Family Online

Pirates Online

2010-01-14T18:08:00.001-05:00

Avast, me hearties! International Talk Like A Pirate Day, September 19, is a wonderful way to introduce your kids to some colorful figures from history. will be the sixth an event your family will love celebrating. Started by John “Ol’ Chumbucket” Baur and Mark “Cap’n Slappy” Summers as a private joke, TLAPD has been celebrated around the world since 2002, when humor writer Dave Barry brought the holiday to the world’s attention. But if you need a little pirate prep before you don the eyepatch and hook, sail over to some of these Web sites:

Baur and Summers’ International Talk Like A Pirate Day site is a treasure trove of piratical fun and information. Although some humor leans towards the risqué, there’s a special section for Junior Pirates which includes a links page, lists of children’s books and even ideas for Pirate Math, Pirate Geography and more. You’ll also uncover links to pirate songs, art, videos, games, festivals and expeditions. Learn to parlay like a pro with the English-to-Pirate translators, and or use one of the Pirate Name Generator to discover your alter ego. The questionnaire at PirateQuiz.com is my favorite.

Pirate Guys Baur and Summers

If the end of the Pirates of the Caribbean series left you clamoring for more of Captain Jack Sparrow and the Black Pearl, Disney has a free online “massively-multiplayer” game that lets you forge alliances, hunt for buried treasure, battle evil undead forces, and use cunning and strategy to outwit your foes. With the Sony online version of the Pirates Constructible Strategy Game (which sadly is no longer in stores). You can hear the roar of cannon fire and the crash of waves in 3-D and challenge privateers from across the globe as you amass wealth and fame.

Pirate history is fascinating, and the National Geographic Kids online high seas adventure is a game that also tells you about actual people and events. For more true tales, the New England Pirate Museum has educational articles on pirate lore such as the "Articles of Agreement" able-bodied prisoners signed to become pirates themselves. Rules were harsh: “If robbery took place between two crewmen, the guilty one had his nose and ears split and would be marooned.”

“Real Pirates” is the name of a traveling exhibit from the Expedition Whydah Sea-Lab & Learning Center in Provincetown. More than 100,000 artifacts have been recovered so far from the slave ship-turned-pirate vessel which sank off Wellfleet in 1717.

What to serve your hungry crew on Talk Like a Pirate Day? The Seattle Seafair Pirates’ recipe for Salmagundi (the traditional pirate stew) calls for corned beef, anchovies, goat, pickled vegetables, and dried mango and begins “Hack meat into gobbets.” I use what I have around, but it still comes out great. Yo ho ho and a bottle of ginger ale!

Robots (January 2007)

2010-01-02T11:06:00.000-05:00

UPDATE: Learn about miniature robots at the NISE nanoscience website.

With self-guided machines roving across Mars, exploring deep inside the Pyramids, serving as advance scouts for military operations, and vacuuming our floors, you could say the robot revolution has arrived. In the Jan 2007 issue of Scientific American on the “Dawn of the Age of Robots,” Microsoft founder Bill Gates pointed out parallels between the start of the personal computer boom and the robotics industry today, and predicted a future in which the devices will become as common and useful as laptops. Will robots improve life for humankind? Or will the artificial intelligences try to take over the world, as they do in so many books and movies? For now it’s hard to say, but one thing is certain: exploring the world of robots online is highly educational – and buckets of fun.

For all the robot websites out there, it’s hard to find one that sums up all the information to be had (and that keeps its links page up to date). But for junior roboticists, a good place to start is the NASA Robotics Alliance Project. It has news about robots in space and other settings, information on school competitions like FIRST, and even archives of online courses. Another site to try is Robots.net, a news blog that is updated regularly with links to stories of interest to robot geeks. Robot Magazine has one of the better links pages, which can take you to the sites of companies like WowWee, maker of Robosapien, Roboraptor and that creepy chimp head and iRobot, whose Roomba and Scooba floor cleaning robots are beloved by hackers who reprogram them to dance and sing. (In 2007, the company came out with iRobot Create, a pre-assembled programmable robot base for students and "serious robot developers" to personalize.) And Robot Cafe is a directory of robot sites for the home robot builder.

The history of robots goes back at least to the Victorian era and Boilerplate, a mechanical man, the hit of the 1893 World’s Exposition. While the Czech playwright Karel Capek first used the word “robot” in 1921, the father of modern robots – both fictional and real life – is generally considered to be the science fiction writer Isaac Asimov. His story collection I, Robot was the basis for the Will Smith action film (which until recently had a nifty website tie-in that let you “order” your own model in the colors of your choice). But you can still design your own robot on the website of the Museum of Science in Boston. The site of a traveling exhibit which made a stop there a few years back is Robots and Us, with fun activities that show how robots can move, analyze and even show emotion.

ASIMO, the little humanoid corporate ambassador for the Honda Motor Co., has concluded his tour of the US and settled into a new gig at Disneyland, where he demonstrates what the future of home robots may look like. ASIMO’s development over the past 20 years, including most recently released version, which can run at 4 mph, are detailed on the Honda website. But for many of us the first robots we probably ever saw were toys. Before Robosapiens, Aibo, and Furbys became household names, kids had to play with tin or plastic toy robots that didn’t really do anything – but they loved them anyway. The site Jeff’s Robots has a neat gallery of one (former) boy’s collection, robot art from comic books to sculpture, and info on famous robots from TV and movies.

Yes, robots are our friends, but even robotics experts can get paranoid sometimes. Daniel H. Wilson, Popular Mechanics’ online Resident Roboticist, is also author of How to Survive a Robot Uprising, a guide to protecting the species from annihilation. (Among the useful tips for spotting a rebellious robot servant: “Run for your reinforced-steel panic room if your servant disobeys you, even if it does so in a very polite manner.”) But it’s important to know whether your robot is really hostile: “Your robo-vacuum may be bumping into your feet in a malevolent attempt to kill you – or just trying to snuggle.” In other words, Bill Gates is probably right ... but it never hurts to be prepared.

UPDATE: There are a lot of robot-related computer programming sites for kids. They include Logo, Robocode, and Guido van Robot.

Computer Programming for Kids

2009-11-15T12:14:00.007-05:00

Image via Wikipedia

At the request of Bonny Glen, here's a list I've compiled of links to help kids learn computer programming. She's looking for Mac-compatible, we're PC, but hopefully some are useful. Just FYI, my older son started with an enrichment class using a really old version of Logo, has taken a few robotics summer workshops, and is currently trying to teach himself computer gaming coding.

Teaching your kids how to write computer programs is an essay by Marshall Brain, creator of HowStuffWorks.com. It includes a lot of links.

Scratch -- Free Kids Programming Language from MIT

Guido van Robot: Guido van Robot, or GvR for short, is a programming language and free software application designed to introduce beginners to the fundamentals of programming. GvR runs on Windows, Macintosh, and GNU/Linux, in a variety of languages! It's great in both the classroom and the home as a way of introducing people to the basic concepts of programming.

Alice: Free teaching tool designed to be a student's first exposure to object-oriented programming. It allows students to learn fundamental programming concepts in the context of creating animated movies and simple video games in 3-D.

How to Think Like a Computer Scientist: Learning with Python 2nd Edition: Open book project
by Jeffrey Elkner, Allen B. Downey, and Chris Meyers

No New Posts, But I'm Still Updating

2009-08-12T23:02:00.003-04:00

I have stopped writing Family Online columns (for the time being), but I am continuing to update posts as I find new websites. I will also try to add columns that are not online as time allows. Let me know if there's a topic you're interested in!

PS: Many of my posts for Wired.com's GeekDad blog include useful links. Check it out!

Still More DIY Instruments

2009-04-19T18:14:00.001-04:00

The Plumber's Pipe: PVC flutes

Invented Instruments - Update

2009-03-07T19:58:00.002-05:00

This story appeared on NPR today:

[Ranjit] Bhatnagar spent the month of February handcrafting a different musical instrument each day — 28 in all — as part of an online challenge called Thing-A-Day, which asks artists, inventors and anyone with a love of crafts to create something new every day for an entire month and document the process.

Visit Bhatnagar's website to see and hear his creations!

Making (Weird) Music -- Homemade Musical Instruments

2009-03-03T20:02:00.005-05:00

Making (Weird) Music -- Homemade Musical Instruments

One of the wonderful things about the Internet is stumbling upon areas of creativity you didn’t even know existed. I was looking for some musical crafts for kids (more on that later) when I discovered a whole world of hobbyists and artists who invent amazing musical instruments. Of course, homemade instruments are as old as the hollow reed, the washtub bass, and the one-man band. But these folks have taken recycled art to a whole new level.

Consider balloon player Judy Dunaway. Since 1990, Dunaway, who has a Ph.D. in music composition, has written over forty works for what most of us consider a party toy. Some links to audio samples (you may want to preview first) show how much more you can do with this “instrument” than mere squeaks. And if you caught the exhibit of Ken Butler’s “hybrid instruments” a few years ago at MASS MoCA in North Adams, MA (many of which can be glimpsed on his website), you know what results when you cross a telephone and a violin, or a checkerboard and a guitar. Perhaps the best-known instrument-inventors around are the members of the Blue Man Group. Their website includes details about such PVC-pipe creations as the “drumbone.” Then there’s Benjamin Franklin – statesmen, author, scientist, musical innovator. After hearing a concert played on wine glasses, Franklin came up with the “armonica,” a series of spinning glass bowls that allow the performer to create eerie chords. Dr. Mesmer used the armonica to induce hypnosis, and in the 1800s it was said to drive some listeners insane. Learn all about the armonica, try a virtual version, and listen to its sound, if you dare, at The Franklin Institute’s website.

If you’re looking for more, the website Oddmusic lives up to its name with a gallery of “unique, unusual, ethnic, or experimental” instruments, from the Stalacpipe Organ, to the Stroviols Ukulele, which looks like it’s got a tuba grafted onto it, to the Serpentine Bassoon, an electronic instrument made of red leather that resembles a Chinese dragon and sounds like an out-of-tune orchestra. One of my family’s favorite weird instruments, an early electronic device called the Theremin (think of the Beach Boys’ “Good Vibrations” or the soundtrack of the sci-fi classic, “Forbidden Planet”), has its own mini-section here. Another site, Experimental Musical Instruments, features on its gallery includes such wonders as the Video Octavox, an eight-armed device which sits on, and interacts with, a TV. (I couldn’t get the audio clips to play, but the images alone are worth a visit.)

Ready to build some instruments of your own? The kids’ section of the Dallas Symphony Orchestra website has make-at-home projects like a soda bottle Buzzing “Brass” Mouthpiece that demonstrate how the different members of the orchestra work. It’s a lively site with lots of pictures and audio samples of instruments, information on music theory and even games about composers, so be sure to look around while you’re there.

Then there’s John Bertles’s New York City-based group Bash the Trash, which teaches kids to make their own instruments from junk. Instructions are provided for both simple (shaker, horn, rubber-band guitar) and more complex (styrocello, thumb piano) instruments. More Bertles projects can also be found at the Instrument Lab section of the New York Philharmonic’s website for kids. Mudcat, a site about folk music and blues, has directions for a variety of blowers, including the garden hose trumpet and the drinking straw oboe, gourd rattles, drums, banjos and more. And Crafty Music Teacher has tips for building a PVC-pipe bass marimba for only $350 (hey, a real one costs 40 grand!), as well as ideas for house-key chimes, mallets made from superballs and car bushings, and other handy items.

If you’re a kid with a unique homemade instrument you want the world to see, you’re in luck. Teacher Elizabeth Rexford’s Virtual Museum of Music Inventions is a showcase for students who design, build, and write descriptions of their own instruments. There are stills and video clips of entries from past years, information for teachers, and helpful links. As Rexford says, using recycled material to create a new instrument is not just an art: it takes science and math to get it to sound just right. But most importantly, it’s fun -- and that’s music to any kid’s ears.

Math (Feb 2004 - to be updated!)

2009-01-24T20:21:00.005-05:00

Math! Do your kids turn a sickly green just at the mention of it? Do you? People may TELL you math can be fun, even beautiful, but if you’ve never believed it, just spend an hour browsing the googles of math sites on the Web (a “google,” of course, is equal to 1 followed by 100 zeros) and you’re sure to change your mind…

Speaking of Google, if you visited that search engine’s homepage on February 3rd, you would have noticed that the logo was decorated with delicately colored designs. If you clicked on it, you were taken to images of Julia fractals -- swirls and shapes, kind of like the old Spirograph toy, that are the manifestation of mathematical formulas.

Why February 3rd? At first the kids and I thought we’d found the answer in that day’s comic pages, where a strip called “The Norm” pointed out that the date expressed in numerical form was 02-03-04. The real explanation turned out to be a nod to mathematician Gaston Maurice Julia, born February 3, 1893 in Sidi Abbes, Algeria. But the really cool thing was a morning spent talking and thinking about the power of numbers.

Some math websites can take you to new realms. Freelance topologist Jeff Weeks has online games including chess, tic tac toe and a mouse in the maze, all with a twist – the surfaces they’re played on curve through the fourth dimension. Amazingly, kids have no trouble figuring these out.

Ivars Peterson writes lively columns about mathematics for Science News (for grownups) and Muse magazine (for kids). Some of his finds include a guide to mathematics in “The Simpsons” (many of whose creators, apparently, hold degrees in physics and math); and an astronomer-turned-househusband who sells glass Klein bottles (the same shape used in the four-dimensional board games) on the side. You can peruse either version of Peterson’s past columns, complete with handy links, by going to www.sciencenews.org or by clicking on “Puzzle Zone” at www.sciencenewsforkids.org/ and going to “MatheMUSEments.” To find a particular topic, Google “Peterson” plus “Science News” plus the topic.

Math problem got you stumped? Over 300 math students from colleges around the country will answer your questions at the “Ask Dr. Math” page of Mathforum, from Drexel University. Dr. Math won’t do your homework for you, but if you show them how far you got, they will, usually, help you get unstuck. Mathforum also offers help for teachers and problems of the week for kids in grades three through twelve.

A good way to find sites that have been prescreened (and this goes for any subject) is to check out the “Links” page of a site you like. I found the website KaBoL (which stands for “Knot a Braid of Links”) run by the Canadian Mathematical Society, on Jeff Week’s site; here you can search from among nearly 300 websites for such topics as Geometry from the Land of the Incas and amazing geometric shapes built from Legos (with computer assistance).

Personally, the sites I liked best were the ones run by and for mathematicians (amateur and “real”). Lists of math links aimed at families tend to be either “schoolish” (i.e., too much like drills) or commercial (i.e., too much like video games and TV). Still, they’re sometimes worth exploring. The National Council of Teachers of Mathematics offers Selected Web Resources featuring “mathlets” (interactive math challenges) for teachers and parents. Organized by grade and topic in a clickable chart at http://illuminations.nctm.org/swr/index.html, you can skip the boring analysis of the site you want by clicking on “Direct to SWR.”

The math game sites listed by About.com’s parenting section are more the arcade type. They include the online companion to the PBS show Cyberchase, and Coolmath.com, which has some nice math graphics as well as “study tips” (and ads). Even the government wants a crack at your budding math whiz. The National Security Agency (subject of a novel by the conspiracy-minded author of “The DaVinci Code”) has a page where kids who are into code making and breaking can explore the rooms of a Cryptic Manor to find hidden links to puzzles.

In fact, when you add it all up, once you start looking for math online the choices are almost infinite. Happy calculating!

Check these out: Google’s Feb. 3 fractal logo: http://astronomy.swin.edu.au/~pbourke/fractals/quatjulia/google.html; Four-dimensional board games: www.geometrygames.org (click on the tic-tac-toe board); The Simpsons: www.mathsci.appstate.edu/~sjg/simpsonsmath/; Clifford Stoll’s glass Klein bottles: www.kleinbottle.com; Ivars Peterson columns: www.sciencenews.org and www.sciencenewsforkids.org/; Ask Dr. Math: http://mathforum.org/dr.math/; KaBoL: http://camel.math.ca/cgi/kabol/browse.pl; National Council of Teachers of Mathematics’ Selected Web Resources: http://illuminations.nctm.org/swr/index.html; About.com’s list of math games for kids: http://childparenting.about.com/cs/mathgamesonline/index.htm?terms=math; PBS’s Cyberchase: http://pbskids.org/cyberchase/index.html; Coolmath.com: www.coolmath.com/; National Security Agency’s kid page: www.nsa.gov/programs/kids/index.html

Economics for Kids

2008-11-12T22:03:00.000-05:00

I can’t begin to understand the current economic situation myself, let alone explain it to my kids. But if ever there was a time to bone up on our country’s money system and how banks and businesses operate, this is it. According to The Wall Street Journal’s Work and Family column, even though kids don’t pay the bills, they know when their parents are under stress, and it can hit them hard. So for all you who are scratching your heads over how to explain what’s going on to your children, here are some online resources that can help.

