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01. BRIGHTSPARKS: REVISE YOUR REVISION!
It's here, it's here, it's finally here! The Bright Sparks science revision quiz! In fact Bright Sparks is the name for a whole set of quizzes, suitable for both primary and secondary school pupils. Hundreds and hundreds of questions have been put together, and each one involving a picture, and four answers to choose from, Millionaire-style. You may not phone a friend though. In fact, if you're a pupil you should know that your teacher can keep track of how you're doing and whether progress is being made. The software is quite simple to download, but make sure you read - and if possible print off - the instructions before you begin if you're not familiar with the process. Just in case you're wondering, Brightsparks is FREE to use. That's because it was originally a Science Year funded project; and it was brought to you by CAST Education, also supported by Lucent technologies and The Garfield Weston Foundation. You'll find it here.  |
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| 02. IS SHE OR ISN'T SHE? A planet that is... We're referring of course to SEDNA, the newly discovered heavenly body that was quietly minding it's own business 13 billion kilometers away from here, until she was spotted by astronomers in California and announced to us on Earth a few days ago. Is she really a planet - or just an asteroid with big plans? The jury's out, but meanwhile you can read all about the discovery at: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/3511678.stm And if you want to try your hand at building your own planet, don't forget the mega-marvellous 3D "learning adventure" PLANET 10 on the Planet Science website. We're not allowed to call it a "game" - but it IS as much fun, and highly addictive too... If you've not played it yet, you'll find it here. The first part, SOLAR SYSTEM, is good - lots of information. But WORLD-BUILDER is where you'll get to try building your own planet, and that's also where you'll get your adrenaline rush as you launch your planet into the clutches of the violent forces of nature... Good luck. |
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| 03. TELL A FRIEND By the way, have you ever thought, as you're surfing the Planet Science website, "Cor! this is good, I must tell Maureen/Neelesh/all my friends..." Well, now you can, pretty much instantly! Just use our handy new "Tell a Friend" button located convieniently on the lefthand side of each page. All you have to know is your friend's email address and bingo - they'll be the recipient of the URL of your chosen page or feature. Nifty huh? PS you don't really need to tell Neelesh though - because he's the person who programmed the whole thing for us in the first place. (Thank you very much!) |
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| 04. ACTIVITY OF THE WEEK: LAYER UPON LAYER Water is water, right? Wrong! Water changes depending on its temperature and what is dissolved in it. Here's how to make some rather grooovy stripy water... You will need: * A glass jar, beaker or drinking glass (make sure it will take hot water) * A spoon * Two food colourings * A jug or other second container What to do: 1. Fill a quarter of the glass with hot water (be careful not to scald yourself) and add a few drops of food colouring. Leave it to settle. 2. Put cold water in the second container and add a few drops of the second food colouring. You may want to pop in a couple of ice cubes to make sure it is really cold. 3. With the spoon lift some of the cold water and very carefully pour it down the side of the glass with hot water. 4. Watch as it sinks to the bottom. Add spoonfuls slowly until you see a layer forming at the bottom. Don't add too much! (If you find it difficult to get the layer on the bottom try adding some salt to your cold water.) Why don't the different coloured waters mix to give you a sludge-coloured mess? Hmmmmm... What's going on: Water has different densities at different temperatures. Water is at its most dense at 4&Mac176; Celsius, and as it gets hotter it becomes less and less dense. When something is more dense than the water surrounding it, it will sink. Steel, for example, is more dense than water and it drops to the bottom. When the more dense cold water is added to the hot water it therefore sinks below it, forming a different coloured layer. Adding salt makes the water even denser, so it is even more likely to sink. Feeling adventurous? Why not try making the water form three layers; hot, cold and salty cold. (Send us a pic if you're successful!) |
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| 05. THE WONDERFUL EXHIBITION What does it mean to be "wonderful" in these times of rapd technological advance and cultural instability? That's the question that was recently posed to ten artist/scientist partnerships. And their thoughts are now on display in a series of 'pods' in the Arnolfini Gallery in Bristol. The subject of the artist/scientist collaborations range from responsibility for others' lives; the complexity of cell lines; the ever-accelerating speed of life; and the 'tentacular' nature of jellyfish ... and in addition to an exhibition, a film, a book and a CD-Rom of related classroom resources have been produced or are in the pipeline. More details and a full list of all the artists and scientists involved can be found at: http://www.wonderfulwebsite.net If you'd like to see the exhibition while it's still at the Arnolfini Gallery in Bristol, you have until Sunday to do so - and you can pick up a free copy of the book while you're there too. After that, the pods are packed up and will go on tour to: Magna in Rotherham 18 September to 31 October 2004 and The Cornerhouse in Manchester 28th November 2004 to 9th January 2005 And if you'd like to put your name down to receive a free copy of the CD-Rom later in the year, send an email to anne@planet-science.com with the title WONDERFUL CDROM and a note of your name, school and address. |
