I developed a bad habit in my former life as a ‘sposie user. Time and time again, I’ve seen parents leave a disposable diaper on the baby “just a little longer” -and I’m embarrassed to admit I was guilty of this – because it’s “not that wet”.

The truth is, even the “stay dry layer” doesn’t leave the baby dry. More comfortable, yes, than no layer at all, but not dry. Of course, a parent could get away with less frequent ‘sposie changes because superficially the baby seems dry (that is, their jammies aren’t sopping yet), but just because those disposables absorb more fluid than most children can produce over the course of a few hours doesn’t mean we need to play a game of chicken with the diaper to see who will give in (give out?) first. There was an episode of Malcolm in the Middle where the dads had a contest to see whose baby’s diaper weighed the most. It was funny on TV (I just loved Malcolm in the Middle) but not so funny in real life.

How did so many of us come to believe that it’s okay to let our babies sit in their own urine for extended amounts of time just because the disposable “doesn’t feel that heavy”? I believe that the high cost of disposable diapers has trained us to change diapers less frequently in a twisted desire to get the most value out of our purchase. Disposables run $0.20 -$0.30 each (that’s the cost of an entire roll of toilet paper!), so changing just a few extra ‘sposies per day can cost an extra $20 -$40 per month (and for bigger families, just multiply that by the number of children in diapers). That’s an entire mega-case of ‘sposies every month! That’s a few trips to Starbuck every month. As parents, we try to be frugal, and since advertising has convinced us that disposable diapers stay dry next to baby, we tell ourselves that it’s an acceptable (and even sensible) practice to wait until a diaper is noticeably wet before being changed. The bad habit becomes ingrained and can be unconsciously carried over to cloth diapering.

If this sounds like you, free yourself of your bad habit! You are no longer at the mercy of your $0.25 ‘sposies! The cloth diapers are already paid for and they are re-usable. In fact, the MORE you use your cloth diapers, the more value you get from them! (If you spend $500 on your cloth diaper set-up and change an average of 10 times per day for 2.5 years, your diapers cost a nickel per use). Let’s wipe, er, eliminate, er… DISPOSE OF the phrases “not that wet” “not that full” and “only a little wet” from our vocabularies.

Tip: One way to get an idea of how often your baby really wets is to put her in a coverless fitted, pinned prefold, or pinned flat for a day (or for a few days). Try to base your changing habits on the results of that experiment, rather than your experience with disposables.

Here are some words of wisdom and advice from some pretty incredible parents. You’re not alone.

These comments are quotes from about 15 non-traditional students.

• They are earning/have earned Associate’s, Bachelor’s, Master’s, and Doctoral degrees.
• They study/ied healthcare, accounting, anthropology, journalism, criminal justice, biology, photography, and education.
• They have between 1 and 5 children, from newborn to high school senior.
• Some are stay at home parents while others work full time. One worked two jobs.
• Several are single parents. Two are military spouses.

TIPS:
On organization and study time

• Naptime! Easiest time to study, but I also set the two little ones at the table with me with their books and crayons, and they do work right along with me.
• Approach school like it is a 40 hour per week job. If you plan and schedule time to write, time to read, time to study (instead of letting it creep up on you), it is completely manageable.
• Schedule your study time.
• Stay at the school for an extra hour after class, before you go home.
• Work on things between classes.
• Papers and homework were done after the kids went to bed.
• Never underestimate the power of Play Doh to keep the kids playing while you study. And Legos – thank GOD for Legos! They hurt to step on but keep the kids entertained for nice, extended periods of time.
• I’m strict with the schedule, but I try not to stress when it doesn’t happen.
• I think the biggest thing for me was involving the kids in the study time… we went through a great deal of crayons and coloring books for a few years and then picture books.
• I have a hard time maintaining focus if the kids are doing something fun so I usually lock myself away in the backroom and turn on a fan to drown the noise when I study.
• I always study in the morning, cuz I’m dead by the end of the day!!
• Late night studying and lots of coffee.
• Use a dayplanner.
• My kids know my study partners and classmates so we’d go out and have as much fun as we could (hiking, going out to eat, inviting them over) but all the while my cohorts and I would be discussing what was going on in our classes.