First, some lessons in basic economics. For elementary and middle school students, most economics Web sites deal with concrete subjects such as coins and bills. For instance, H.I.P. Pocket Change from the U.S. Mint has light features like games, cartoon, coloring pages, as well as a more informational timeline that ties money in with history. At the U.S. Bureau of Engraving and Printing site’s kids section you can design your own bill, play trivia games or download an interactive animated tour through that looks at the new security features in currency and shows how Secret Service Agents are trained to look for counterfeiters. But if you’re interested in learning about economics concepts – including supply and demand, interdependence and the stock market – the Social Studies for Kids site explains things in a way preteens can understand.

One site that aims to teach kids how markets work is MinyanLand. The site, (which requires free registration, including parent’s email), aspires to a very lofty mission: “to help address the gap between classes created in part by the financial illiteracy of many in our country, if not the world.” Players choose a character and receive $50,000 in MinyanMoney and a condo worth $50,000. They can increase their virtual bank balance by “doing real-life chores your parents assign,” playing games, and keeping their creature healthy. They can also spend money at the mall, renovate their home, invest, and earn “incentives” for charitable giving. The site is a joint project of Minyanville (a private financial “infotainment” site featuring articles for families on explaining “depressing times,” afterschool jobs and allowances); the non-profit National Council on Economic Education (which offers classroom resources, many free); and the Kaboose network of family Web sites.

For tweens and teens most money sites talk about budgets, credit and spending wisely. Don't Buy It, a companion site to the PBS series, focuses on media and shopping smarts for 9- to 11-year-olds. It All Adds Up is somewhat creaky, decade-old interactive site that lets high school students see what it’s like to use credit to buy cars, electronics and other consumer items. I Buy Different comes from The Center for a New American Dream and the World Wildlife Fund. It helps kids make connections between the products they use and the environment, and suggestions actions they can take to make a difference in their community and across the globe. Many more wonderful links from places like MIT, the Rochester Institute of Technology and the Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis, have been collected at the South Plainfield Library’s Homework Links Consumer Education & Money Management page.

Finally, financial news outlets for adults can also help parents understand and explain what’s going on. Marketplace Public Radio recently spoke with Kiplinger's Janet Bodnar, for example, whose column “Money Smart Kids” has many useful pointers in its archives. The Motley Fool’s newspaper column and website explains stock market happenings in understandable terms, and MSN Money Central contains a useful section with tips on bargains and freebies that will help you and your kids save money. All these resources can be helpful to turn to during these tough times.

Family Online Picks

Wall Street Journal Work and Family Column http://online.wsj.com/article/SB122220949327768879.html

H.I.P. Pocket Change http://www.usmint.gov/kids/

MoneyFactory.gov http://www.moneyfactory.gov/newmoney/main.cfm/learning/fun

Social Studies for Kids www.socialstudiesforkids.com/subjects/economics.htm

MinyanLand http://www.minyanland.com/

Minyanville http://www.minyanville.com/education/mvkids.htm

Don't Buy It http://pbskids.org/dontbuyit/

It All Adds Up http://www.italladdsup.org/

I Buy Different www.ibuydifferent.org

South Plainfield Library Consumer Education http://tinyurl.com/consumered

Marketplace Public Radio http://marketplace.publicradio.org/display/web/2008/09/26/economy_and_kids/

Money Smart Kids http://www.kiplinger.com/columns/kids/archive.html

Motley Fool http://www.fool.com/

MSN Money Central http://moneycentral.msn.com/home.asp

Spelling

2008-07-29T08:38:00.003-04:00

Helping people learn to use words well is a popular topic for online experts. The funny thing is, none of them agree how to do it. Some swear by spelling rules, while others focus on word origins or using tricks to memorize tough words. There are word games to practice skills, word-a-day email services to build vocabulary, and online dictionaries galore. Plus hundreds of sites for people who just love words.

The biggest problem you’ll have searching for websites about words and writing will be sorting through them. But do take the time to dig. You may discover the help you’re looking for in unexpected places, such as sites for parents of dyslexics or for adults learning English. Most sites are reasonably family-friendly. Some have separate sections for “rude” language; only a few have it mixed right in. Keep in mind that sites from outside the U.S. may use British spelling (“color” vs. “colour,” for example).

Search terms you can try include “spelling rules” (26,000 hits alone on Google), “spelling lists,” and “spelling mnemonics” (those little rhymes and sayings that help you remember how to spell hard words – extra points for spelling “mnemonics” right). Take a tip from those SAT prep classes and type in “‘word origins’ Latin Greek” to bone up on English roots; WordFocus.com is a good place to start.

Learning is fun with sites like David Appleyard’s guide to mnemonic initial sounds, which explains how Harry Potter fans knew right away that Slytherin and Snape were the bad guys. Build your family’s vocabulary one word at a time with A Word A Day, online or emailed right to you. Challenge your emergent readers at FunBrain.com. Or if you’ve got a kid who thinks it’s spelling that needs fixing, not kids who can’t spell (a notion that’s been kicking around for probably a century or more without much success – see “Adirondak Loj” near Lake Placid), send him to The Spelling Society for a look at their ames, offisers, leeflets, and so on (and a kids’ page listed in their links).

Many teachers believe the best way to improve writing skills is to write, a lot. Story starters, also called writing prompts, give budding authors fresh ideas. Younger children can try the examples at KinderKorner.com, while Everyday Spelling, the site that supports the textbook series, has writing prompts, word puzzles, spelling lists and more by grade through middle school.

The best online dictionaries, like Merriam-Webster, go way beyond a spellcheck and a thesaurus. Enchanted Learning’s picture dictionary for new readers not only links to related pages on the same site, it also comes in several bilingual versions. LibrarySpot.com has a list of specialty dictionaries, including OneLook.com’s reverse dictionary to find that word that’s stuck on the tip of your tongue. And word snobs can turn to the mother of all reference books, the Oxford English Dictionary, for word games from easy to “fiendishly difficult,” quotations, and much more.

Your kids don’t have to be serious word lovers to love the Spoonerisms, palindromes, and silly signs at Fun-with-words.com. But REALLY serious word lovers should take a peek at how the champs train at www.spellingbee.com, online home of the Scripps National Spelling Bee (which will hold this year’s televised finals starting June 1st). Who knows? They might just get inspired.

Music Appreciation

2008-06-14T15:21:00.004-04:00

Even kids who have a real ear for music may have trouble learning to read a staff, with all its squiggles and dots and phrases in Italian. It can take a lot of work before those half steps and eighth notes all start to make sense. I know! When I was learning to play the violin, I could tell which notes went with which fingers on which strings -- but I never really understood how a scale worked until I began to play the keyboard. Once I saw all the notes laid out in front of me, in a nice repeating pattern of black keys and white keys, half steps and whole steps, suddenly everything became clear.

So when I realized the other day that the son who plays the violin was having trouble figuring out the key signature in his pieces, I sat him down at his brother’s piano to try to explain. But I figured there had to be more I could show him online – and, of course, I was right. I found web sites that help you figure out key signatures and much more. Learning to read music is useful, but learning to appreciate it is even better. Whether or not you believe in the “Mozart Effect” (the claim that listening to classical music can make a kid smarter) knowing how a symphony or a concerto is put together, and training your ear to hear themes and variations, can be as satisfying as solving an elaborate puzzle. Consider these resources your musical introduction:

Classics for Kids is a content-rich resource for kids and adults. First, you can listen online to 6-minute-long radio segments with Naomi Lewin that are all about classical music. Topics include composers like Mozart and Leonard Bernstein, musical periods like Baroque and jazz, and concepts like rondo and incidental music. Then there are the games that let kids compose simple tunes or quiz themselves on note names. Finally, parents can find articles filled with tips and advice, such as how to help kids practice effectively. There’s even a valuable page of music education links!

Big city orchestras are another place to find music info online. The San Francisco Symphony Kids’ Page is an interactive site that gives you a tour of the instruments of the orchestra. Other sections cover the symbols of the musical staff and concepts like tempo, rhythm, instrumentation and pitch. The Dallas Symphony Orchestra Kids’ Page, which got a mention in Family Online’s column about making instruments, also has an instrument dictionary and pages where you can listen to audio clips of intervals, arpeggios and chords. Meanwhile, at the Carnegie Hall website, interactive animated features let you explore Britten’s Young Person’s Guide to the Orchestra and Dvořák’s Symphony No. 9 "From the New World."

The Online Music Theory Helper by Ricci Adams from the Children's Music Workshop of Los Angeles isn’t flashy, but it takes you page by page through lessons on scales, chords and the like using the occasional animated note or audio clip where needed to make a point clearer. Quiz yourself on the notes of the staff or the keyboard using its “trainers,” or tune your ear to recognize intervals and chords. There are also useful articles that explain what to expect at a concert or how to deal with stagefright. The Music Room by Michael Bower of the Capistrano Elementary School, also in California, is even more low-tech, but clear and easy to navigate. It includes pages with music clips on symphonic concepts like inversion and counterpoint, periods including Medieval, Baroque, and Romantic, the

For older kids and adults, Intro to Music Theory is a free online course from Connexions, a site for sharing free educational material, by Catherine Schmidt-Jones. Actually, it doesn’t look to be much more detailed than the sites mentioned above for younger musicians. There are hyperlinks but no animations interval, major and minor keys and scales, triads and chords; its big plus is that the whole course can be downloaded as a PDF file.

OK, so the “Mozart Effect” may not be real. But listening to classical music can’t do any harm, can it? Just ask anyone who can’t hear the William Tell Overture without thinking “Hi Ho Silver! Away!” Movies, cartoons and TV shows that use famous symphonies and concertos as soundtracks and theme songs can make those musical motifs stick with you forever. Remember when Casper the Friendly Ghost helped Schubert finish his Unfinished Symphony? Or Bugs Bunny’s immortal “What’s Opera, Doc?” As a recent story on National Public Radio’s Weekend Edition points out, you can find many of these masterpieces (including “The Rabbit of Seville,” and the “Fantasia” parody “A Corny Concerto”) on YouTube. Share a few with your family; you may never be able to listen to classical music the same way again.

Update: The excerpt above is from the PBS show From the Top. The website offers streaming video of really talented kids playing classical music. http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/fromthetop/pages/

MusicTeacher2009 is another YouTube video to check out. Thanks to the anonymous commenter!

Family Online Picks:

Classics for Kids www.classicsforkids.com

San Francisco Symphony Kids’ Page www.sfskids.org

Dallas Symphony Orchestra Kids’ Page www.dsokids.com

Carnegie Hall www.carnegiehall.org/article/explore_and_learn/art_online_resources_listening_adventures.html

Online Music Theory Helper

www.childrensmusicworkshop.com/musictheory/

The Music Room

www.empire.k12.ca.us/capistrano/Mike/capmusic/music_room/themusic.htm

Intro to Music Theory

http://cnx.org/content/col10208/latest/

NPR Cartoon Music Story www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=17854152

Bugs

2008-05-04T22:17:00.007-04:00

Despite their ickyness, bugs are really fascinating creatures. Insects, spiders, and other creepy crawlies make up most of the animal life on Earth, both by number AND by sheer mass. In fact, there are more different types of beetles alone than there are plant species! And insects have been around 350 million years longer than we have (humans only appeared 130,000 years ago). With bugs such a major part of our world, you might as well learn more about them. Who knows? You might even grow to like them.

The first step in finding out about the bugs around you, of course, is figuring out what kind you’ve got. That’s where the Web site What’s That Bug? comes in. Created as an art project by California photography professors Daniel Marlos and Lisa Anne Auerbach, here you’ll find gorgeous photos sent in by readers, with helpful (and often funny) comments. The British-based What’s This Caterpillar? has a North American section. Bug Guide is an online community of amateur naturalists hosted by Iowa State University Department of Entomology that collects information on where and when bugs are found for scientists’ use. The guide sorts its bug pictures by class (arachnids, insects, centipedes, etc.) and even includes a section on bugs that have immigrated from other countries, such as a tortoise beetle found on a bunch of bananas from Ecuador in a grocery store in New Mexico. Ask Dr. Bug doesn’t have a lot of photos, but you can email Entomology prof Bob Allen from California State University, Fullerton for an ID. (Dr. Bug says 95% turn out to be potato bugs, disturbingly human-featured cricket-like critters which, thankfully, only live in the Southwest and have their own site, PotatoBugs.com.)

Articles on bugs (for reports or your own interest) can be found at sites like Bug Info, from the Smithsonian Museum of Natural History, and the Australian Museum Online, which offers nicely presented information and printable fact sheets on bugs from all over. Bug Bios is a unique site with photos, a Cultural Entomology that talks about bugs in art, literature, religion, etc., and an extensive links page.

Want to invite bugs to your backyard? Monarch Watch has a section on growing milkweed and other plants to create your own butterfly garden. If you’re thinking of keeping a bug as a pet, The Amateur Entomologists' Society has caresheets for everything from crickets to tarantulas. The retail site PetBugs.com has tips for making your bugs cozy. EarthLife is a site with lots of links on bugs, including pet info. And the Missouri Botanical Garden’s Butterfly School tells you how to make your own butterfly house. If you’d rather visit bugs elsewhere, you can check out the Montréal Botanical Garden’s Insectarium, the largest in North America, which even looks like a bug when viewed from the tower of the nearby Olympic Stadium. Or you can watch live leafcutter ants scramble about their “formicary,” or glass ant case, at the London Natural History Museum’s Antcam.

Alright, so you don’t want to make friends with bugs. But you still might like to invite them to dinner – that is, if you’re an adventurous eater! The PBS TV series NOVA has a slideshow on people eating bugs around the world. And Iowa State University's Department of Entomology offers Tasty Insect Recipes like Banana Worm Bread and Chocolate Covered Grasshoppers. Of course, you don’t have to get that intimate with insects to appreciate them. But now that you know how interesting and beautiful they can be, you may not be so quick to squish the next bug you see.

EXTRA: Find links to bug crafts I made and demonstrated during my Bug House workshops at my website Crafts for Learning!

Magic Tricks for Kids

2008-04-06T22:23:00.004-04:00

I’m one of those people who likes to enjoy a magic trick without trying too hard to figure out how it’s done. But as the mother of a budding magician, I’ve had to acknowledge the fact that a lot of magic involves gimmicks bought in magic shops. Luckily, though, not all magic tricks require special equipment. You can start doing magic with only a deck of cards, a piece of rope, and a few coins. Here’s what my son Anthony has learned so far about being the art of prestidigitation:

· The easiest tricks to start off with are rope tricks.

· Once you know the trick and the secret move, practicing is fairly easy. I try to practice as much as possible whenever I learn a new trick.

· It’s best to talk over the part where you have to make a secret move, so people don’t know what you’re doing.

· I love the look on people’s faces after you perform a magic trick.

Anthony got his start in an afterschool magic class, but there are plenty of Internet resources if you want to learn some easy tricks at home. Parents who want to encourage a child's interest in magic can also check out the Web site Kapoof! Magic You Can Do, where teacher Andy Makar offers advice, a library of tricks, and lots of links. The family-created Kidzone from DLTK has a section on magic tricks for children as well.

Other worthwhile sites include Anthony’s pick, The All Magic Guide, which offers a variety of trick instructions with photos, magic show videos and more; How to Do Tricks, which also includes coin trickery, levitating illusions and street magician tactics; Good Tricks, where you can learn the secret behind “mind reading” demonstrations; and Mighty Tricks a blog that has not been updated recently but which still offers interesting videos and some super magic tricks. You can also find a comprehensive links page at Magic Tricks.

Perhaps the best way to learn how to be a magician may be to watch a master in action. Endurance artist David Blaine, who has lived in a fishbowl in Lincoln Center and hung suspended over London in a glass box for 43 days, has videos of both his stunts and some card tricks at his Web site. For other famous magicians, however, you’ll have to do some searching on YouTube. We enjoyed seeing clips of David Copperfield disappearing the Statue of Liberty and walking through the Great Wall of China. The comic duo Penn & Teller have some interesting segments where they give away the tricks of the trade by doing the popular cup and ball sleight of hand with clear plastic cups. But the present-day performer we enjoyed the most was Criss Angel. On his A&E show Mindfreak, Angel takes his illusions to the street, enlisting passersby who are shocked (and sometimes horrified) at some of tricks. He does some beautiful levitation from building to building, but he also does coin swallowing and voodoo doll routines that are on the gruesome side. For many fans of magic, however, the brush with death is what makes it so exciting.

Of course, the granddaddy of all showmen was Harry Houdini. You can watch silent film clips of Houdini’s escapes, and play an online escape game, on PBS American Experience. The Library of Congress has an online collection of Houdini documents. And The History Museum at the Castle in Appleton, Wisconsin – where the magician lived when his family first came to America from Hungary in 1878 – has an online exhibit called “AKA Houdini” about the man and his times. Magicians today still try to top Houdini’s tricks, but few succeed. Maybe – with a little practice – you can be the one to match his amazing feats!

