PLANET SCIENCE NEWSLETTER - ISSUE 14 Stardate: Friday 13th December 2002 Did you know you can choose to receive this weekly news update free by email? sign up here Time to get the kettle on and crack open your secret stash of Chocolate Hobnobs... ... because here comes another packed bulletin, direct to you from the ever busy news-hatching bay on Planet Science. Here's what's what: 01. Free DESIGN & TECHNOLOGY kit available 02. TEACHERS PET - a game for all clever clogs 03. Win a desktop WEATHER STATION 04. Explore the CORIALIS EFFECT in a global experiment 05. Activity of the week: AWFULLY OBEDIENT TIN CAN 06. Science behind the news - EMBARASSINGLY ENOUGH 07. JOKE OF THE WEEK O1. SOME FREE KITS STILL AVAILABLE You’ll remember a couple of weeks ago we mentioned the secondary schools’ equipment bonanza being hosted by the Royal Society. Demand has been great – and all stocks of the Science kit have now been exhausted. However, there’s still a fair amount of Design & Technology kit available, so don’t let it go to waste. As with the science kit, you’ll have to be quick – not just because the closing date is 20th December, but because the earliest birds will catch the (limited number of) worms! Full details can be found on the Planet Science site here Meanwhile, are you smart enough for our new Victorian-school inspired adventure....... Back to top 02. TEACHERS PET This week sees the arrival on Planet Science of 'Teachers Pet', a melodramatic tale of love (AHHH), passion (OOOOH), violence (EEEEK), and imprisonment (GASP!)! Your mission is to free your favourite teacher the lovely Miss Penelope from imprisonment in the Floggem School Mine. The Floggem School Mine, in case you’re not aware, is owned by the tyrant Sir Albert Floggem (BOOOO). And ladies and gentlemen, this is the VERY SAME mine that Sir Albert wants YOU to end up working in, which is why he employs so many evil masters to thrash you 'til you are no longer capable of learning! (BOOOO) But! Use your wits and skill to amass enough knowledge, avoid the masters, and keep eating the energy filled apples and you'll be able to enter the mine and free poor Miss Penelope (HURRAH!). You'll also have loads of fun and possibly even learn some science facts...(Phew...) So, see you down the mine then! It's right here in WIRED Back to top 03. WEATHER QUIZ What? What??! That's NOT enough excitement for one week? Well, ok then, you can also have a go at winning our ‘Weatherology’ winter quiz. We talk about it all the time… but how much do we REALLY know?? Fancy the challenge? All you need to do is answer 10 multiple choice questions, and if you get all of them right, your name will be entered into the prize draw... Up for grabs are three very groovy digital weather stations from Oregon Scientific. All different models, but features include: barometer, thermometer, altimeter, humidity-ometer (!) etc. And by the way, the winners of the Tick Tick Tick Time Quiz were: Nicole Cloutier, Tony Taylor and Angela Richards. Congratulations! Your Lomo Supersampler cameras will be on their way to you asap... Back to top 04. WATER DOWN THE PLUGHOLE Just a reminder that there is still time to take part in the global schools’ experiment that’s going on right now to investigate the Coriolis Effect and that much-quoted notion that water spirals down the plughole in opposite directions in the Northern and Southern hemispheres… Does it or doesn’t it? The jury’s out so far… So: ‘Water Down the Plughole’ is an online experiment that’s inviting people from all over the world to take part and pool (scuse pun) their data… What you have to do is quite simple... You fill a sink or container with water, pull the plug and watch the direction the water spirals in. However, you don’t just have to do this once, you can repeat the experiment with different containers to investigate variables such as volume of water, shape of container, and size of plughole. All the information you need to register and take part can be found on our website right here in OUTTHERE. There’s also a page for entering your data, fun facts, useful web links and curriculum links for teachers. So get gurgling! Back to top 05. ACTIVITY OF THE WEEK: The Awfully Obedient Tin-Can For anyone who’s allergic to dogs but always wanted a pet to teach tricks to… Step up, the ultimate obedient pet: a Tin Can! You will need: • A tin-can with a hole in the middle of both the base and the lid (adults only to drill these, and be careful of any sharp edges if you use a soup or beans tin) • A thick rubber band • A ball of plasticine (1-1.5cm in diameter) • 3 large paperclips. What to do: 01. Drill the holes in the tin – get an adult to do this if you are a young person! The holes have to be big enough to poke the rubber-band through... 02. Now poke the rubber-band through only the hole in the base. Secure a paperclip on the bit of the band sticking out the tin's bottom, so it can’t pull clean through. 