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 Roll up, roll up wfor another bundle of science related news, tips and events. On the agenda this week we have circus science, wildlife, twenty questions and ... a spot of homework help for the older generation. Here’s the full rundown: 01. ACTIVITY OF THE WEEK: SIXES AND CIRCLES 02 Mouses at the ready for DR MARK'S CIRCUS SCIENCE 03. More mouses at the ready for 'Space Odyssey' talk 04. PARENTS OF PUPILS IN SCOTLAND: help is at hand 05. Digital thoughts wanted for BECTA SURVEY 06. UNSUNG HERO: New feature 07. RECOMMENDED WEBSITES OF THE WEEK 08. WINNERS WINNERS WINNERS from last week 09. JOKES OF THE WEEK Ready? Here we go ... |
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01. ACTIVITY OF THE WEEK: SIXES AND CIRCLES
Ever tried that coordination-challenge where you pat your head while rubbing your stomach? Here's a similarly challenging activity, but this time, there's a tricky trick you can employ so you get to look phenomenally impressive in front of other people ... You will need: * Some impressionable friends! * A chair for each friend * A pencil, piece of paper and tabletop that each friend can use while sitting in their chairs. What to do: 1. Get your friends to sit down in their respective chairs. 2. If they are righthanded, get them to cross their right leg over their left, and circle their right foot clockwise (very important it's clockwise). If they're lefthanded, cross the left leg, and circle the left foot (clockwise). 3. Now challenge them to write the number '6' neatly on their piece of paper AT THE SAME TIME AS circling their foot clockwise (you might want to appoint some under-table observers to check on the foot-circling motion). They will probably find this quite difficult ... 4. Now you can show them to do it properly - it's easy when you know how. The secret is that you have to write your '6' in a different way to how you were taught at school. What you need to do is draw it 'clockwise', ie. beginning in at the middle of the number and curling outwards so that you end on the highest-up part of the 6 ... When you do it this way, everything flows like a dream. What's going on? Your brain can make your hand write a 6 in the normal direction no problem at all, and it can circle your foot in a clockwise direction, no problem at all either. But when you try to do both types of movement at the same time, big problems. This is because your brain now has to send very different movement instructions to your arm and leg together at the same time. Your brain is simply not used to doing different things with your arm and leg at the same time in this way. Tip: you'd find it easier to do if you practised a lot and concentrated harder! This activity was borrowed with kind permission from a brand new book, out today, called 'Dr Mark's Circus Science'. If you enjoyed it, you'll love the rest of the book. Which is handy, as we've got a few to give away. Sounds like the cue for this week's MOUSES offer ...  |
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| 02. MOUSES AT THE READY: FOR 'DR MARK'S CIRCUS SCIENCE' BOOKS Last week, as you may remember, we had two copies of 'Dr Mark's Magic Science' to give away via a prize draw - and the response was enormous. In fact, one of the emails we received was from Dr Mark himself (though he wasn't entering the draw, just saying hi). In fact, things worked out very well, because not only did Dr Very-Nice Mark (otherwise known as science educator Mark Biddiss) offer us some extra Magic Science books for this week's winners, but he told us about his latest book, 'Dr Mark's Circus Science' which is out today. And after only a few minutes of arm-twisting on the phone, he agreed that he happened to have three spare copies available for Planet Science newsletter readers ... (Thanks Mark!) The 'Circus Science' book is, as with Magic Science, chock full of kid-friendly activities, explanations, and big bold cartoons. It's written primarily for teachers to use with their pupils, but the language and illustrations mean that any child who has a look will be able to follow precisely what's going on. Meanwhile, teachers will have to hand a jargon-free way of explaining what they're doing, why they're doing it, and how come it does what it does ... The book is based on the main aspects of science that underlie traditional circus-type attractions such as the flying trapeze, balancing acts and demonstrations of inordinate human strength. All without the aid of a safety net. Stand well back for the Amazing Power Thumb! Gawp at the High-Wire Fruit and Vegetables! Marvel at the bounce-back of a Flexible Floor! All will be revealed ... If you'd like to get into the draw to win one of these show-stopping books, send an email entitled CIRCUS SCIENCE FOR ME! to planet-science.news@nesta.org.uk. The draw will take place at 5pm on Thursday. PS How do you kill a circus? Go for the juggler! |