Update: We just had a great time at the exhibit Magic: The Science of Illusion at the NY Hall of Science. Be sure to catch it if it comes to your area!

Family Online Picks

Kapoof kapoof.com

Kidzone Magic Tricks kidzone.ws

The All Magic Guide allmagicguide.com

How to Do Tricks howtodotricks.com

Good Tricks goodtricks.net

Mighty Tricks mightytricks.com

Magic Tricks links.magictricks.com/magiclessons.html

David Blaine davidblaine.com

Criss Angel A&E videos aetv.com/criss_angel

Houdini PBS site pbs.org/wgbh/amex/houdini/

AKA Houdini akahoudini.org

Evolution

2008-03-08T16:01:00.007-05:00

Two hundred years after Charles Darwin’s birth – and a century and a half after the publication of his book On the Origin of Species – the theory of evolution is as controversial as ever. In the United States, that is. According to a 2005 New York Times article, the idea that complex organisms developed from simpler species through random mutations is almost universally accepted in every other industrialized country. Ever since John Scopes went on trial in Tennessee in 1925 for telling his biology students about natural selection, however, American school teachers have shied away from discussing evolution in the classroom. Generations of us have grown up not really understanding evolution or the process by which scientific theories are tested and confirmed. So with a year to go until Darwin’s 200^th, intelligent educators and scientists have designed Web sites to supply those missing links.

Swathmore College biology professor (and father of two young children) Colin Purrington believes parents can begin to “homeschool” their kids about evolution as early as kindergarten. And a fun place to start is Alaskan marine artist Ray Troll’s Web site Troll Art. Watch a single cell morph into a human being on Troll’s Evolvovision, then click on his somewhat retro comix-style poster The Way We Were: The Path of Human Evolution to read explanations by fish biologist Carl Ferraris. The site Becoming Human, from The Institute of Human Origins at Arizona State University, challenges you to assemble a chimp and a human skeleton from a mixed pile of bones. And the Natural History Museum of London’s Evolution Web page includes a natural selection game where you play a young bird trying to eat enough bugs to get through the winter.

The PBS Evolution Web site is another great resource for kids. There’s a whole library of interactive features, including games like Evolution in Action, which that lets you change the environment to see how random mutations affect a creature’s ability to survive, and The Mating Game, where you help contestants pass their genes down the evolutionary line. There’s also the PBS series Nova’s Missing Link and Origins pages.

Still confused? Understanding Evolution, a collaboration of the University of California Museum of Paleontology and the National Center for Science Education is a comprehensive, clearly written site that touches on science, history, research and how evolution factors into daily life. There are explanations of the role DNA plays, common misconceptions and dozens of useful links. Or to find out more about the descent of man, check out the Smithsonian Institution’s Human Origins Program. Wander through the online Hall of Human Ancestors, then click on a branch of the Human Family Tree to look at virtual 3D fossils and read about human precursors.

In recent years February 12, has been celebrated as Darwin Day, with Phylum Feasts (including foods from all the plant and animal groups) and Primordial Soup, plans for a recreation of Darwin’s exploratory journey to the Galapagos islands on the HMS Beagle, and re-enactments of the Scopes Monkey Trial. The trial, which pitted celebrity lawyer Clarence Darrow against politician William Jennings Bryan, as recorded by humorist HL Mencken, is a fascinating piece of social history. My family watched the slightly fictionalized version told in the Spencer Tracy film Inherit the Wind, then checked the facts at the Famous Trials in American History Web site by University of Missouri law professor Douglas Linder.

It took Darwin 20 years to publish his theory of evolution, as you’ll learn from the companion Web site to the traveling exhibit which stopped at the American Museum of Natural History in New York in 2006. But you shouldn’t wait so long. Evolution is the unifying principle in biology, says Swathmore’s Purrington, make sure your kids have the facts they need to begin to understand the mystery of life.

Update: Find more evolution resources for kids at my blog Home Biology!

Family Online Picks (with additional links added):

BBC: Human Evolution

BBC: The Origins of Life

BBC: The Cambrian Explosion

Chicago's Field Museum Evolving Planet www.fieldmuseum.org/evolvingplanet

Swathmore Evolution Outreach www.swarthmore.edu/NatSci/cpurrin1/evolk12/evoops.htm

Troll Art www.trollart.com

Becoming Human www.becominghuman.org

Natural History Museum London www.nhm.ac.uk/nature-online/evolution

PBS Evolution www.pbs.org/wgbh/evolution

Nova: Missing Link www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/link

Nova: Origins www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/origins/life.html

Understanding Evolution http://evolution.berkeley.edu

Scopes Monkey Trial www.law.umkc.edu/faculty/projects/ftrials/scopes/scopes.htm

American Museum of Natural History Darwin exhibit www.amnh.org/exhibitions/darwin

Crime Solving for Kids

2008-01-19T16:39:00.000-05:00

Cops and robbers? Old hat. Nowadays, crime-fighting kids would rather look for fingerprints and DNA samples than chase bad guys with guns. The hit CBS TV drama CSI: Crime Scene Investigation has spawned a whole generation of kids who want to try toxicology (finding drugs or poison in the body) ballistics (matching patterns on weapons and the crime scene) and forensic anthropology (examining skeletal remains) to figure out who dunnit. And educators and educational websites are jumping on the trend. Even if you don’t have a crime lab in your home, you and your kids can investigate cutting-edge police techniques – and learn a little science -- on these sites.

(Note: You may want to preview these sites, which after all deal with murder and mayhem, before going on them with younger children. Sites that are suitable for little kids are indicated.)

Fans of the CSI franchise can find several sites directly related to the show. The CSI Handbook on the show’s official website is a clickable illustrated glossary of terms used by Crime Scene Investigators to describe evidence, tools and procedures. And the Boston Museum of Science’s recent exhibit, CSI: The Experience, has a website with a printable Family Guide containing at-home activities like analyzing blood spatter (using the fake blood recipe provided) and extracting DNA from fruit. There’s also a CSI Web Adventure from Rice University that takes you through the steps of analyzing crime scene evidence in a police lab. You can find a page of related links too.

Other interactive websites for kids include Anatomy of a Murder from the Montreal Science Center, where you help forensic experts in an animated crime scene. (Scroll down to “Interactive File On Criminalistics.”) Then there’s the Virtual Museum of Canada’s Interactive Investigator, which lets you explore a cartoon crime scene, collect clues and send them to the lab to be analyzed. (Both websites are also available in French.) At the PBS NOVA website, you can click-and-drag objects create a DNA “fingerprint” in a non-gory cartoon lab to solve the mystery of who stole a lollipop, and read about the new 3-D mug shots. (The rest of the website related to the program "The Killer's Trail," about the re-opening of the 1954 murder that inspired “The Fugitive,” however, is not as kid-friendly.)

For more activities you can do at home, the children’s site CyberBee has a Who Dunnit? section that tells you how to practice taking fingerprints, make impressions of teeth, and calculate a person’s height from the size of their shoe. Or watch two girls solve the mystery of a birthday party mess on an online episode of the PBS Kids show DragonFly, which has also suggestions for exploring evidence like bicycle tire tracks.

Older kids can find lots of good information about Forensic Entomology -- studying insects and insect eggs around dead bodies to determine the time or location of death – at the WhyFiles from the University of Wisconsin. If that’s too icky for you, there’s also an article on document analysis, including whether you can tell someone’s personality from their handwriting. (Most scientists say no, but in France 70 percent of employers use handwriting to screen job applicants.)
The popularity of CSI and similar shows has its good side and its bad side. The bad side, according to National Geographic, is that the so-called “CSI Effect” means jurors now expect more DNA and high-tech evidence before they’ll convict a defendant – even if it’s more traditional proofs are already available. But for students – questions of the effects of violence on television aside – the “CSI Effect” has been a positive thing. An article from the National Science Teachers Association says that kids who took a “Draw-A-Scientist Test” created fewer portraits of mad scientists and more images of regular men and women having fun in the lab. The kids give CSI the credit – and that’s almost as good as catching crooks.

Family Online Picks:

CBS website-CSI Handbook http://www.cbs.com/primetime/csi/handbook

CSI: The Experience http://www.csitheexperience.com/

Rice University Web Adventure http://forensics.rice.edu/

Montreal Science Center
http://www.centredessciencesdemontreal.com/en/jeunes/jeunes_jeux.htm

Virtual Exhibit on Forensic Science
http://www.virtualmuseum.ca/Exhibitions/Myst/en/index.html

PBS Nova Create a DNA Fingerprint
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/sheppard/analyze.html

CyberBee Who Dunnit?
http://www.cyberbee.com/whodunnit/crime.html

Dragonfly
http://pbskids.org/dragonflytv/show/forensics.html

WhyFiles http://whyfiles.org/014forensic/

National Geographic “CSI Effect” article http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2004/09/0923_040923_csi.html

NSTA “CSI Effect” article http://www3.nsta.org/main/news/stories/science_scope.php?news_story_ID=52803

Career Exploration

2007-12-16T10:06:00.003-05:00

Do you know what you want to be when you grow up? A lot of kids (and even some of us adults!) could use some help figuring out that important question. In the old days, you could go to the school guidance counselor to take an aptitude test. After answering some multiple choice questions about your interests, strengths and personality (“Are you prone to (A) exploring the possibilities or (B) nailing things down?”), you would find out whether you were hairdresser or rocket scientist material. Another tactic was to thumb through an enormous volume called the OOH – Occupational Outlook Handbook. Today you don’t need an appointment with your guidance counselor to start your career exploration, because many of these tools are available on the Internet. Unfortunately, they’re not always free, and they can be complicated to use. But if you’re just looking for ideas and suggestions – not a detailed, personalized analysis -- there are a few good places to begin your search for the job path that will suit you best.

The OOH, put out by the U.S. Department of Labor’s Bureau of Labor Statistics, has descriptions of hundreds of different occupations. It tells you what the job is like, education and training requirements, how much it pays, and whether the need for people in that job is growing, staying the same, or shrinking. And not only is the online version less of a strain on the shoulders than the hardcopy, it’s also easier to browse, thanks to the website’s search features. It also has links to professional organizations and other places where you can find out more about the job that interests you. Not everything about it is high-tech, though. Like the book, the website’s information is only updated every two years, so some statistics in the 2006-2007 edition go back to 2004 – eons when it comes to some areas of the job market. But the BLS website does offer archives of the Occupational Outlook Quarterly magazine (the most recent being Summer 2007) and other resources. There’s also a well-designed kids’ section with a little less detail and links back to the main OOH.

Many professional organizations themselves have kids’ sections with information about different specialties and how to enter the field, such as Ocean Explorer, Young Eagles (aviation) and the US Dept. of Agriculture.

For general information, the University of California at Berkeley’s online Career Library has links to career descriptions from other reliable sites, including the Department of Labor and other colleges. Another valuable resource is the Vocational Information Center for high school students, created and maintained by retired educator Kathryn Hake. Hake’s site focuses on technical and vocational careers and trade schools. The College Board, maker of the SATs and Achievement Tests, also has a Majors and Careers section with general information. Pathways to the World of Work, which has links to sites about self-assessment and career exploration, is a website for teens from the Connecticut Department of Labor. And the New York State Dept. of Labor Career Zone for teens presents current and relevant occupational and labor market Information in a clear and interesting way, making career exploration and planning fun and easy.

And if you’re curious about online aptitude tests but don’t want to shell out the subscription fee, there are a couple sample tests you can try. Rutgers University’s Pre-College Career Planning webpage offers a free “interests assessment” based on John Holland's “Theory of Vocational Choice,” which classifies students into six different categories: realistic, investigative, artistic, social, enterprising, and conventional. And the Princeton Review, the well-known test-prep company, has a free 24-question Career Quiz that rates your interest and job style. Some organizations, like Boys and Girls Clubs and Junior Achievement, have free online tests that are available to members only, although Junior Achievement’s career information pages are open to all.

Remember, take any career aptitude tests with a grain of salt. I tried three different surveys, and came up with three different versions of what I’d like best! Experts say the most useful thing about interest assessments is the possibility they’ll point you in some unexpected directions. That perfect career is out there – so get looking!

LEGO

2007-11-06T13:05:00.000-05:00

By John Ceceri (with help from Kathy Ceceri)

Why are Lego toys so much fun? It might be their bright colors. It could be the cool themes such as Star Wars, Bionicle (a mystical storyline about biomechanical warriors with magical masks, with related books, movies and comics), Exo-Force (a line where humans take on robots wearing giant battlesuits) and others. Or maybe it’s the playability that lets you can take apart a set and make a whole new model. Whatever the reason, Lego has a giant fanbase, from 5-year-olds to Adult Fans of Lego (AFOL). And those fans have made several websites about their favorite subject: chat rooms, databases and even “my own creation” (MOC) sites, where you can upload pictures of Lego models you’ve designed yourself. Although most sites are for AFOL, there are some just for younger fans. Here are my favorites:

I had been a big Lego fan for a few years when I discovered Lego.com, the official Lego website, at age 11. Lego.com has good places for fans to talk to each other, post photos of models they’ve made, and see new Lego sets. It also has Lego Factory, a part of the site where you can download software which lets you make a 3-D drawing of a Lego model, then upload it to Lego.com and show it off, or even buy your model. In the Pick-A-Brick section, you can buy single bricks instead of a whole set. And you can even enter in codes from Lego Bionicle and Exo-Force sets to get cool online stuff!

For a while I posted on Lego’s message boards, but it wasn't long until I started looking at the fansites, especially those for kids. BZPower is the main Bionicle fan site with over 37,000 members, and the top Bionicle news source. Members discuss topics like the most heroic heroes and villainous villains or which set they regret getting. My own websites -- Lair of the Piraka (a Bionicle forum) and The Robot’s Workshop (an Exo-Force forum) -- don’t have many members, but they are starting to get more.

For AFOL, Eurobricks has large forums to post in and the latest Lego news. And the news from Europe often includes photos of sets that haven’t been released yet. Some sites won’t post leaked images, some forbid even discussing the future sets, but they sure are tempting. A tip about posting in general: make sure you follow the rules, such as not creating duplicate topics or adding to “zombie topics” (topics that haven’t had new posts for a long while). Some of these sites will ban you if you don’t.

Brickshelf is a photo-hosting website just for Legos, where the tags include train layouts and snapshots of the Legoland theme parks. But most MOC sites let you post photos and get comments on them. MOCpages features large models like the diorama combining characters from Indiana Jones, Dr. Who, and H.P. Lovecraft, or the Blacktron Intelligence Agency, a space base that takes up four tables. From Bricks to Bothans, the main the Lego Star Wars fan site, also has photos of Star Wars MOCs and a forum where members can comment.

Then there are Lego databases like Brickset, which lets you search by theme or year, going back to 1961. Members can keep track of all the sets they own -- and make wishlists of the ones they want. Brickwiki, which is (as the name suggests) a wiki about Lego, has information on its history, themes, and famous people (according to Lego fans), along with different building techniques such as SNOT (“studs not on top” – in other words, upside down). There are also links to all the other major Lego sites.

From grandfather clocks to harpsichords to automated factories that use Lego Mindstorm computer technology to build cars out of Lego pieces, there’s practically nothing that hasn’t been made out of Legos. Professional Lego model builders can make you a Bart Simpson or a mosaic of the Mona Lisa to order. But perhaps one of the strangest projects is the Brick Testament, where a minifig Adam and Eve live in a Lego Garden of Eden. Maybe the best part of Legos is that, no matter what your interests, it’s so easy to join in the fun.

Family Online Picks:

LEGO.com www.LEGO.com

BZpower www.bzpower.com

Lair of the Piraka http://z3.invisionfree.com/Lair_of_the_Piraka

The Robot's Workshop http://s8.invisionfree.com/The_Robots_Workshop

Eurobricks www.eurobricks.com

Brickshelf www.brickshelf.com

MOCpages http://www.mocpages.com

From Bricks to Bothans http://www.fbtb.net/

Brickset www.brickset.com

Brickwiki http://brickwiki.zapto.org

The Brick Testament http://www.thebricktestament.com/

At-Home Science Activities

2007-10-05T22:29:00.000-04:00

If you’re a kid, you’ve probably never heard of Mr. Wizard. And you’ll never know the thrill of owning a genuine Mr. Wizard chemistry set. Mr. Wizard, otherwise known as Don Herbert, hosted TV’s first science show, back when kids were encouraged to go out and experiment with chemicals, rockets, and other exciting phenomena. But because times have changed, a company that recently tried to update the Mr. Wizard chemistry set had to settle for balloons, clay, and laundry starch instead of the chemicals included in the original set. And it’s not just toys that have changed: even some schools are cutting back on chemistry labs. As a result, one classroom chemistry expert told Wired Magazine last year, “Kids are being robbed of the joy of discovering things for themselves.”

