Favorite books

11 03 2010

Lately it’s been a bit rainy and a little cold.  When the weather is like this, I like to stay at home and read a book.

Two of my favorite books are about penguins, one of my favorite animals.

365 Penguins written by Jean-Luc Fromental, illustrated by Joëlle Jolivet.

The first is 365 Penguins. In this story, a family receives a penguin one day. As you can guess, one penguin starts arriving everyday after that for a year.  The family has no idea where they are from or what to do with them. I like this book because it uses math and has a funny story.  I also really like the illustrations.

ay. As you can guess, one penguin starts arriving everyday after that for a year.  The family has no idea where they are from or what to do with them. I like this book because it uses math and has a funny story.  I alseally like the illustrations.

Mr. Popper's Penguins by Richard and Florence Atwater.

A longer book to read during a rainy day is Mr. Popper’s Penguins.  This story is about a family who also receives a penguin in the mail.  Eventually there are more penguins than the family knows what to do with.  Mr. Popper has to figure out where to keep the penguins and how to afford them.  This book is great because the penguins all have their own personalities and they like to have a lot of fun.

What are your favorite books?


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Categories : 5 years & under, 5 years & up, Read

New takes on kites!

8 03 2010

Here are the kites I was talking about earlier. These kites are a little different from the traditional kites, but will fly just as well and are a little more interesting.

If you have a lot of time and want a challenge, try making this tetrahedral kite:

Supplies:

60 long, straight drinking straws
Scissors
Kite string or thin, strong string that will stay knotted, at least 30 feet
4 wooden dowels, 1/8 diameter
Big sheet of paper
Newspaper, cellophane, or plastic bags
Tape
A pen/marker

1. Cut your string eight times as long as one of your straws.

2. String three straws together by pushing the string through the straw with a dowel. Tie the straws into a triangle. Leave two inches of string at the end. Then use the longer piece of string and pull it through two more straws and tie a knot so it looks like this:

3. Use this frame to make a pattern. Place the frame on top of the sheet of paper and trace around it, leaving about a one inch around the edge. Cut it out and use it to make ten cutouts of the newspaper, cellophane, or plastic bags, whatever you would like your kite’s shell to be.

4. Use the leftover string in the frame and add another straw onto the triangles. This makes a 3-d triangle, which will be one cell of the kite. Take the frame and place it on one of your cutouts. Attach with tape.

The kite frame.

Covering the frame with the shell.

5. Make 9 more cells. Attach all the cells together in the shape of a triangle with the leftover bits of string. To make them more secure, you can tape the knots and excess string to the inside of the cells.  Make sure all sides covered with the cutouts are facing the same direction.

The first layer should have 6 cells, the second should have 3, and the top layer should only have 1 cell.

6.  Cut off excess string between the cells. Along the leading edge of the cells tape your dowels to the straws for reinforcement.  Then cut two small holes on the top cell’s and lower cell’s shell, each in the middle of the cells. Tie the string around the dowels and straws and secure with tape. Then take the string you want to fly the kite by, and tie it one-third of the way down from the top of the kite. Wrap the excess around the left over dowel. It’s now ready to fly!

A kite ready for flight!

To make a kite out of recycled materials and for almost no money, try this:

Supplies:

Plastic shopping bag
Two thin wooden sticks
Duct tape
String

1. Take the two sticks and lay one other the other perpendicularly, so it looks like a + sign. Then take one piece of the duct tape and place it over where the sticks intersect.

2. Attach the 4 ends of the sticks to the bag with the tape. Then attach the string to another piece of tape and stick that piece to the bag of the center tape piece. Now it’s ready to fly.

I love my new kites and can’t wait to fly them at the festival or during the next few months.  I hope you go out and fly some too!


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Categories : 5 years & under, 5 years & up, Build, Craft

International Women’s Day

8 03 2010

Today is International Women’s Day, meaning we celebrate women’s achievements throughout history.

