A New Website for Rocket Lovers

During World Space Week, it seems only fitting to talk about NASA's newly launched Rocketry page. I received this blurb in an Email this week:

"NASA Education is launching a new website to get students and educators off the launch pad and on their way to becoming rocket scientists."

NASA - Rocketry has sets of articles designed for kids in grades K-4 and 5-8 on topics like What is a Rocket? (this is the K-4 version) and What is the Space Shuttle? (this is the 5-8 version). You can compare the designs of model rockets and their full-size counterparts. (I've got to admit, the interactive flash version of this article is more fun!) You can even build your own rocket, but, alas, it's only online. Through NASA Kids' Club, you can build an entire fleet of online rockets with Rocket Builder.

Thinking of a career in rocketry? Read the bios of these engineers and scientists. Learn about educational opportunities like Rocketry Workshops for grades K-12 and the Team America Rocketry Challenge.

The NASA-Rocketry website has also compiled a wonderful collection of podcasts, videos, images, and simulations at their Robotics-Multimedia page. That's where I found this:

Apollo 11 Launch from the Kennedy Space Center on July 16, 1969
Photo credit: NASA

Three Cheers for Curious George!

When PBS began airing a new show for children about Curious George, I had my doubts. After all, Curious George, the wonderfully mischievous monkey behind Margret and H.A. Rey's books, is a beloved iconic character.

But I've been pleasantly surprised. The Curious George television show introduces children to the scientific method in very simple terms -- by doing. George gets his hands dirty (sometimes literally!) in every episode.

On a recent show, George was recording sounds around the yard and taking pictures of each noise-maker. I've heard of audio maps, but a picture book of sounds is a clever idea.

In the same episode, The Man with the Yellow Hat was participating in a moth inventory and conducting a study of the nocturnal feeding habits of raccoons. These activities weren't central to the storyline, but I thought that was pretty cool. Scientific explorations are just normal background "noise" in George's home.

You can visit the PBS Kids Curious George website to play online games, print coloring sheets, and watch science-themed video clips. The Parents and Teachers section includes teaching activities and a science & math themed family activity booklet.

Drop by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, publisher of the Curious George series of books, to see their Curiosity Day website for kids and families. You can download a complete list of Curious George titles, a writing-themed activity book, a list of suggestions for hosting a Curious George party, and more!



Image credit: Houghton Mifflin Trade and Reference Division - "Distinguished book publishing since 1832"

Help! I'm more than 1,292,976,000 seconds old!

I feel ancient after visiting GirlsGoTech, an online math, science, and technology outreach program from the Girl Scouts. You can learn about careers in science, html code and the Internet (and find out how many seconds old you are!), try cryptic codes, make your own mandala (and learn about mathematics and symmetry), discover how your brain processes information, and compose digital music.

The GirlsGoTech Mandala Maker reminded me of Make-A-Flake (although it took me a bit longer to learn to use the Mandala Maker). What do you think of my mandala?


With either of these programs, you will create a design with several lines of symmetry. Can you see where the lines of symmetry are on this design? How can you fold this circle in half so that both sides have an identical pattern?

Click on the image above to visit GirlsGoTech and their nifty Mandala Maker to design your own!

Make-A-Flake

Last year, I wrote a post about the joy of paper snowflakes, and how it was fun to make them both on- and off-line. One of the websites my kids and I enjoyed was Barkley Interactive's Make-A-Flake.

Little Brother made his own snowflakes this year!

Make-A-Flake is fun because you get to see how to properly fold (virtual) paper to make a six-sided snowflake. You can cut (and re-cut) with your virtual scissors to get the desired effect. A trip through Make-A-Flake's snowflake gallery reveals a wide range of artistry. Some snowflakes are very simple, others are truly amazing. Can you tell which cuts were needed to make them?

I can't visualize my snowflakes before they are unfolded to reveal their shape. Can you predict what yours will look like? I think it's an interesting test of spatial awareness. As person with only one working eye, I have some limitations in that area.

I enjoyed making some snowflakes, too. I think this one looks like six aliens around a campfire. What do you think?

Get ready for National Chemistry Week!

National Chemistry Week is a community-based annual event hosted by the American Chemical Society. The theme for this year's National Chemistry Week, running from October 18-24, 2009, is "Chemistry -- It's Elemental!" to celebrate the 140th anniversary of the Periodic Table of the Elements.

The ACS has some great stuff on their website, including this free 12-page chemistry booklet, an interactive periodic table that can be printed in different languages, and October's issue of ChemMatters, which celebrates National Chemistry Week with games and articles (you can order a free copy using the “subscribe” link). For more fun, be sure to drop by ACS's Science for Kids section.

Looking for multimedia about chemistry? Check out Bytesize Science, over 40 short video and audio clips by the ACS on topics like honeybees, allergies, yak cheese (!), and the artificial mouth. Also, MEET ME AT THE CORNER has released a short video about perfume in honor of National Chemistry Week.

(My thanks to Donna Guthrie of MEET ME AT THE CORNER for letting me know about this event.)