But doing science at home is not a lost art. It may take some effort, a willingness to get messy, and an eye towards safety, but many of the materials needed for exciting at-home experiments are still available, if you know what to look for. And as usual, the Internet can help. With projects for everyone from the faint-of-heart to the foolhardy, you’re sure to find something on the websites below that send adults and kids alike rushing to turn your kitchen or workshop into the family laboratory.

Mr. Wizard famously inspired a generation of scientists, teachers, and science showmen, and leading the pack right now is Steve Spangler. Remember the Diet Coke and Mentos craze? That all started with a video segment Spangler did for his local Denver NBC affiliate. His website has tons of uncomplicated video and written experiments in categories such as States of Matter, Light and Sound, or All about Air. There’s so much good content here, I don’t even mind that it’s primarily an online catalogue for Spangler’s science toys, kits and supplies. (And by the way, the products -- aimed at elementary school age and younger -- are excellent.)

Science educator Robert Krampf, who takes his live high-voltage electricity show to schools for Florida Power and Light, also offers nearly 30 fun and easy science video clips on his website, just a fraction of the 300 plus at-home explorations you can read. They may not be as dramatic as a traveling million-volt Tesla coil, but they’re still pretty cool. Join Krampf’s YahooGroup to get an Experiment of the Week emailed to you or just browse the archives. Like Spangler’s experiments, Krampf’s activities are simple enough for younger kids, but they include suggestions for continuing the experiment at a higher level.

Want more of a challenge? Hila Science Camp in Ottawa, Canada has online directions and videos for such projects as a lemon battery, a two-tone alarm with a paper cone speaker, a printable star finder, and a medieval trebuchet for storming castles. The graphics on Teacher Slater Harrison’s Science Toy Maker website may look out of date, but the projects -- a Bangladesh toy steam boat, an air rocket and launcher, and an electronic lie detector -- are exciting and kid-tested. There are also lots of links to other science activity sites, too, such as the video search engine Science Hack, which promises that every entry is screened by a scientist. Finally, if Danger is your middle name, you’ll love SciToys. Not just because the Fresnel Lens marshmallow cooker starts flaming within seconds, or author Simon Quellen Field will email you right back with the answer to a question about building it. It’s because the projects have scary names (the Plastic Hydrogen Bomb is really a high-tech squirt gun), and they work. The SciToys catalog is also a good, cheap source of materials used in projects.

Don Herbert passed away in June at the age of 89, but his spirit lives on. So release your inner science nerd, take the family outside and drop a tube of Mentos into a bottle of Diet Soda today!

Animation

2007-09-27T20:54:00.003-04:00

(Animation for Sesame Street by Michael Sporn)

From the earliest pen-and-ink novelties to the most sophisticated computer-generated full-length features, animated films have always been a cross between art and magic. Of course, they’re part science too: it’s the split-second afterimage in our brains (known as “persistence of vision”) that makes us think a speeding series of still pictures is actually a scene in motion. But it’s the animator’s tricks, plus the ability of great animators to “act” through their imaginary characters, that really makes animated images come alive.

As a young artist I learned some of those tricks as an apprentice to two masters of the hand-drawn animated film. Working as an “in-betweener” on Michael Sporn’s Oscar-nominated “Dr. DeSoto” showed me how speed and rhythm reveals a character’s personality. And John Canemaker – whose autobiographical film “The Moon and the Son” won last year’s Academy Award for Best Animated Short – taught me that good animators are good observers, recreating the world using only line and color. But today with the Internet, you can learn from the pros without ever leaving home. Whether you prefer traditional Disney-style or anime cel animation, stop-motion with puppets or clay a la Wallace and Gromit, or the 3-D computer images of films like “Happy Feet” and “Ratatouille,” there are sites that will introduce you to old classics and show you the latest techniques. You can even post your work online and get feedback from other students and veteran animators. So get ready to start making movies!

The most basic trick used by animators to make the invented look real is exaggeration, and the first lesson in every animation drawing course is squashing and stretching a bouncing ball. Larry's Toon Institute (by Larry Lauria, who helped design Disney's Magic Artist software), goes from the bouncing ball to character construction, timing, posing and learning how to “thumbnail,” or plan out, a scene. The site is part of the Student Corner at the Animation World Network, which also offers forums, advanced how-to’s, and Animation World Magazine, with columnists including Bart Simpson’s voice, Nancy Cartwright. Another site, Karmatoons, by Doug Compton, whose credits include Bugs Bunny, gives you his wonderfully-illustrated teaching notes from his time with the Joe Kubert School of Cartoon Art. Then there’s Acme Animation, where you can print out instructions on the bouncing ball and watch a video on how to make a flour sack fall. Pay the $99 registration fee, however, and there’s much more to this online school. Acme members can post their projects for public viewing and get feedback from other students and working professionals. As you work your way through more advanced levels you’re developing a portfolio that can help you get into art school or even a job in animation.

Lots of kids begin making animated films with clay, puppets, and other objects that are easy to move around. At StopMotionAnimation.com, you can find forums for your questions on technique, and the links page is extensive. Their related site, StopMoShorts, offers “puppet training” challenges such as walking, tripping, jumping and dueling. When you’ve completed the challenge, post your video for feedback. There are also interviews with such titans of the art form as Ray Harryhausen (“Jason and the Argonauts”), tutorials, and clips from classic films. I’ve mentioned Brickfilms before but I love it: Lego pieces are used for the sets -- and the stars.

Kids who want to learn computer animation can check out the Flash Animation tutorial by Samik Dutta, a 16-year-old homeschooler from India, at the Amazing Kids Animation Station. (Flash is the software used for a lot of the animated website elements.) The site also offers a showcase just for kids to display their animated videos. About.com’s animation page has a Flash Kids' Corner with lessons for ages 12 and under, as well as a list of free computer animation software you can download. And you can get a behind-the-scenes look at the studio that practically invented 3D computer animation at the Pixar website.

Finally, if you’re interested in the history of animated films, the online Optical Toys Exhibit at the North Carolina School of Science and Mathematics shows you such early devices as the Zoetrope, Kinora, Magic Lantern and Stereoscope in action. And my mentor, Michael Sporn, keeps a blog (his “Splog”) which riffs on animators past and present and has a blogroll worth checking out.

Update: Just found Flipbook.info, a website about the history of flipbooks, with video clips of some antiques. (Translated from the French.)

Still more updates: Animation Mentor is an online school for advanced character animation.

Amusement Parks (August 2005)

2007-08-27T00:29:00.000-04:00

We just got back from Coney Island, so this column seems especially appropriate!

Not being thrillseekers in general, we only made our first trip as a family to a “big kid” amusement park, The Great Escape in Lake George, this year. But all those giant rides and extreme roller coasters sure looked exciting (at least from the ground). If you want to know what you’re getting yourself in for when you make your pilgrimage to a major amusement park, or just want to enjoy some vicarious thrills, try swinging by some of these amazing websites.

The idea of amusement parks goes back to ancient Rome, but the early 1900s was when trolley companies looking to drum up weekend business built waterside picnic groves, which soon morphed into lively places like Coney Island. Midway Plaisance (the name means “pleasure ground”) is a site about the history and design of parks and rides; it also tells you how to get the most out of a visit. For hardcore advice, turn to Theme Park Insider, an award-winning, independent consumers' guide to parks in Orlando, Anaheim, and around the world. There’s news, rumors and safety information, and users’ opinions of attractions, restaurants and hotels. For Disney deals, MouseSavers has coupons, discount codes, and membership bargains for theme parks and resorts at and around Disney World and Disneyland.

If you’re a roller coaster fan, the Roller Coaster DataBase has information and statistics on over 1800 roller coasters worldwide. The site Joyrides is a bit out of date, sadly, but contains excellent still photos of some US amusement parks, along with links and tips for taking exciting roller coaster photos of your own. And on the brand-new website CoasterRadio.com you can listen to podcasts online, with links, or join the discussion in the forums.

Of course, you don’t have to leave your computer to experience the ride of your life. Build your own coaster on the Travel Channel theme parks page, using loops, corkscrews and boomerangs, and then see how it scores on the Fear-o-Meter. Funderstanding’s simulation lets you see how thrilling you can make your coaster without sending the riders into outer space. Set the height of the hills, the size of the loop, the speed and mass of the cars, the amount of friction on the track -- even how much gravity your park has – and then let ‘er rip. Learn how rides work and why they’re scary in the Physics of Amusement Park section of the animated Virtual Science Center Virtual Science Center, a Japanese site, which includes directions for a soda bottle gravity meter you can test at the playground. Or find out how to make an accelerometer from an old tennis ball tube and a fishing weight at ThinkQuest.

There’s do-it-yourself, and then there’s people who design their own real-life amusement park rides. All the animals on the Totally Kid Carousel in New York City’s Harlem were adapted from kids’ drawings, and they are amazing: Adriana Francisco’s chihuaha, Tanya Garcia’s lobster, Taji Okolo’s beautiful blue rabbit. And some pretty neat videos can be found by searching for backyard roller coasters, like metalworker John Ivers’ single-loop “Blue Flash.”

Food is a big part of the park experience. Cotton candy’s been around since the 1890s, and Nathan’s hot dogs are still a boardwalk favorite. But if you grew up in the sixties the fries from Palisades Amusement Park in Fort Lee, NJ may bring back fond memories. Here’s a recipe to try at home: Peel and krinkle-cut five potatoes into large pieces and place in a half gallon pitcher filled with about 5 ounces of malt vinegar and the rest filled with water. Fry in corn oil at medium temperature for two minutes until almost done. Remove and drain. Raise the heat to high, and just before serving, drop the potatoes back into oil for 70 seconds. Drain and sprinkle liberally with salt. Serve in a cone-shaped paper cup, topped with more vinegar. And remember to give yourself time to digest before getting on the Ferris wheel…

Family Online Picks:

The Great Escape (www.sixflags.com/parks/greatescape/)
Midway Plaisance (www.icewind.net/themepark)
Theme Park Insider (www.themeparkinsider.com)
MouseSavers (www.mousesavers.com)
Roller Coaster DataBase (www.rcdb.com)
Joyrides (www.joyrides.com)
CoasterRadio (www.coasterradio.com)
TravelChannel (http://travel.discovery.com/ideas/themeparks/rollercoasters/buildacoaster.html)
Funderstanding (www.funderstanding.com/k12/coaster)
Virtual Science Center (http://jvsc.jst.go.jp/find/rikigaku/english/index.htm)
ThinkQuest (http://library.thinkquest.org/2745/data/meter.htm)
Totally Kid Carousel (http://www.hoopla.org/Carousel/index.htm)
Blue Flash video (www.thrillnetwork.com/boards/attachment.php?attachmentid=11322)
Palisades Amusement Park (www.palisadespark.com)

Inventions

2007-08-18T15:20:00.000-04:00

Kids are full of ideas, and some of them turn out to be great inventions. Chester Greenwood of Maine came up with the idea for earmuffs while out skating in 1873, when he was 15 – and later made a fortune selling them to U.S. soldiers during World War I. The Popsicle was accidentally created by 11-year-old Frank Epperson when he left a sugary drink with the stirring stick still in it on his back porch during a cold snap in 1905. And in 1963, Tom Sims built the first snowboard in his eighth-grade shop class. Today you’ll find all kinds of websites on inventors of the past and present, as well as information, games, and contests to help inspire inventors of the future. Here’s just a sampling of what’s out there:

If you’d like to find out about inventions and inventors, Enchanted Learning’s page of brief but inclusive descriptions includes gadgets ranging from adhesive tape to zippers and US and Canadian notables from Mary Anderson, developer of the windshield wiper, to Frank J. Zamboni, who perfected his ice resurfacer in 1949. The Virtual Museum of Ancient Inventions at Smith College is a collection of impressive student-made replicas of artifacts dating back thousands of years, including household items like looms and candles, as well as a battery from 250 BCE and a steam engine from the first century. Invent.org, the website of the National Inventors Hall of Fame in Akron, Ohio, contains biographies of nearly 400 innovative honorees from the 1700s to today. Among the present and past names added to the list this year were King Gillette, famous for his razors, and stained glass lampmaker Louis Tiffany. And since 1996, six bright minds have been added every year to the National Gallery for America’s Young Inventors, where you can read comic strips explaining how each inductee came up with their award-winning idea.

Some invention websites don’t just talk about the subject, they let you participate as well. When you’re done browsing the Inventor of the Week archives at MIT’s Invention Dimension, you can try your hand at games that look at the connections between inventions, test yourself with “Which Came First, or take a trivia challenge. There’s also links on science and invention education, news, and contests. The MIT program was established by Jerome Lemelson, one of the world's most prolific inventors, and his wife, Dorothy, who also are behind the Lemelson Center for the Study of Invention and Innovation at the Smithsonian Institution. The Center’s website, Invention at Play, shows how fooling around leads to new discoveries. Along with inventors’ own stories and articles on the importance of play, and an online exhibit of toys, the site has all kinds of interactive opportunities for solving puzzles, doodling, writing collaborative stories, and more. Then there’s The Great Idea Finder, from the Vaunt Design Group. It’s not only full of invention resources on the Web, the bookshelf, and the screen (TV and DVD, that is), there’s even an Idea Wish List, where you can suggest something – sugarless chocolate, hair straightening shampoo, or a tool to make your hamster quiet at night – that YOU would like to see someone invent. (My only quibble with the site is that the grammar in the articles is sloppy.)

Inventors can share their ideas with the world through contests, online, and even on TV. (The Ellen DeGeneres Show invites kids 5 to 10 years old to show off their inventions.) By Kids For Kids goes further, by actually researching, developing and marketing kids’ ideas, for free. But the first step in selling an invention is to protect your idea, so you’ll get the credit due AND the profits! The US Trademark and Patent Office Kids Page walks you through the steps (and it’s also lots of fun – try the Trademarked Sounds page). So get your family thinking – you’ll never know where it’ll lead!

Family Online Picks:

Enchanted Learning - US and Canadian Inventors and Inventions www.enchantedlearning.com/inventors

Smith College Ancient Inventions www.smith.edu/hsc/museum/ancient_inventions

National Inventors Hall of Fame www.invent.org

National Gallery for America’s Young Inventors http://nmoe.org/gallery

MIT Invention Dimension http://web.mit.edu/invent/invent-main.html

Invention at Play www.inventionatplay.org

The Great Idea Finder www.ideafinder.com

US Trademark and Patent Office Kids Page www.uspto.gov/go/kids

Ellen DeGeneres http://ellen.warnerbros.com/show/kidsinvent/

By Kids For Kids www.bkfk.com

Solar Wind and Water has its own blog!

2007-08-18T14:07:00.000-04:00

Scoot over to www.solarwindandwaterpower.blogspot.com to find all the posts from this summer's ACC class. I'll be posting new info as I find it from time to time as well. Enjoy!

Writing Sites for Kids (and Adults)

2007-06-19T13:16:00.000-04:00

Writing can be a rewarding experience in itself, but for some of us there’s nothing to compare with seeing your work in print or on the computer screen. Sooner or later, a lot of adults who enjoy sharing children’s books with their kids or making up stories for their little ones at bedtime start to think about creating a book of their own. And budding young writers dream of the day they can share their work with the world.Well, thanks to Web sites devoted to writing by and for children, this is one dream that’s NOT impossible to achieve. Here’s a look at where to go for help in getting published, whether you’re a kid or a grownup.

Stone Soup is a print magazine made up entirely of work by children 8- to 13-years-old from all over the world. Submissions must be made by snail mail, but contributors do get paid: $40 for stories, poems and book reviews and $25 per illustration. Their Web site features hundreds of pieces by their contributors. There’s even an audio page where you can hear young authors reading their own work. Stone Soup gets 250 submissions a week, so they can’t use everything they receive, but if you’re serious and have a sense of adventure it’s worth taking a chance. Click on “Send Work” at the bottom of the page for details.

The Teen Ink Web site for 13- to 19-year-olds has more than 16,000 pages of student writing, and its monthly print magazine, by teens for teens, is sent out to English, creative writing, journalism and art classrooms around the country. Nonfiction categories include sports, opinion, community service, travel, environment, health, heroes, cars, jobs and money, reviews of books, movies, music, colleges, TV, Web sites and video games. They also publish college essays, articles, interviews, poetry and fiction as well as art and photos. Contributors receive a free copy of the magazine, and a Teen Ink pen and Post-It pad.

The Write Source, a textbook company, uses samples of the type of writing kids do in school — essays, reports, research papers and test answers — sent in by kids in both its books and its Web site. Their site says they’re looking for good writing from first graders through
high school students. Writers whose work is used receive a $50 savings bond and five copies of the book their piece appears in. Suggested topics and helpful hints for writing are available on their site.

