Explorez tous les épisodes du podcast STEM with Dr. Owl

How do birds fly, how do bugs stay up, and why can’t people flap their arms and take off? Emma follows a bird from takeoff to landing while Ziggy tests his cardboard wings. Discover lift, gliding, the tiny wing moves of insects, and the machines that let humans fly.

Discover the science of extreme weather as we explain updrafts, wind shear, and how mesocyclones create tornadoes. Join Dr. Owl, Curious Emma, and a very dizzy Ziggy the Robot in the weather lab to solve the mystery of why only some thunderstorms spin. Find out exactly what ingredients it takes to build a twisting funnel cloud and learn important tornado safety tips along the way!

Discover the incredible science of plant biology, including how flowers use turgor pressure to bloom, why leaves change color in autumn, and how evergreen trees survive the freezing winter. Join Dr. Owl, Emma, and Ziggy as they open the mailbag to answer explorer questions and learn the secret superpower plants use to bend and reach the sunlight!

Discover the science behind REM sleep and why our brains create wild stories while we snooze. Join Dr. Owl, Emma, and Ziggy as they explore the three main ingredients of dreams and answer if scientists can actually watch what you are dreaming during a sleep study. From floating marshmallows to memory filing cabinets, find out what really happens inside your head when you close your eyes!

Discover the biology behind motion sickness and learn how the inner ear and eyes send mixed signals to the brain. Emma feels a little woozy on a winding road trip, prompting Dr. Owl, Emma, and Ziggy to investigate the body's hidden motion sensors. Tune in to solve the mystery of car sickness, learn how to prevent it, and find out exactly what happens when a robot tries out virtual reality!

Kids discover how microscopic atoms connect to create the amazing real-world materials all around us, from the water we drink to the iron hiding inside rocks. Emma and Dr. Owl open Ziggy’s overflowing mailbag to decode the Periodic Table, learn why glass shatters instead of bends, and stop one very hungry robot from eating a wooden desk. It’s a playful question-and-answer science adventure about chemistry and the tiny building blocks of our universe.

Learn the step-by-step science of architecture and engineering that goes into building a strong, safe house from the ground up. Join Dr. Owl, Emma, and Ziggy as they discover why you can't start a building with the roof, how concrete foundations keep houses from sinking, and the secret world of pipes and wires hiding inside your walls!

Discover the fascinating journey of drinking water from natural lakes and treatment plants through giant underground mains and home plumbing directly to your faucet. Join Dr. Owl, Emma, and Ziggy as they follow the pipes backward, answer trivia about water meters, and search for silly under-sink water gnomes!

🎵 Dive, dive, dive! Emma’s submarine song is back—now in an extended version!

Some of our little explorers loved the song from our submarine adventure and wanted to hear more, so here’s the full song for you to sing along and dive beneath the waves! 🌊🚢

Want to know how submarines really dive and rise? Check out our full submarine adventure too! 🦉🤖

Discover the physics of buoyancy, water displacement, and how heavy metal objects can float in this exciting underwater adventure. Join Emma, Dr. Owl, and Ziggy the Robot as they explore the secrets of ballast tanks, neutral buoyancy, and compressed air, plus stick around until the very end for a secret, high-energy hyperpop song about submarines! 

Discover the science of animal camouflage and biology as we explore how creatures disguise themselves in the wild. Join Emma, Dr. Owl, and Ziggy to find out if stick insects are nocturnal, why tigers need stripes to sneak through the grass, and how the amazing octopus changes its shape in the blink of an eye.

Kids learn the origins of human language, the fundamental science of grammar, and how words get their meaning in this engaging exploration of linguistics. Join Dr. Owl, Emma, and Ziggy the Robot as they answer six-year-old Agnes's brilliant question, play the quiet game, and discover why Ziggy wants to rename bananas into "squiggle-bops"! 

Kids discover how compasses, timers, sunscreen, thermoses, and microwaves use invisible forces and hidden processes to do their jobs. Emma and Dr. Owl follow five clues from Ziggy’s overflowing mailbag, test a timer, solve a thermos mystery, and stop one very sparkly spoon plan. It’s a playful question-and-answer science adventure about everyday engineering.

Kids discover how airplanes fly by exploring thrust, lift, drag, and the surprising power of invisible air. At an airport window, Emma, Dr. Owl, and Ziggy use a paper strip, a runaway balloon, a model wing, and three playful challenges to uncover what engines really do, how wings lift a heavy airplane, and why the wheels do not pull it down to land.

Children will learn the foundational chemistry concepts of atoms, protons, neutrons, and electrons in this educational episode. Join our heroes as they put on their Shrink-O-Matic goggles to explore a giant stadium-sized atom and find out why the universe is mostly made of empty space!