One well-known and admirable woman is Marie Curie.
She was the first woman to be honored with a Nobel Prize and the first person to ever receive two Nobel Prizes. She is also the only woman awarded with two Nobel Prizes. Curie won the first prize for her work
with physics and the second for her work with chemistry.  Curie isn’t just an inspiration because of her awards, but also because she was a woman at the forefront of science when it was not commonly accepted for women to be working in science.

To learn about other inspiring women, look at our posts on Bessie Coleman and Mae Jemison. To see some of the Museum’s girl scientists from Girls Explore Science Camp, click here.


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Categories : 5 years & up, Learn

Make your own kite!

8 03 2010

This Sunday is the Kite Festival. To be prepared, I found a few kites to make. You can make them for anytime, and usually spring is the perfect time to fly a kite.

For a traditional kite, try this:

Supplies:

String or yarn, at least 10 feet
Tape
One large sheet of strong paper (I used recycled wallpaper)
Markers or crayons
Two thin wooden sticks, one 1 foot long, the other 8 inches long
Something to wrap your string around when flying

1. Use the two sticks to make a cross, with the 8 inch stick lying horizontal on the 12 inch stick. Make sure the 12 inch stick is in the center of the 8 inch stick. My sticks were a bit short so I taped a few together to make them the right lengths.

2. Wrap the string around the stick and make sure it is bound strong. You can use the tape here to reinforce the string.

3. Cut notches on the ends of every stick for the string to catch. Then starting from the bottom, take your string and fit it into the notch at the end of the stick. Continue all the way around the frame. Use the tape on the ends of the sticks to prevent the string from moving.

4. Decorate you paper if you please. Then place the sticks on top of the paper and cut around the  string frame, leaving about an inch around the perimeter. Then fold the edges over the string frame and hold down with the tape.

5. Tie a spring around the middle of the frame where the two sticks intersect. Make sure the string is long enough that the kite can have room to fly. Wrap the excess string around something easy for you to hold. I used a strong straw. Now try flying it!

Check back here later for some more kites you can make at home!


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Categories : 5 years & under, 5 years & up, Build

Rube Goldberg Music Video

4 03 2010

Everyone at the Museum is talking about this totally amazing music video by the band OK Go! As you know, we’re big fans of Rube Goldberg machines.

Some of us think it can’t be real. Some of us say it must have taken months to get it right! Either way, it will make you want to watch it over and over again. What do you think?

Thanks, Paul, for bringing it to our attention!


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Categories : 5 years & under, 5 years & up, Cool stuff on the web

Spring is almost here!

3 03 2010

Even though the weather has been cold a lot, spring is almost here. As you probably know, in spring all of the plants and flowers bloom because the temperature changes.  When you’re out and about, try and spot the blooms and buds on the plants around you.

I went down to Town Lake to see if I could find some buds.  Here’s what I saw:

First I found buds on some bushy plants.

Then I saw some on the trees.

Then I saw some flowers.  Some were about to bud and some had even bloomed.

Tell us what you find when you go outside and look!


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Bessie Coleman

22 02 2010

For Black History Month, we would like to once again feature an African-American who was at the forefront of science and technology.

Bessie Coleman.

Elizabeth “Bessie” Coleman, born in Texas, was the first person of African-American descent to become a licensed pilot in 1921.  She was also the first American to hold an international pilot license.  She is now part of the National Women’s Hall of Fame.

Bessie Coleman is admired by many, including the first African-American woman in space, Mae Jemison.  In the book Queen Bess: Daredevil Aviator, Mae Jemison said that Bessie Coleman “serves as a model to all humanity: the very definition of strength, dignity, courage, integrity, and beauty.”

To commemorate Bessie Coleman, you can make your own flying mechanism that shows how a helicopter works.

Spinners

Supplies:

Strips of paper 6-8 inches long and 1/2-1 inch wide
Scissors

Instructions:

1. Cut notches in the paper, one on each end, on opposite sides.

2. Assemble by inserting the notches into each other.

3. Hold the spinner high in the air and drop it. See what it does as it’s going down towards the ground.

4. Keep trying with different lengths and widths of the strips of paper. Note what happens with different sizes.

Spinners work when air is pushing on the flat sides of the strips of paper. When the flat side of the paper strip is parallel to the ground, the spinner drifts down like a flat piece of paper.  If the Spinner tilts so that the flat side of the strip is at an angle to the ground, the paper strip gets a sideways push, just like the blade of a helicopter, sending the Spinner spinning. Each time the flat strip comes around, it gets another push and goes for another spin.