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| 03. MOUSES AT THE READY FOR 'SPACE ODYSSEY' TALK, BRISTOL & LONDON And there's more more more on offer this week ... Chris Riley is the series producer of BBC TV's new science programme 'Space Odyssey', and if the name's familiar to you, that could be because he's also a presenter on screen from time to time. Not content with just working in tv, Chris also does a very nice line in public lectures, and he's going on the road to bring the inside story of 'Space Odyssey' to audiences around the UK. Possessing a genuinely encyclopaedic knowledge of astro-matters (never been caught out by Planet Science staff yet!) he'll be explaining what we know about the chances of life elsewhere in the solar system, talking about the challenges of making the programme, and spilling the beans on 'what the tv viewers didn't see'... He'll also be doing a few live demonstrations, and showing clips from the programme (including previously unseen footage - wooh!). The tickets for all the shows are free, but going like hot cakes. So we have reserved a Planet Science family ticket for the show at At-Bristol, on Sunday 5th December; and four pairs of tickets for the event at the Science Museum, London, on Sunday 12th December. If you'd like to get into the draw, send an email entitled 'I WANT TO GO ON A SPACE ODYSSEY' to planet-science.news@nesta.org.uk. Tell us whether you want to go to the Bristol or London event, and of course include a note of your name and address. For more details, have a look at: http://www.bbc.co.uk/sn/tvradio/programmes/ |
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| 04. HOMEWORK HELP FOR SCOTTISH PARENTS It's supposed to be kids who dread homework and don't see the point, but perhaps sometimes parents feel the same way ... If you're a parent in Scotland, the Scottish Executive Education Department has put together a short guide to homework, why it's important, and sources of further information on line. This is the first in a number of information packs they'll be producing, and you can find it at: http://www.scotland.gov.uk/library5/education/mtdip-00.asp If you need more information about any aspect of education in Scotland, have a look at the newly updated PARENT ZONE SCOTLAND at http://www.parentzonescotland.gov.uk/topics.asp . |
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| 05. YOUR DIGITAL THOUGHTS WANTED FOR BECTA SURVEY If you're a teacher who uses digital teaching and learning resources AND you fancy winning an Apple iPod Mini or a Sony digital camcorder, here's something you may be interested in ... and it'll only take you 5 minutes. Becta are running a survey to find out about how both primary and secondary teachers use digital resources, and what they like and don't like, because they want to help developers come up with new stuff that will be genuinely valuable to the target audience. They're survey covers any digital products that have been designed specifically for education, including CD-ROMs, online subscriptions, websites etc and it doesn't matter if they were free or had to be bought. You can find the survey at: http://www.schoolzone.co.uk/PIP/online/bectasurvey.asp And of course, if you enjoy using the Planet Science website or receiving these newsletters, feel free to tell them all about it ... |
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| 06. UNSUNG HERO No 1: JOHN ADAMS Everyone knows about Isaac Newton, Crick & Watson, Albert Einstein and Marie Curie. To use today's terminology, they're 'celebrity' scientists, and they certainly made huge contributions to science. But the over the next few weeks we're going to be turning the spotlight on some of the less well-known individuals who also made an impact... This week, Ian Francis has been finding out more about our first hero you never hear o': the astronomer JOHN ADAMS. The discovery of Uranus was discovered in 1781, but when astronomers looked at its motion, they discovered there was something distinctly odd about it. It appeared to be disobeying Newton's Laws of Motion ... An English astronomer and mathematician called John Couch Adams studied the problem and concluded that the 'wobble' must be due to the gravitational attraction of an eighth, as yet undiscovered planet. He informed the biggest astronomical cheese of the day, the Astronomer Royal, who ignored his prediction. He was perhaps not taken seriously because Adams was 'only' a Cambridge undergraduate at the time. However, the next year, a French astronomer called Urbain Leverrier made just the prediction that Adams had made. The difference was that the observer Leverrier told his prediction to easily found the new planet, Neptune, on the very first night of looking - on September 23rd 1846. Leverrier for a while was acclaimed the great hero, but eventually it was realised that Adams had got there first. While Adams was a modest chap who was happy to share