Discover the animal biology behind butterfly flight, skunk defense mechanisms, bird songs, and cephalopod arms in this exciting mailbag episode. Join Dr. Owl, Emma, and Ziggy as they rapidly answer listener questions about why moths fly into lights, how octopuses catch their food, and the amazing ways creatures use their built-in survival tools in the wild.

Discover the fascinating science behind the human immune system, what causes seasonal allergies, and how vaccines protect our bodies. Join Emma, Dr. Owl, and Ziggy as they uncover why harmless pollen triggers our histamine alarms and learn how vaccines act as a superhero training manual for our white blood cells.

Kids will discover the physics of balance and how hydraulic systems allow powerful machines to lift heavy objects without tipping over. Join Dr. Owl, Emma, and Ziggy as they explore "liquid muscles" and turn a giant tow truck into a playground seesaw. We’ll learn how heavy engines act as secret counterweights to keep everything steady on the road! 

Children will learn the foundational physics behind everyday engineering, exploring how air resistance slows parachutes and water pressure powers fire hoses. Join Dr. Owl, Curious Emma, and Ziggy the Robot as they dive into an overflowing mailbag of listener questions, uncovering the space-age secrets of memory foam and discovering how conveyor belts keep things moving!

Learn the science behind earthquakes, tectonic plates, and tsunamis in this earth-shaking geology lesson! Join Dr. Owl, Emma, and Ziggy as they use wooden blocks to experiment with friction, discover how fast the Earth's crust is moving, and find out why ocean waves grow into massive walls of water near the shore. Grab your safety goggles (and maybe a giant wrench) for a fun, scientific ride!

Discover the physics of friction and precision engineering behind how toy bricks connect without glue or magnets. Join Dr. Owl, Emma, and Ziggy as they explore the secrets of "clutch power" and find out what really happens when giant theme park models are built. Plus, listen in to hear if Ziggy can successfully secure a towering plastic castle using peanut butter!

Discover the science of human biology and anatomy by uncovering the surprising reasons behind our funniest bodily functions. Dr. Owl, Emma, and Ziggy dive into the mailbag to learn how a burp acts as a release valve for escaping gas and why a sneeze blasts out of your nose faster than the world's fastest human runner. Grab a clean spray bottle and join us for a fun at-home experiment!

Explore the science behind the Fire Triangle and understand how heat, fuel, and oxygen combine to spark natural wildfires. Join Emma, Dr. Owl, and Ziggy as they investigate lightning strikes, flying embers, and the surprising way fire helps serotinous pine cones release their seeds to grow new trees! Finally, learn how firefighters build dirt firebreaks to keep our communities and forests safe. Learning Connection: NGSS DCI: ESS3.B – Natural Hazards 

Children will explore the engineering and robotics behind autonomous vehicles by learning how sensors, radar, and Lidar allow computers to see, think, decide, and act. Join Emma and Dr. Owl as they set up a cardboard obstacle course to test Ziggy's "mind-drive" car. Find out how self-driving cars avoid squishing Mr. Snuggles and why a robot might need to pull over during a snowstorm! Learning Connection: NGSS DCI: K-2-ETS1 – Engineering Design

Explore Earth’s atmosphere, twinkling stars, Neptune’s formation, the size of the solar system, and distant galaxies in this space science Q&A for kids. Join Dr. Owl, Emma, and Ziggy as they rapidly answer listener questions about the Kármán line, the Oort Cloud, the Milky Way, Andromeda, and other mysteries of the universe.

Discover the science of air pressure, invisible gas particles, and uneven heating from the Sun in this educational Earth Science episode. Join Emma and Ziggy as they try to catch a sneaky "sky-ghost" with a butterfly net and learn exactly why warm air rising creates ocean breezes. Learning Connection: NGSS DCI: ESS2.D – Weather and Climate

In this episode, kids will learn the science behind how the human body grows by exploring cell division, bone growth plates, and the role of nutrition and sleep. Join Emma and Dr. Owl as they discover the trillions of tiny building blocks that make up our bodies. Meanwhile, watch out for Ziggy the robot, who hilariously tries to hack his own height using motor oil and a tall stack of dictionaries! Learning Connection: NGSS DCI: LS1.B – Growth and Development of Organisms

Explore animal biology and zoology as we open Ziggy's latest mailbag to discover how bioluminescent creatures glow in the dark, why owls have incredible night vision, and the amazing way bees make honey. Join Emma, Dr. Owl, and Ziggy the Robot as they boot up the Mail-o-Matic Sorter to answer an all-animal mailbag filled with fun listener questions. From ladybug warning colors to the acrobatic mid-air landings of wildcats, this episode is a wild STEM adventure! Learning Connection: NGSS DCI: 4-LS1-1 – Plant and Animal Structures for Survival

