science experiments with cats

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Science Projects With Cats

Winning Science Fair Ideas Involving Dogs

Cats make interesting and effective test subjects for school science projects. Since many people own cats as pets - or know others who do - students can easily access these furry test subjects. Make sure you have a parent around to help you handle the cat in case you need an extra pair of hands for your experiment.

The Fat Cat Experiment

This experiment allows students to study the average weight of cats, and identify the weight threshold in which cats go from average to "fat." The activity will involve the student collecting many samples of cats' weights, so it may be effective to visit a veterinarian's office and ask them for the weight of 12 to 15 cats. Record all of the known variables, such as the cats' gender and age. Create a table for the data and make your conclusion about what the average weight is, and when - in terms of pounds - a cat is considered "fat."

Students may use pet cats to determine whether or not felines have individual paw prints that distinguish them from other cats, similarly to how humans have individual fingerprints. This project will require the use of fingerprinting powder. Simply dip the cat's paw into the powder and have an index card nearby that you can press the paw onto to create a paw print. Do this with all four of the cat's paws and make note if all of the paw prints are identical, or if they are each different. Conduct this experiment with more than one test subject to get more sound data. Draw your conclusion at the end and present your many paw prints to the rest of the class.

Color Stimulation

If you have ever wondered whether cats prefer certain colors over others, then you can turn that curiosity into a science project for school. Use your pet cat and present the cat with three to five identical toys in different colors. See which color toy the cat is attracted to. Perform this trial multiple times throughout the day or night and record your observations. Perform the same test with other cats if you have them available. Review your notes and determine if the cat(s) is attracted to one particular color over the others. If so, you can conclude that the cat has a color preference.

Lefties or Righties

Draw up a hypothesis about whether or not you believe that cats have a left or right-handed preference when it comes to what they use their paws for (playing, scratching). Observe your cat's behavior for a period of time, and make note of which paw he uses the most. It is also a good idea to make note of what the cat uses the paws for. You may find that the cat likes to hit his play toys with his front right paw, but scratches at the carpet with his front left paw. See if you can find any patterns that would conclude whether the cat uses the left or right side more.

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• Science Buddies: Is That Cat Fat?
• Science Buddies: Paw Preference in Pets

About the Author

Kyra Sheahan has been a writer for various publications since 2008. Her work has been featured in "The Desert Leaf" and "Kentucky Doc Magazine," covering health and wellness, environmental conservatism and DIY crafts. Sheahan holds an M.B.A. with an emphasis in finance.

Find Your Next Great Science Fair Project! GO

Can Your Cat Talk To You? Use Science To Find Out!

Grade level, 15 min - 1 hr, life science, stem practices, planning and carrying out investigations, activity type:, steam , family activity , try this.

When you click the audio clip below, you’ll hear six cat meows. Listen carefully. What do you think these meows mean? What do you think the cats were trying to communicate ?

These sounds are from a library of 440 cat meows collected for scientific research called CatMeows: A Publicly-Available Dataset of Cat Vocalizations . They are protected by Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International.

Are All Cat Meows Alike?

All of these meows are from the same cat, a female European shorthair from Italy. Two were from when she was left alone in an unfamiliar room for five minutes. Two were from when she was being brushed. And two were from when she was being fed. Listen to the clip again. Can you tell which meow goes with which action?

On the recording, the first two meows were brushing, the second two were feeding, and the last two were the cat when she was alone. If you didn’t match each one correctly, don’t feel bad. It turns out there is no universal cat language.

According to Jonathan Losos, a professor of evolutionary biology at Washington University in St. Louis, Missouri, cats do have different meows for different things, but it varies a lot by cat… and by the humans they live with.

“Although there is no universal language, cats and the people they live with kind of negotiate their own understanding… And so that ability of the cats to do that, to come up with this understanding, that is one of the features that evolved as cats were domesticated.” – Jonathan Losos

What Is Your Cat’s Meow Trying To Tell You?

Do an investigation on animal communication.

Now it’s your turn to be a behavioral biologist and answer a question: How does your animal communicate with you?

• Choose an animal to study. (Hint: It doesn’t have to be a cat!)
• Observe how your animal communicates with you.
• Investigate one variable at a time. For example, above, the scientists tested the cat’s meow—a behavior —as they reacted to different stimuli .
• Record your animal’s communication with video, sound, pictures, or drawings.
• Reflect on your observations. Try to match what your animal is doing to what they are communicating.

Ask yourself: How can you use this information to improve your life and your environment?

So Why Do Cats Meow?

It turns out cats’ meows are something cats do to interact with people. They learned to do this slowly, over time, as they evolved from African wildcats into the domesticated cats we know and love today. Every cat’s meow is a little different, adapted to create a personal language between a feline and its human.

So cats must meow to one another as well, right? Losos says they don’t! Cats that don’t live with humans— feral cats—don’t usually meow to one another to communicate. They’ll make other sounds, of course, like hisses or growls when they’re angry, but overall no meowing.

What do you think? Do you think Dr. Losos is right about all this?

Want to learn even more?

• Listen to the entire interview with Jonathan Losos, What Is Your Cat’s Meow Trying To Tell You?
• Read a book excerpt from Losos’s book, The Paradox Of The Modern Cat .
• Read The Cat’s Meow: How Cats Evolved from the Savanna to Your Sofa .

