For our science lessons, we’ve been learning about some of the physical processes involved when gasses and liquids are heated up (or cooled down).

We measured a balloon filled with air, then measured again when we heated it over the furnace vent for an hour or so, then put it in the fridge for an hour and measured it again tp learn that when air is heated it expands, and when it is cooled it contracts.

We also tried some experiments to demonstrate the movement of hot and cold air. The most fun was the Warm Air Whizzer (from The Best of WonderScience)

On a piece of cardstock, we traced around the lip of a coffee mug to get a perfect circle. Then we fold it in half three times to get folds that look roughly like the image below.

We measured and cut 2cm slits down each of the folds, and folded the left side of each “pie piece” down and the right side up. Then we poked a hole in the center, and hung it from a knotted piece of string.

Then all we had to do was find a heat source. Sadly, we have over-greened our home, and we couldn’t find a light bulb that generated enough heat to spin our whizzer. They did quite adequately illustrate that it was NOT light that spun the whizzer, however. In the end we used a candle to demonstrate the air movement, and it worked rather well.

We spent several hours experimenting with the whizzer… getting it to spin the other way, trying to get it to spin using cold air above it, and using magnifying glasses and mirrors to see if we could get it to spin using solar energy.

Tables charting the chemical elements have been around since the 19th century - but this modern version will have a short video about each one.

Check it out here.

No, it’s not the name of a new reality TV show, though the early auditions would be fun to watch if it were.

The Canadian Space Agency began its latest recruitment campaign in May and over 5000 candidates had registered for two positions when the deadline closed last week. The list will narrowed down to a 120 who will undergo physicals in September. Of those, about 15 candidates will be left next April.

The Canadian Press reports that this is just the third time since the creation of the Canadian Astronaut Corps in 1983, that Canada has added new space explorers to an exclusive group of astronauts.

The winning candidates get a starting salary of  $83,3000.

Paint often wrinkles—but sometimes it cracks. This seems odd, he points out, because in wrinkling, things are pushed together, whereas cracks form when things are pulled apart. What accounts for these antithetical behaviors?

Read about the science of drying paint, elephant wrinkles, fluttering flags and more in this article from Harvard Magazine.

I was surfing before bedtime and saw this. I’d really love to try this, but I’m not sure I would if Scotchguard contains perfluororoctanoic acid. I’ll have to see if there’s an ingredient list on the can.

NASA is inviting members of the general public from around the world to suggest a new name for the Gamma-ray Large Area Space Telescope, otherwise known as GLAST, before it launches in mid-2008. GLAST is designed to probe the most violent events and exotic objects in the cosmos from gamma-ray bursts to black holes and beyond.

To submit a suggestion for the mission name, visit: http://glast.sonoma.edu/glastname

Anyone who drops a name into the “Name That Satellite!” suggestion box on the Web page can choose to receive a “Certificate of Participation” via return e-mail. Participants also may choose to receive the NASA press release announcing the new mission name. The announcement is expected approximately 60 days after launch of the telescope.

• Read more here

David was very excited today to learn that paleontologists have discovered a nearly complete fossil of a hitherto unknown species of dinosaur in Patagonia.

The herbivorous Futalognkosaurus dukei measured an estimated 105 feet to 112 feet from head to tail and was as high as a four-storey building. It is one of the three biggest dinosaurs yet found in the world.

And here’s proof that with enough money you can have anything named after you…

Futalognkosaurus dukei’s name is derived from the indigenous Mapuche language meaning “giant chief of the lizards”, and the name of U.S. power company Duke Energy Corp, which financed a large part of the excavation in Argentina.

David went digging through the workbook shelf today and uncovered the AEP’s “The Complete Book of Our Solar System “. It’s a tough book to work through, with lots of copy work, but he kept at it for a lot longer than I anticipated. I have to admit that there’s a good variety of activities and puzzles, so that it seemed worth the effort to get through the more dull pages to get to the games or riddles.

After working through about 15 pages, we went outside and collected autumn colored leaves. We put them in his nature journal, then spent time identifying them with a leaf identification book I didn’t even know we had.

Then he decided it was craft time, so we made some monster  paper lanterns that turned out kind of cute.