03. Open another paperclip so it makes a "V" shape and secure both ends of it into the plasticine. The pointy end should stick out so you can thread the band through it (like a hook)... then thread the band from the inside of the tin through the sticking-out bit of the V. 04. Poke the end of the band through the lid of the tin, secure the lid on the tin (with insulator tape if you've used a "can-opened" tin rather than one with pop-on lid), pull the band tight and secure it in place with the last paperclip. (If you had x-ray eyes, at this point you'd see a rubber-band running though the centre of the tin with a ball of plasticine hanging from the middle of it.) 05. Now, train your new pet: roll it across a smooth surface and after a decimetre or so you'll see it start to come back to you! Time it right and you can "instruct" the tin to come back and amaze your friends with your awfully obedient tin can. What’s going on? The tin can behaves like it does because when you roll the tin, the heavy ball of plasticine won't roll with it. This causes the band to twist. When it can't twist any longer all the potential energy in these twists is unleashed in the other direction, so the can comes back to you. But remember a tin-can's for life, not just for Christmas. Back to top 06. SCIENCE BEHIND THE NEWS “I think I enjoyed the party, I cannot remember it well…” So begins Alison Chisolm’s cringe-tastic poem ‘Office Party’, a sorry tale of flashbacks and mortification the day after the night before… In case this kind of thing rings any bells with you, you may be interested in Science Line’s investigation this week, which deals with the science of embarassment. What makes a blush? Why the nervous giggle? Read all about it here Meanwhile back at Alison’s place: “… I think I enjoyed the party one over the eight is no crime, but reviewing last night in the cold light of day, I think I had better resign.” May YOUR party be less eventful! Back to top 07. RECOMMENDED WEBSITES OF THE WEEK First of all, back on the weather theme, ‘Discover the Greatest Free Show Above the Earth’! What is it? The cloudscape of course… Cloudman http://www.cloudman.com Cloudman just loves clouds and wants to share his passion and his photos with you. In fact the ‘Cloudman’ himself is Dr John Day, a veteran American meterologist who’s previously written many books and collated many amazing weather pictures – and who now wants to teach you everything he knows… Not only is the gallery full of gorgeous photos, but there are descriptions of all sorts of clouds, hints on taking your own pictures, and lots of words of wisdom from Dr Day about weather gurus he admires, science teaching and weblinks to other sites… Have a look up – just mind out for that kerb! Face Facts http://www.catie.org.uk Secondly, a schools’ site that makes the most of teenagers interest in all things cosmetic. CATIE’s is the cosmetic industry’s educational service for schools and ‘Face Facts’ is their new educational website. It focuses on the science behind cosmetic products in everyday use, and all the material was been written by practising teachers specifically so at to be of use in teaching Science and ICT National Curriculum requirements for KS2 children. Oh and Planet Science are supporting it – that’s how good an idea we think it is! The site includes three areas: 1. Testing Time (solids, liquids, gases, reversible/irreversible changes, aerosols) 2. Good Sense (reflection, evaporation and pitch) 3. Plant Life (classification, habitats, photosynthesis) All sections incorporate useful information and teaching resources, virtual experiments, investigations and full Teachers' Notes with curriculum mapping. And needless to say, it’s lookin’ good… Back to top 08. JOKES OF THE WEEK These are terrible. Sorry, but it’s got to be said. However, they will appeal to children of a certain age, so that’s our excuse for perpetuating them! Firstly, Dale Robinson from Hutton Rudby Primary School emailed to share the following: “In Viking times, many years ago, there lived a warrior called Olf. He was not a pleasant character to meet, being typically aggressive and extremely rude to all he met. Like many of his time, he had an enormous bushy ginger beard, so was called 'Olf the Red' by his men. One day, near Christmas time, he was about to set off to pillage a few Christmas pressies. ‘You'll need your heavy fur on today Olf, it's snowing,’ announced his brow beaten wife. ‘That's rain, woman.’ ‘Well it is white and flakey.’ "It's rain I tell you. Rain .....Rain... Rain !" roared Olf "But.." "Let me make it clear," he said, "Rude Olf the Red knows rain dear" <cymbal crash!> Which brings to mind another joke of similar style and quality about Good King Wenceslas ordering his meal in Pizza Hut. "Certainly sir, what sort of pizza would you like?” “Deep pan, crisp and even" Back to top A.O.B. And on that cheery note… it’s probably best to sign off! If you have any last minute news items (or jokes) for the last newsletter of the year, send them through to Anne McNaught on anne@planet-science.com. And if you’ve any news items for the beginning of the year, send them to Chloe Sheppard on chloe@planet-science.com . And have a great week! Back to top