Credits Lesson by Sandy Roberts Copyediting by Ariel Zych Digital Production by Sandy Roberts

Meet the Writer

About sandy roberts.

Sandy Roberts is Science Friday’s Education Program Manager, where she creates learning resources and experiences to advance STEM equity in all learning environments. Lately, she’s been playing with origami circuits and trying to perfect a gluten-free sourdough recipe.

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Cat Science

Put your kitty to the test!

FIND OUT HOW FAST YOUR CAT LEARNS

Use this experiement from the Nat Geo Kids book Cat Science Unleashed to find out if your kitty is a smarty-pants by seeing if it can solve a puzzle faster with practice.

Show your cat the tuna or other treat. Place it in one of the holes in the muffin tin, then cover the hole with a Wiffle ball. (The holes in the ball will allow your cat to see and smell the treat.)

Time how long it takes your cat to move the ball and get the tuna.

Repeat the process three more times, and record how long it takes your cat to get to the tuna each time.

Compare the times. If your cat was faster on its second, third, and fourth tries, it shows that your cat is learning: It figured out how to extract the tuna quickly.

The activities in this book are designed to be fun for both kids and their pets. Just like humans, pets enjoy new challenges! Please review these guidelines with your child to make sure any participating furry friend is safe, comfortable, and having fun. 

—Only do these activities with a pet that knows your child well and is comfortable around your child.  —Watch for signs that the pet is unhappy. If any of these activities seem to make the pet uncomfortable or upset, stop immediately.  —Even a pet that is enjoying an activity needs a break. Make sure the pet has access to water throughout these activities and if he wants to stop, let him. —If your pet is on a special diet, check with his veterinarian before feeding him treats. Always check with the pet’s owner before feeding him anything.  —Clean up when you are done, so your pet doesn’t accidentally eat any leftover materials.  —If you decide to alter an activity or try a new version, make sure the new plan is safe for both your child and the pet.

Explore more!

Pet central, dog science unleashed, (ad) cat science unleashed: fun activities to do with your feline friend, moment of meow: goofy cats.

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55 Dr Seuss Science Experiments & Activities for Kids

By: Author Jacquie Fisher

Posted on Published: February 24, 2020

Categories Books for Kids , Science Experiments

Explore science this Spring with these fun Dr Seuss science experiments and activities!

Read Across America and Dr Seuss week is coming soon – last week we shared some free printable Dr. Seuss games for kids.  This week, we’re focusing in on some fun science activities.  Kids of preschool, kindergarten & elementary age will LOVE learning about weather, gardening, space, trees and the human body with the newer Dr. Seuss non-fiction series along with more than 50 easy hands-on science projects that are perfect for Spring.

I want to give you a peek inside some of our favorites along with some great activities you can do to bring the books to life!

55 Dr Seuss Spring Science Activities & Experiments

There are so many books in The Cat in the Hat’s Learning Library that I knew we would have to highlight them in more than one post — so today’s focus will be on the science-themed book in the series.

These books make it so easy to introduce science, geography, money and other real life concepts to kids —

• just take one familiar and loveable book character (The Cat),
• insert TONS of cool facts and details on a non-fiction topic, 
• add in some kid-sized humor 😉
• and you have the perfect books that transition kids from picture stories to non-fiction reading!

Today’s post is part of a 3-week series featuring books from The Cat in the Hat Learning Library along with crafts, science experiments, learning activities and other hands-on fun!

For each title in the series, we’ve highlighted some super Spring-themed science activities, suggestions for ‘field trips’ and affiliate links for science-related materials and the books themselves so you can decide if it’s one you’d like to add to your home library. 

These books make SUPER gifts (I’m sure you always have family members asking “ What can I get the kids for their birthday this year? ” 😉

There’s No Place Like Space

Explore the stars & planets as you take a trip through our solar system in There’s No Place Like Space: All About Our Solar System.   The constellations, moon, sun and details of the environment of the various planets are all discussed. Reading this book before or after a visit to a Planetarium would be a great tie-in to space.  If you’re lucky enough to live near one of the space centers or a science museum with a space exhibit, those would be awesome to see too!

Science Activities & Projects about Outer Space

5 Ways to Learn about the Phases of the Moon

Make a set of yarn-wrapped Planets — And Next Comes L

Create Marshmallow Constellations and learn about the stars

Have an edible solar system snack (YUM!) — Creative Kids Snacks

Discover some solar system printable activites — 3 Boys & a Dog

I adore this set of free printable Solar System Trading Cards — Amazing Space

Plus more great Books about Space for kids too!

Oh Say Can You Say What’s the Weather Today

Everyone’s always enthralled with the weather but it’s so much better to READ about it than it is to experience some of the crazy things Mother Nature sends our way 🙂  Oh Say Can You Say What’s the Weather Today?: All About Weather shares about everything from rain, snow and thunder to hurricanes, tornadoes and weather-measuring instruments.  It’s the perfect book to pair with a week of weather observations.

Spring is one of the best times to dig into the science of weather! If you’re looking for a field trip experience, contact your local weather center or one of the local news stations to see if you can schedule a visit to observe how they track the weather.

Weather Science Experiments for Kids

Track the daily weather with this free printable weather chart | Notebooking Nook

Create a Tornado in a Bottle | Edventures with Kids

Learn How to Make Lightning | Learn, Play, Imagine

DIY Science Project: How to Build a Barometer | Edventures with Kids

Make your own Rain Gauge | Imagination Tree

Create a hurricane in a bowl | Inspriation Laboratories

Learn more about how to dress and predict the weather with these great weather apps for kids !

