National Environmental Education Week

This is National Environmental Education Week, "the largest organized environmental education event in the United States." This year's theme is Be Water Wise.

Want to calculate your carbon footprint? Learn to keep a nature journal? Look up a "green reading" list? Plan a school water audit? Take "nature bee" and "water bee" quizzes for your grade? This is the place!

Photo credit: Sherry James, U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service

In praise of green toys™

Little Brother got a set of "American-made, eco-friendly" green toys™ for his birthday. I was thrilled with the packaging. I don't usually think about how many cellophane windows, plastic twist ties, screws, strips of tape, and more are used in the standard packaging of children's toys. Little Brother's set of kiddie kitchenware was not only made from recycled plastic, the green toys™ packaging consisted entirely of cardboard and one, lone rubber band. It was wonderfully refreshing unwrapping the toys (no frustration! no hassle! everything but the rubber band goes in the recycle bin!) and led me to wonder why standard packaging is so wasteful.

Website of the Week: Guinness World Records

Do you ever wonder who has the world's longest fingernails (for the record, over 28 feet long!) or who can pop their eyeballs out of their sockets the furthest? Wonder no more!

The Guinness World Records are online, with categories in the human body, science & technology, and the natural world. You can even learn how to break a world record and apply to appear on Guinness World Records Smashed, a new UK television show!


Largest Sand Painting on the Planet
Photo credit: Secret Tenerife via a Creative Commons Attribution 2.0 Generic License

Have a green prom

Photo credit: Sherry's Rose Cottage via a Creative Commons Attribution 2.0 License.

Whole Foods Market is sponsoring Project Green Prom, a challenge issued to all high school students by teens turning green to hold more eco-friendly proms. From wearing environmentally-friendly make-up to using fewer paper products on the night of the dance, Project Green Prom has fashion, beauty, and decorating tips for you. Print your invitations on recycled paper or post the prom announcement online. Consider buying a vintage prom dress or swapping last year's dress with a friend. Share a limo instead of driving separately. And save your decorations for years to come!

Flying cars

Want your own personal flying car? Get your driver's and pilot's licenses -- and $10,000 deposit -- ready and head on over to Terrafugia. Their "roadable aircraft" is set to roll off the assembly line in 2011. The prototype hit the skies on March 5, 2009 for a test run. The company claims that the wings can fold up in less than 30 seconds! In car mode, the company says the vehicle can get 30 miles per gallon and can go up to 65 miles per hour. The full purchase price is expected to range around $200,000 (US).

Science Poem: Intrasolar interloper

I'm participating in the Poem-A-Day Challenge over at Poetic Asides. Yesterday's prompt was "outsider" and I decided to write about the planet Pluto.

***

Intrasolar interloper
(dedicated to former planet Pluto)


On a rocky outcrop of your ice-laden heart,
we sacrificed your stature.

Despite seven-six years of service,
retirement was no guarantee.

Nix and Hydra still shadow you
holding up your Kuiper belt.

Your union with Charon, however,
remains an unconsummated affair.

Highly eccentric and inclined to dramatic
circles of ovoid oblivion,

You rotate off-kilter, adrift,
your volatile nature frozen in time.

***

Artist's rendition of Pluto and Charon
Credit: NASA, ESA and G. Bacon (STScI)

The Royal Society recommends science books

The Royal Society, "the national academy of science of the UK and the Commonwealth", is currently accepting entries for the 2009 Royal Society Prize for Science Books. The books selected will (hopefully!) reflect some of the best science writing of 2008.

You can add to your reading list by checking out last year's honorees. Here are the top six picks in the Junior Prize category:


Photo credit: Royal Society for Society Prizes for Science Books', through a Creative Commons Attribution 2.0 Generic license.

Over 1,000 children read these finalists and decided the eventual winner. The big book of science things to make and do, by Rebecca Gilpin and Leonie Pratt, took home top honors in the Junior Prize category in 2008. Each activity (over 50 of them!) in this book teaches a scientific lesson in a fun and engaging way.

Have fun reading! :)