the credit for the prediction, the Frenchman wanted the glory all for himself, and a bitter dispute followed, with the Adams camp eventually prevailing. Adams didn't get involved in the slanging match, preferring to keep a low profile. He refused the offer of a knighthood, but eventually became a professor at Cambridge and director of the Cambridge Observatory instead of the more prestigious job as Astronomer Royal. Adams does have a memorial stone in Westminster Abbey, but indirectly, Leverrier is probably the more remembered of the two men, thanks to Star Trek, of all things. Leverrier incorrectly reckoned there must be a planet between Mercury and the sun, which he called Vulcan, later to become known as the name for the fictional home of Mr Spock and his fellow Vulcans. |
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| 07. RECOMMENDED WEBSITE OF THE WEEK It may be cold, it may be wet, it may be heading towards winter, but this week's first recommended site aims to remind us all that we live in a creeping, croaking, flying, feeding, prowling wildlife wonderland. The website is called UK SAFARI and it's a brilliant resource for anyone who wants to know more about the huge range of animals and plants that live here. Each month there's news on what's happening both in the wild, and in the nightsky overhead; there are also plenty of ideas for 'things to do'. You could, for example, build a nesting box in time for spring, or, if you've got a strong stomach, you could dissect a bird pellet and see what its creator had for dinner. Perhaps EVEN more useful is the huge range of detailed profiles of our native species. You'll find all your old favourites there, but also quite a few lesser known ones, such as the Dingy Skipper butterfly, the Soprano Pipistrell bat and the Green Winged Orchid. Don't think you'd ever recognise such things? No problem, because each profile features a beautiful image of what you're looking for. In fact, the site is a great resource for anyone interested in wildlife photography. Not only are there lots of great examples on the site, but there are also tips from the experts for any would-be photographers. And if you need another newsletter in your life, we recommend the one they offer. It's free, and full of nature-news every month. Here's the url: http://www.uksafari.co.uk --------------- And so to ... 20 QUESTIONS. This is a super-addictive site which is also an Artificial Intelligence project in action. Venture there at your own peril - and definitely not if you're taxi's about to turn up, or your favourite programme's about to come on, because you could be there a while ... It's the online version of the animal/mineral/vegetable game where you have to think of an object, and your opponent has twenty questions in which to home in on what you're thinking about. In this version, they want you to choose not just between a Yes and a No answer, but between a Yes, No, Unknown, Irrelevant, Sometimes, Maybe, Probably, Doubtful, Usually, Depends, Rarely and Partly. This makes you scratch your head a bit at times, but it's not like playing chess with a computer where you're quite likely to lose; you DO win from time to time. (Although if you do, they'll tell you which of your answers threw them off the scent by being not quite what they consider accurate! Bad losers, or meticulous attention to detail...? Sometimes it's a fine line!) Here's the url: http://www.q.20q.net Have fun! |
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08. WINNERS WINNERS WINNERS |
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| 09. JOKE OF THE WEEK This week, farmyard animals, and a revolutionary anti-stress device ... Q. What is the easiest way to count a herd of cattle? A. Use a cowculator. Q. Why did the foal cough? A. Because he was a little horse! Q. Why did the pig go to the casino? A. To play the slop machine! --------------------------- Anxious of Tunbridge Wells was so worried about life, the universe and everything that he decided to hire a machine to do his worrying for him. He rented the machine, at £1000 per week from the Australian company 'NoWorriesMate'. The NoWorriesMate machine was fantastic. No longer did he have to wake up in the middle of the night in a sweat about his tearaway daughter, his uncertain future at work, or the expanding damp patch in the basement. The wrinkles of stress lifted from his face, and his anxious twitch disappeared ... "It has changed my life," he told his friend happily. To which his friend replied, "That's really good, but aren't you likely to go bankrupt really soon at that kind of extortionate rate? "Yep. But hey - that's not my worry!" - o - O - o - That's all for this week, but as ever, if you have any news, ideas, activities or jokes for a future newsletter, please send it through to Anne McNaught on anne.mcnaught@nesta.org.uk. Have a great, worry-free, week! |
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