Writers' Window, a site for writers from 5 to 18 from New Zealand, is designed by educators. Writings are categorized by age and genre (poems, plays, reviews, etc.). There’s also a discussion board for and an online writer’s workshop, with helpful information for making
your stories even better.

Kids’ writing contests are another way to see your work published and are easy to find on Google or other search engines. For instance, Writer’s Digest, a magazine widely read by hopefuls and professionals alike, has a monthly writing contest just for kids 13 and under.
Winners get a certificate of achievement, a copy of the latest issue and a gift certificate to Barnes & Noble bookstore. Entrants have to come up with a creative response, in 75 words or less, to situations such as November’s assignment to describe the world’s worst haircut. And children of South Asian descent ages 6 to 11 living in North America can enter a unique w riting contest from the award-winning literary magazine Kahani. They must come up with a 500-word short
story on any theme using the three words “cousin,” “river” and “turmeric.” (Yum!) This year’s deadline is Dec. 17, and Sangeeta Mehta, an editor at Simon & Schuster Children’s Publishing, will judge the stories.

A caution: while Links pages and sources like the Internet Public Library and Eduscapes are usually a good way to find sites, many of the kids’ writing sites I tried were out of date and may not be taking new work. So you may want to try using the contact page to get some confirmation they’re still in business before you submit your work. And as always, get adult approval before sending any personal information over the Internet.

On the other hand, grownups thinking about writing children’s books and stories have seemingly endless options. Children's book editor Harold Underdown’s popular and informative Web site The Purple Crayon is full of useful articles about the business. Children’s book author
Verla Kay offers chat rooms and message boards for writers and illustrators to share information, help each other, and have fun, while learning the business of writing and illustrating for children.

Children's Writer's Marketplace is a regularly-updated list of publications looking for contributors, compiled by Margaret Shauers. It has free articles too. Writing World has a section on children’s writing with articles on interesting topics such as multicultural fiction and handling controversial subjects. And the Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators, a network for writers, illustrators and others involved with literature for young people, has information on its site about its regional conferences, newsletter, and many publications.

Take it from a professional: Getting published is simply a matter of honing your craft and sticking with it. If you don’t make it the first time, don’t give up! There’s always another Web site or magazine to try — and there’s probably an editor out there just waiting for what you have to offer.

Family Online Picks:

Stone Soup www.stonesoup.com

Teen Ink http://teenink.com/

The Write Source http://www.thewritesource.com/publish.htm

Writers' Window http://english.unitecnology.ac.nz/writers/home.html

Writer’s Digest http://www.writersdigest.com/contests/?goto=closead

Kahani http://www.kahani.com/contest.php

The Internet Public Library

http://www.ipl.org/div/kidspace/browse/rzn8000/

Eduscapes http://eduscapes.com/tap/topic113.htm#1

The Purple Crayon http://www.underdown.org/

Verla Kay http://www.verlakay.com/

Children's Writer's Marketplace http://www.write4kids.com/wmarket/

Writing World http://www.writing-world.com/

The Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators

http://www.scbwi.org/

Save the Planet

2007-06-19T13:12:00.000-04:00

So what did you do for Earth Day 2007? If the Oscar for “An Inconvenient Truth” and the more than 1,400 Step It Up demonstrations which took place around the country last month are any sign, the environment has become a hot topic. And kids are naturally going to want to find out more. But for many children, hearing dire predictions and scary statistics about pollution and global warming is plain depressing; after all, this is their future we’re talking about. So with my own kids, and the students in my “Solar, Wind and Water Power” class, a focus on what individuals and communities can do to help protect our planet – especially projects they can try at home -- has been the way to go. A search for “kids” and “renewable energy” will turn up many useful sites. Here are some worth visiting:

Government agencies, utility companies and other commercial energy suppliers, and environmental advocates all have websites for kids with general information about energy alternatives. Just be aware that each has its own slant on the subject. The Kid’s Info page of Solar Energy International, a nonprofit educational organization, answers questions about the difference between solar thermal (heat) and photovoltaic (electricity-generating) energy, how PV cells work, and other interesting topics. Divided into sections for younger and older kids, it’s clearly written and integrated with useful links. Alliant Energy, a Wisconsin energy holding company, has a kids’ section on Energy and the Environment, with a page on renewable resources including biomass and geothermal. Explanations are concise and come with illustrations and links to photos and videos of actual installations such as wind turbines that tower over the Spirit Lake, Iowa, school playground.

Kids Korner, a feature available on the websites of power companies such as the Tri-State (sic) Generation and Transmission Association of Colorado, Nebraska, Wyoming and New Mexico, is aimed at a younger audience, with helpful (if sometimes cloying) graphics. The U.S. Energy Information Agency’s Kids Page may be a bit over-detailed and hard to follow, but along with energy facts it offers virtual field trips to different energy producers from oil rigs to wind turbines, the history and the people involved, an Energy Conversion Calculator and more. And at the US Dept of Energy’s Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (Motto: “Bringing you a prosperous future where energy is clean, abundant, reliable and affordable”), Dr. E’s Energy Lab (at a new URL since last mentioned in this column) has links to helpful sites.

Hands-on projects are a great way to learn about renewable energy. Re-Energy, a site from the Canada-based Pembina Institute, which works on environmental policy, has easy-to-follow construction plans for a wind turbine, biogas generator, solar car and more. Build It Solar has an excellent page of links to solar projects for kids, along with info for building “real” energy systems and eco-friendly entire houses. And the Solar Cooking Archive is the Internet authority on solar cookers of all kinds, with directions, recipes, and interesting information on how solar cookers are being used in parts of the world where traditional fuels are not available.

There ARE websites that can be helpful if you’re looking for a quick overview of global warming, or your kids are ready to delve into the details of climate change. Despite its wishy-washy approach – the overwhelming agreement of experts notwithstanding, the site only concedes that “many of the world's leading climate scientists” think human activity is helping to make the Earth warmer -- the Environmental Protection Agency’s Climate Change Kids Site is fairly complete and is presented in an easy-to-understand format. And The Weather Channel has a site called Climate Change - Forecast Earth, with short informative videos and news links. But I would steer clear of sites like OneWorld.net’s Kids Channel, whose cartoon penguin hosts presents facts about “megadeaths,” plague and Chernobyl, and blames global warming on “adults - including your parents and family.” Kids need hope, and it’s out there. As ClimateCrisis.net, the website for “An Inconvenient Truth” (and yes, my children did see and appreciate the movie) says:

“There is no doubt we can solve this problem. In fact, we have a moral obligation to do so. Small changes to your daily routine can add up to big differences in helping to stop global warming. The time to come together to solve this problem is now – take action.”

Family Online Picks:

An Inconvenient Truth www.climatecrisis.net

Step it Up http://stepitup2007.org

Solar Energy International www.solarenergy.org/resources/kids.html

Alliant Energy Kids www.powerhousekids.com

Kids Korner http://tristate.apogee.net/kids

U.S. Energy Information Agency www.eia.doe.gov/kids

Dr. E’s Energy Lab www1.eere.energy.gov/kids

Re-Energy www.re-energy.ca

Build It Solar www.builditsolar.com/Projects/Educational/educational.htm

Solar Cooking www.solarcooking.org

EPA Climate Change for Kids http://epa.gov/climatechange/kids

The Weather Channel Climate Change - Forecast Earth http://climate.weather.com

Oceans (May 2005)

2007-05-08T22:28:00.000-04:00

We don’t live anywhere near the sea, but we still love to go to the shore. It may be a while before we get there again, but in the meantime we can enjoy a virtual voyage with marine scientists, learn about navigators of old, and watch creatures from the deep, live, on our own computer screen. The ocean offers so many interesting topics to explore that it’s hard to pick just a few. But here’s a quick selection I liked, plus some portholes, I mean portals, with links to dozens more.

Follow the day-to-day workings of scientists from Cape Cod as they use the submersible Alvin – the same craft that examined the wreck of the Titanic -- on the Dive and Discover section of the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institute’s website. When an expedition is in progress you can read regular updates, view videos and slides, solve puzzles, and even email the crew with your questions. If you missed this year’s voyage to the Galápagos Rift to study hydrothermal vents (May 20 through June 3), sign up and they’ll let you know when the next expedition will take place. In the Pacific, the NeMO Project studies the Axial Seamount, an active volcano off the coast of Washington. This year’s expedition was not covered live, but you can see what a real voyage looks like through computer simulations and actual footage taken by their remote vehicle ROPOS of underwater steam vents and the interesting life that exists near them.

Or get a taste of the sea the way Columbus did by trying some of the wonderful activities described in “The Age of Exploration,” an online exhibit of The Mariner’s Museum in Newport News, Virginia. We’ve built and used their printable astrolabe and quadrant, made our own primitive compass, and even enjoyed their recipe for hardtack. (To make it really authentic, though, you have to add weevils….) Modern-day adventurers will want to check out the University of Wisconsin’s site Underwater Exploration, which has information on diving, underwater archeology, and directions for an experiment that shows what happens when you get the bends. Wish you were there right now? See if the surf’s up down the shore with the webcams at Point Pleasant Beach, NJ. Or go to Yahoo! for 30 other beach cams.

While marine life can be fascinating, some species, sadly, have a face that only a mother (or a scientist) could love. Dr. Steve O'Shea of the Auckland University of Technology in New Zealand, is so enamored of squid that he holds the world record for keeping one alive in captivity. His current project is raising baby broad squid in a tank in his laboratory.You can visit the little squirts, complete with creepy eyeballs, on the real-time, remote-controlled SquidCam. (“Now with Extra-Active Squid!”) Next O’Shea hopes to move on to giant squid -- yikes. Manatees look like melted elephants, but see for yourself on the ManateeCam at Homosassa Springs Wildlife State Park in Florida. The Park serves is a rehabilitation center and refuge for orphaned or injured animals.

Whales aren’t cuddly, but at least they’re better lookin’. And Lucy, the amazing do-it-yourself, life-size, inflatable whale you build using about $60 worth of materials from the home and garden store will feel like a member of your family in no time. She’s fits in an ordinary gym bag and is light enough for one person to carry! Order the directions for $10 from WhaleNet, a site created by Wheelock College in Boston.

Not swamped yet? Send budding oceanographers to OceanWorld from Texas A&M for easy-to-understand info on topics like waves and icebergs and recommended links. The website for NASA’s SeaWFS (Sea-viewing Wide Field-of-view Sensor), which guages the color of the ocean to learn about marine plantlife, is another good launching point for further discovery. Scroll down to How Deep Can They Go? and click on the objects on the chart (including the Titanic, submarines, and whales) for links. You’ll also find links to other sites, such as: Ocean Planet, an exhibit from the Smithsonian Institution with fact sheets, stories by “Jaws” author Peter Benchley, and The JASON Foundation for Education (formerly The JASON Project), a program that schools, homeschoolers and families can pay to join. Founded by Titanic discoverer Robert Ballard, JASON sends some lucky Student and Teacher Argonauts every year to work side by side with scientists at actual expedition sites.

Just for fun, NOAA, the National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration, has links to printable activities, coloring pages and other ocean-themed sites for young children. And MarineBio.org, a site where marine life scientists can find research, news, and trends and highlight the work they’re doing, has a kids’ page with links to online science games and activities. But if your kids really can’t wait to get to the seashore, let them make sandcastle sculptures at home that’ll keep forever with this recipe from KidsDomain.com. Just take 3 cups of sand, 1 1/2 cups cornstarch and 1 1/2 cup of water. Mix and cook over low heat in an old pot until thick. Spoon it out onto newspaper, shape, and dry. And happy sailing!

Family Online Picks: WHOI Dive and Discover (www.divediscover.whoi.edu/); NeMO (www.pmel.noaa.gov/vents/nemo/dive.html); Mariner’s museum (www.mariner.org/educationalad/ageofex/); Underwater Exploration (www.seagrant.wisc.edu/madisonjason11/); Yahoo! beach cams (http://dir.yahoo.com/recreation/outdoors/beaches/beach_cams/); SquidCam

(www.thesciencesite.info/squidcam.shtml); ManateeCam (www.manateecam.com/manateecam.html); Lucy (http://whale.wheelock.edu/whalenet-stuff/LucyPage.html); OceanWorld (http://oceanworld.tamu.edu); SeaWFS (http://seawifs.gsfc.nasa.gov/); NOAA (www.education.noaa.gov/socean.html); MarineBio (http://www.marinebio.com/MarineBio/MindGames/).

Health

2007-04-24T18:33:00.000-04:00

When the kids (or you) get sick, there’s no better tool than the Internet for checking out symptoms and finding a range of possible fixes, from mainstream to alternative to old wives' tales. But sorting through all the information you may find is vital. Is the advice you’re getting coming from a recognized researcher, or the 21st century version of a snake oil salesman? You need a list of reliable health sites you can count on as soon as fevers start to rise and everyone feels lousy. But for those in-between times, advice for sifting through the advice is just as important. Here’s some of both:

You can find links to pre-screened health care sites in general, and New York State services in particular, on the Health Information Center at Crandall Public Library in Glens Falls. Included is Crandall Medical Librarian Guinevere Forshey’s useful article called “The ABC’s of Evaluating Online Consumer Health Information.” Among her suggestions:

Ask yourself “Am I getting both sides of the issue?” Opinions are different from facts and they should be clearly stated as opinions. “Are they trying to sell me something?” A quality health site will not disguise advertising as facts. Remember, if it sounds too good to be true, it probably is.

Look for sites that give the author’s education or training. Good websites will have contact information that is easy to find and will include a phone number, postal and email addresses.

Forshey recommends Medline Plus from the National Library of Medicine & the National Institute of Health as a great place to get started. It has info on all kinds of topics, as well as its own list of links about interpreting and evaluating health websites. There’s even a medical encyclopedia and dictionary and links to health news from the last 30 days.

Forshey’s picks for parents include KidsHealth (“up-to-date information about growth, food and fitness, childhood infections, immunizations, lab tests, medical and surgical conditions, and the latest treatments”) and Family Doctor (“great information on common conditions from the American Academy of Family Physicians”). Both sites have facts for grownups, a fun section on the human body for kids, and topics teens are interested in, such as eating disorders and sex. Another Forshey standout is the Parents' Common Sense Encyclopedia by pediatrician Jeffrey Hull. It’s a quick-reference online parenting manual for questions about chilblains, knock knees, and other common childhood ailments. A library of pediatric textbooks for patients and health professionals are available at the Virtual Pediatric Hospital. And the medical library Medem has a section on children's health, as well as a free monthly newsletter, the Medem Smart Parents' Health Source e-mail service.

For some parents, sources like the ones above may take too much of a medical approach to some problems, especially behavioral questions like co-sleeping and discipline. Finding qualified experts who are open to alternative parenting options is hard, but AskDrSears may be a good choice. The Sears clan -- William Sears, MD, his wife, Martha Sears, RN, and their sons James and Robert, also pediatricians – have shared their advice with both TV news shows and attachment parenting magazines like Mothering. Their website is full of opinionated insight into breast and bottle feeding, sleep problems, fussy babies and other parenting concerns.

Nor should die-hard skeptics worry. There’s a site for you, too. Quackwatch, written by psychiatrist Stephen Barrett, is on a mission to attack misleading advertising and investigate questionable claims. If nothing else, his articles – on infomercials, homeopathic remedies and acupuncture -- will makes you think twice about alternative medicine. Barrett is also behind the Internet Health Pilot, billed as “Your Gateway to Reliable Health Information.” These related sites give searching strategies, tips for telling if a site is “quacky,” and a links to sites they like.

One of those sites is Keep Kids Healthy, written by pediatrician Vincent Ianelli. Most sites will give you medical advice, but Ianelli’s is the only one I’ve seen that delivers it in the form of haiku:

Croup

A bark like a seal
Trouble breathing and hoarse cry.
Try some steam or mist.

One final note: Forshey advises always checking with your healthcare provider before following any medical advice on the Web.

Recycled Toys and Gifts (December 2006)

2007-02-08T22:04:00.000-05:00

This time of year always puts me in a do-good mood, and recycling discarded household materials into holiday toys and gifts certainly fits the bill. The list of things people make from old stuff is endless: sock puppets and sweater dolls; model cars, bikes and planes made from wire wrapped with cloth; coasters, placemats woven from gum wrapper chains; melted vinyl records bowls; juice cartons or packets turned into purses, wallets and tote bags; and rag rugs crocheted out of plastic grocery bags. Although turning trash into treasure is a great way to help save the planet, the idea didn’t start with the new wave of hip crafters. In places like Latin America, Africa, and Asia, where new materials are scarce and nothing is wasted, people have been making artwork and playthings from empty containers, old machine parts and the like for generations. For a great introduction to the topic, visit the traveling exhibit Recycled, Re-Seen: Folk Art from the Global Scrap Heap at the website of the Museum of International Folk Art in Santa Fe.