And create your own weather science with the SmartLab You-Track-It Weather Lab .

Oh Say Can You Seed?

The book discusses pollination, photosynthesis and the parts of a plant. In addition to using the book in conjuction with growing some potted plants or a backyard garden, it’s also a great read after visiting a garden store or local arboretum.

Garden & Seed Science Activities

Plant a garden this Spring and try a few of these activities:

Browse these fun activities that explore plants & seeds for early inspiration.

See what’s inside a bean seed | Buggy & Buddy

Ready to do some gardening?  Here are 30 Great Gardening Activities & Crafts !

Create your own ‘ Garden in a Glove ‘ and track seed growth | Full Circle Gardener

The Toysmith Garden Root Viewer gives kids a close-up look at plants & how they grow.

If it’s Fall in your area, enjoy these leaf & seed activities for kids .

Track your plant’s growth with this free printable activity!

Inside Your Outside! All About the Human Body

A ‘body’ field trip could be as easy as your regular visit to the doctor.  Some science centers also have great exhibits on the human body and how it works too.

Human Body Science Activities

Learn how your body works with some hands-on science:

Make Your Own Stethoscope | Fantastic Fun & Learning

Use this fun activity to learn How Long are Your Small Intestines !

Learn how you hear with this Science of Sound Waves experiment !

12 Hands-on Ways to Learn about the Human Body | I Can Teach My Child

Skeleton Activities & Crafts | Carrots are Orange

Use this Fingerprint Science Activity to learn more about your fingertips!

And try some of these Human Body Experiments too | A Spectacled Owl

I Can Name 50 Trees Today!

Taking a ‘tree field trip’ should be easy — any visit to a local park, nature center or even your own backyard would be perfect!  Some parks and nature centers also have tree guides available to help you identify each type.

Tree Science Experiments & Projects

Watch the trees come alive in Spring & try a few of these experiemnts:

Take a Tree Walk and Learn How the Serve as Habitats

Free printables about tree rings, bark and tree seeds | International Paper

Learn about leaf science with this fun How Does a Leaf Breathe? experiment !

Make a Neighborhood Tree Guide | Kid World Citizen

Create some art with this Paint Trees through the Seasons activity!

Learn about dendrochronology with this tree ring science project .

And I just love this one! Estimate the Height of a Tree | Science Sparks

See more in Part 2 of the Dr. Suess series as we explore habitats — 40 Animal Habitat Projects !

More Science Activities for Kids:

20 DIY Outdoor Science Experiments

20 Science Experiments you can do in a Jar

Cat’s Eyes Experiment

Materials you could use

This activity is all about creating cat eyes using tin cans!

Cats have many different skills. One is a righting mechanism, like a reflex, so if it is falling the wrong way (depending on the height it is falling from!) it can spin its legs round so that it will always land on its feet, or paws! Another special skill is that they can see in the dark. Have you noticed that when a cat looks at light their eyes become really bright? Cats (and animals that like to be active at night) have a special reflective layer right at the back of their eyes called the tapetum lucidum. This works a bit like a mirror, which helps them see better in the dark.

In the wild, cats are usually most active at dawn, when the sun is coming up, and dusk, when the sun is going down. Animals that are active at these times are called crepuscular. These times of the day are when they are more likely to catch their prey. Lots of pet cats like to be active at these times too, which is why you may have noticed similar activity patterns with your pet cats at home too!

In the experiment, the light from the torch is hitting the tin foil at the back of the can and it is reflecting off of the shiny surface. This is the same thing that would happen if you shone a torch towards a mirror. If light goes towards a cat’s eye it hits the tapetum lucidum and it will bounce back again. Humans have taken this technology to create the ‘cat’s eyes’ on the road – they work in the same way by reflecting light created from car lights as they drive towards them.

Our favourite fact

Cat’s might be able to see well in the dark but did you know they can’t see the colour red!

Suitable For

Curriculum areas, curriculum objectives.

Year 3: Pupils should be taught to notice that light is reflected from surfaces

Year 3: Pupils should explore what happens when light reflects off a mirror or other reflective surfaces, including playing mirror games to help them to answer questions about how light behaves.

Year 6: Pupils should be taught to use the idea that light travels in straight lines to explain that objects are seen because they give out or reflect light into the eye

Year 6: Pupils should build on the work on light in year 3, exploring the way that light behaves, including light sources, reflection and shadows. They should talk about what happens and make predictions.

Year 6: Pupils should be taught to identify how animals and plants are adapted to suit their environment in different ways and that adaptation may lead to evolution

Related Activities

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Science project, speaking cat.

Do you speak cat? Take a closer look at your furry friend (or the furry friend of a neighbor -- with permission) to discover if communication really can exist between a cat and its owner. 

Can a cat communicate with a human?