On asking for help

• One word: Grandparents. I would study in big chunks while they were at the GPs for the weekend, playing with cousins/neighbors around the house. My kids are older so they don’t as much attention as a newborn/infant/toddler
• Don’t be afraid to ask for help.
• It’s okay to call a friend ask them to come to the rescue.
• It’s critical to explain the demands that you will be under to your family in full detail and what it means to you to go back to school, your dreams, etc.
• Have your husband take the kids to the park or to Best Buy or something so you can study.

On housework

• Ignore the laundry. Undergrad and grad school is one of the few times where you can completely pull off dark circles, greasy hair, and dirty underwear.
• Don’t be afraid to ask the older kids to play with the younger kids so you can get some of the work done.
• Assign household chores to everyone in the family – We used our dry erase board to list the chores. My kids are greedy and the only way they get an allowance is to do the EXTRA chores; they don’t get paid for their everyday chores.
• It’s really okay if your bed isn’t made for a week.

On healthy-ish meals/snacks for the kids

• The Crockpot is your friend.
• Keep the bottom drawer of the refrigerator filled with snacks – it’s the kids’ free-for-all area where they don’t have to ask for permission. Keep it filled with juice boxes, apples, oranges, carrots, raisin boxes. Add a couple fresh sandwiches every few days.
• Two words… FROZEN MEALS. Yes, those prepackaged crap things you buy for a buck. Love them. Deal with them. And recognize, either you can study and get to class, or you can feed them organic. Since the rest of the worlds is alive while not eating organic, I figure, they will survive too. lol

On sleep

• What’s that?
• Large doses of caffeine mixed with small parts of insanity and shake until blended. Lol
• I was always tired.
• Do not try to read textbooks in bed (snore)
• Sleep like the dead on breaks.

On rewards

• Celebrate small successes. When you get a A on a paper or test (or your kids do) celebrate together with some sort of treat.
• Know when to take a break.

On dealing with employers

• Speak with your boss. They are going to have to be willing to work with your availability.
• My current struggle is working full time… Overnights. It’s wrecking havoc on my scheduling. If I’m home, I tend to be unconscious.
• It’s tough trying to juggle a full time career, full time school schedule, and your family but it can be done.

On dealing with instructors

• Keep open communication with your professor throughout the semester, so If Junior gets gets deathly ill you can call them. Don’t just skip out on exams. Professors are human and they understand that life throws you a curveball sometimes.

On miscellaneous realities…

• Acknowledge you won’t be able to get to every field trip, parent’s night, etc. Do your best and recognize you are setting up things for your children to have a better life when you are through. There is no room for mom/dad guilt here. Employ help when possible to meet those demands.
• There is no option for breaks, Students loans become due, and the quicker we are done, the better. Sometimes you just have press on and determine it’s what needs to be done. One can only take a break from school for so long (I took a two year hiatus over child care) before you just have to bite the bullet and get it done.
• How do parents do it when both work AND both are in school? Talk about caffeine and insanity, and let me add, a good therapist!
• With four kids, no matter HOW many times I asked them to let me study, at least ONE little person would have an “emergency” if they knew I was in the house.
• We have no family around to help. That was our toughest part. Childcare costs and the nerves associated with it were overwhelming at times hindered the process.
• I continued to work full-time to keep medical benefits, I had to change into my scrubs in the car. I think back then I was just on autopilot. I did what I had to do.
• Be willing to accept less than a 4.0 but strive for it.
• Saturday and Sunday are not days off, just more errands and chores at home and study time. Lose your life, it now becomes school, school, and yeah household chores.
• Yes, you will feel like you’re neglecting your kids, but remember you’re doing it for a better future for the family.
• It’s worth it.

Don’t even think about building a Baking Soda/Vinegar Volcano.I’m not kidding.  Step. Away. From. The. Volcano.

However, if you/your child is interested in acid and base reactions, this is a good first step towards a science fair project that won’t make your teacher want to shut herself in the broom closet and sob quietly for the rest of the day. It is NOT a science fair project by itself * but it can add an extra dimension to an Acid/Base experiment.

Purpose:  To create a homemade pH indicator, that will let us know if the material we want to work with is an acid or base.