For more information and activites with air, click here.


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Categories : 5 years & under, 5 years & up, Build, Learn

W. Lincoln Hawkins

19 02 2010
For Black History Month, we would like to recognize an African-American who invented technology still used today.  W. Lincoln Hawkins was a chemist who would help make telephones universally possible with science. Here’s his story.

Hawkins worked as a chemist for AT&T’s Bell Laboratories, part of the telephone company. At the time, telephone cables on telephone poles were made of a plastic that didn’t work very well.  Because of the coating on the wires, the wires wouldn’t last in different weather, like extreme heat or cold.

Telephone cables.

In 1956, Hawkins created a new kind of plastic that wouldn’t be destroyed easily.  The telephone company could now put up telephone lines where they wanted without worrying about animals or weather. Although this technology has advanced since then, this polymer is still used for other kinds of cables.

Like telephone cords made of polymer that W. Lincoln Hawkins created, we can find polymer in many parts of our everyday life. In this experiment from Carnegie Mellon University, you can create a polymer.

Gumdrop Polymer

Supplies:

Package of flavored gelatin powder like Jello (cannot be sugar-free)
Bowl or cup
Small, shallow dish, less than 2 inches wide
Water
Eyedropper
Plastic fork
Paper plate

Instructions:

1. Place the gelatin in the small dish, less than an inch deep.

2. Pour your water into a bowl or cup. Take your eyedropper and extract some water from the bowl or cup.

3. Drop the water in the center of the gelatin.

4. After the first drop is absorbed, drop another one in the same place. Keep doing this for 6-8 more drops.

5. Take your fork and scoop under the drops in the gelatin. Lift the lump out of the gelatin and place it on your plate. You just made a gumdrop, which is a natural polymer! (Remember, as yummy as it looks, this polymer gumdrop is like most parts of experiments and cannot be eaten.)

For more fun with polymers, click here to see how we experiment with polymers at the Museum, or here to see how someone else experiments with them. Information and history on W. Lincoln Hawkins courtesy of the Lemelson-MIT Program.


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Categories : 5 years & under, 5 years & up, Experiment, Learn

Everyday Science at C-Day Camp!

16 02 2010

On Monday at the Museum we had a C-Day Camp. We did a bunch of activities like writing secret messages, growing Lima bean plants and creating Shrinky Dink charms.

As part of the day, we made polymer slime. A polymer is made up of long chains of molecules, and in this experiment the polymer is glue.  When Borax is added to the glue it turns it into slime. To find out how to make this slime yourself, click here!

After we made our slime, we discovered how the inside of a diaper works. Seems icky, but it’s scientific! The special polymer inside of a diaper can absorb eight times its weight, allowing nothing to leak. Cool, huh? Check out a C-Day video of it here.

Because we know how well this polymer works, we poured two cups of water into the diaper and trusted it enough to put it over our heads. Then we cut open the diaper and actually felt the polymer.

Before the day ended, we made Shrinky Dinks. Shrinky Dinks are also made of a polymer.  When you put them in heat they shrink and harden as their long strands of molecules are forced closer together.

First we colored the Shrinky Dinks with permanent markers.

Then we heated them up in the oven until they shrank and became hard.

After the Shrinky Dinks cooled, we could put them on to string and make necklaces or bracelets with the charms.

These activities can all be done at home, so be sure and try one!

 


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Categories : 5 years & under, 5 years & up, Craft, Experiment

Darwin and DNA

12 02 2010
Today is Charles Darwin’s birthday.  Darwin was born in 1809 and discovered that living things adapt to their environment in a process called natural selection. Natural selection can take a long time, but eventually these plants and animals evolve and keep certain traits so they can survive longer in their environment.