• Recording device
• If you have a cat, it’s best to try this experiment with your own cat. If you don’t have a cat, you can visit someone else’s house and record what their cat sounds like.
• Create a hypothesis , your best guess as to what is going to happen. Have you had a cat talk to you? How did you know what the cat was saying?
• Set up two experiments. In the first experiment, you will enter the room that your cat is in. Keep the recording device on. Go up to your cat and greet her. Does she make a noise? Repeat this at different times of the day and record the noise.
• Now, wait until your cat is hungry and sit down on the couch. Listen and record what your cat does. Does she jump on the couch and purr? Does she make a certain meowing sound?
• Do each experiment several times.
• Repeat the recorded sounds that your cat has made. Compare the greeting sounds and the feeding sounds. Are they different? Does your cat make the same sound when greeting you or when asking you to feed her?

Results:  

You should have been able to understand a least one or two things that your cat was trying to communicate.

Cats have learned how to communicate their needs to humans. The sounds a cat makes when it is hungry and trying to communicate this to its owner are different from the sounds that it makes at other times. Why? Cats and people have a long history.  They have been associated with humans for almost 10,000 years. Originally, cats became domestic animals because they would hunt mice. This was very useful to people who kept food and animals.  Today, many cats live with humans in their houses, and they communicate their needs to humans. Cat language is very diverse. Cats purr, meow, hiss and growl.  They also use their bodies to communicate. A cat usually hisses and growls when it is angry.  Cats can purr when they are happy, but they also purr in other situations. Some cats even purr when they are having kittens.  Cats often use meows to communicate with people in different ways. They tend to meow more at people than at other cats. Cats have different noises that they use to ask for food or to greet their humans. A UK study discovered that cats use a “soliciting purr” to get humans to wake up and feed them. Inside this purr is a high-pitched sound that sounds like a baby crying. Since humans tend to wake up and act when they hear a baby crying, this purr helps get them out of bed so that they can feed the cat. Every cat has a different voice. What does your cat sound like when it greets you or asks for food?

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Monday, August 31, 2015

Science, cat's in the bag, & being quirky.

60 comments:

I like this idea, but what are the bubble wrap and tape for?

Hi Jacqueline! I use the tape to reinforce the bags and the bubble wrap to wrap around objects with sharper corners. If the object is heavier I've found the bag falls apart a lot quicker because of all of the fun exploration! Thank you for asking!

how do i download this? I can't find the link to the pdf...

Hi Krystin! Send me an email at [email protected] and I'll pass it right along. It will also be up in my tpt store later this week! :)

This would be great paired with book the "Blind Men & The Elephant"! I will be trying these together this year!

I love this! and will be using it. but am wondering what the difference is between "how did you research?" and "how did you experiment?"

Hi Victoria! Great question! So for the research I've done two things--either students can ask me a few yes or no questions about what is in the bags or they have have a short shake at each bag to give them a feel for what it might be. It's "simple research" but helps them rule out what might or might not be in each bag. Then students get a chance to really "experiment" and explore with what could be in each individual bag. Hope that helps! Thanks for asking! -Beth :)

This is so great for the beginning of the year! Thank you. Quick question - do you have them fill out a lab sheet for each bag??

Hi Cindy! Thanks so much for asking! I have them fill out one square on the "Cat's in the Bag Recording Sheet" for each bag. If you have any other questions I am happy to help! :) -Beth

Awesome idea...but what did you use the tape and bubble wrap for? They are listed in the materials needed. Thank you!!

Hi! There are sometimes a few items that I choose to wrap! One year I used a funky paper weight that would have easy torn through the paper bags--so I wrapped it. Also, I usually take a well known object--like an apple or old ipod and bubble wrap it so there's a little more guessing and discussion that will need to occur to figure it out!

Can you give some examples of the items you put in the bags?

Hello! Each year I do something different in the bags! Some favorites are a Mr. Potatohead, a big container of tictacs, candles, fake flowers, an old ipod/cellphone/digital camera, bubble wrapped stapler (I didn't want anyone to accidentally staple themselves), cool textured balls (usually from the dollar store or a switch pitch)!

Hello, Love the idea. Is it possible to see how a "bad" and "good" one looks like? If possible a student sample?

Thanks for the great idea! I love your labels for the different parts of the scientific method - might you consider creating a matching one that says "experiment?" :)

Hello Kathryn! Thank you for asking! Of course! "Experiment" is included in the download now as well as some other terms :) Hooray!

What do you usually have the students write for data/results and conclusion?

Just used this with my class of 1st & 2nd graders this morning, for our first day. It was a hit and they all loved it!! They got so into it that we will have to finish next week. Thanks for the great freebie!!

I would love to see student examples as well.

I love this.. I am teaching Science next year for the first time ever after teaching for 18 yrs. I can't wait to use this!!!

Good! Check my observation essay topics! Yours Phil!

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Hi Beth, This is great idea! Are the 20 bags for double bagging the items? Cheers, Ryan

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Animal Science Fair Project Ideas

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Animals are great subjects for science fair projects, particularly if you have a pet or an interest in zoology. Do you want to do a science fair project with your pet or another type of animal? Here is a collection of ideas that you can use for your project.