Materials:

• Knife/Blender
• Microwavable Bowl or large pot
• Water
• Strainer or coffee filter
• large jar
• at least 1/2 red cabbage

Method:

1. Chop your cabbage up. I suggest cutting pretty small pieces, but not so small that you need a coffee filter to filter out the solids after you finish.  It’s best to chop them large enough that you can use a fine colander or s
   trainer to filter out the pieces. You can certainly ignore that suggestion and use the coffee filter, but my way is easier (and faster). 
2. If you want to use the microwave, put the cabbage in a large, microwaveable bowl. Add enough water to almost cover cabbage, cover the bowl, and microwave for 3-5 minutes. Don’t leave it unattended; if the cabbage water begins to boil over, turn the microwave OFF and consider the cooking portion finished. Let cool. See how my overly-excited boy is enjoying himself?

1. 
2. If you want to use the stove, put your cabbage into a large pot. Add enough water to almost cover the cabbage. Bring the water to a boil, and boil for no more than 3-5 minutes. Don’t leave it unattended; if the cabbage water begins to boil over, turn the stove OFF and consider the cooking portion finished. Let cool.
3. A third option involves pouring boiling water over your cabbage (till almost covered), and covering. Let sit until cooled.
4. A fourth option, which I’ve seen used in schools, is to put all of the cabbage in a large ziplock bag, add hot tap water, seal it and leave in the classroom sink or a tub, overnight. In the morning, cut a corner and let drain into a jar.
5. Using the coffee filter, and or strainer, drain the (cooled!) water from the cabbage into your clean jar.
6. If your homemade indicator solution appears to be too dilute, you can boil it down until it’s as concentrated as you’d like. It won’t hurt the indicator.

Your water will be a deep purple/blue, depending on the pH of your water. It should be fairly close to pH=7 (Neutral).

Recall: pH=1-7 is acidic.  pH = 7-14 is basic.

Now, for testing (Boo had a lot more fun testing items, than he did creating the pH indicator solution):

1. Pour 1-4 T of the substance you want to test into a clear or white bowl/small glass/test tube. ‘Cuz we should all have test tubes lying around the house (see mine?)
2. Add a few drops of your homemade indicator solution to the substance you want to test.
3. Swirl gently to mix (especially important if you test something like Clorox Bleach. Be careful and use common sense when testing any substance!) Add a few more drops if you’d like, to see what will happen.
4. Very generally, the indicator will turn shades of pink in the presence of acids. The indicator should turn blue, then green, and finally yellow in the presence of bases.

 

Mom called these scones; most just call it fry bread.  They are a summer tradition in our family; we grew up with a coal/wood burning cookstove,and baking bread was completely out of the question in the summer months. Fry bread, however, was not. 

If you’re not up to making your own dough, you have several options. You can purchase frozen dough out of the freezer section at your grocery store; you will need to follow the thawing/proofing instructions on the package. You can also go up to the bakery section and ask for an unbaked loaf of bread (um, dough). The baker will look at you strangely. Tell her to put it into a plastic bread bag and slap the bread price label on it. You get your dough with no hassle, and she gets a great story to tell her family when she goes home that night (mind you, I doubt you’ll come out of the telling looking like the next Einstein).

If you *are* inclined to make the dough yourself, you can use your favorite white or wheat bread recipe. I use the Better Homes and Garden’s White Bread recipe for fry bread, excepting I replace the milk with water, and I use oil instead of shortening. This allows you to skip the heating/cooling step by using warm water in the first place. AND you won’t notice the difference once you slather the fry bread with honey butter, homemade jam, or chili (Yes, I said chili. Welcome to the West!)

I use my Kitchen Aid stand mixer (a $75 refurb minus a birthday check = $25, woohoo!) to mix the bread; it cuts down on kneading the dough. Sometimes I knead it anyways, but it’s really not necessary with fry bread.

After your done kneading dough* , place it in a bowl, and let rise in a warm place till double. If you  bought frozen dough, follow the directions through the first proofing. If you bought bakery dough, jump right in here. NEXT:

Divide your dough into lots of smaller dough balls (about 8 balls per loaf of dough prepared).  Gently flatten and stretch them into rounds, let rest for 5 minutes. After 5 minutes you can flatten/stretch them a little more, or decide good enough is good enough. That’s generally what I do.

So here is where you wait for the second rising. In theory. I never do, but it really is possible.

Next, heat a heavy pan with about 1/2”-1” of oil. I’d say medium to medium-high heat.

Now, fry your bread till it’s a nice golden brown on both sides.

Not that hard, see?

Serve warm with honey butter, homemade jam, or (and I said it before) chili.  If you top with chili, go ahead and put some lettuce, tomatoes, salsa, sour cream, whatever on it.  It’s good stuff.

