Nuggets of Knowledge: Inspire your child to love learning!

SCIENCE SATISFACTION

If you have kids who enjoy science news, you'll love this link to Indiana University's page "A Moment of Science." There are bite-size articles and podcast scripts on so many bizarre little topics that you just have to go there and see it to believe it. Science-loving kids can have a field day on this page, and if reading ability is an issue, you can choose some interesting topics (there are sooooooooooo many!), print them, and add one a night to your bedtime reading routine.

(Jen, if you're reading this post, this site will add yet another level to the already extraordinary archive of bizarre facts you keep in your head!)

One caveat: Depending on your child's age, and your personal preferences, you might want to check out the topics ahead of time. While there is nothing overtly offensive in the list, you might not want your child suddenly coming up to you asking about sciency questions that deal with sex. However, there are very few of those.

Here's the site:   http://amos.indiana.edu/library/scripts.html

Let me know what you think and if you'd like to specifically recommend any of the stories you find there!

Stumble It!

PONDERING PLUTO...your opinion, please!

Start a debate in your house! (I did, accidentally!) Should Pluto be given back its title as a planet in our solar system, or should it be called a dwarf planet? Or, should it be a plutoid? Or, is it something else entirely? The following article from www.sciencenewsforkids.org (http://www.sciencenewsforkids.org/articles/20081008/Feature1.asp) talks to later elementary school kids about the debate. It's a great way to get them to analyze the different arguments in order to make their own decision. My kid seems to have trouble picking out details lately. So, I just sent him upstairs to pick out details in the article that support his opinion. He came back with his own theory: That Pluto shouldn't be a planet at all because it sometimes passes in front of Neptune...therefore, it's really a moon! Interesting thought, but it just started another debate!

Personally, I'm having a lot of trouble with this one. The whole topic just breaks down another tenet of childhood. I mean it's not as simple as whether there are now 8 or 9 planets in our solar system...oh, no! If we count dwarf planets, there could be 12...or sixteen! Actually, newer, higher-powered telescopes open the possibility and debates to more objects. So, for me, I'm just wrestling with the knowledge that "nine planets in our solar system" has gone the way of the record player, VHS, the "Dorothy Hamill" haircut, the "Jennifer Aniston" haircut, Roy Rogers restaurants, and "kabangers."

Next thing you know, Starbucks will go from "tall, grande, and venti" to "wow!, whoa!, and cowabunga!" (Which, technically might not be such a bad idea since I keep getting the first two sizes mixed up, anyway.)

Let me know your family's opinion on the Pluto debate. As well, let's find a good name for the nameless dwarf planet that comes two celestial bodies after Pluto (it's currently known as 2003 UB313). My son offers, "Grogon." What's your kids' suggestion?

IT'S A BIRD, IT'S A PLANE, IT'S AN...EMBRYO!

Just wanted to relay this article and the cool photos. Apparently, scientists now have access to a super microscope that can capture the very beginning of cells coming together to form an embryo. The article is about seeing this in a zerbrafish. However, they say the technology might eventually help solve the mysteries of autoimmune viruses and tumors in humans.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20081009/hl_nm/us_embryo_digital_3

Haven't shown my kids yet, but I hope they'll find it interesting. Hope yours will, too!
Happy Yom Kippur to those who celebrate it!

Aaawwwwwww!

For those of you with kids who are nature lovers, share this article with them about how scientists have found the world's smallest snake!
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080803/ap_on_sc/barbados_tiny_snake

Wish I'd known about this little guy when my son was wanting a snake. Still, we love our Okeetee Corn Snake, Ricky(i). Although I imagine this quarter-size snake can eat something other than thawed out mice!  Sigh.

Bird. Plane. Super...novas!

When I was a kid, a supernova was the old blue car my dad drove around. What was so super about this Nova? The ever-surprising fact that it ran. Sometimes it sounded like a UFO, but it took a lickin' and kept on...well, sounding like a UFO. Although, I think I remember it ticking at times, too. Either way, the thing was built like a tank and we loved it. Incidently, (and I find this hysterical) did you know that the Chevy Nova didn't do too well in Latin countries when it came out? In Spanish, "No va" means, "it doesn't go." Isn't that great? Cracks me up every time I think about it! Yeah, I probably do need to watch a good comedy.

Whoops! It looks like I need to check out these legends a little more carefully. Apparently Snopes finds the "No Va" story false (http://www.snopes.com/business/misxlate/nova.asp). Well, that's disappointing. You know I've gone over 20 years believing that story until now?

Anyway, recently, scientists were able to see a supernova (the celestial kind...an exploding star) actually starting to happen. You can read about it with your kids here: http://www.sciencenewsforkids.org/articles/20080319/Note2.asp

The really cool thing about supernovas is how pretty they are. You can find a sampling of this here: http://chandra.harvard.edu/resources/ppt/chandra/by_category/snr.html?page=3

So, how do supernovas form? Find a kids' explanation here: http://spaceplace.nasa.gov/en/kids/phonedrmarc/2003_november.shtml

And, in case anyone out there has a kid who is hopped up about cars, you can impart the history of the Chevy Nova via this site: http://novaresource.org/history.htm

Weird Science!

Maybe...just maybe, the key to upping the relationship our kids have with science lays in applying it to their interests and their daily lives. Unless you're making Oobleck, slime, a fizzy volcanoe or a rubber egg, doing science experiments at home can be an expensive, cumbersome, complicated drag. At least for me, anyway! Although, if you've never made oobleck, you don't know what you're missing!

Messes aside, here are some links that might get your kid thinking about how science works without you having to drop-cloth your kitchen:

Sci-fi kids can explore scientific principles behind Star Wars here: http://www.starwars.com/kids/explore/reallife/

Sporty kids will get a kick out of Exploratorium's science behind sports here: http://www.exploratorium.edu/sport/index.html

July 4th is coming up! An organization that promotes science education in Trinidad makes it easy to understand the science behind fireworks here: http://www.niherst.gov.tt/scipop/sci-bits/fireworks.htm

And, for my pal Mike, well, he can look up the fun "psueo science" of Godzilla here: http://scienceblogs.com/tetrapodzoology/2007/02/the_science_of_godzilla_1.php 

For older Harry Potter fans, or parents who don't mind reading and then simplifying the info for younger kids, check out The Science of Harry Potter: How Magic Really Works by Roger Highfield (Penguin):

Dun Dun...Dun Dun....DunDunDunDunDunDun

Have a child who is crazy into sharks? I do. Not just the scary kind, either. What type of shark is NOT scary, you might ask? The whale shark, for one. It doesn't bite. Biggest fish in the sea, too. Here's an interesting article on the whale shark's piloting abilities:
http://www.livescience.com/animals/080618-whale-sharks-fly.html

The Georgia Aquarium actually HAS a whale shark. I'm dying to take the kids to see him one day! But for now, I'll give them this link http://www.georgiaaquarium.org/animalguide/oceanvoyager/whaleshark.aspx to learn more.

For kids who are nuts about sea life in general and who like to draw, check out:

Fear Chemistry?

I wasn't very good with chemistry back in school. Recently, though, I came across a great book that provides the basics in an "easy-even-for-me-to-understand" way. I have spent a few 15-minute sessions reading it outloud with my 3rd grader and 1st grader and we're actually enjoying it. Even my 1st grader can answer the question, "What element is the lightest and exists everywhere?" (Answer: Hydrogen)

The book is called, "It's Elementary" by DK Publishing and it's exciting to have my kids pay attention to this book. All I remember from Chemistry is textbooks that were as dry as five-day-old toast.