DNA is contained in the cells of every living thing, and it’s the code that makes every living thing unique. When plants and animals evolve, they do so through changes in this special code. It’s amazing that Charles Darwin was able to develop his theory of natural selection without even knowing about DNA and how it works!

In this activity from the New York Hall of Science you can extract the DNA of a strawberry.

Supplies:

1 large glass
1 small glass
measuring spoons
9 tbsp water
1/4 plus 1/8 tsp salt
1 coffee filter
2 tsp dishwashing liquid
rubbing alcohol, at least 70%
1 sealable sandwich baggie
1 wooden coffee stirrer or toothpick
1 strawberry with the top taken off

Instructions:

The extraction buffer.

1. Make an extraction buffer by mixing together the dishwashing liquid,
water and salt in the small glass.

To be able to see the DNA of the
strawberry you have to use an
extraction buffer to break open the cells. The buffer includes soap and salt. The soap breaks apart fat layers of the cell membrane. The salt makes the contents of the cell to come out through  a process called osmosis. The contents inside the cell with a lower salt concentration rush out of the cell to a higher salt concentration.

2. Place your strawberry in your bag and squeeze all the air out of the bag and close it properly.

3. Squash the strawberry in the bag. Then open the bag and add 3 teaspoons of the buffer. Close the bag, squeezing the air out again.  Keep squashing the strawberry and the buffer.

The strawberry and buffer squashed.

4. Strain the mixture into the large glass by using the coffee filter. Wrap the filter closed and gently squeeze the contents against the side of the glass to get the liquid into the glass. Make sure the coffee filter doesn’t rip.  The filter helps separate the cellulose and bigger components of your contents from the DNA in the liquid.

5. Tilt your glass to increase the surface area and  very slowly add the rubbing alcohol. Slowly rock the glass back and forth as you are doing this. Pour until there is a layer 1/2 inch deep on the top of the water.

Pour the alcohol slowly so the DNA can properly be extracted.

6. Let the glass sit for a minute. You should see three layers. One is reddish and contains water with proteins, the middle layer is whitish, and the upper layer is clear (the rubbing alcohol has the lowest density so it goes to the top).

Your mixture should look like this after you pour in the alcohol.

7. Look for the white cobwebs or clumps in your glass resembling mucus, they should be in the middle layer.  This is your strawberry DNA! Take your coffee stirrer or toothpick and stick it into the glass. Twirl the stick until DNA attaches to it.

Strawberry DNA!

For more cool experiments like this, check out the New York Hall of Science’s website here.


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Happy Valentine’s Day!

10 02 2010

Instead of making a regular Valentine’s Day card, impress your valentine with these secret message cards.

Supplies:

1-2 sheets colored construction paper, we used pink and purple
1 sheet of white paper
Red cellophane or plastic wrap
3-5 red, orange, and pink markers
1 light blue pen
Scissors
Glue stick

Instructions:

1. Cut a large heart out of the colored construction paper. Cut a smaller heart out of the white paper to fit in the colored heart.

2. Cut a smaller heart out of a piece of colored construction paper and then cut out the middle, leaving a frame in the shape of a heart. Save the middle for decoration.

Cutting the hearts out.

3. Write your secret message or messages in the white heart using the blue pen.

The secret messages.

4. Write over the secret message with your red, orange, and pink markers. Paste the white heart on top of the larger heart. Use the middle of the heart frame to decorate the card.

My decorated valentine, almost ready for decoding!

5. Cut the red cellophane or plastic wrap to fit the smaller outline of the colored heart. The easiest way to do this is cut a square out of your cellophane or plastic wrap that is a little bigger than your heart. Glue the cellophane or plastic wrap down and cut off the extra around the border of the heart.

6. Now have your valentine decode the message!

For an edible version of this card, go here, the inspiration for these cards.


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Fun with Air!

5 02 2010

Today I came to the Museum as a junior intern and learned about air at Air Fair.  I saw that air could move many different objects and is everywhere around us even if we don’t realize it.

Here I am sending messages through air mail, which happens because moving air creates a pushing force and sends the balls through the tubes.

These are the messages I sent, and me receiving them.

