Tumble Science Podcast for Kids

Listen to our brand new album of science songs, and play some games along with us as we celebrate the release of our album: Science Songs Vol. 1! It’s a special summer episode that will get you singing along and testing your knowledge of everything from capybaras to planets! Here’s where you can listen to the full album:  Spotify: Listen on Spotify Apple Music: Listen on Apple Music Bandcamp: Support us on Bandcamp Watch the music video for How Do You Catch a Happy Cappy?  Check out our Dino Map Adventure. Support Tumble on Patreon and get a birthday shoutout for just $5/month. Follow us on Instagram, and subscribe to Tumble’s YouTube channel for full episodes and much more!

Would you fly to the top of a volcano that’s about to erupt at any moment? Volcanologist Helena Buurman did, and survived to tell the tale! In 2008, Helena was monitoring Mount Redoubt in Alaska, when the ground beneath the volcano began to shake. What follows is a tale of volcanic adventure, involving earthquakes, helicopters, and a massive eruption! Tumble is on our summer break right now, working on some exciting new projects. Stay tuned to hear them in our feed! We invite you to invent your own volcano! Find resources to learn more about volcano warning signs and eruptions, on our website at www.sciencepodcastforkids.com We have more from our interview with Helena Buurman for our Patrons who pledge just $1/month or more. To listen, pledge today at patreon.com/tumblepodcast.

What if you found out that there was a tiny, nearly invisible type of plastic pollution that’s found nearly everywhere… but you’d never heard of it! That’s what happened to environmental scientist Jace Tunnell several years ago, and he’s been on a great nurdle hunt ever since! This episode on fighting plastic waste comes with a special bonus: the opportunity to enroll in a “Nurdle Patrol” and lead the Nurdle search in your community! Join the Nurdle Patrol Special Agent Training Course at sciencepodcastforkids.com/nurdles If you want to support Tumble on Patreon, just go to patreon.com/tumblepodcast. Ad-free early access to episodes is just $1/month, and for just $5/month you can get a birthday shout out on our feed! T-shirts and other merch (including merch specific to this episode) are available at the Tumble merch store, at tumblepodcast.dashery.com.

🎉 We’re getting ready for our biggest live event ever — Sonic Saturday! It’s a day of science, sound, and storytelling in Brooklyn, NY on May 10, and we’re celebrating by rebroadcasting one of the episodes that inspired it all: The Science of Ocean Sounds. 🌊🔊 Come join us (and special guest Dan Saks from Noodle Loaf!) for two interactive shows, hands-on science, and live demos from amazing STEM educators — including accessible science activities for blind and low-vision communities. RSVP ⁠now⁠! And if you can’t be there in person, don’t worry — we’ll have a recording available soon. ------ Explore the sounds of ocean science on a sound scavenger hunt! Tune in as oceanographer Amy Bower takes us to the sea, to show us how she uses sound to study ocean currents and make ocean science accessible for blind and visually impaired people. Listen up and help us search for clues beneath the waves to reveal the secrets of the underwater realm! Ocean data sonifications courtesy of Dr. Jon Bellona at Oregon State University, and the Accessible Oceans project. Learn more about Dr. Amy Bower in our bonus interview episode, available to Patrons who pledge just $1 or more a month to support Tumble, at patreon.com/tumblepodcast. We have free resources to keep exploring the world of ocean science and data sonification with Amy Bower. They’re on the blog at sciencepodcastforkids.com, along with a free transcript.  This episode is the first in a series featuring blind scientists. The 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. ⁠⁠ ⁠⁠ We're also launching a fundraiser! Go visit our donation page ⁠here⁠ to make a tax deductible donation, support your favorite joke tournament contestant, and maybe even win some cool prizes!

