Deep Impact
Today was another Science Center day.
David had a class there on the solar system. We haven't covered the solar system yet, and there's nothing that David dislikes more than being caught by surprise, so I scouted out some websites for him. F9 Kids has a good overview without getting too technical. NASA's Solar System Exploration page went over well; my favorite is Planet 10, which not only shows you the solar system from an ariel/overhead view, but also allows you to zoom in on a particular planet and watch it rotate AND compare the surrounding moons and planets. Very cool. Some of the sites have tidbits on them about the planets...how hot or cold they are, length of day, etc. I mentioned that Mars has two moons and you could practically hear his brain click. "Oh yeah! I founded the two moons at the thing at Sticker Grandma's!" Oh yeah...the Mars exhibit. There was a simulated landscape and indeed, you could find two moons if you looked carefully. He was shocked at Jupiter's 16 moons.
We looked at the websites for a bit and then left for the class. Lauren and I didn't do much of anything thrilling to pass the time; she spent far too long wanting to run into the gift shop and beg for water balloons and candy (?!?!?!?). We did see a neat demonstration with polymers, however. We picked up David and he had a solar system chart put together with stickers. I'd gotten him solar system socks and a bigger solar system model at the gift shop, which he thought was wonderful.
We went to go see "Boiling Hot, Boiling Cold," another science demo using water (at 212 degrees) and liquid nitrogen (at -320 degrees). This was very well received; they did lots of freezing and thawing experiments, contracting and expanding metal, and they blew the corks off several beakers...always a winner in David's book. (Will someone please get this boy some Diet Coke and Mentos? And if you haven't seen that YouTube video, please click on it and watch. This is a cultural given at this point, and pretty amazing.)
We also got to see another rendition of Science Goes Splat. We've seen the program before (on Pi Day), but this time the kids got to be in the front row, and David was picked as a volunteer to catch a bundle of scarves dropped from a height of about 60 feet. Joy!
We headed back home and put together his big solar system model. He chatted happily about what they'd done in class, and I read the planet names to him and the snippets they provided about each one while he punched them out of the cardboard. He was doubly thrilled to be able to read most of the planet names.
I gave up on dinner and got a pizza instead of actually cooking. When Dad came home everyone trooped into the backyard and played soccer while I took some tickets over to the neighbor's house...we're all heading over to the Superheroes exhibit next week, which should prove to be loud and chaotic.
When I got home, I got out a small sheet of paper that David had brought home, with a title along the lines of "Make a comet model and eat it." I put some evaporated milk, regular milk, vanilla extract, sugar and crushed Oreos into a sealed sandwich-sized Ziploc. I put 10 spoonfuls of salt into a gallon freezer bag, and put the bag of milk inside and filled the whole thing about 1/2 full of ice. I took it out on the deck and we took turns rolling and squishing it, tossing it, flipping it over the deck, and talking about what a comet is and how it's made of frozen dirt, dust and ice. When we opened up the big bag and took the little bag out, and kids were amazed and delighted to find ice cream had suddenly appeared in place of the weird milk mixture! " Four people with spoons quickly dispatched the model "comet."
We went back in and hung David's solar system model from the ceiling in his room.
Other than that, I'm trying to work out the details of a new ongoing layout deal with a newsletter, and figuring out how in the hell I'm going to manage to stay in Chicago for a few days (in July) without either killing myself or going broke. I'm about 50-50 on my options at this point.
Now I have to head out and buy injection needles for my idiot cat. It looks like we're out. Meow.
David had a class there on the solar system. We haven't covered the solar system yet, and there's nothing that David dislikes more than being caught by surprise, so I scouted out some websites for him. F9 Kids has a good overview without getting too technical. NASA's Solar System Exploration page went over well; my favorite is Planet 10, which not only shows you the solar system from an ariel/overhead view, but also allows you to zoom in on a particular planet and watch it rotate AND compare the surrounding moons and planets. Very cool. Some of the sites have tidbits on them about the planets...how hot or cold they are, length of day, etc. I mentioned that Mars has two moons and you could practically hear his brain click. "Oh yeah! I founded the two moons at the thing at Sticker Grandma's!" Oh yeah...the Mars exhibit. There was a simulated landscape and indeed, you could find two moons if you looked carefully. He was shocked at Jupiter's 16 moons.
We looked at the websites for a bit and then left for the class. Lauren and I didn't do much of anything thrilling to pass the time; she spent far too long wanting to run into the gift shop and beg for water balloons and candy (?!?!?!?). We did see a neat demonstration with polymers, however. We picked up David and he had a solar system chart put together with stickers. I'd gotten him solar system socks and a bigger solar system model at the gift shop, which he thought was wonderful.
We went to go see "Boiling Hot, Boiling Cold," another science demo using water (at 212 degrees) and liquid nitrogen (at -320 degrees). This was very well received; they did lots of freezing and thawing experiments, contracting and expanding metal, and they blew the corks off several beakers...always a winner in David's book. (Will someone please get this boy some Diet Coke and Mentos? And if you haven't seen that YouTube video, please click on it and watch. This is a cultural given at this point, and pretty amazing.)
We also got to see another rendition of Science Goes Splat. We've seen the program before (on Pi Day), but this time the kids got to be in the front row, and David was picked as a volunteer to catch a bundle of scarves dropped from a height of about 60 feet. Joy!
We headed back home and put together his big solar system model. He chatted happily about what they'd done in class, and I read the planet names to him and the snippets they provided about each one while he punched them out of the cardboard. He was doubly thrilled to be able to read most of the planet names.
I gave up on dinner and got a pizza instead of actually cooking. When Dad came home everyone trooped into the backyard and played soccer while I took some tickets over to the neighbor's house...we're all heading over to the Superheroes exhibit next week, which should prove to be loud and chaotic.
When I got home, I got out a small sheet of paper that David had brought home, with a title along the lines of "Make a comet model and eat it." I put some evaporated milk, regular milk, vanilla extract, sugar and crushed Oreos into a sealed sandwich-sized Ziploc. I put 10 spoonfuls of salt into a gallon freezer bag, and put the bag of milk inside and filled the whole thing about 1/2 full of ice. I took it out on the deck and we took turns rolling and squishing it, tossing it, flipping it over the deck, and talking about what a comet is and how it's made of frozen dirt, dust and ice. When we opened up the big bag and took the little bag out, and kids were amazed and delighted to find ice cream had suddenly appeared in place of the weird milk mixture! " Four people with spoons quickly dispatched the model "comet."
We went back in and hung David's solar system model from the ceiling in his room.
Other than that, I'm trying to work out the details of a new ongoing layout deal with a newsletter, and figuring out how in the hell I'm going to manage to stay in Chicago for a few days (in July) without either killing myself or going broke. I'm about 50-50 on my options at this point.
Now I have to head out and buy injection needles for my idiot cat. It looks like we're out. Meow.
posted by Kelly at
11:05 PM
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