----

P.S. I can't resist adding this. Check out this video and Meet the Elements!

Website of the Week: Neuroscience for Kids

I haven't posted a Website of the Week in awhile, but I couldn't resist this one. Alexandra at Happy Hearts at Home pointed me toward this great page of neuroscience coloring pages which are part of Neuroscience for Kids, the brainchild of Dr. Eric Chudler of the University of Washington.

The brains behind this site have thought of everything:

*Check out these experiments and lesson plans.

*Explore the nervous system.

*Color a neuron or brain online.

*Solve an online jigsaw puzzle and send the resultant wacky brain-themed postcard to a friend.

*Watch the BrainWorks TV show!

and

*Don't miss these brain-themed creative writing projects.

This year's drawing contest is over (check out the wonderful drawings of the brain!), but the Neuroscience for Kids Poetry Contest is coming in November 2009. (Yes!!)

Get a head start on next year's Brain Awareness Week (March 15-21, 2010) with these brainy lesson plans. And if you're near the University of Washington, mark your calendar now to attend next year's Brain Awareness Week Open House on March 11, 2010. Information about registration will be available soon.

If you've got a neurology question, head over to the question/answer page, where Dr. Chudler and his staff will pit their brains against your questions.

Does Neuroscience for Kids grab you, too? Sign up for the free newsletter to stay informed. (I think I'll do that now!)

Look! My synapses are on fire!

Image credit: (top) Neuroscience for Kids website, (bottom) titus tscharntke, through BurningWell.org
Bad joke courtesy of Mama Joules

Website of the Week: CryptoKids™

Do you like codes and ciphers? Do you write your friends notes in "invisible" ink? Do you ever wonder whether the E-mail you send to your friends is really safe from prying eyes? Today's website, CryptoKids™ from the National Security Agency/Central Security Service, is for you.

Join Crypto Cat™, Decipher Dog™, and all of their friends to learn about cryptology, the science of making and breaking codes. (Itinerant Cryptographer is especially good at a subset of cryptology known as cryptanalysis, which is trying to break into codes without knowing the special "key" behind how they were made.)

Learn to create codes, make ciphers, and solve some brainteasers, cryptograms, and something I'd never heard of before called a Yardleygram.

October is Fire Safety Month

In many communities across the United States, October is fire safety month. The official National Fire Prevention Week ran last week, from October 5-11, 2008. If your kids (or you) are in school, they probably brought home some great tips that they learned about preventing fires. If not, check out Sparky the Fire Dog's® fire-safety Scholastic website. You can Hunt for Home Hazards, create a home fire escape plan, or print out lesson plans to use with children in grades K-5. Teachers can submit student art or speeches to be presented on Scholastic's fire safety webpage. But you've got to hurry -- entries must be postmarked by October 20, 2008!

Sparky the Fire Dog® also has his own website through the National Fire Protection Association. You can learn all about fire trucks, dalmatians, or check out coloring pages, fire safety tips, and more. Sparky® even has his own arcade!


[Updated 10/10/10: Added a current link for National Fire Prevention Week.]

Website of the Week: EPA Global Warming Kids' Page

Head on over to the EPA Climate Change Kids Site to read about climate change, view Climate Animations, and play a few games (I tried playing Checkers with Ozone the dog and learned that my game is a little rusty! I did better when I tried Hangman and took the climate change quiz).

P.S. Sorry this post is so short -- it's been a long week. Have a great week-end! :)

Website of the Week: Knowitall.org

Visit ETV's "educational web portal" at Knowitall.org. You can try out simulations and interactive learning lessons on a number of topics, including science. Check out the Science Activities & Simulations at NASA Online and explore topics like Lightning & Static (my favorite), Lift, and How Sound Travels. Or visit Kids Work! and test drive your new job at the virtual hospital -- a medical lab technician, pharmacist, or a public relations specialist -- as part of Job Play. If that doesn't grab you, drop by The Hobby Shop, where you can look at items like fruit flies under a virtual microscope, run a virtual chemistry experiment, or "throw" water balloons with the catapult (it took me three tries to hit the target!).

Simulations from Physics Education Technology

Recently, I found a science gem through Laura of The Crayon Virtuoso (thanks, Laura!). Science Simulations is a series of physics-based game-like simulations from the University of Colorado at Boulder's Physics Education Technology program. Once you can download these programs, you can modify the conditions of the simulation to see what happens. I especially enjoyed shooting a bowling ball and a buick out of a canon (complete with the "boom" and resulting splat!) in the Projectile Motion simulation. It took a few adjustments, but I finally hit the target. There's also a page with nearly 300 Teacher Ideas and Contributions to accompany the simulations. Have fun!

If you liked this post, you might also like:

--Website of the Week: Knowitall.org
--What's in a bowling ball?
--Website of the Week: TryEngineering.org

[Update: 3/17/09 -- Checked links & added suggested posts]

Website of the Week: PBS Kids

It’s summer vacation, the weather is too wretchedly hot for you to leave the house, and the kids are going stir-crazy. You’ve watched one too many videos and you wish the kids were doing something constructive. What’s a caregiver to do?