My favorite topping for fry bread is butter and my mom’s homemade peach jam. I’m out of jam, so I made honey butter instead.  I whipped one cube of softened butter together with a couple big tablespoons of honey that I wheedled out of my uncle when I visited this summer. It was very, very good.

IF you have leftovers (you never know), wrap them and eat within a few days. 

______________________________

*Really, are we ever done needing dough?

Read to the end for an “Attractive” giveaway. Oh, the Iron-y.

Materials:

• Iron Oxide Powder (several tablespoons)
• Silly Putty
• Magnet

1. Protect your work surface (old newspaper works great)

2. Incorporate iron oxide powder into the silly putty. Knead it like bread dough, squish it, stretch it, whatever it takes.

The final product should look very black and glossy.

The Putty now has enough iron in it (Magnetite has a high percentage of iron  relative to oxygen – 3 iron atoms for every 4 oxygen atoms) to be attracted to a magnet.

And here’s a video we made after shaping the Silly Putty into Sammy, the Silly Putty Seal. Sammy was supposed to be a dog but all of our attempts at creating a dog ended in Seal.

We will probably add more iron oxide powder after this, and see if that makes things even more interesting.

If you try this, please take pictures or videos and post the link here! We’d love to see what you come up with.

Here the link to our previous project:  Iron Man 1: Reading a Magnetic Strip

Warnings:

Rare Earth Magnets work great for this, and we got ours out of an old computer hard drive.  If you acquire one,  be particularly careful around children.  Here’s a warning from one site: “Can damage computer gear & credit cards. Handle with care. 2 magnets can snap together with enough force to break a finger or shatter on impact.” If a child SWALLOWS one (or two) this can be VERY bad.  Let’s say like Emergency Surgery bad.

The bag of powdered iron oxide did tell us to consult the MSDS.  For those of you who have your own source of powdered iron (there are several good options) and decide that you will brave the hazards (this is sarcasm) of powdered iron, the gist of it is to not inhale huge plumes of the stuff.

Credit where credit is due:  We got this idea from Instructables.

GIVEAWAY!   Want to make your Putty attractive to fine magnets everywhere? The first 5 commenters (Continental US only) on the Iron Man posts will get 2 TBSP of my Magnetite Powder. Because I still have nearly 5 pounds of the stuff. Just indicate that you are interested in receiving it, and I’ll contact you via email.

Iron Man 1 (queue music) requires:

• 1 sheet of paper (old newspaper is fine)
• 1/2 tsp. powdered magnetite
• An old card with a magnetic strip (library card, credit card, etc)

1. Set the credit card down over a clean sheet of paper. Sprinkle 1/2 tsp. of powdered magnetite over the magnetic strip.

2. Gently tap the excess powder off.

3. Angle the card into the light so that you can see the thin stripes on the strip:

Why it works: 

1. Cards with a magnetic stripe store data in magnetic particles.
2. Magnets in the magnetic strip attract iron, and
3. There is plenty of iron in Magnetite – Fe₃O₄ (Which means there are 3 iron (Fe) atoms for every 4 oxygen (O) atoms).

So, your powdered magnetite will be attracted to the magnetic stripes on your magnetic strip, leaving them (just barely) visible.

Our 5 pound bag of powdered magnetite (shown here for effect):

The bag of powdered iron oxide did tell us to consult the MSDS.  For those of you who have your own source of powdered iron (there are several good options) and decide that you will brave the hazards (this is sarcasm) of powdered iron, the gist of it is to not inhale huge plumes of the stuff.

Jason got the idea for this experiment from an article on io9.com.

Have fun!

DAY 1:

Dissolving the shell
1) Place 4 eggs in a container, cover with white vinegar.
2) Add some “fresh” vinegar (or just replace with fresh vinegar)after about 8-12 hours.
Vinegar is an ACID; eggshells are made of calcium carbonate (BASE).

Reacting Acids and Bases
3) These are the eggs after about 2 hours. Look at all those CO2 bubbles!
4) You should have “naked eggs” (just the membranes) within 24-48 hours after starting
(For more on the chemistry: http://goo.gl/zOhCk)

DAY 2:

Naked Eggs
1) Remove and gently rinse your naked egg under running water. Compare it to a fresh egg. It looks (and feels) MUCH different now that the shell is gone!