Later I tried on headphones that showed me how different ears can hear different things. Bigger ears, like those that elephants have, can hear more. This happens because the sound waves that travel through air and bounce off of shapes of our ear. Bigger ears have more to bounce off of so they can hear more.

Then before I left I tried the pnuematic launch.  In my video you can see how the bowling ball pushes the air from its big tube into a smaller connected tube that holds a tennis ball. When I let go of the rope that holds the bowling ball, the bowling ball drops and forces air from the big tube into the little one, and the speed of the air changes. Watch and see how different air speeds launch the ball!

Remember that air is all around you, even if you can’t see it. I took some more pictures so you could see more experiments with air and what I did today. Just click here to see them. Have a good day!


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Categories : 5 years & under, 5 years & up, Cool stuff at ACM, Learn

Air Fair arrives!

2 02 2010

Over the weekend our new exhibit Air Fair opened.  Installing an exhibit is like building anything else, it takes time and precision. Last week we took some pictures of the process so you could know what happens behind the scenes when we are changing exhibits.  Check it out!

Have you ever photographed a process? You could take pictures every few days of a flower plant until it blooms, or the sunrise or sunset, or even something you’re making yourself. If you want to see more of the process, go here.


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Categories : 5 years & under, 5 years & up, Cool stuff at ACM

What can wind do?

27 01 2010

Did you know that wind is very important?  Wind can shape landforms like mountains through erosion.  It can make new plants by blowing their seeds to new places or helping to pollinate existing plants. Birds decide their course because wind can help push them in a certain direction. Sometimes wind can help airplanes and kites in the same way. Wind can also cause bad weather like hurricanes or tornados.

New wind turbine.

Nowadays, we use wind turbines to create energy.  These turbines look like giant, skinny windmills, and are all over the world. When the wind blows, air moves the blades and they begin to turn. When this happens, it starts a generator in the turbine which creates energy. This new energy can power anything electricity can, but it is better for the environment because it does not cause pollution by putting bad things in the air.

To see how wind works for yourself, you can make this pinwheel at home.  Like the wind turbines that create energy for us, this pinwheel also works by catching the wind under its blades to spin.

Supplies:

Construction paper
Ruler
Scissors
Pencil
Push pin
Unsharpened pencil with eraser
Dime
Markers or crayons
Glue stick
Hole punch

Instructions:

1. Measure and cut a 4 1/2″ square out of your paper. Decorate the paper with markers or crayons.

2. Place the dime in the middle of the square and trace around it.

3. Cut from each corner towards the center, stopping at the dime’s outline. You should have 4 sections.

4. With your hole punch, punch the top right corner of each section and the center of the dime’s outline.

5. Use the glue stick and put glue around the center hole. Then bring one of the corners to the center and line up the holes. Press down and make them stick together. Continue to put glue on each corner that you place down, this way they can all stick together. Also make sure the holes are always lined up.

6. Carefully take your push pin and put its needle through the holes. Push the needle end through the pencil eraser. Now you have a pinwheel! Go outside and test it out if it’s windy. If not, try blowing on it or putting it in a room that has a fan or air vent.  

Other than moving our pinwheels,  shaping the land, making plants, helping animals and providing new energy for us, wind can also be fun! Starting Saturday, the Museum’s new exhibit Air Fair will show us the power of wind and more exciting things it can do. To learn more about wind energy, visit Energy Kids.


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Categories : 5 years & under, 5 years & up, Craft, Learn

The Cybersquad is leaving ACM

22 01 2010

This is the Cybersquad’s last week at the Museum.  In their Cyberchase exhibit we solved problems and had fun with math.

We made music by making patterns.

We learned about new things in Motherboard's control center.

As a farewell to Cyberchase and the squad, why don’t we show them some of our math skills?

Supplies:

Real or play coins
50 pennies
20 mickels
15 dimes
6 quarters
Paper and pencil

Instructions:

1. Use the coins to make combinations equal to 50 cents.
2. Keep track of your combinations on the paper.

How many different ways can you make 50 cents? What is the least amount of coins it takes?

For more fun ways to use math, check out Cyberchase’s website and their fun math problems.


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