 |
 |
|
 |
1. Activity: Dew point
|
 |
|
 Some people can gauge the humidity of the air by the amount their hair frizzes after blow drying... but this doesn’t work for everyone. Lucky for them. Here’s another way to determine the humidity by finding the temperature at which the air begins to form dew...
You will need:
- a tin can
- a thermometer
- crushed ice
- a bowl
- water
What to do:
- Half-fill the bowl with crushed ice.
- Ensure the outside of the can is completely dry.
- Fill the can with cold water.
- Place the thermometer in the can.
- Add one tablespoon of crushed ice and stir.
- Continue adding the ice until a layer of dew is visible on the outside of the can.
- Immediately read the temperature on the thermometer to find the dew point temperature.
- If it is high then the humidity is high also – watch out for the downpour!
What’s going on?
All air contains water vapour. And when the air in this activity cools (when it comes in contact with the cold can), the water vapour begins to condense. This is why glasses holding cold drinks "sweat" in the summertime, and spectacle-wearers sometimes find their glasses fogging up when they come into a warm room from the outdoors on a winter’s day.
The ‘dew point’ is the temperature at which moisture in the air begins to form dew. The higher the dew point temperature, the higher the moisture content of the air at a given temperature.
Meanwhile, here’s a link where you’ll fine more information specifically about humidity and the weather:
http://www.usatoday.com/weather/whumdef.htm
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
2. Heavenly Music – fancy an earful?
|
|
|
 Here’s an invitation to a fascinating, and FREE, aural experience that’s taking place in Greenwich in ten days’ time...
It’s an opportunity to listen in to the music of the galaxy, via recordings made by NASA of sound sources such as the aurora, pulsars, the magnetosphere and cosmic microwave background radiation. Visitors will also have the chance to fiddle around and create some spacey compositions for themselves ...
The two ‘Heavenly Music’ workshops are being held at the National Maritime Museum, Greenwich on 25 and 26 June. They’re two hours long and begin at 10am and 9.30am respectively.
Admission to the workshops is FREE and open to all (no previous knowledge of astronomy or music is needed!) However, if you’d like to go, you need to prebook by emailing Jade Hamilton at jadespade@no-log.org (places are limited).
|
|
|
|
|
|
3. Mouses at the Ready for: Build A Buzz Wire
|
|
|
 This week, we have three electronic construction sets on offer. Build your own buzzing buzz wire, then challenge your friends to a Buzz-off...
The kits are from the online educational treasure trove known as Brightminds <link through to www.brightminds.co.uk> and if you want to buy one, it’ll cost you £9.99.
However, thanks to their generosity we have three freebies to give away to newsletter readers. If you want to be in the draw to win one, send an email entitled GET BUSY, GET BUZZY to planet-science.news@nesta.org.uk. The draw will take place at 5pm on Thursday 23rd June.
Non-steady hands need not apply …!
(PS you’ll have to buy your own batteries to make it work – but they’re not expensive ones.)
|
|
|
|
|
|
4. What’s That on your Plate? OOoooh – ALMONDS!
|
|
|
  You don’t have to be nutty to like almonds. They’re nutritious, and at times perhaps even a bit too tasty for their own good... Nutritionist Simone Baroke explains:
Almonds are the world’s largest nut crop, with yearly yields of well over 1.5 million tonnes, 80% of which are grown in sunny California. Surprisingly, the almond is much more closely related to peaches and cherries than to any other nut. Check it out: split open a peach stone and you will find that the kernel inside looks very similar to an almond. The almond’s fruit, which resembles a small, elongated peach, isn’t juicy, but tough like a leathery pouch. At harvest time, it splits open, revealing the almond nut inside.
Ground up and mixed with sugar and water, almonds can be turned into marzipan. Some people love it, others aren’t so keen. Renaissance man Leonardo Da Vinci certainly did. In fact he was so inspired by marzipan’s superb malleability, that he moulded it into elaborate sculptures, which he proudly presented to Prince Ludovico Sforza of Milan. They went down a treat – but not quite in the way he’d anticipated.
“I have observed with pain,” he wrote in 1470, “that my signor Ludovico and his court devour all the sculptures I give them, right to the last morsel, and now I am determined to find other means that do not taste as good, so that my works may survive.”
From a nutritional perspective though, the devouring of almonds is definitely to be encouraged. Ounce for ounce, they provide nearly as much protein as steak. They’re a prime source of calcium, and their monounsaturated (“good”) fats are beneficial for heart health. A handful a day makes a delicious snack and keeps you ticking over nicely.
For some great culinary ideas, check out this site:
http://www.almondsarein.com/recipes/ideas
...or, as we’ve learned, you can always use them for sculptures. Thanks Simone!
|
|
|
|
|
5. Winning Ways with Whiteboards
|
|
|
Wot’s that big white rectangle on the wall? It wasn’t there a couple of years ago...
Interactive whiteboards are on the march across the land. We’ve even got one in the Planet Science office.