Photo credit: C.E. Price, BurningWell.org
Point the little ones toward PBS Kids, the website of children’s programming through the Public Broadcasting Service. (My three-year-old has learned to navigate this user-friendly children's website by himself!) You can design an online treehouse or look for shapes in the clouds at It’s a Big Big World or learn about engineering with Curious George at Pogo-A-Gogo.

There’s a special page for older kids at PBS Kids Go!, and there’s a good selection of science and math activities here. You can design a WHOAHlercoaster (mine kept crashing!) or build a Geyser Surpriser at Fetch! or Crack Digit’s Code and play Pattern Quest (I love this game -- remember playing the game Mastermind?) at Cyberchase.

The Magic School Bus™

Today, my son’s class went on a field trip to a museum. On the way there, we rode in a fancy bus and watched videos of Scholastic’s The Magic School Bus™.

Now, if you’ve never met Ms. Frizzle, the wild and wonderful teacher that leads the class on these magical science adventures, you’re in for a treat. Her magic school bus is an amazing machine that can transport students to the far reaches of outer space, inside the human body, or down an ant hill. Along the way, her young pupils make discoveries about their surroundings and learn about science.

At the end of each video, there’s a mock call-in session where kids ask questions of the producers like, “Could this really happen?” This is followed by a brief explanation of which facts are true and which ones were stretched for the sake of a good story.

The Magic School Bus™ website includes Science Fun Activities to try after watching the videos, fun online games and this week’s experiment. In addition to the videos, there are over 40 The Magic School Bus™ books in print, with most geared to the 6-9 year-old set.

Check them out! Or, as Ms. Frizzle would say,

“Wahoo! Take chances, make mistakes, and get messy!”

What's in a bowling ball?

Photo credit: Leon Brooks
Last night, I saw this commercial where a guy crushes a bowling ball with his bare hands. It was a dramatic scene with the ball shattering into little pieces. The ball was obviously hollow. I thought to myself, "How silly is that? Of course bowling balls are solid."

Then I had another thought. "If bowling balls are solid – and roughly the same circumference – why do they weigh different amounts? Maybe they aren't solid after all."

It turns out that bowling balls have an outer shell and an inner core. There are four popular types of bowling ball shells in use today – plastic, urethane, resin, and particle (a mix of resin and ceramic or glass particles) – according to Bowlers Paradise.

I expected the inner cores to be simple, round, metal spheres, but as it turns out, that’s not the case. This diagram from the United States Bowling Congress shows how cores come in all different shapes and sizes, which affect the ball’s spin and how it hooks as it rolls down the lane. Lighter balls have a core made of foam; heavier balls use polymers and resins (A tip of the hat to Victoria Junior College in Singapore for that information).

If you are interested in the physics behind bowling ball mechanics (or you need an unusual topic for your next science report), be sure to check out "Harry" the robot, described by the USBC as "an approximately seven-foot tall robotic bowling ball thrower." USBC researchers use Harry "to help test balls, lanes, pins and oil patterns." (I had no idea!)

While looking for the answer to what lies inside a bowling ball, I discovered the next generation of bowling, courtesy of Brunswick. In Brunswick's Virtual Bowling, a player throws a small ball down a real lane, but there are no pins. Instead, you get to knock down virtual pins (like video ketchup bottles) on a video background (like a ketchup factory). If you can’t wait for virtual bowling to hit your nearest arcade, try out the USBC Games page!

If you liked this post, you might also like:

--Website of the Week: Victoria Junior College (more on balls & science)
--Simulations from Physics Education Technology (learn to shoot a bowling ball out of a canon online!)

[Update: 3/17/09 -- Checked links & added suggested posts]

Website of the Week: World Wildlife Fund

Visit World Wildlife Fund to learn more about endangered species in your part of the world. Give your friends a small slice of nature with a free WWF E-card or pretend to catch smugglers of wildlife by playing Caught in the Act and other games. Be sure to stop by the Wildfinder to find out what wild species might live in your neighborhood.

Website of the Week: BAM!

This week’s Website of the Week is BAM!, the Body and Mind pages created by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (part of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services).

The mission of BAM! is to provide kids with the information they need to make healthy lifestyle choices. BAM! is divided into six categories, including Diseases, Food & Nutrition, and Your Body. See the Immune Platoon fight "The Flu Krew", discover what may be Lurking in the Locker Room, and find out what type of gear you need to safely take up a new sport. And be sure to check out the healthy recipes in Cool Treats!

Fun at the dentist

Did you know that the American Academy of Pediatric Dentistry recommends that every child visit the dentist by the age of one to establish a “dental home”? I didn’t either, until I talked to my friends at Dr. Bob Testen’s dental practice.

Prepare for your next check-up by reading the interactive story, Visit the Dentist with Marty. And be sure to visit MouthPower, where you can play games and learn about dentistry and your teeth from Mouthie, the dancing, singing mouth!