2) Hold the egg up to light and look at the yolk. Boo said the egg feels like a water balloon.
3) Once the shell is off, the egg will get MUCH larger! This is due to osmosis – there is more water in the vinegar than in the egg. The water will diffuse from the area of high concentration (vinegar), into the area of low concentration (egg), across the membrane. Diffusion occurs until equilibrium occurs, (after that, exchange takes place at a steady rate).
(For an easy-to-follow definition and animation of diffusion and osmosis: http://goo.gl/IRxXi)

Osmosis with Eggs
1. Label cups clearly for water, vinegar, and corn syrup.
2. Put one naked egg in each cup.

3. Cover each egg with the appropriate liquid.

Demonstrating Osmosis
Thing 2  helps Thing 1 demonstrate diffusion across a selectively permeable barrier. With Matchbox cars and a baby gate.*
After the demonstration, Thing 1 came up with his hypothoses:
1) The egg in corn syrup will shrink, because Corn syrup doesn’t have water in it. The water will diffuse from the egg into the syrup.
2) The egg in the vinegar will stay the same size, because it’s already been soaking in the vinegar long enough that it is in equilibrium (same concentration of water in AND out of the egg)
3) The egg in the water will get even bigger, since there is a higher concentration of water in the water (!) than in the egg.
*Large stuffed animals were also involved, but since this is a SELECTIVELY PERMEABLE barrier, they were unable to cross and stayed in a corner by themselves.
Edited: For that matter, the children are also unable to cross this particular selectively permeable barrier. Who says parenting isn’t a science.

DAY 3:

Osmosis Eggs
Having soaked overnight, the eggs are dramatically different in size and feel.
1) The naked egg soaked in corn syrup is the smallest
2) The naked eggs soaked in vinegar and water aren’t significantly different from each other, visibly. However, you can tell a distinct difference by touch (the naked egg soaked in water is much more taut).
This observation seems to confirm Andrew’s hypotheses from yesterday, but the fun isn’t over yet!

Observation

3. How are the eggs different? How are they similar? What do you think caused the differences?

The egg soaked in corn syrup looks much different than the fresh egg, too.

Breaking the Water Egg
Scientists always make the best of any “woops”. This is true.

This surprised us! The absorbed water hadn’t been incorporated into the egg white or yolk. You can see the white and yolk intact in the middle of the huge splash of water. All of that water (plus the water on the boys’ shirts, plus the water on the floor) was inside the naked egg.

Breaking the Vinegar Egg
Squeezing till the egg broke was a bit grosser than he expected it to be (sometimes science is messy).

Breaking the Corn Syrup Egg
Because I’m the mean mommy, I didn’t let him squeeze this egg ’till it popped.
He *really* wanted to.

More Observation

1) Look at the membrane (the consensus is that it feels like a flower petal).
2) Compare the volume of the broken Corn Syrup Egg to the volume of the broken Vinegar Egg. It’s pretty impressive; I wish we would have thought to measure the volume.

Who gets a Brownie Point? Did you notice we started with 4 Naked Eggs and finished with 3? That was my fault, not the kids!

He negotiated: Even if it’s educational? What about Beakman’s World? And Liberty’s Kids?

My counter: Okay, you can watch Beakman’s World, but you have to do some of the experiments, too.

Son: And then I can watch Top Gear and Mythbusters.

Sigh.

1. Cut a hole big enough for your head to go through a large box, slightly forward of center.*

2. Tape a piece of white paper on the panel furthest from your head-hole, on the inside of the box. See it (above photo) back there?

3. Tape up ALL the seams with a light-blocking tape like masking tape, or the ever useful Duct Tape.

3. Wrap a towel around your child’s neck, and place the box over his head. Check for stray light; if he sees any, repair it.

4. After removing the box from your child’s  head (muy importante, ¿no?), use a nail to poke a small hole in the panel opposite from the white-papered side.  Poke the hole higher up than the level of your head.

5. Re-wrap the towel, replace the box over head (so that the boxed-person is facing the white paper) and observe the upside down images of whatever might be taking place behind you.

We personally enjoyed the outdoor images best. The above photo was collected by placing our camera INSIDE of the box and remotely snapping the picture. (It’s a photo of tree branches and leaves).

*Not a typo. Make it big enough for YOUR head. You’ll want to check it out.

How does it work (simplified)?

We see things when light bounces off of them. The light bounces off in every direction.