They’re amazing things. But are you getting the most from yours? (We’re definitely not!)
We’ve heard that many interactive whiteboards aren’t being used to their full all-singing, all-dancing potential. So we’ve asked ICT guru Roger Frost to introduce us to a number of his favourite whiteboard websites …
Over the next few weeks, he’ll be pointing his mouse at a different top-rating web resource and explaining just what’s so good about it. To give an extra dimension, Roger will indicate the interactiveness of the site by means of a ‘roll-on’ rating. ‘Roll on’, as in “deodorant”, meaning the amount of dashing about and working up a sweat it will demand of users.
 1 roll-on = you’ll hardly move a muscle
2 roll-ons = small amount of walking and pointing involved
3 roll-ons = fair bit of exertion required
4 roll-ons = well, they didn’t call them ‘interactive’ for nothing!
5 roll ons = someone’s going to be bounding about like a loonie …
This week’s website is a full-on:
Over to you, Roger:
Roger will be back next week with another recommendation. So keep your whiteboard on Standby!
|
|
|
|
|
7. The Winners’ Enclosure …
|
|
|
 A few weeks ago, we asked for paragraphs on how you use the Planet Science website in your work. Katie Walsh, the Editor of www.planet-science.com was the judge and here’s her verdict:
“Thanks for all your paragraphs about how you use the newsletter and the site. Extra big thanks because your thoughts will be transmitted to thousands of other teachers throughout the land on the back of our highly desirable Planet Science wall poster, which will be available in September – watch this space. Your paragraphs are great recommendations from professionals, and better still, you've saved us the embarrassment of banging on about how fabulous we are ourselves!”
The lucky draw winners are:
for the £50 worth of book tokens: Ali Nicholson, Kath Pickersgill and Lorraine Konoso.
and for the £10 draw: Louise Herbert, Nigel Bowen, Graham Cooksey, Sue Welch and Marlene Head.
 2. Winners of the ‘Poo’ books.
Mr C.Woods from Chippenham in Wiltshire
Sally Thurlow, Greendown Community School, Swindon
Jacqueline Rose from Putney in London
Claire Weaver, Wyvern Technology College in Eastleigh, Hants
Nicki Spilman, The Kingswinford School, Dudley
Derrick Butcher, Ingleton Middle School, N Yorkshire
Nigel Bowen (yes, winner of paragraph comp too), Telford
Irfan Latif from New Malden, Surrey
Simon Crosby from Market Rasen in Lincolnshire
Rebecca Brett from Bloxwich, West Midlands
3. The winners of the HHGG signed poster and book is:
Nick Cook from Crowborough in East Sussex
|
|
|
|
|
8. Jokes of the Week
|
|
|
Q. What did the mother bee say to the baby bee?
A. “Behive yourself.”
Q. What do you call a camel with 3 humps?
A. Humphrey.
Q. Why did the dog go to court?
A. Because he got a barking ticket.
Q. Why do potatoes make good detectives?
A. Because they keep their eyes peeled …
Q. What illness martial arts experts catch?
A. Kung Flu!
A man notices a sign in front of a house...
It says,"Talking Dog for Sale."
Hmmmm, he thinks to himself, sounds interesting.
He rings the bell and the owner tells him the dog’s in the back garden. He goes into the back garden and sees a black labrador lying under a tree.
"Is it true you can talk?" he asks.
"Yep," the dog replies.
"So, what's your story?"
”Well,” says the dog, sitting up. "I discovered this gift when I was just a puppy. And I was surprised, you know what I mean? Nobody else in my family could talk to humans. I wanted to use my talent to help the country, so I told the Foreign Office, and in no time they were jetting me about from country to country, sitting in rooms with spies and world leaders, because no one ever thought a dog would be eavesdropping.
"For eight years, I was one of their most valuable spies,” he continues. “But all that travelling really tired me out, and I knew I wasn't getting any younger and I wanted to settle down.
"So, I signed up for a job at the airport to do some undercover security work, mostly walking around near suspicious characters and listening in. I uncovered some incredible dealings, and was awarded all sorts of honours. But now I’m just retired."
The man’s amazed. He goes back in and asks the owner how much he wants for the dog.
The owner says, "£10 will do."
”Really? Only £10? This dog’s incredible. Why on earth are you selling him so cheap?"
"Because he’s a total liar,” the owner replies, “He didn't do any of that stuff."
|
|
|
|
|
|
That’s all for this week. But if you have any contributions for future newsletters, please send them to Anne McNaught at planet-science.news@nesta.org.uk.
Have a great week!PS if you would like to unsubscribe from the newsletter at any time, just reply to this email with the word 'UNSUBSCRIBE' in the title.
|
|
|
|
When you’ve established the air’s 
Genetics has never been a more important subject for society. But that doesn’t mean everything you read about it has to be deathly serious …
Fancy a career in science, but not sure what you’d be most suited to?