Discover the physics of ocean waves, wind energy transfer, and coastal science as we answer a listener question. Emma and Dr. Owl investigate how wind creates ocean swells, while Ziggy the Robot hilariously tests his own mega-fan wave generator. Learning Connection: NGSS DCI: PS4.A – Wave Properties

Kids will learn the physics of light, how the human eye works, and what refraction means as they discover the science behind lenses. Join Emma, Dr. Owl, and Ziggy the Robot as they explore why putting on the wrong glasses makes everything blurry and how microscopes reveal hidden details. From bending light with water to using a microscope's lenses like a relay race, this episode brings the invisible world into clear focus. Learning Connection: NGSS DCI: 4-PS4-2 – Light and Vision

Discover the plant biology behind roots, corn, moss, flowers, chlorophyll, and colorful fruits in this exciting mailbag episode! Join Dr. Owl, Emma, and Ziggy as they rapidly answer listener questions about why some vegetables grow underground, how corn silks become kernels, why moss grows on trees, why grass is green, and how flowers and fruit pigments work.

Kids learn what time is, how clocks measure repeating patterns, and why physics gives time a one-way direction. Join Dr. Owl, Emma, and Ziggy as they investigate sundials, melting ice, the arrow of time, and even Einstein’s surprising discovery about gravity and time.

Learning Connection: NGSS DCI: ESS1.A – Patterns in the Sun and Sky

Discover the physics of buoyancy, water displacement, and how heavy metal objects can float in this exciting underwater adventure. Join Emma, Dr. Owl, and Ziggy the Robot as they explore the secrets of ballast tanks, neutral buoyancy, and compressed air, plus stick around until the very end for a secret, high-energy hyperpop song about submarines! Learning Connection: NGSS DCI: PS2.A – Forces and Motion

Discover the fascinating world of animal biology as we explore creatures that can outlive humans by hundreds of years. Join Dr. Owl, Emma, and Ziggy as they dive into the science of aging to uncover the secrets of 500-year-old sharks, ancient clams, and a jellyfish that can press the restart button on its own life! It's a time-traveling journey to meet the oldest animals on our planet. Want more fun science? Sign up for our email list at orbitalowl.com to get free materials and experiments related to this episode. Learning Connection: NGSS DCI: LS1.B – Growth and Development of Organisms

In this episode, kids will learn the foundational chemistry of plastic molecules and the environmental science behind why plastic takes hundreds of years to break down. Join Dr. Owl, Curious Emma, and a very confused robot named Ziggy as they discover the sneaky "LEGO chains" that make up our everyday lunchboxes! Plus, play along with our interactive trivia to find out how small choices can help protect our oceans and wildlife. Want more fun science? Sign up for our email list at orbitalowl.com to get free materials and experiments related to this episode. Learning Connection: NGSS DCI: 5-ESS3.C – Human Impacts on Earth Systems

🐾 Kids will learn the fundamentals of biology, animal classification, and the scientific naming system known as binomial nomenclature in this fun-filled episode! Discover why a mountain lion and a puma are the exact same cat, and find out the hilarious meanings behind the names of famous dinosaurs and silly insects. Want more fun science? Sign up for our email list at orbitalowl.com to get free materials and experiments related to this episode. 

Crystals grow from cooling magma and mineral-rich water using invisible building blocks called atoms. Join Dr. Owl, Emma, and Ziggy on a subterranean adventure from the glowing Earth's mantle to a secret dripping cave to solve the mystery of the "lava smoothie." You’ll even learn how to build your own crystals at home using simple kitchen ingredients!

Learning Connection: NGSS DCI: ESS2.A – Earth Materials and Systems

Learn how microwave ovens use invisible electromagnetic waves to vibrate water molecules and create heat. Join Dr. Owl, curious Emma, and Ziggy the Robot as they discover why soup gets hot faster than crackers and why metal causes sparks inside the oven.

Want more fun science? Sign up for our email list at orbitalowl.com to get free materials and experiments related to this episode.

Learning Connection: NGSS DCI: PS4.B – Electromagnetic Radiation & Heat Transfer

🖨️ Oh no! Ziggy broke his space helmet latch right before a mission! Join Dr. Owl and Emma as they fire up the lab's 3D printer to save the day. We’ll discover how these amazing machines act like robotic hot glue guns to build objects layer by layer—just like frosting a cake! 🍰

Parents, want to keep the learning going? Sign up for our email list to get useful science materials and activity sheets at orbitalowl.com!