Why is the center of a raging storm so… calm? Tumble listener Lydia wants to know what’s really going on in the eye of a hurricane. To find out, we’re flying into the storm — literally — with meteorologist Shirley Murillo! Shirley is a real-life “hurricane hunter” who flies in a specially equipped airplane to collect data from inside the hurricane itself! Discover how hurricanes form, and what keeps the center of the storm calm, and what Shirley learned while flying through Hurricane Katrina, one of the most impactful storms in U.S. history. Buckle up — it's going to be a wild ride! You can find a transcript of the episode and learn more about hurricane hunters on the blog at sciencepodcastforkids.com Send us your science questions to tumblepodcast@gmail.com and leave a review on Apple Podcasts with the help of a grownup! Support the show by becoming a Patreon member for just $1/month! This material is based upon work supported by the National Science Foundation under Grant Number # 2415575 - Culturally Situated STEM Podcasts for Kids.

Was there ever nothing in the universe? What is nothing? That’s what listener Aviva wants to know. We turned to particle physicist Dr. Jessica Esquivel to find out! She takes us on a mind-bending journey to ask what existed before the universe began, and how a quantum dance party might have started the Big Bang! This story about subatomic particles, giant magnets, and quantum physics is something that will blow your mind.  You can find a transcript of the episode and learn more about the particle party in nothing on  the blog at sciencepodcastforkids.com Send us your science questions, ideas and songs to tumblepodcast@gmail.com Support the show by becoming a Patreon member, or making a tax-deductible donation to Tumble Education, a 501c3 organization. This material is based upon work supported by the National Science Foundation under Grant Number # 2415575 - Culturally Situated STEM Podcasts for Kids.

What does it take to become an inventor? To find out, we spoke with an inventor named Josh Miele about one of his greatest inventions: tactile maps! Tactile maps use braille technology to help blind people explore their neighborhoods with their fingers first. But how does Josh create brand-new inventions? Tune in to find out how inventors bring new ideas to life, and stick around to find out whether birds like wearing denim. 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 want to learn more about Josh and all his inventions, go to our blog at sciencepodcastforkids.com, where we've got lots of awesome resources! If you want to make a recurring $5 donation to Tumble, you can go to bit.ly/donatetumble. Or you can support us at any level you like by going here. Or support us on Patreon at patreon.com/tumblepodcast Tumble is brought to you with support from IXL Learning. For a special discount for tumble listeners, go to IXL.com/tumble!

Why do some animals play - and some don’t? That’s what Meredith wants to know. In this special collaboration with Outside/In, we investigate how and why animals - and people! - of all shapes and sizes play. Play scientists Junyi Chu and Jackson Ham help us ask the important questions like: Can you tell an octopus to play? And what can rats teach us about why taking turns is important? It turns out that play is serious science!  This episode is a collaboration with Outside/In from New Hampshire Public Radio, and co-reported with executive producer Taylor Quimby. Taylor recommends the show for older kids and teens, and suggests these family-friendly episodes for listening together. The $1,000 balloon What's living under your porch You can make kids hike, but you can't make them hikers Learn more about animal play on the blog on our website, sciencepodcastforkids.com Support Tumble on Patreon at patreon.com/tumblepodcast. 

Why do capybaras have such big teeth? Adrian had to know! To get to the bottom of this, we spoke to a biologist named Santiago Herrera Alvarez. Capybaras are Internet sensations, and Santiago can't get enough of them! Santiago's questions were even bigger than capybara teeth: how did capybaras, a relative of rodents like mice and rats, get to be so enormous? Tune in for a capybara rodeo, and stick around to find out how one little animal can grow to superstardom. Want to learn more? Go visit us at sciencepodcastforkids.com for videos, resources, and so much more about the world's biggest rodents! If you want to support Tumble on Patreon, go to patreon.com/tumblepodcast. This material is based upon work supported by the National Science Foundation under Grant Number # 2415575 - Culturally Situated STEM Podcasts for Kids.

How does vision work? That’s what Junie wants to know. And is it possible to create vision for people who don’t see? We’ll dive into the mysteries of how we see with Lucas Nadolskis, a scientist who became blind when he was five. Lucas is studying how vision works in the brain to understand if it’s possible to see without using your eyes! Intrigued? Listen in to find out more of the mysteries behind the science of vision!