Now it’s nearly nine o’clock, and I’ve still got a bundle of work to catch up on before I can get some sleep, so I sent David off to watch a few shows on TV before he heads to sleep. I hate to condone TV, but sometimes I need the solitude to pay the bills.

I still can’t believe how lucky I am to be able to watch him grow and learn. As much as it can be exhausting some days, I wouldn’t trade it for the world.

Mr and Mrs American Goldfinch seem to have moved in to the maple tree in front of our house and plan to start a family.  They’re very pretty, and we’re glad to have them.

 Unfortunately, Mr Goldfinch is being macho and when he sees his reflection in my office window, he’s convinced it’s his competiton. Ever since I got back from vacation yesterday afternoon, Mr Goldfinch has been fighting with my windows. I’m rather concerned about him. Or, at least about the state of his beak.

He was making such a fuss, that I didn’t even notice his lady until this afternoon, when I spotted her in the tree. She was watching the commotion with a bemused look.

After doing a bit of research to see if there’s anything I can do to help Mr Goldfinch save his beak, I’ve discovered that I’d need to cover the windows from the outside (difficult since they’re on the second floor), and it might not even help, as the stubborn guy would probably spend enough time searching for the missing competition that he’d find one or more of the other windows on our house, or our neighbor’s.

So, for now, I’ve settled for recruiting David’s help to wave our arms near the window  whenever he starts his attacks, which seems to send him away for a while.

For the last few months, David’s bedtime ritual has included a few chapters of what he calls, “Jack and Annie stories,” more commonly referred to as The Magic Treehouse books by Mary Pope Osborne.

After picking up books in no particular order from used bookstores, we finally decided to fill out the rest of the series from Amazon.com, so we’ve got a full set up to #34. There’s more to collect, I know, and it appears that the author has not yet run out of ideas, but 34 books is a pretty good start, in my estimation, so we’ll leave it at that for now.

David has decided that he wants to read the entire series, in order, this summer — partly because we discovered the official series website and printed off the “passport“. So, we’re starting with #1, reading a book every two or three nights, and of course, collecting the passport stamps along the way.

I decided, after reading the first part of Dinosaurs before Dark this evening, that I may as well find related coloring pages, books and activities for David to work on during the days and mornings to expand on the event or place in the Magic Treehouse books. So, every few days I thought I’d post a Magic Treehouse tie-in to the book we’re at.

The first, of course, is Dinosaurs Before Dark

Dinosaurs

Reading:

• Pteranodon: Winged and Toothless- In Dinosaurs Before Dark, Jack and Annie are saved by a Pteranodon. This page from the Enchanted Learning Center is all about those flying reptiles.
• Encyclopedia Prehistorica Dinosaurs by Sabuda and Reinhart– This amazing pop-up book is worth buying as a work of paper engineering. The text is also quite informative, and serves as a fantastic way to explore the world of dinosaurs.

Printables:

• Dino Word Search - Go digging for Dino words in this printable activity!
• Dinosaur Worksheets - a variety of printable dinosaur worksheets and coloring pages from Learning Page.com
• Dinosaur Who Am I? printable from the Magic Treehouse Website

Games and Online Activities:

• Match the Bones — Choose the dinosaur each bone belongs to.
• Dino Saurs! — Prehistoric winds have blown pterodactyl eggs out of their nests in this dinosaur game and it’s up to you to find them! This arcade-style game with a dinosaur-theme is a great way to get kids excited about these amazing reptiles.
• Dinosaur Dig — Future paleontologists can do their very own Dinosaur Dig. This is a fun exercise in mapping coordinates that also ties into earth science, rocks and minerals as well as exploration.
• Dinosaur Egg Hunt — Play the Dinosaur Egg Hunt to learn about the great lizards that once roamed on Earth! Kids will find this concentration-style memory game to be a fun way to keep their brains limber.
• Dinosaur Quiz Game — Test your knowledge of dinosaur trivia with this short online quiz.
• Dinosaur Playground - A collection of simple online dinosaur games and puzzles.
• Palaeo Pursuit –As a junior palaeontologist, find your way to the dig. On your journey, you will encounter rocks, questions and discoveries!

More Stuff:

• Teaching Ideas page for Dinosaurs Before Dark - from Teachers @ Random
• Vocabulary, Questions and Activities for Dinosaurs before Dark — Activities for each chapter from Mountain City Elementary School