Learning Connection: NGSS DCI: ETS1.B – Developing Possible Solutions.

Kids will discover the real-world physics, math, and human biology behind why stopping a high-speed soccer penalty kick is so incredibly difficult. Learn exactly how fast the human brain can react to a 67-mile-per-hour ball and how goalkeepers use visual clues to predict the future. Join the team for a high-speed clapping experiment to test your reaction time and find out if you have what it takes to make a World Cup save! Learning Connection: NGSS DCI: LS1.D – Information Processing

Children will learn the physics of the Magnus effect, aerodynamics, and how air pressure causes a spinning soccer ball to bend in flight. Join Emma and Dr. Owl as they investigate a mind-bending World Cup free kick while Ziggy tries to invent the ultimate knuckleball! Discover why a spinning ball creates an uneven push in the air to make a magical, curving shot. Learning Connection: NGSS DCI: PS2.A – Forces and Motion

Children will discover the science behind droughts, evaporation, and the water cycle as they learn what happens when the Earth's natural water supply runs low. Join Emma, Dr. Owl, and Ziggy the Robot as they investigate a crunchy, brown backyard to solve the mystery of the missing water. Find out how plants sweat, where the mountains hide their frozen water, and how you can become an Earth water detective! Learning Connection: NGSS DCI: ESS2.C – The Roles of Water in Earth's Surface Processes

Discover the science behind what everyday things are made of in this exciting mailbag episode! Join Dr. Owl, Emma, and Ziggy as they rapidly answer listener questions about the materials that make up our world, including the secrets of marker ink, how sand becomes glass, the origins of metal, and the difference between cement and concrete. 

Discover the fascinating plant biology and science behind how maple trees produce sweet, sticky syrup. Join Dr. Owl, Emma, and Ziggy the Robot as they brave a freezing spring forest to investigate how trees store sugar from photosynthesis and use freeze-thaw cycles to push out watery sap. You will also find out exactly how much sap needs to be boiled down just to get enough syrup for Ziggy's giant stack of pancakes! Learning Connection: NGSS DCI: LS1.C – Organization for Matter and Energy Flow in Organisms

Children will learn the foundational concepts of astronomy and gravity by discovering how space detectives locate invisible black holes in the universe. Join Dr. Owl, Curious Emma, and Ziggy the Robot as they bust the myth of giant space vacuum cleaners, learn what happens when you squeeze a mountain into a marble, and explore the ultimate point of no return! It is an out-of-this-world adventure packed with fun trivia and mind-bending science facts. Learning Connection: NGSS DCI: ESS1.A – The Universe and Its Stars

Discover how volcanoes work, the difference between magma and lava, and why immense underground pressure creates volcanic eruptions. Join Dr. Owl, Emma, and Ziggy as they shake up a fizzy soda experiment to understand how sticky and runny lava shapes our planet. Along the way, explore how these fiery mountains act as Earth's safety valve and build brand-new islands! Learning Connection: NGSS DCI: ESS2.A – Earth Materials and Systems

Kids will discover the science behind how bubbles form, the role of soapy surface tension, and the physics of why they always shape into spheres. Join Emma, Dr. Owl, and Ziggy the Robot as they explore why bubbles float on air currents, where their swirling rainbow colors come from, and exactly what causes them to pop. Try the fun wet-finger experiment at home and see if Ziggy can ever make a square bubble! Learning Connection: NGSS DCI: PS1.A – Structure and Properties of Matter

Learn the science behind how warm ocean water, rising moisture, and Earth's rotation combine to create massive hurricanes. Join Dr. Owl, Emma, and Ziggy as they build a mini-ocean experiment, discover the quiet "eye" of the storm, and find out the difference between a storm surge and a tsunami! Learning Connection: NGSS DCI: ESS2.D – Weather and Climate

Discover the science behind the fog, the math of Pi, and even what bugs eat in our very first summer mailbag episode! Join Dr. Owl, Emma, and Ziggy as they rapidly answer listener questions about weather patterns, human biology, history, and the secret geometry hidden in every circle. From the shape of flags to why we need to trim our nails, we are clearing out the inbox with fun facts and silly robotic sound effects. Learning Connection: NGSS DCI: ESS2.D – Weather and Climate

Discover the fascinating science of plant biology and seed dispersal as we learn how plants use the wind, water, and animals to move their seeds to new homes. Join Dr. Owl, Emma, and Ziggy the Robot as they investigate whether a dandelion parachute could ever float all the way to outer space! Along the way, we'll uncover squirrel taxis, floating coconut boats, and even plants that shoot their seeds like tiny cannons. Learning Connection: NGSS DCI: LS2.A – Interdependent Relationships in Ecosystems