Whether made by Third World artisans or local urban artists, recycled crafts are hot in gift shops around the area and online. This column was inspired by a beautiful angel pin made out of a Coke can and wire by disabled artisans from Kenya that I recently picked up at Mango Tree Imports in Ballston Spa, NY. Such Fair Trade retailers deal with companies that often help entire communities prosper. Some, like Ten Thousand Villages, which also has a store in Northampton, let you order online; for others, like Mango Tree, you may have to call to have an order shipped. But their websites are always interesting. That’s the case with Indigo Arts, a folk art store in Philadelphia. Their Recycled Art and Toy Bazaar offers soda can bugs from Vietnam, Indian glass bangle picture frames, purses woven from potato chip bags from Honduras, and fluffy plastic bag & wire chickens from South Africa. At One World Projects, you’ll find silver necklaces made from melted-down Austrian coins that were used in Ethiopia and other African countries for over 200 years, as well as cute junkyard critters assembled from nuts and bolts in Vietnam, recycled paper journals from Uganda, and tote bags made from recycled Mayan women’s blouses in Guatemala. And at the Eco-artware website, which carries products such as stuffed warthogs made from soft reclaimed sweaters, Scrabble tile tree ornaments, and bicycle chain bottle openers, there’s information on the more than 25 environmentally-conscious artists who make the pieces, plus a crafts how-to archive.

Inspired to try some recycled artwork of your own? Finding directions for easy recycled toys and gifts is easy -- this is one topic where a straightforward search will get you just what you’re looking for. You can also find lists of links for kids’ crafts on sites like The Imagination Factory, all about making art from garbage, which has a Trash Matcher with links organized by the type of “solid waste” you’re starting with. Scouting Web’s links will take you to directions for making melted vinyl record bowls and magazine page beads. Then there are sites that offer their own directions, such as Recycling Revolution (no pictures, unfortunately) and Making Friends, which specializes in using items families in particular tend to accumulate, like baby food jars, tissue boxes, and toilet paper tubes. Not aimed at kids per se, but still full of good projects, is the Make Things section of WikiHow, a contributor-written site; check out the sections on personal accessories and duct tape projects.

Some sites are worth looking at just for inspiration. Flickr’s Tips for Recycling and Reusing Pool, an online photo album of crafts, sometimes, but not always, includes links to directions. The math- and science-oriented Toys from Trash website, created by a science teacher in India, has photos of projects, but finding directions takes some work. And see what kids are doing at Happen’s Toy Lab in Cincinnati, where visitors put together new creations from old toy parts.

Of course, recycled gifts deserve recycled giftwrap. Artist John Boak’s Wrap Art galleries have tons of ideas on how to make your gifts look fantastic using fragments of paper and miscellaneous items from around your house. Unique gifts that make life better for all of us – what a great way to celebrate the holidays!

Books (July 2004)

2006-12-24T20:51:00.000-05:00

How do you find books for the readers in your family? In sixth grade, I had a school librarian extraordinaire. Our building was brand new, and so was the library – not a thing on the shelves. Every week, the librarian unpacked another shipment of books. And every week, when my class came in for library time, there she’d be with another novel of fantasy and adventure set aside, just for me.

Such personalized service is getting harder to come by, but luckily the Web offers a host of features that are almost as good. The most obvious, of course, are found on Amazon.com and the other popular online booksellers, such as Barnes and Noble and Powells. Look up a book you’re curious about, or one you know you enjoyed, and you’ll be presented with computer-generated information on similar books that interested other customers, as well as customer-created lists of similar books they recommend. If you’re wondering whether your 10-year-old is ready for that children’s classic you loved when you were his age, or if your favorite author’s latest lives up to her previous work, online booksellers let you check what other readers have to say about it. Most importantly, they’ll tell you what the blurbs from Hornbook or School Library Journal can’t: whether the book really grabs young readers, not just if it’s “good for them.”

There are websites dedicated to helping families find books that are fun and rewarding. Many parents turn to the book catalog Chinaberry, started by a mom looking for “positive and uplifting” books for her own children, specifically for their intimate, in-depth reviews, sorted by age from birth to teens to adults. Jim Trelease’s newest edition of “The Read-Aloud Handbook” has just come out; go to his website and click on “The Treasury” to sample books for families perfect for sharing. I love former teacher and school librarian Esme Raji Codell’s sassy style; the author of “How to Get Your Child to Love Reading” has written some wonderful books of her own, and shares her favorite reads on planetesme.com. The site Reading Pen Pals, created by teacher Justine Henning, offers reviews of great fiction and nonfiction, like Harriet the Spy and Fast Food Nation, listed by title and author. Adult reviewers not only encourage young readers to draw on their background knowledge, make connections between themselves and the story’s characters, and compare themes with those in other books, they’ll often respond to kids who send in their own opinions.

But don’t count libraries out: their websites often link to great reading resources, and they’re the best place to let kids do their own searches. The Juvenile Series and Sequels Database of the Mid-Continent Public Library in Missouri, with over 22,000 titles, can satisfy the craving for “More!” whether it’s Amelia Bedelia or The X-Files. Series are classified as Juvenile Easy, for young readers just beginning to read, Juvenile, appropriate for grade school through junior high, and Young Adult, for high school-aged readers. And if your teens are ready for books that push the limits of young adult fiction, point them towards Reading Rants, a website created by New York City school librarian Jennifer Hubert for kids who are wondering if there's life after Judy Blume and Brian Jacques. Jen’s lists have names like Graphic Fantastic, Fanging Around (vampire stories), and Nail Biters (teen thrillers) – they’re not for the faint of heart.

If that’s STILL not enough, check out the links on the Saratoga Springs Public Library’s Reading Central webpage. There’s BookLetters, with reviews, interviews and discussion guides; a whole page of Websites for Readers, from The New York Times to Sparknotes, and including teen, romance, and mystery fan sites; a link to the quirky “Who Reads What?” site, where you can find out what’s on the nightstand of everyone from Kofi Annan to Raquel Welch; and much more. In fact, thanks to the Internet, you’ve got the nearest thing to my sixth grade librarian right on your computer, 24/7. And she’s never too busy to help!

Online Reading Bonus! Get a preview of the marvelous Daniel Pinkwater’s upcoming novel The Neddiad -- “My best work so far,” the author promises -- at www.pinkwater.com/theneddiad. Chapters have been posted weekly since August, and will continue until its publication in April 2007. There's also a forum for your comments -- and Pinkwater, the "Grand Poohbah," will respond!

Medieval Monsters (October 2006)

2006-11-04T12:44:00.000-05:00

If you think King Kong, Jurassic Park, and Ghostbusters make this the era of terrifying creatures, you should have been around in the Middle Ages. In Medieval times the popular culture was full of Fantastical Beasts derived from Greek myth, pagan traditions, and voyagers with overactive imaginations. “Here be dragons” was the label mapmakers put at the edge of the known world, and art, literature, and even architecture were covered with images of sea serpents, unicorns and gargoyles. So, since this is the season for frightful fun, let’s explore some of these classic ghouls ... if you dare.

Gargoyles, of course, are those stony monsters that served as rainspouts on Gothic cathedrals all over Europe. (In fact, the word “gargoyle” is related to “gargle,” which makes them seem less scary already.) No one really knows why they were put there, but they’re so much fun for stone carvers to create, and other people to find, that they’ve been included in buildings right through the 20th century. Sculptor Joe Chiffriller offers virtual tours of ancient gargoyles in London, Paris, and Florence, but as sites like New York Carver and The Monster Walks prove, there are plenty of roof-top surprises much closer to home. I used to work at night on Wall Street, and I’ll never forget the shock of walking through a nearly-empty office on the top floor of the Woolworth Building and spying a weird figure right outside the window.

One of the most comprehensive gargoyle sites on the Web belongs to Chicago stone carver Walter S. Arnold, who trained in Italy and produced more than 90 of the 112 architectural carvings on the Washington National Cathedral. He’s got pictures showing show how gargoyles are created from start to finish. The National Cathedral itself has downloadable pages describing its gargoyles and identifying the recognizable models, including Darth Vader.

Even though the website doesn’t show it, visitors to the Norman Rockwell Museum in Stockbridge, Massachusetts know that climbing on the 7-foot-high pillar of gargoyle, created by the illustrator’s son, Peter Rockwell, is a must. (You can see other examples of his sculpture at the website of St. Paul’s Within the Walls American Episcopal Church in Rome.) Also nearby in Troy, New York, more than 100 gargoyles frolic all around the campus of Emma Willard School, including 30 running, bowling, wrestling, and somersaulting goblins on the former gym, and lively portraits of Teddy Roosevelt, George Washington and Abe Lincoln. The school’s website points them out for you.

If that’s not enough, the students of Marshall Middle School in Wisconsin have created a gargoyles, cathedrals and castles links page as part of their study of the Middle Ages. Or try some gargoyle crafts at home: Sculpey, the clay that hardens when baked, has directions for creating a mini-gargoyle, or make a “stone” gargoyle costume using directions from the archives of FamilyFun magazine.

But maybe gruesome isn’t your style. In that case, you might want to explore Medieval renditions of unicorns and dragons. The magical unicorn, with its regal horse-like body and majestic horn, appeared in legend, song, and wonderful tapestries of the period. The Hunt of the Unicorn series at The Cloisters, part of the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York, can be read just like a comic strip as it follows the pursuit and capture of the elusive beast. A slide show narrated by Museum Director Philippe de Montebello tells the whole story on The Met’s website. Or learn about another famous tapestry series, The Lady and The Unicorn, from the (English-language) website of the Musée national du Moyen Âge in Paris. The legend of Saint George, the patron saint of England, slaying a dragon inspired many Medieval paintings, and the National Gallery of Art takes a thorough look at a version by Rogier van der Weyden from 1435.

Of course there were no DVDs in the Middle Ages, so where did Europeans go when they wanted a good horror story? To Bestiaries, or books about beasts. Here were gathered stories about dragons, unicorns and other fearsome animals, along with more gentle creatures like the barnacle goose, which grew from the branches of trees and dropped into the water when mature, all with elaborate illustrations. You can share their terror and delight at The Medieval Bestiary, an online project of Canadian David Badke. You may never scream at the sight of a mere movie monster again.

Family Online Picks:

New York Carver www.newyorkcarver.com)

Monster Walks http://www.aardvarkelectric.com/gargoyle/walks.html)

Walter S. Arnold http://www.stonecarver.com/)

Washington National Cathedral

http://www.cathedral.org/cathedral/visit/self.shtml

Peter Rockwell (http://www.stpaulsrome.it/tour/tourfr.html)

Emma Willard School

http://www.emmawillard.org/campus/architecture/gargoyles.php)

Gargoyles and Cathedrals(http://www.kn.pacbell.com/wired/fil/pages/listgargoyles.html)

Sculpey Gargoyles (http://www.sculpey.com/Projects/projects_Gargoyles.htm)

Gargoyle Costume (http://jas.familyfun.go.com/arts-and-crafts?page=CraftDisplay&craftid=10253)

The Hunt of the Unicorn (http://www.metmuseum.org/explore/Unicorn/unicorn_splash.htm)

The Lady and the Unicorn (http://www.musee-moyenage.fr/ang/homes/home_id20393_u1l2.htm)

Saint George and the Dragon (http://www.nga.gov/kids/rogier/rogier1.htm);

The Medieval Bestiary (http://bestiary.ca/index.html)

Urban Legends (Feb. 2003)

2006-10-11T09:58:00.000-04:00

I’m lucky. I hardly ever get spam, the email equivalent of junk mail, clogging up my mailbox. But what I do get, on a regular basis, are emails people forward me with stuff I just don’t want to read.

Sometimes they’re messages warning that my computer’s been infected with the Teddy Bear virus, or urging me to avoid antiperspirant or heating cups of water in the microwave. Others promise free goodies, like a $50 coupon for dinner at Applebees or new Nikes just for forwarding the message to “everyone I know.” Some want me to forward a picture of a lost little girl, or help a dying boy collect the world’s largest number of emails. A few have tried to get me to add my name to chain letter, or an email petition to save public radio or allow prayer in schools. And then there’s the jokes – don’t get me started on those!

Even if every one of these emails, written by people I’ve never met and forwarded to me by well-meaning friends, relatives and acquaintances, were filled with absolutely vital information, I still wouldn’t want to read them. I prefer to get my news from sources I know, which is why I’ve always used mainstream media outlets --TV, newspaper and radio websites -- as my home page. For the past few years I’ve used Google News because , which carries stories from thousands of newspapers and TV stations around the world. I can check the headlines several times a day just by going online.

But the fact is, almost every forwarded email I’ve ever gotten is either inaccurate, an outright hoax, or an Urban Legend. How do I know? Whenever I get one of these things, I check it with the experts: David Emery’s Urban Legends and Folklore section on About.com and the Urban Legends Reference Pages run by Barbara and David Mikkelson at Snopes.com.

Long before the Web existed, I discovered the Urban Legend phenomena in some great books by folklore specialist Jan Harold Brunvand. ULs are easy to spot, once you know the signs: they’re neat little stories about a celebrity or a friend of a friend (FOAF, in ULese) that have some kind of a twist, usually with a moral, at the end. According to Brunvand, some of these whoppers, like The Vanishing Hitchhiker, a “ghost story” you may have heard as a kid, trace their ancestry back to the Dark Ages. But now that we’re in the Digital Age, tales that once took years to circle the globe now take mere days via email.

About.com and Snopes are the best of the UL and hoax websites because they keep track of the latest emails to make the rounds AND they check with the people or companies involved to find out what the real story is, with links to online newspaper articles or official statements where you can see for yourself. Both have archives where you can look up that old classic that may have landed in your mailbox years after it started. Other UL sites exist, but many of them aim more for humor than verification. (One entire site is dedicated to variations on the famous email scam from Nigeria which asks strangers to help sneak money out of the country in exchange for a “reward.”)

You can also do your own sleuthing. The email I got promising a free meal at Applebees included a bogus “link” to the company’s website. I went to the real website and found a pop-up box which described the email as a hoax. Any new, legitimate virus alerts are sure to show up on the Microsoft website or any reputable high-tech news source. Norton, the anti-virus software, also lists hoaxes. For the government’s take on health-related stories, go to the Centers for Disease Control website .

So what about that caution about anti-perspirant causing breast cancer? Ignore it. The kidnapping? Never happened. That dying kid? He got better years ago, and the continuing flood of emails have caused the charity’s website to crash more than once. And the Teddy Bear virus? It works by convincing YOU to delete a perfectly normal Windows file.

As for those chain letters and petitions -- who’s really collecting your name and address, and what for? And those jokes … well, let’s just say people have different ideas of what’s funny.

Please – think twice before forwarding an email to everyone you know. Chances are good everyone doesn’t really want it.

Paper Models (December 2004)

2006-08-20T15:34:00.002-04:00

Before you even start reading this column, you might as well dash out for some card stock and a fresh color ink cartridge, because your printer is about to get a workout. Whether you and your kids are into space ships, fancy buildings, amazing moving contraptions or cute animals, make-your-own paper models you can print off the Web are like having the world’s largest toy factory right in your computer. Keep these links on hand for a boring winter afternoon, and in no time everyone from toddlers to grownups will be happily cutting and pasting away. They’re irresistible.

We started making paper models as hands-on projects in math, science and social studies, but now we make them just for fun. The first models we made, and good practice for novice model-makers, are geometric nets. (A net is what you’d get if you ran over a three-dimensional shape with a steamroller.) Cut the net out, fold and tape or glue the edges together, and you’ve got your original shape back – but you don’t have to settle for the plain solids we started with. Jill Britton’s Polyhedra Pastimes activities page has links to sites with dodecahedrons covered in tessellated (interlocking) designs and multi-colored magic fortunetellers (#4), folding and unfolding cubes (#27) and lots of other cool stuff.

Once you’ve got the basics down, you’re ready to move onto planes, trains, buses, rockets, robots, and castles – an entire universe of paper objects just waiting to be printed and put together, some of it intricately detailed. Fantasy game players and LOTR fans can find environments for their characters to live (and battle) in, while model railroad builders can fill in their landscapes with HO-scale stores and houses. Some good places to look for links are Free Paper Toys, which says its listings are “100% Kid Safe;” the Paper Model WebRing, featuring sites from around the world; and 3D Paper Model, a site based in Taiwan. Don’t fret if the model you want is printed in Japanese, German or another foreign language. It’s not that hard to follow the directions solely from looking at the diagrams (Lego maniacs do it all the time). And it’s interesting to peek at pop culture from other countries. Just as the U.S. has bobblehead dolls of famous athletes, in Japan “hako,” or box-headed figures are all the rage. There are hako cartoon stars like Superman and Sailor Moon, as well as caricatures of known artists and world leaders.