• Are insects attracted to/repelled by a magnet? Does the presence of a magnetic field affect egg hatching rates of insect or other animal eggs?
• Do pet fish have a color preference for their food? (This assumes you can separate out the colors of a food.) Do pet birds have a color preference for their toys?
• What type of soil do earthworms prefer?
• What natural substances repel insect pests? Examples of insects to test include mosquitoes, ants or flies.
• On a related note, what substances might be used to attract and trap flies, beetles or other pests?
• Do animals display handedness (right-handed, left-handed) like humans? You can test this with a cat and a toy, for example.
• Are cockroaches (or other insects or creatures) attracted to or repelled by light? You probably already suspect cockroaches prefer dark. What other stimuli could you test? Does it matter if it is white light or would you get the same response from specific colors of light? You could test other types of stimuli, such as music, noise, vibration, heat, cold. You get the idea.
• An advanced version of the cockroach project is to select insects that don't run from light (for example). If you allow these insects to mate and keep selecting progeny that doesn't evade light, can you obtain a culture of cockroaches that don't mind light?
• Test household insect repellents . Are there any species against which they are ineffective?
• Can dogs or cats or birds hear ultrasonic insect and rodent repellent devices?
• Can cats hear a dog whistle?
• Are cats equally interested in different laser colors besides the "red dot"?
• What methods serve to disrupt the chemical trail that ants follow?
• How many nematodes (roundworms) are there in a soil sample from your backyard? What are the pros and cons of having these organisms in the soil?
• Do hummingbirds have a color preference for their food?
• What type of light attracts the most moths?
• Does catnip repel insects? If so, which types?
• Which types of animal fossils are present in your area? What does this tell you about the climate and ecology in the past?

Know the Rules

Before you start any science fair project involving animals, make sure it is okay with your school or whoever is in charge of the science fair. Projects with animals may be prohibited or they may require special approval or permission. It's better to make sure your project is acceptable before you get to work! Some animals may be allowed on school grounds, but most either won't be allowed or shouldn't be brought in because they may pose a risk to students or the facility. Even organisms that aren't dangerous may causes allergies in some students.

A Note on Ethics

Science fairs that allow projects with animals will expect you to treat the animals in an ethical manner . The safest type of project is one which involves observing natural behavior of animals or, in the case of pets, interacting with animals in a usual manner. Don't do science fair project that involves harming or killing an animal or puts an animal at risk for injury. As an example, it may be fine to examine data on how much of an earthworm can be cut before the worm becomes unable to regenerate and dies. Actually performing such an experiment probably won't be allowed for most science fairs. In any case, there are lots of projects you can do that don't involve ethical concerns.

Take Pictures and Video

You may be unable to bring your animal science fair project to the school or otherwise put it on display, yet you'll want visual aids for your presentation. Take lots of pictures of your project . Video is another great way to document animal behavior. For some projects, you may be able to bring in preserved specimens or examples of fur or feathers , etc.

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Fur Real: Scientists Have Obsessed Over Cats for Centuries

Ten of the best feline-focused studies shed light on our relationship with these vampire-hunting, sexy-bodied killers

Abigail Tucker

Human beings—including certain presidential candidates —can spend hours just watching cats be cats on the Internet. But scientists observe feline lives and behaviors in a far more advanced, technical and occasionally hilarious manner. I reviewed hundreds of these cat studies while reporting my new book, The Lion in the Living Room: How House Cats Tamed Us and Took Over the World (you can read an excerpt in the latest issue of Smithsonian ). Here are some of the most unique and creative contributions to cat science.

Don’t try these experiments and field studies at home … well, except maybe a few of them.

Smelly Cat, Smelly Cat

Can humans identify their beloved cats by aroma alone? That’s the pungent question explored in “The Discrimination of Cat Odours by Humans,” published in the journal Perception in 2002. Cat owners were “presented” with a blanket “impregnated with the odour of an alien cat,” as well as a blanket belonging to their own pet. The owners “were required to sniff the two blankets for as long as desired,” to see if they could tell the difference.

Mostly, they couldn’t. Only about 50 percent of cat owners snuffled out the correct pet, a success rate “no better than one would have expected from random chance.” When a similar experiment was done on dog owners, however, nearly 90 percent recognized their pet by its stench. This is likely because canines invest less “time and energy in grooming” and offer a bigger bouquet of “microbial flora” for us to inhale.

Fluffy the Vampire Slayer

Science suggests that cats are not really all that good at hunting rats, but vampire bats may be an easier target.  “Cats are efficient vampire predators,” concludes one 1994 study in Applied Animal Behaviour Science, which followed outdoor cats living near livestock (aka bat prey) in Latin America. The presence of a house cat can discourage vampire bats from “foraging” upon “goats, pigs, cows” and also – time to breath a sigh of relief – “human beings.” But apparently, the cats sometimes wait to pounce until after the bat has sucked its prey dry (bats gorged with blood apparently don’t fly that fast), which is significantly less helpful from our perspective. 

No, Really: Your Cat is Morbidly Obese

Studying the many, many factors that contribute to rampant house cat obesity, feline nutritionists have concluded that human denial is a hefty part of the problem. When 60 German owners of clearly Garfield-esque felines were interviewed, there were “striking” differences between how they perceived their cats and how the scientists saw them. “Only a small percentage readily indicated that their cat was overweight,” according to a 2006 Journal of Nutrition paper . “The majority preferred euphemisms like ‘a little bit too big,’ or did not perceive or admit anything extraordinary about the weight of their cat … some even likened their cats to underweight silhouettes.” Fat cat owners were far more in need of a reality check than the masters of paunchy dogs, perhaps because “cats appear less often in public … where other people might comment.”

