About In Lieu of a Lab
“For whenever you learn something new, the whole world becomes that much richer. And remember, also, that many places you would like to see are just off the map and many things you want to know are just out of sight or a little beyond your reach. But someday you’ll reach them all, for what you learn today, for no reason at all, will help you discover all the wonderful secrets of tomorrow.”
- Norton Juster, The Phantom Tollbooth
Hello! My name is Hannah, and I am a high school student from the San Francisco Bay Area. I am interested in many fields of science, and I have several years of experience teaching STEM-based curricula to younger students. I truly believe that anyone can be a scientist by observing and asking questions about the world around us.
Science at home… because curiosity has no materials list.
In Lieu of a Lab is a blog I started to post about science experiments you can do at home, without any expensive lab equipment. Each activity focuses on asking questions rather than elaborate procedures and can be done with household items. My broader goal is to make the joys of science more accessible. Especially during pandemic times, I hope this blog will be a resource for those looking to learn from home.
Most of the content is geared towards 3rd-8th graders, although younger children can participate with the help of parents and older students can use this as a jumping off point for more in-depth study (many of these experiments inspired more advanced projects for me).
Lastly, the site’s logo. I chose the simple question mark to emphasize how far curiosity can get you. Every unanswered question, every gap in understanding, everything that’s “just off the map” or “a little beyond your reach” is worth exploring. By sharing questions and knowledge alike, we can, as Juster so eloquently puts it, “discover all the wonderful secrets of tomorrow.”
If you have any comments, ideas, or of course, questions, please feel free to reach out to me at in.lieu.of.a.lab@gmail.com.