Why are there so many axolotls in fishtanks, and so few in the wild? That’s what Maximiliano wants to know. You may have found axolotls in the lush caves of Minecraft, but in real life, they live in the lakes and canals of Xochimilco, near Mexico City. But the species is slowly disappearing from its native habitat. Axolotl veterinarian Horacio Mena takes us on a journey to Xochimilco to find out what scientists are doing to save these adorable amphibians.

Happy New Year! This is a rebroadcast of “Polar Bear Adventure” from Season 8! Join us on an Arctic adventure as we head out onto the sea ice with a polar bear scientist! Andrew Derocher shares exciting stories of flying in helicopters, getting bit by a polar bear cub, and discovering how polar bears are surviving in a warming world. Andrew explains what happens when polar bears move into human towns, in the bonus interview episode. It’s available to Patrons who pledge just a dollar or more a month on patreon.com/tumblepodcast. Teachers! Find a toolkit to share polar bear science with students, on the World Wildlife Fund’s WildClassroom.org. A transcript for this episode and other resources are available on the blog on our website, sciencepodcast.com

This is a rebroadcast of one of our favorite episodes from Season 8! When did smartness begin? We’ll find out how a neuroscientist blends up brains, and cracks the case of the Tyrannosaurus Rex smarts! Suzana Herculano-Houzel helps us answer listener Penny’s question by explaining how “smartness” might not mean what you think - and how all animals have shown off their intelligence over time. Listen to our bonus interview with Suzana on our Patreon when you pledge just $1 a month or more! patreon.com/tumblepodcast. Learn more about Suzana and her work on the evolution of intelligence on the blog on our website, www.sciencepodcastforkids.com.

What does it feel like to be in space? That’s what Elijah wants to know. So we’re taking off on a zero-gravity flight to find out! Guest reporter Jason Strother shares the story of Sheri Wells-Jensen, a blind scientist who is paving the way for people with disabilities to go to space.  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.  Learn more about Sheri on the bonus interview episode on our Patreon, at patreon.com/tumblepodcast.  Check out the blog on sciencepodcastforkids.com for more info!

Ever wondered how dinosaurs left their footprints behind millions of years ago? We embark on a prehistoric adventure with renowned paleontologist Paul Olsen! Discover the secrets behind dinosaur tracks and how these ancient prints can tell us incredible stories about the lives of dinosaurs. From the science of fossilization to what these footprints reveal about dinosaur behavior and habitats, Paul Olsen will guide us through the fascinating world of these mysteries left in stone - and share how he discovered thousands of dino tracks when he was just a kid. Join us on a Dino Map Adventure at nepm.org/dinomap! We’ve created a free audio tour to explore the science and history of dinosaur tracks in the Pioneer Valley of Massachusetts. Lindsay and Marshall will guide you through the place where dinosaur footprints were first discovered - and put you on the path to becoming dino track explorers! If you like this episode, consider supporting Tumble on Patreon by going to patreon.com/tumblepodcast. Get ad-free episodes for just $1 a month!

What do you call a scientist who studies poop? A poopologist, of course! We’re exploring the stinky science of “poopology” at the zoo, to discover what poop can tell us about animal behavior! Poopologist Laurel Wescott, at the Oregon Zoo, will take us on a journey to find how chemicals found in animal poop can help zoo animals stay healthy. Plus, she’ll clue us in on the “cutest” and most surprising poops, and so much more! This is the first episode of our 10th season. Thanks so much for joining us! For more information about Laurel and the poop she studies, visit our blog at sciencepodcastforkids.com, where we'll have resources, videos, and more. For ad-free versions of the episode and a birthday shout-out, go support Tumble on Patreon at patreon.com/tumblepodcast. For just $1/month, you'll also get access to our special bonus interview episodes!

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!

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

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!

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.