Hair of the Cat

Cats were fed saucers of alcohol-spiked milk as part of a 1946 experiment that—for some reason—explored the effects of inebriation on stressed-out felines. “All got drunk,” according to one description of the work, which was first published in the journal Psychosomatic Medicine . The giddy kitties soon lost paw-eye coordination, and flubbed recently learned tasks: “at the height of their inebriation they couldn’t respond to signals or operate the mechanism that delivered food; they simply sniffed and poked at the sides of the food box as if hoping for a miracle.” Some of the more stressed-out cats “developed a definite preference for alcoholic drinks,” the study soberly noted. 

A Very Royal “We”

Cats, alas, don’t appear in a dense 1975 physics paper entitled “Two-, Three-, and Four-Atom Exchange Effects in bcc ³He.” But the paper’s lead scientist, Jack H. Hetherington of Michigan State University, became convinced that he needed a distinguished-sounding co-author to get his work published in Physics Review Letters , (For unclear reasons, Hetherington had penned his paper using the royal “we” pronoun, which was against the journal’s rules.) So, rather than re-type the whole thing (this was the ‘70s), he recruited real royalty: his Siamese cat. The cat’s name was plain old Chester, but that was quickly upgraded to F.D.C. Willard: F and D for Felis domesticus, C for Chester, and Willard was the cat’s dad.  

Memoirs of a Serial Killer

The shockingly gory killing sprees of a lone feline predator are catalogued in the 2007 study,  “Seventeen years of predation by one suburban cat in New Zealand.” The house cat in question was such a deadly hunter that it caused the total eradication of rabbits throughout its backyard territory, researchers concluded. Only in the paper’s acknowledgments is it revealed that “the delinquent cat” under scrutiny is the author’s own pet: dear Peng You, who “provided all the data.”

Claws to Jaws

Not content with their own hunting, cats cause adorable sea otters to get gobbled by Great White sharks. Or at least that’s the implication of a 2003 Journal of Wildlife Diseases study , which notes that otters suffering fatal Great White shark bites are more likely to be infected with toxoplasma gondii , the notorious cat-poop parasite . The infection may cause the otters to act sluggish, making them easy shark chow. The otters probably get the disease from cat poop in the coastal environment, when the egg-like parasitic “oocysts” get flushed into the ocean, possibly via storm water run-off. Just how much poop is there? Luckily, scientists have done some digging on this question too: About 1.2 million metric tons of feline feces are deposited in soil and sand every year by domestic cats in America alone. 

Kimono Over to My House

The emerging phenomenon of cat cafés, where humans pay for feline company, has been a gift to anthropologists. Emerging research offers eye-opening first-person accounts of curious doings within: “The birthday cat was dressed in a miniature pink kimono,” scholar Lorraine Plourde observes in a 2014 issue of Japanese Studies . As the furry celebrant “unceremoniously” consumed its dinner, admiring humans (no doubt wearing the café’s requisite velour slippers) “gathered in a row in front of the cat … capturing the scene on their cameras and cell phones,” then presenting the cat with birthday gifts. (They knew just what to buy, since they’d all read the cat’s biography.)  The birthday cat was described as having a “sexy body.” Other cats were praised as “ fuwa fuwa .” Translation: fluffy.

The Owl and The Pussycat

For a 2012 experiment, researchers writing in the journal Behavioural Processes dutifully observed what happened when cats were presented with a “novel object”—namely, “a plush owlet with large glass eyes.” The unfortunate stuffed owlet was inevitably menaced and attacked.

But the tables were turned in a 2013 experiment , appearing in The Journal of Applied Ecology. This time, the cats were the stuffed ones, and the birds were on the offensive: Researchers placed a taxidermied tabby cat near the nests of wild blackbirds, then recorded the birds’ aggressive reactions. (Presumably, living tabby cats refused to follow experimental protocols.) The blackbirds were so disturbed by decoy cat’s 15-minute appearances that they gathered less food, decreasing their hatchlings’ survival chances. Remarkably, the birds exposed to the fake feline also ended up getting hunted in real life, because their alarm calls attracted actual predators. 

Party Animals

A 2005 paper, “Caregiver Perceptions of What Indoor Cats Do ‘For Fun’,” set out to answer the eternal question: Just what do cats do all day? The authors tracked all available sources of feline amusement, including playing with sponges, “spinning,” sleeping on toasters, helping to cook and looking at a variety of objects, including alpacas, parking lots, snowflakes, window awnings and the sun. But a popular activity was one that many cat owners will find familiar: “Stares at nothing.” 

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Abigail Tucker | READ MORE

A frequent contributor to Smithsonian , Abigail Tucker is the author of The Lion in the Living Room: How House Cats Tamed Us and Took Over the World and Mom Genes: Inside the New Science of Our Ancient Maternal Instinct . More information is available at her website: abigailtucker.com

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Schrödinger’s Cat Experiment and the Conundrum That Rules Modern Physics

Why schrödinger (figuratively speaking) put his cat in the box — and why it may never get out..

Long before cats conquered the internet, two of the greatest physicists of our time  — Erwin Schrödinger and Albert Einstein — devised what almost seems like an evil thought experiment.

It goes something like this: You have a cat in a completely sealed box impervious to any observation from outside. Inside is a kind of device involving a Geiger counter, poison, and radioactive material whose atoms may or may not enter a state of decay in equal probability over the course of an hour. If one atom does decay, the Geiger counter detects the radiation and triggers a hammer that breaks open the vial of poison, killing the cat. If no atom decays, then the cat lives.