NASA offers dozens of paper models of spacecraft, including the Cassini/Huygens spacecraft now orbiting Saturn. There’s a list of links to models at NASA’s Solar System website kids page. (NASA’s Spacelink website also has models tied to lessons on flight, but some of the files are 100 pages or more.)

Paper Toys, designed by a Texas man calling himself “Papermeister Dooney,” is a good site for models of buildings like the Sydney Opera House, Shakespeare’s Globe Theater, and Bill Gates’ mansion. He also has cars like the DeLorean, the Porsche 911 and the PT Cruiser. Paper Paradise, a commercial site, has a free airplane it says is capable of barrel rolls and loops that comes with directions for a rubberband launcher. For younger kids, the printer company Canon has Print Planet, with pinwheels, paper dolls and an entire paper town, with cars to drive in it, while rival Hewlett-Packard has undersea, outer space and dino dioramas.

Our best models so far include the free pop-up galleon from the commercial Heritage Model site; the Asian-influenced folding and unfolding cube toy by Ellen Yi-Luen Do; and Jill Britton’s Polyhedra Earth Map (we did the cubist globe). The kids enjoy creeping out their friends with a dragon that appears to watch you wherever you go, from Grand Illusions, and I’m very proud of my adorable moving woodpecker from Sasatoku. I haven’t yet decided what color paper I’ll use to print my 3D 2005 desk calendar, courtesy of Robert Simm’s Neat Math Page, but over in the kids’ room I hear plans afoot for a miniature movie set with the buildings, spaceships and robots. Guess I better lay in more supplies of heavy paper and ink...

Tips on techniques: The Card Modeling FAQ is the hobby’s bible. At minimum, you’ll need a B&W printer, heavyweight business-card-thickness printer paper, scissors and tape or a glue stick. For more advanced models you’ll want a good color printer, special readers like Adobe Acrobat, an X-Acto knife and a straight edge, a blunt pointy object like a knitting needle to “score” fold lines for sharp creases, and craft glue. Go easy on the Elmer’s; a dab’ll do ya, and hold the pieces together for a minute or two until set. And save the scraps -- they sometimes have important instructions on them. Then clear some shelf space, because your personal toy factory is ready to roll!

Updates:

JavaGami software by Ann and Mike Eisenberg of the University of Colorado has models of sushi and other shapes and lets you custom-design your own.

30 Cool Comics and Movies Characters Papercraft are, truly, cool

Check these out:

Polyhedra Pastimes (http://britton.disted.camosun.bc.ca/jbpolyhedra.htm)
Free Paper Toys (www.freepapertoys.com )
Paper Model WebRing (http://i.webring.com/hub?ring=papermodelwebrin)
3D Paper Model (www.3dpapermodel.com.tw/)
NASA (http://solarsystem.nasa.gov/kids/papermodels.cfm)
Paper Toys (www.papertoys.com)
Paper Paradise (www.paperparadise.com/free/mig15.cfm)
Heritage Models galleon (http://home.clara.net/rogerpattenden/html/galleon.html)
Sasatoku (http://www.sasatoku.co.jp/hp/present/paper_craft/index.html)
Dragon Optical Illusion (http://www.grand-illusions.com/opticalillusions/dragon_illusion/)
The Toymaker (http://www.thetoymaker.com/index.html)
JavaGami http://l3d.cs.colorado.edu/~ctg/projects/hypergami/JavaGami_Home.html

Foreign Language (May 2006)

2006-07-29T21:23:00.000-04:00

Yes, you can get by almost anywhere in the world with just English. But learning to speak a foreign language, even if you never get beyond basic pleasantries, can make a visit to another country so much more meaningful. And becoming fluent in a foreign language, or two, is not only a useful skill: it’s also a window onto other worlds. You don’t even have to go abroad to hear many languages, as the Modern Language Association’s map of languages spoken in U.S. proves. Of course, immersion is the best way to develop fluency, but if you’re not ready to move someplace where English isn’t spoken, the next best choice is to listen to native speakers as much as possible, and that’s where the Internet comes in. With a high-speed connection you have access to audio, video and animated lessons on almost any language you can think of, for both children and adults. What’s more, even if you never leave home, the Internet can bring foreign countries to you, through foreign-language news and cultural sites. So grab your passport, I mean your mouse, and go!

Americans are particularly bad when it comes to learning other languages. Only 9 percent of us can speak a second language fluently, compared to half of Europeans, according to The National Virtual Translation Center. And most langauge instruction in the U.S. is confined to Spanish, French and one or two other European languages. The NVTC was formed in 2003 when the government realized that mastery of foreign languages is useful not only in trade and foreign relations but in national security concerns as well. NVTC’s Languages of the World website contains information about hundreds of languages, including their origins and families, writing systems, with links on each one.

Other places to look for foreign language websites include iLoveLanguages, a catalog of more than 2400 links that include online lessons, translating dictionaries, native literature, translation services, software, and language schools. The University of Richmond’s "Global Village" is for anyone interested in communicating with, visiting, or learning about other peoples and cultures in a dozen different languages. Then there’s Polish teacher Magdalena Pospieszna's Language Links, whose wide selection of sites include Esperanto and Latin.

Not surprisingly, given Britain’s proximity to Europe, the BBC’s website is a wonderful resource for interactive foreign language instruction for English speakers. We’ve used their video and audio files and animations for kids for learning French at home, but they also offer Irish, Welsh, Scottish, Gaelic, Spanish, German and Italian instruction for all levels, and “holiday phrases” for vacationers in 37 languages. The BBC World Service news broadcast is also available in many European languages. Britain’s Channel 4 also has a site where you can play animated games at Chez Mimi (French) and Hennings Haus (German).

Some foreign language instruction books and textbooks have interactive websites where you can listen to pronouciation or test yourself with online flashcards that are useful even without the book. McDougal Littell’s ClassZone includes maps, an online workbook, webquests with links that help you complete a task such as planning a vacation abroad, and self-checking quizzes for French, Spanish and German. And the educational publisher Usborne has online pronunciation guides and links to interesting websites for those languages as well as Italian, Russian and Japanese.

The World Wide Web is also helping to preserve languages that are in danger of extinction, including many Native American tongues. For instance, as part of a project about people of the Arctic we found excellent sites with audio pronounciation guides, traditional stories and other features on languages spoken by Inuit and Yupik tribes. Other lesser-known languages are also well-represented. For another project on the Himalayas, I came across complete video lessons on beginning to intermediate Tibetan.

Along with lessons, there are many other ways you can use the Internet to practice and improve foreign language skills. Here are some suggestions by About.com’s French Language website:

Incorporate the language into your routine every day by making a word-of-the-day site your homepage.
Read newspapers online from the area you’re studying. (Google News offers versions from several different countries; go to the bottom of the page.)
Visit sites that stream or archive foreign language radio and television broadcasts or webcasts. (Some channels have kids’ sections with games and cartoon clips.)
Listen to music in the language you’re studying on artists’ websites or sample CDs on sites like Amazon.com. (In the week before Christmas we learned a whole slew of carols en francais.)
Search for foreign-language movies you can rent or borrow from your library (slapstick comedies work well in any language).

So let the Internet broaden your horizons by introducing you to new and different languages. Bonne chance!

Family Online Picks:

Modern Language Association map (www.mla.org/cgi-shl/docstudio/docs.pl?census_main)

NVTC (www.nvtc.gov/lotw)

iLoveLanguages (www.ilovelanguages.com)

Global Village (www.richmond.edu/~jpaulsen/cvanetgv.html)

Magdalena Pospieszna's Language Links (www.pospieszna.com)

BBC Languages (www.bbc.co.uk/languages)

Chez Mimi and Hennings Haus (www.ltscotland.org.uk/5to14/c4modernlanguages)

McDougal Littell (www.classzone.com/disc_worldlanguages.cfm)

Usborne (www.usborne-quicklinks.com/usa/usa_menu_areas_pages/languages/languages.asp?type=subject&menu=s64)

Micronations (Feb 2005)

2006-06-11T21:51:00.000-04:00

From Lilliput to Mordor, tiny yet convincingly-detailed countries have been around for centuries. And not all of them are populated by imaginary beings: some, like the Catalan Republic or

Malta

, are real places inhabited by real people, even though they may not be recognized by other nations. While there are still would-be founding fathers and mothers declaring their backyards or bedrooms to be independent states, today it’s just as common for “micronations” to exist only in cyberspace. Either way, the perks of starting your own micronation are many. Besides getting to call yourself “Lord Dumpling” or “His Excellency, the President of Molossia,” you get to design your own flag, currency, and stamps, and bestow titles and ministries on your friends, as well as use your website to disseminate news to the populace -- and sell souvenirs. With so many land-based and digital micronations staking their claim online, your computer is the perfect vessel for exploring this fascinating realm.

One of the best explanations of what micronations are all about is posted on the user-written reference website Wikipedia. The article has entries on individual micronations with links to their websites, and a list of other portals and informational sites, like Micronations.net. (Since this story appeared, it has been added to the Wikipedia entry!) Through the Actual Small Countries website, with links to sites like the CIA World Factbook and Flags of the World, you can find out how to rent the principality of Liechtenstein (or one of its villages) for your next affair. And Footnotes to History lists failed real-world secessionist states and historical oddities going back to Alamut in central Persia, which lasted from 1090 until 1272. (Though the site needs updating, it’s still worthwhile.)

Most micronations are created in fun, and they’re awfully fun to visit. A good example of a bite-sized sovreignty with its own postal and barter system, a well-thought-out constitution and even its own time zone is the Northern Forest Archipelago. The NFA, founded by Lake Placid middle school teacher Jamie Sheffield (otherwise known as King James II), is “primarily a land and animal and plant based nation-state” with outposts throughout the Adirondacks and New England. But its website offers a great lesson in what kinds of structure a country needs to survive, besides having cute photos of two-year-old Crown Prince Ben at the Royal Family’s Summer Palace. Another hobbyist micronation, the Republic of Molossia in Nevada, has as its basic unit of currency the Valora, which look a lot like casino gambling chips and are linked in value to Pillsbury Cookie Dough (3 Valora = one tube of Cookie Dough). Its website features pictures of its railroad, national sport (broomball) and space program.

Some micronations were started when their monarchs were only kids. Robert Madison founded the Kingdom of Talossa in 1979 at the age of 14, when he declared his bedroom in Milwaukee to be independant from the United States. (Talossa is still around, although last year rival factions broke off and formed their own Republic.) Eric Lis of Montreal was only 5 when he created Aerica in 1987. At one point the country, which displays a smiley face on its flag, had more than 500 citizens and “an empire to match the Star Trek Federation of Planets.”

Other land-based micronations break away from their mother country for the publicity. In 1982 the mayor of Key West, Florida announced that the city was seceeding from the U.S. over a Border Patrol blockade of the only road from the mainland. Though the rebels quickly surrendered and applied for foreign aid, the Conch Republic commemorates its brief independence every year with a week-long celebration. Citizenship is open to everyone and you can apply online; remarkably, Conch Republic passports have been accepted in several countries, including the Caribbean and Europe.

A few micronations take the process one step further, going to great lengths to establish their legitimacy. In the 1960s Roy Bates and his family turned an abandoned WWII defense platform in the middle of the English Channel into the Principality of Sealand, conducting a number of bloodless wars ending in court battles or negotiations with invaders and its European neighbors (You’ll want to watch out for micronations that take themselves too seriously, however; they may be the province of separatist groups with grim objectives.)

New micronations (and their websites) are emerging and old ones disappearing all the time, leaving online archeologists to try to make sense of the artifacts left behind. Keep up with the latest developments on the Micronational News Network, featuring headlines from outlets like Antarctica Announcer, the St. Angelsk Times, and the Cyberian Broadcasting Co-op. Yes, there is conflict and strife in the micronational universe, but there is also hope. Events like the Intermicronational Olympic Games, with both real world and online competitions in Frisbee discus, tennis-ball shotput, and virtual checkers, chess and Monopoly, strive to bring unrecognized nations together. Maybe someday silliness will triumph over warfare, and micronations will take the lead to show the rest of the world how to get along.

Children's Book Authors and Illustrators (August 2004)

2006-05-31T13:41:00.001-04:00

When I was in school books seemed to just mysteriously appear on library shelves. I thought Dr. Seuss was a brand name, like Dr. Scholl. Nowadays, kids know all about the people who create children’s books, and treasure their favorites. Just like pop stars, authors and illustrators today have their own websites, and sometimes fan sites made in their honor as well. There are lots of places to look for info on your kids’ favorite writers and artists, news on upcoming work, and ways to contact them or get them to visit your school. Now that school’s back in session, you’ll find these sites a great resource for book reports or writer and artist biographies. Some even invite fans to email them – and there’s nothing like getting a message right back from one of your literary stars!

But don’t expect an answer from Jo Rowling; the author of the Harry Potter franchise is too busy working on the final book, as well as her growing family. Still, on Rowling's website there are chatty messages for fans, news clips on Harry-related topics, fun activities and mysteries to solve. It’s a really neat glimpse into the tremendously fertile (and somewhat messy) mind of one of the world’s most popular authors.

Many other author/illustrators spice up their sites with animations, online games, and printable coloring pages. Tomie dePaola (“Strega Nona”), Jan Brett (“The Mitten”), and Dav Pilkey (The Captain Underpants series) are three of my family’s favorites. Others you may have heard of include DB Johnson (“Henry Hikes to Fitchburg,” based on ideas from philosopher Henry David Thoreau) and the team of Vivian Walsh and J.otto Seibold (“Olive the Other Reindeer,” “Penguin Dreams”). For kids who like their fiction spooky, there's the busy website all about author Lemony Snicket (“A Series of Unfortunate Events”). Or “Talk to DP” -- cult hero Daniel Pinkwater, creator of picture books like “The Big Orange Splot” as well as young adult classics like “Lizard Music” – at the P-Zone, and get a personal message back.

One of the best places to look for information on children’s book authors is the site run by Bethany Roberts, herself a writer of kid lit. It not only lists children’s book creator websites, it also has links to articles about for people who want to write for children, story tips for kids, and lists of other children’s book author web portals. Other places to try include Children’s Literature’s “Meet the Authors and Illustrators” page, and the Children’s Book Council site, with links to authors and illustrators published by members of this industry group. Or try the Author Yellow Pages' section on children’s writers.

Finally, be sure to take a trip to Planet Esme, realm of Esme Raji Codell. A former teacher, bookseller and school librarian, she’s the author of “Educating Esme” and “How to Get Your Child to Love Reading,” and in my opinion one of the most insightful writers on kids and books today.

Maps and Geography (May 2004)

2006-05-21T13:37:00.000-04:00

Maps give me a thrill. When I look at a map of a place I’ve been, it’s like unfolding a miniature city, and I almost picture myself walking past the monuments or sitting in a favorite sidewalk cafe. Collecting maps of a place I hope to visit is always my first step in planning a trip. And poring over maps of places I’ll never see, like the Roman Empire or Antarctica, makes imagining what it’s like there so much easier.

Of course, looking at a map online pales in comparison to crawling around a full-size hardcopy on the living room carpet (or having one neatly folded in a Ziploc bag in your backpack when your GPS batteries run out). But the sheer number and variety of maps available, plus interactive features including informational links, games, quizzes, and even animated historical maps that show changes over time, make the Internet an indispensable geographical resource for traveling, schoolwork, or just for fun.

Sites like MapQuest, Yahoo! and Rand McNally are the fastest way to find driving directions mileage and estimated travel time between any two points you specify. None of these sites is perfect, however, and the best strategy is to check out two or three and compare suggested routes. You can also try tweaking the results by breaking your trip into smaller sections, using the road you prefer to take as an intermediate endpoint.

What about after you get out of the car? You can often find maps of a town’s business district and major attractions on its tourism website, not to mention maps of bike routes, walking tours and other recreational activities. I like to cut-and-paste maps into Word and create my own personalized “tourist brochure.” For hikers there are free topographical maps, showing elevation and geographical features, at Topozone. Again, any of these maps may be out-of-date or less detailed than you need, but they’re a good start when you’re just deciding where to go.

Kids, parents and teachers who need maps for schoolwork have a world of options to explore. Almost any kind of map you need can be found or custom generated on National Geographic's map section, while teachers can find lesson plans on Xpeditions, their learning website. Teachers also rave about the CIA Factbook, a database covering some 200 countries. Web Geography for Kids is a portal of other good sites, with a useful summary of each. Some examples: How Far Is It?, a site from Indonesia which gives you coordinates and the distance between any two cities (as the crow flies), and Education Place from Houghton, offering free, detailed outline maps. The U.S. Geological Survey has an education section and fact sheets on topics like using a map and compass. The social studies section of Teach the Children Well and GeoGlobe are two teacher-created places with good kid-oriented geography links. And for a bigger “wow” factor, check out some animated maps, like the 10-minute, narrated movie showing the growth of the United States on Animated Atlas.

