she shares tons of other stunning bat facts. Pledge today at patreon.com/tumblepodcast. You’ll also get an ad-free feed, when you sign up at just $1/month!

This summer, Tumble went live!! and we want to share the science magic with all our listeners. In this episode, you’ll hear our favorite parts of our Back-to-School Science Splash Jam from the Scottish Rite Theater in Austin, Texas. Get ready for a sea star song written by listeners, jellyfish trivia, and amazing science questions from fans. A super huge thanks and shoutout to everyone who came to our events! If you’re curious about Tumble live events, email us at tumblepodcast@gmail.com. Our guests were SaulPaul, Elizabeth McQueen, and Juli Berwald. Sara and Michael Lentz recorded the Science Splash Jam. Thanks to our sponsors: The Headwaters School, Austin Family Magazine, Spare the Rock, Spoil the Child, and Listenwise. Our kid contestants were Adele, Liesel, and Finn. Our question askers were Amery, Amara, and Leela.

What if you could shrink your technology down to a size that’s 100,000 times smaller than the width of a human hair? It sounds like sci-fi, but it’s not. Romain Quidant shows us how he helped shrink an entire medical laboratory down to the size of a computer chip. The “lab on a chip” uses molecular mini-detectives to track down diseases hiding within a tiny drop of blood. We’ll find out how it works, and why a tiny particle could make a big difference for human health. To see a photo of Romain holding the lab on the chip, check out our blog at sciencepodcastforkids.com/blog. Tumble is brought to you with support from KiwiCo. KiwiCo is offering Tumble listeners the chance to try them for free - to redeem this offer and learn more about their projects for kids, visit kiwico.com/tumble. Love Tumble? Support us on Patreon! All you need to do is go to patreon.com/tumblepodcast and sign up to pledge. Listener support makes a HUGE difference in helping us make the show. We’d also love to give you a shoutout on our next episode!

Meet 11-year-old Sarah Galvani-Townsend! She’s our first ever kid science expert. In many ways, Sarah is a regular kid who loves science. But she’s got an unusual hobby. Sarah tells us why studying dogs and rabies is one of her favorite extracurricular activities, and how she translates “science language” into “kid language.” To read Sarah’s paper and find out more about Science Journal for Kids, visit our blog at sciencepodcastforkids.org/blog. The original paper is called “One Health approach to cost-effective rabies control in India” and the lead author is Meagan C. Fitzpatrick. Tumble is brought to you with support from KiwiCo. KiwiCo is offering Tumble listeners the chance to try them for free - to redeem this offer & learn more about their projects for kids, visit kiwico.com/tumble    Love Tumble? Support us on Patreon! Go to patreon.com/tumblepodcast and pledge today. Even just a $1/month means a lot to us! We love hearing from you. Email us your questions, comments and feedback at tumblepodcast@gmail.com.