Of course, the device was only theoretical. Schrödinger developed the scenario in a discussion with Einstein in response to misinterpretations of quantum mechanics at the time. It was a way to describe how a concept that seemed to apply to minute electrons in atoms might apply to a complex object in the macroscopic world — in this case, a cat.

While Schrödinger’s cat remains something of an infamous thought experiment, the original equation he originally derived the scenario from has gone on to represent the foundation of quantum mechanics. It involves the idea that something can be in two simultaneous states and only becomes one or the other when observed, detected, or even when it interacts with other particles. That fundamental theory of physics has modern-day applications that include everything from supercomputers to chemistry and superconducting magnets. 

“[The Schrödinger equation] is like a modern version of Newton’s law,” says Chen Wang , an assistant professor of physics at the University of Massachusetts Amherst.

The Theory in Question

In the 1920s, Schrödinger and other physicists were concerned with a problem that couldn’t be explained by classic physics. The smaller a particle becomes, the less clear its position or speed becomes.

“Quantum mechanics adds a level of fuzziness to the position of particles,” says Wang.

Electrons form the base of the theory — in particular, the single electron in a hydrogen atom. Whereas scientists previously described electrons as orbiting the nucleus in an atom, quantum physicists observed that things weren’t quite this simple. Rather, they seemed to exist in several places at once. Or they blinked back and forth, between specific areas without appearing in between. In fact, the only thing you can say for sure is that an electron is not in one place at one time.

“It’s fundamentally uncertain where exactly the position [of an electron] is,” Wang says. 

Instead, you have to describe an electron’s position as a wave function, or a probability distribution that describes where the electron is more likely to occur. The term superposition in quantum physics is used to describe how an electron in this case can seem to exist in multiple positions at the same time.

Tying Things Up

If you’re not lost yet, the idea gets even wilder when you add an extra electron. In helium, for example — which has two electrons — each one can only be described as probably being in a given area at a given time. But they also can interact and affect each other despite their distance in a process known as quantum entanglement, or “spooky action at a distance,” as Einstein called it.

Another way to think of it is that changing the state of one electron means the state of the other has to change as well.

“The description for two electrons cannot be directly produced by thinking of two independent shapes,” says Frederick Strauch , a physicist at Williams College in Massachusetts. “We can think of them as somehow jumping between the different shapes.”

Nine Lives or Two States?

The scenario involving Schrödinger’s dead — or undead — cat in a box involves a thought experiment to describe how the state of electrons might conceivably affect something much larger, in the macro world. He created it in response to a theory of quantum mechanics by other physicists called the Copenhagen interpretation to show the potential shortcomings of their view. 

Since we can’t see in the box at the end of the hour or send any type of probe inside, according to the Copenhagen theorists, the radioactive atoms remain in a superposition of both decay or non-decay. The cat, in turn, depends on this superposition, as we don’t know whether it’s alive or dead. In a quantum sense, its superposition remains in both states at the same time, as a wave function that is both alive and dead. The entanglement is represented by the connection between the radioactive atoms and the cat, says Strauch.

When we open the box and look inside, or if the outside world somehow interacts with the inside of the box, the wave function is forced to collapse into one state, and the cat becomes dead or alive.

The thing is, Schrödinger didn’t actually mean for the situation to be taken seriously. The fact that an observing scientist’s curiosity could kill the cat was meant to show how an earlier interpretation of quantum mechanics was ludicrous.

“He’s kind of alluding to the fact that the theory is sort of silly to apply to the macroscopic world,” Wang says. “There might be something missing.”

But his thought experiment has since taken on a life (or death) of its own, with many people believing that the cat would be dead and alive at the same time. The only shortcoming of such a thought experiment may rest in our technical inability to carry such an experiment out.

Cats, Present, and Future

Even if Schrödinger himself didn’t believe the cat theory was possible, modern researchers are trying to put some of these theories into practice. In 2016, Wang and his colleagues managed to demonstrate that it’s possible to entangle multiple particles. They managed to measure the entanglement of up to 80 photons, or light particles, placed in special boxes connected by a supercurrent that flows without voltage. In basic terms, it meant the spin they put on photons in one box could be observed in the other box even though they hadn’t spun the latter. Photons without spin also existed in both boxes. Metaphorically, it’s like a live cat and a dead cat were found in two different boxes that were correlated.

Quantum mechanics is already leading to practical applications. Quantum computing is one method, in which the harnessing of superposition and entanglement allows faster calculations than classical computers. Strauch says there are many potential applications of this, but researchers are already on the cusp of using them to calculate chemical formulas in a virtual space to design drugs.

But it may still take a long time before researchers figure out a way to run Schrödinger's experiment. If they ever do, and even the man himself thought this was unlikely, then it could show how the microscopic quantum world might affect the macroscopic world.  

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Simple Science Experiment for Kids | “What Does My Pet Like to Eat”

Sometimes you just happen upon the most perfect reason for a simple science experiment . Just this week, we had the honor to get an advanced copy of an incredible book for little scientists (more on that later) and we were all hooked. Not only were we hooked, we were inspired to create an experiment much like the main character in the book needs to do to solve her biggest problem. This simple science experiment for kids is perfect for all ages and will allow kids to use their own pets and interest to find out the answer to “What does my pet like to eat?”

Okay, okay… I will stop fawning over this book, but seriously it is such a great series! Now on to the experimenting.