Online interactive geography quizzes are a great way to learn your way around the globe. About.com’s geography page has its own quizzes, plus a list of other quiz sites – two good ones are National Geographic’s Geospy and LizardPoint.

Of course, no map can rival a satellite photograph for accuracy and detail. From Google Maps you can zoom in on any street from a conventional road map, a satellite image, or a hybid of the two. But if your kids prefer imaginary realms, explore the selection of maps of Narnia, the setting for "The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe," or find out how to walk from Bags End, Hobbiton to Mordor with Yahoo!-style directions. You never know what you find once you start your quest. Happy hunting!

Art (July 2004)

2006-05-20T17:15:00.000-04:00

You don’t have to visit a museum to see great works of art. Without ever stepping into a classroom, studio or gallery, you can learn how and why artists work the way they do, and even make art of your own. The Internet is a wonderful jumping-off point for families who want to explore what makes art tick – or just enjoy it.

Do your children like to draw on the sidewalk with chalk? Take them to Kurt Wenner’s website to see how a former NASA illustrator uses the most humble medium imaginable to create amazing pictures that seem to leap right out, or sink into, the concrete. No matter what you think about modern art, a lot of contemporary artists have a playful exuberance that kids can really appreciate. The late artist Keith Haring, who got his start scribbling crawling babies and barking dogs on subway posters, is the subject of a website made specifically for his youngest fans. And Chicago stonecarver Walter S. Arnold inspires budding clay sculptors with his site featuring the scary and goofy gargoyles he created for the National Cathedral in Washington. Glassmaker Dale Chihuly is a showman who’s dropped giant glass bubbles into the canals in Venice and strung colorful chandeliers that resemble enormous sea creatures in the courtyards of castles in Britain. On his site, you can see his work and hear him talk about it. Or find links to online images by more than 7,500 other artists, living and dead, whose work is on display at museums worldwide at Artcyclopedia. You can even find original art at prices even kids can afford by clicking on Artomat. Here are listings of dozens of vending machines – converted cigarette machines – in restaurants and other locations that distribute miniature artworks by real starving artists, for prices ranging from $2 to $5.

Museum websites themselves are a great resource for art lovers and students. You can learn about favorite artists or movements or add to your understanding of different cultures. At the Art Museum Network’s website there are links to more than 200 museums, big and small, around the globe, including the Norman Rockwell Museum in Stockbridge, MA, New York’s Museum of Modern Art, and the Boston Museum of Fine Arts. Firstgov for Kids is a government portal to family-friendly sites, including a great page of art museum links, both public and private.

It’s worth searching for other art sites too. Last year we enhanced our study of medieval Asia with sites like Tibetart.com, which has a kids’ page that takes you step-by-step through an intricately-detailed painting called “The Buddha’s Challenge.”
Lots of sites offer art lessons, crafts and projects you can try at home. Former middle school art teacher Judy Decker has a site called The Incredible Art Department, with illustrated lesson plans, links to age-appropriate sites, information on art careers and much more. The website Loggia.com has a page of links kids will like about architecture and building design. Or find more kids’ art lesson sites at About.com's kids' drawing page.

Personally, I much prefer making art with atoms instead of bits, as one site puts it. But I have to admit there are a lot of fun sites where families can make art online. You can draw cool mathematical designs with a virtual Spirograph, play around with a gray-tone mosaic at the Museum of Web Art’s kids wing, or try activities like PixelFace and the Collage Machine at the National Gallery of Art’s kids Art Zone. And even though I used to think coloring pages on the computer was silly, I did spend a happy hour filling in the self-portrait of Frida Kahlo at Enchanted Learning, which also lets you pick your own color scheme for great works from the Mona Lisa to American Gothic.

And if you’ve got a picture that’s just crying out for exposure, many sites have virtual “refrigerator doors” on which to display your masterpiece. Try Education Index, Scribbles Kids Art, or just do a search for “refrigerator door,” “kids” and “art.” And start creating!

History (Sept. 2005)

2006-05-18T20:24:00.000-04:00

History was always my worst subject, which makes it all the more surprising that it’s turned out to be one of our favorite homeschooling topics. Not only does it provide a framework for the rest of our studies (we’ve looked at the origins of math and science and learned about bygone cultures through art, music, and folktales) but, much to my amazement, I’ve discovered that history is actually ... interesting. One of the best tools for our trips back in time, of course, is the Internet. A website with games, video and animation beats out a dry old history textbook any day. And hypertext is way more cool than plain footnotes. So come with us as we delve into some of our favorite history websites.

History is more than just memorizing names and dates. It’s finding out about how people lived long ago and about fascinating, if not always exemplary, personalities. We loved exploring A.L. Brims’ darkly funny site on Henry VIII, for instance -- roll your mouse over the portraits of Henry’s six wives to uncover their fates. And many colorful characters from fiction, like pirates and witches, have their roots in historical fact. Pirates! Fact & Legend is full of articles about real-life unsavory brutes such as Blackbeard and Anne Bonney. Talk Like A Pirate takes a decidedly sillier tack, with Junior Pirate and Links pages that will help you bone up for next year’s Talk Like a Pirate Day celebration, which occurs every September 19. Want to know what your options are if they accuse you of being a witch? Take the online quiz and learn about the Salem Witch Trials with University of Missouri law professor Douglas O. Linder’s engrossing site about famous trials. Even more witchy links can be found at A to Z Home's Cool Homeschooling Web Site, a handy source of useful websites for any parent.

When sites have online activities, they make plain facts come alive. At Plimouth Plantation’s website, you can follow two children, a Wampanoag and a girl who arrived on the Mayflower, through the real First Thanksgiving (go to Learning and pick Online Activities). Go to Secrets of Lost Empires, from the PBS series NOVA, to try out engineering discoveries like Gallileo’s experiments on motion and gravity. Or challenge yourself on a journey with Lewis and Clark on National Geographic’s interactive adventure. Finally, the BBC has so many entertaining history pages it’s sometimes hard to find the one you want. Go to History Games for activities like Mummy Maker and Gladiator: Dressed to Kill.

Teachers and hobbyists alike have collected history websites families can use to explore their own areas of interest. Ancient times through the Middle Ages is the focus of the simply-written, content-packed History for Kids by Portland State University history professor Karen Carr. Budding Medievalists can check out Castles on the Web, with links for kids that include Lego castles. NetSerf’s links cover everything from King Arthur to early music, plus historical news, like the five-year-old twins who last month dug up actual Viking treasure in their backyard in Oslo. The oft-cited Mr. Dowling’s Electronic Passport has articles and links on more than 20 topics in world history from Florida geography teacher Mike Dowling. Social Studies for Kids is not as dry as it sounds; former About.com Guide David White’s homepage is organized like a newspaper, with current events, early American history, and “This Week in History” features. There’s also a page with links to history, culture and economics games. Teach the Children Well comes from Cape Cod elementary teacher Elaine M. Doolittle and looks like the seashore. Her Social Studies section is filled with useful links. In contrast, Best of History Websites is all business; their picks emphasis clever use multimedia technology. We’ve only gotten as far as the 1700s in our history studies, and these are only a few of the sites that help parents and kids take a look at the past. But whether we’re looking for a broad overview or one specific time in history, we know how to turn the Web into our personal time machine, and you can do it too.

Crafts - Feb 2006

2006-05-18T19:50:00.000-04:00

My kids are usually willing to indulge their mother’s artsy tendencies by trying out a new craft. Sometimes I’ve got a subject (like seamanship or rocketry) that would benefit from a hands-on project to really come to life. Other times I’ll find my supply cabinet overflowing with an interesting-looking material, such as old CDs or those clear plastic egg cartons, and decide to find a clever way to recycle them. Often there’s some object I’d like to recreate – blown glass or a permanent sand castle – but have no idea how to go about it. That’s when I turn to the Internet. But you don’t need a reason to get creative, especially when it’s cold and uninviting outside. Just poke through the recycling box, sit down with the kids and try some of the projects you’ll find on websites like these:

Creative Kids at Home is a whole library of free craft instructions, with categories for older and younger children, summer or holiday crafts and more. Making Friends features camp crafts, scout crafts, sports crafts and even “sixties crafts” (think bell bottoms and tie dye). Although there are somewhat annoying links to products they sell, they have a nice variety of crafts, including reader ideas like a recycled-CD Disco Ball, which are user rated. Another popular site for crafts, Kids Domain, is also a bit commercial for me – you have to click past ads to get to the directions – but pretty complete.

Many “art lesson plans” for teachers involve crafts that can be done at home as well; as a bonus, you often get background info and suggestions for storybooks or reference material to tie-in to the theme being presented. Despite the name, Kinder Art has projects for kids from preschool to high school, ranging from bean mosaics to folk art weathervanes. Some user-submitted instructions don’t come with photos, but in general they’re easy to follow. The Incredible Art Department, which I’ve mentioned before, is another good source of projects of all types (you’ll have to sift through to find crafts like the tissue paper vase).

TV is, surprisingly, another source of craft directions online. The DIYNetwork website includes a whole list of crafts for kids and adults (some of the adult crafts are easily modified for kids). I particularly liked the goodie-filled party-favor poppers and the soft-sculpture dino made by wrapping an old colorful T-shirt around a wire frame. But beware: some so-called “kid crafts” (most of those found on the HGTV network website, for instance) would make nice gifts for children but are too complicated for them to make themselves. You won’t have that problem with two public television programs that are aimed at young Do It Yourselfers: Hands On Crafts for Kids contains nine seasons’ worth of crafts instructions on its website, with themes like habitats of the world, world history and US customs and symbols. And the hit PBS show ZOOM encourages young viewers to “Get artsy, get crafty!” with its own page of “ZOOMdo.”

If you’ve got art supplies lying around and aren’t sure what to do with them, try checking out the manufacturer’s website. Sculpey, STYROFOAM and Crayola (which requires free registration) all offer tips for using their products, as well as craft suggestions and instructions. The Dick Blick art material catalog website also has a section with tips for using materials, and lesson plans you can browse for craft ideas.

Need more inspiration? The portal All Crafts has links to other crafting sites, with a separate section on kids’ crafts. And About.com has a Family Crafts page with articles on craft techniques and materials like mosaics and paper mache, as well as links to directions for individual crafts. Keep in mind that searching for crafts is a lot like searching for recipes: you may have to comb through several versions, picking and choosing what appeals to you, to end up with the final product you’ve got in mind. Adding the search terms “kids” or “students” and “directions” or “materials” can help narrow down your results. To get you started, here’s a real quickie – non-melting snowflakes, an idea I adapted from several sources online. It’s easy to be crafty, when encouragement is as close as your computer screen. Have fun!

Materials:

6 toothpicks (for little snowflakes) or bamboo skewers (for big flakes)

1 large marshmallow

18 mini marshmallows (little) or 18 or more foam packing “peanuts” (big)

Directions:

1. Place 3 mini-marshmallows on each toothpick OR thread as many foam peanuts as you desire, in any direction, onto each skewer (making sure they match up so your snowflake will be symmetrical).

2. Insert the toothpicks or skewers evenly into the large marshmallow and you’re done. Use a suction-cup hanger to display it in a window, or make a bunch for a winter mobile.

Online videos (April 2006)

2006-04-29T13:52:00.000-04:00

With libraries, rental stores, cable on demand and online movie ordering services, it’s not hard at all to get ahold of videos. But there are still times when having instant access to a clip of the Apollo 11 moon landing or Martin Luther King’s famous speech at the March on Washington is worth a thousand DVDs. That’s when you’ll be glad you’ve got a high-speed Internet connection – and help finding online videos. With the Internet, you can choose when to watch selected episodes of educational TV shows, interviews with favorite authors, or webcasts of talks by important newsmakers. You and the kids can browse through old movie classics, goofy commercials, or creative home-made films starring everything from muffins to Legos. There’s a whole world of video for the searching, and it costs little or nothing to watch.

Quality-wise, online videos aren’t a threat to DVDs or cable – yet. Clarity and reliability can range from acceptable to awful, and most videos play in a tiny window on your computer screen only a few inches wide. But along with watching videos streaming on your computer, many sites let you download and save them to your computer, a CD or DVD, or your iPod. Educators Annette Lamb and Larry Johnson, creators of the website Eduscapes and Eduscapes Seeds, and high school librarian Joyce Kasman Valenza, have useful introductions to online video on their websites, with tips and links.

One resource my family turns to again and again is United Streaming. All New York residents can sign up to use UnitedStreaming’s video archive for free by going to their local public television station’s website. (Elsewhere, many schools provide access to their families, and individual subscriptions are available for about $150 a year). You can search UnitedStreaming’s library by grade level as well as by subject, view individual segments as well as entire videos, and save titles in your own playlist. While many are a little dry, there are exceptions, like the Standard Deviants series (math, foreign language and many other topics) and children’s book adaptations by WestonWoods. Discovery Education recently bought United Streaming, so many of its videos now come from this offshoot of the Discovery Channel.

Other good places to look for educational material include the Library of Congress (click on Webcasts; that page has links to motion pictures), which has an archive of lectures by authors such as Magic Treehouse creator Mary Pope Osborne and the late feminist Betty Friedan, as well as scholars, politicians, and historians. The LOC’s American Memory Motion Picture Collection has examples of early motion pictures and the first animated shorts, as well as historical compilations of Coca-Cola commercials through the years and footage of the 9/11 attacks. LOC also hosts the Moving Images Collection website, with links to science digital videos on the web, among other movie-related sites.

The cable network C-SPAN offers online videos about history along with archives of its coverage of current events. Some 500 episodes of the author-interview show Booknotes, which ran from 1989 to 2004, are also available. Older students and adults may find the Research Channel interesting, with over a thousand videos of lectures on scientific and medical research from universities and research corporations. Topics range from “children who remember past lives” to the Civil War, and there are also interviews with artists, writers, film and computer people. The streaming quality is excellent.

You’ll find a little of everything at the Internet Archive, a non-profit organization founded to preserve all kinds of information in digital format, including moving images. The site houses collections such as the Siggraph Electronic Theatre’s computer animation winners; theatrical features that have entered the public domain, including Little Rascals comedies, Popeye cartoons, and Flash Gordon serials, and the TV shows NetCafe and Democracy Now. There are also more than 16,000 “open source” clips contributed by individuals; these are basically home movies, some historical (footage of the tsunami and Hurricane Wilma), some useful (I actually found this site because of a video demonstration of a craft technique) and some adolescent spoofs which are probably not suitable for younger audiences.

To find videos on websites in general, Yahoo! is the search engine to use. Just click on the “Video” button on the top of its home page (it automatically filters out obvious mature content.) Yahooligans!, the kids’ site, also works well. My usual favorite, on the other hand, has decided to go in a different direction. Google Video (click “More” from its home page to find the link) is “the world's first open online video marketplace.” Along with some free content such as Superbowl commercials and a few PBS episodes of shows like NOVA, there’s an “ever-growing collection” of TV shows, movies, music videos, documentaries, and personal productions that cost a dollar or two and require you to set up a Google account. The selection includes episodes of Star Trek: Voyager, I Love Lucy, Rocky and Bullwinkle cartoons.

But you don’t have to pay to find great entertainment. Many small studios, budding filmmakers and just plain amateurs have online videos the whole family can enjoy. The Web-based fan series STAR TREK: NEW VOYAGES, recently featured in the local media, is just one example. There’s also Muffin Films, a very cute site by UCLA film student Amy Winfrey, with a dozen short animations about a delicious baked good, and Spite Your Face (don’t mind the name), the award-winning studio that produces animated videos for the Lego website. (I have to mention Brickfilms, the headquarters for fan-made Lego movies, even though, again, some are not suitable for younger kids.) With so much to choose from, online videos are a family resource that’s worth the trouble.

Diet Coke and Mentos

2006-04-29T13:38:00.001-04:00

A fellow homeschooling parent sent an email today about the proliferation of people doing the Diet Coke and Mentos experiment and posting the video on the web. I first saw this feat on Steve Spangler's blog.

Steve Spangler does science experiments on TV and has a catalog of cool and inexpensive science equipment, including the famous dipping bird. Yesterday my oldest son brought his giant solar bag to Outdoor Games Day, where it captured everyone's attention. I'm sorry I don't have a photo to show you, but if we get another I'll bring my camera next time (the bag did not survive).

I'm going to try making our own out of plastic garbage bags. I'll let you know how it works...

Welcome to the Family Online blog!

2006-04-29T13:24:00.000-04:00

Finally, I've started the process of putting all my old columns of family-friendly websites on the web, where you can check out the links with just a click. If you find a link that is outdated, or have one to add, please post a comment!

Also, I'll be posting links of interest to families I've gathered from researching other articles or doing homeschool projects with my kids. Again, suggestions for similar websites are welcome.

And if you have questions about particular topics, send 'em along. I'll try my best to help, and they may spark an idea for a future column.