When the light bounces off of Dancing Dad, a tiny bit gets through the nail hole in the cardboard box, and we see that reflected light as a reversed (and pretty dim) image on the white paper taped inside of the box:

This is exactly how a pinhole camera works, and I urge you to check this site out if you’d love a great summer project:

http://users.rcn.com/stewoody/

Take it to a whole new level, and turn your whole bedroom into a camera obscura – just block all the light coming into your room except for a small hole from the window, wait for your eyes to adjust, and watch the opposite wall/ceiling to see what’s going on outside:  from http://commonsensephotography.com/camera_history_and_a_light_concept/index.php

Our son, like every other child in his Taekwondo class (so I hear), has an under-bed full of these boards. The sheer joy derived from breaking them evidently grants the boards immunity from ever being discarded. This leaves us with a lot of boards which, incidentally, float.

Materials for Propeller Raft:

• Lightweight wood, such as balsa wood, or if you happen to be so lucky, board-breaking boards from Martial Arts class.
• Straightedge, such as a ruler. We used the edge of an envelope. ‘Cuz we’re flexible like that.
• Propeller – ours came from the Party store, and is the type you’d find for 5/$1.00 at the dollar store.
• Rubber bands
• Glue
• Screw Eye/ Eye bolt
• Pocket knife, exacto knife… something sharp but non-lethal.
• Straw

Cutting a groove for the propeller in both sides of the wood (we used the straight edge to make, well, a straight edge for the groove):

After Experiment #1 (aka Friction, or, Will the propeller shaft move more smoothly inside the wooden groove, or inside a straw? Straw, totally.), gluing a straw into the wooden groove:

Missing steps include (and not necessarily in this order):

• Insert a screw eye into the end of one of the wood bits. If you look closely, you can see the screw eye underneath the straw in the above picture.
• Loop a rubber band through the screw eye.
• Glue, and when the glue completely fails to hold, rubber band the two bits of wood together such that the straw cannot come loose.
• Insert propeller shaft into straw

Here, Andrew puts the rubber band around the propeller blade:

Twists, and then lets go:

And to the tub, where we try for experiment #2 (or, Which will go faster, the raft with a truck, or without a truck?), and find out that Murphy’s Law ALWAYS applies to experiments (it was very difficult for Boo to wind the propeller and balance the truck at the same time). Lucky kid, I didn’t learn that lesson till grad school.

Peep Nests

This use of Peeps is not so exciting nor so entertaining as the Dueling Peep Microwave Battle, but it’s probably more socially acceptable .

Tips:

• You can’t possibly use too much butter. Butter your hands, spoons, everything (EVERYTHING). This is going to be messy.
• While it’s important to work quickly, you can let the Treats cool to a warm but comfortable temperature before working with them. Then be fast.
• The Kellogg’s Rice Crispy recipe seems to work really well for this. It calls for a higher Crispy-to-Mallow ratio than does the Marshmallow-Bag recipe  and that seems to work really well for shape retention.

DO save a few extra Peeps and DO have a Peep Battle. One of my son’s classmates came over and they had a (supervised) blast.  Unless you like cleaning plates with melted marshmallows cemented to them, I highly recommend staging the battle on graham cracker halves, and placing the Peeps on a bed of Peep Poop* before the battle begins. Upon removal from the microwave, top with another graham cracker half and enjoy.

__________________________

Science Lesson Of the Week

(How to Transform Peep Dueling into a Socially Acceptable Pastime)

When a marshmallow is heated (in the “heat of battle” as it were), it’s not the sugar that’s visibly expanding. It’s the air that has been whipped into the candy.

1. Air is made up of gas molecules.
2. The molecules are heated (with the microwave).
3. Heat is a form of energy.
   

   Image courtesy of britannica.com

4. If you give a child more energy (like sugar, which is stored energy), said child will bounce off the walls and make the most of his enclosure. Er, space.
5. If you give gas molecules (such as the air that’s been whipped into a Peep) more energy, they will do the same thing a child will:  bounce off the “walls” and make the most of their (in the case of the Peeps, stretchy) enclosure.

Follow  up question:  The air-filled spaces inside of a peep are stretchy and sealed. What would happen if you heat up air inside of a sealed, rigid container? **

Duel the Peeps. After all, it’s for science.

*Chocolate chips, for those of you who don’t have 8 year old boys in the house.

** Answer: Pressure will build up. If the pressure exceeds the strength of the container, the container will burst. Boom.