In a world where “experiments” are more often glamorous demonstrations, Zoey and Sassafras get it right! Zoey meticulously goes through the entire scientific process to figure out exactly what is wrong with her magical creature. Along the way, she teaches the readers how to do it too (which is exactly what we did).

What Does My Pet Like to Eat? – A Simple Science Experiment for Kids

What you need to find out “What My Pet Likes to Eat?”

How to set up your experiment: 

After you have decided which pet you are going to experiment with, choose 4 foods that you think your pet will like to eat and prepare them on 4 different plates.

When my daughter (3) did the experiment, she chose grapes, snap peas, kale and pear. When my son did the experiment, he chose carrots, celery, banana, and cucumber.

If you haven’t already done so, print out the Printable Science Experiment Data Recording Sheet to go along with your experiment.

Next, fill out your data sheet with your question (what you want to learn) and your hypothesis (what you think will happen) and draw the foods you have chosen to test.

Download your FREE Printable Data Sheet Here

Now it is time to make your observations and run your tests. It is important to keep everything constant (the same) and only change the foods.

To do this, we put the same amount of each food in the tank and waited to see what the turtle would do.

Now, sit back and observe your pet and what your pet does with the foods. For us it was pretty easy to see our pet’s favorite food.

He ignored almost all the choices but was very curious about the grape (in experiment #1) and went crazy for the carrot (in experiment #2).

Finally, record your findings and determine if more experiments are needed. In our case, we realized the turtle was not very hungry and the experiment might be better if we did it in the morning. We have decided to set up the experiment again very soon, but do it in the morning instead.

I love hearing what your favorite science experiments are! If you have a science experiment you want us to try out for you or a book that inspired your last experiment, simply respond and let us know! We love exploring!

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2 thoughts on “Simple Science Experiment for Kids | “What Does My Pet Like to Eat””

This is so fun Dayna! We love Zoey and Sassafras! I know most people will be aware of this, but just be careful what you feed certain pets. Grapes and raisins are toxic for dogs! I love that kids can help design this experiment and you can use things that you most likely already have on hand. Cool! 🙂

Yes. very true. I should mention that. I meant to and then it slipped my mind. I looked up the foods ahead of time to make sure they were ‘safe’ for our turtle.

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Love for Cats Lures Students into this Course, Which Uses Feline Research to Teach Science

Cats are on the syllabus, not in the classroom, for this course..

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Uncommon Courses is an occasional series from The Conversation U.S. highlighting unconventional approaches to teaching.

Title of course:

“The Science of Cats”

What prompted the idea for the course?

I’m an evolutionary biologist who has spent my career studying the evolution of small lizards in the Caribbean. I’m also a lifelong cat lover, but it never occurred to me to do anything scientific with house cats. They’re hard to study – ever tried to follow your cat around to see what they’re doing? And in contrast to amply studied lions, tigers and other wild felines, I was under the impression that there wasn’t any interesting research being conducted on the domestic representative of the cat clan, Felis catus .

Twelve years ago, I learned that I was completely wrong. Thanks to John Bradshaw’s book “ Cat Sense ” and the BBC’s “ The Secret Life of the Cat ,” I discovered that ailurologists were using the same cutting-edge methods – GPS tracking, genome sequencing, isotopic analysis – to study domestic cats that I use to study lizards and other researchers use with all manner of other creatures.

Thus was born my class on the science of cats. I’d lure students in with their love of felines and then, when they weren’t looking, I’d teach them how scientists study biodiversity – ecology, evolution, genetics and behavior.

What does the course explore?

In essence, the course is about the past, present and future of cats: where they came from, why they do what they do, what the future may hold. And, critically, how we know what we know – that is, how scientists address these sorts of questions.

The course concludes with students writing an original paper or making a mini-documentary. These projects have spanned a vast range of topics in biology and beyond, such as the impact of cats on bird populations, sexism and the crazy cat lady trope, the health effects pro and con of living with felines, the role of hybridization as a creative or constraining force in evolution, the top-down role of larger predators like coyotes and dingoes in controlling cat numbers, and the prospects for new genetic technologies to create allergen-free cats or to curb free-roaming cat populations.

Unexpectedly, the students weren’t the only ones who ended up writing about cats: The class and its themes inspired me to write my own book, “ The Cat’s Meow: How Cats Evolved from the Savanna to Your Sofa .”

Why is this course relevant now?

Society needs more biodiversity scientists to understand our rapidly changing world. Cats pose scientific questions of broad interest, and they may serve as a gateway introduction to the world of biological research.

What’s a critical lesson from the course?

Important research on the natural world does not require traveling to remote corners of the world. Research on common animals in local surroundings – even household pets – can make important advances in basic and applied knowledge.

What materials does the course feature?

In addition to reading research papers, we took field trips that were both eye-opening and fun. We went out at the crack of dawn to join a homeless-cat advocate feeding unowned felines in a rundown part of town. We also learned about cats in ancient times from an Egyptologist, traveled to a cat show to marvel at the diversity of cat breeds, observed wild felines at the Saint Louis Zoo and examined cats in art at university museums.

What will the course prepare students to do?

This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article .

Jonathan Losos is a William H. Danforth Distinguished University Professor of Arts & Sciences at Washington University in St. Louis

• science of cats
• The Conversation
• Uncommon Courses

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By Jonathan Losos

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