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| 06. VOLUNTEER WANTED TO HELP TAKE SCIENCE FURTHER AFIELD! The BA (aka the British Association for the Advancement of Science) is an organisation you are probably familiar with already, as they're the movers and shakers behind National Science Week and many other very positive initiatives. They are currently developing Science & Technology Award Schemes for schools across the UK, and are particularly keen to reach out to schools in challenging circumstances to encourage their engagement in science and technology, perhaps through corporate sponsorship of science clubs in schools requiring science support. What they need right now is a talented new volunteer recruit to help produce a resource related to UK schools located in challenging areas. The work will involve internet research, liaising with Local Education Authorities and the identification of other sources of relevant data. The work should take no more than 100 hours to complete, and needless to say there will be CV-kudos at the end. As they say, "The project is a great opportunity for someone who would like to work on a distinct piece of work, and it would suit someone looking to build their CV and/or someone with an interest in education or the non profit sector." They are wistfully hoping for someone with good general IT skills and perhaps knowledge of Access databases; a confident telephone manner, and an understanding of educational terms and systems in the UK - or the desire and ability to pick it up fast (by the sixth or seventh coffee break, say!) Normal office hours will apply. If you'd like to be considered, send your CV along with a covering letter explaining why you'd like this internship to: Samantha Burge Human Resources Officer The BA 165 Queen's Gate London SW7 5HE F: 0870 770 7102 Or send it by email to recruitment@the-ba.net. Applications should be received by Friday 2 April. |
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| 07. THIS WEEK IN SCIENCE HISTORY: A MAMMOTH ANNIVERSARY Look out, look out, there was a woolly mammoth about - only a few thousand years ago. Alison Begley reports: We're currently in the middle of a period of what biologists call a 'mass extinction', in which a huge range of animal and plant species are dying out. But extinction is not a modern problem. 10,000 years ago the world's megafauna - enormous beasts like the woolly rhinos, giant bears, sabretooth cats and huge wolves, fell victim to another mass extinction. The woolly mammoth was presumed to have been another species to disappear, but on 25 March, 1993, an article was published in the prestigious science journal Nature, putting forward evidence that some mammoths had survived much longer, until only about 4,000 years ago. But how could they have survived and why did they eventually die out? Wrangel Island in the Siberian Arctic separated from the mainland 12,000 years ago, isolating all of its plants and animals. The mammoths living there evolved and became altogether less mammoth! Known as dwarf mammoths, these creatures were only about 120cm tall, but the most surprising thing was that they survived much longer than their enormous relatives. About 10,000 years ago the Earth became warmer and glaciers melted, coincidentally the time that mammoths became extinct in mainland Siberia, Europe and America. Perhaps this was what killed off the mammoths and the other megafauna? Although it sounds plausible this is not the only idea... Also around that time humans started to become very good at hunting and they could have simply hunted these mega-animals to extinction. What does the survival of the mini mammoths tell us? Perhaps, finally after 6,000 years, the climate had changed too much and the mammoths just couldn't make it. But another more disturbing theory suggests that around 4,000 years ago humans made it to Wrangel island, and killed them off. The debate continues, and even though we don't know the full reason for the extinction of mammoths we do know that many animals are disappearing today. There are over 500 listed endangered animals, all of which may vanish like the woolly mammoth. The worst news of all is that many of these extinctions will be our fault. They may be gone - but is there any way to bring back the mammoths? http://www.bbc.co.uk/science/genes/gene_safari/clone_zone/extinct.shtml Learn loads more about mammoths (both big and small): http://www.enchantedlearning.com/subjects/mammals/mammoth/ http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mammoth Just what animals are endangered today? http://www.wwf.org.uk/core/wildlife/endangeredspecies.asp |
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| 08. RECOMMENDED WEBSITES OF THE WEEK This week: scientific detective work and learning physics and engineering through the medium of sport. The Natural History Museum in London has a website at least as huge as the dinosaur-skeleton in its entrance hall, and it's packed with information on a vast range of topics. Have a look and you'll see what we mean: http://www.nhm.org.uk However, we'd like to draw your attention to a particular section of the website called: SCIENCE CASEBOOKS at http://www.nhm.ac.uk/interactive/science-casebooks/ As Isaac Asimov once said, "The most exciting phrase to hear in science, the one that heralds new discoveries, is not 'Eureka!' ('I found it!') but rather 'hmm....that's funny...'" To illustrate that point, in Science Casebooks you'll find four real life investigations that began with a 'hmmmm that's funny...' and were subsequently solved by the sleuthing scientists at the musem. The subjects are: * Recreating Dinosaurs - could a dinosaur (or woolly mammoth really be regenerated today, Jurassic Park style, from DNA trapped in amber?) * The Cosmic Football - the mysterious meteorite that wasn't all it seemed... * The Beast of Bodmin Moor - a fanged skull is found but is it a 'beast'? * Piltdown Man - an infamous case of fraud Have a look with a cup of tea - each one's a great read, and very informative.  SPORTSCIENCE AND ENGINEERING IN EDUCATION is a site that's been designed to enable students to learn about a range of scientific issues, such as forces, waves, motion and friction through challenges taken from the world of sport. Did you know, for example, that some swimming pools are 'faster' than others? It's all to do with the waves... But how exactly would you go about designing a 'fast' one? And how would you test sport shoes' performance? Or the flight characteristics of a tennis ball as opposed to a squash ball? The site is packed with information, activity challenges and workplans - and there are teachers' notes with more details on organising class activities. The site claims that all material has been written by "expert Sport Engineers and Technical Writers", and that's the way it sounds - we reckon sports fans will get a big buzz from the activities on this site... Here's where you'll find it: http://www.cookeassociates.com/seesite/index.htm |
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| 09. AWKWARD QUESTION OF THE WEEK Last week's Awkward Question went like this: A 1 tonne (1000kg) sealed lorry is being used to deliver 500kg of canaries. Because he is late for his delivery the driver takes a short cut and is faced with a tricky decision. Ahead of him is a rickety bridge with a warning 'no loads over 1100 kg' sign. Could he make it over the bridge if blasting his horn makes all the birds flap into the air, or should he try a three-point turn on a very narrow road? Been scratching your head? Well, you can stop now, because here's the answer: Getting all the canaries to take to the air may seem like a nifty solution, but it's not: the driver needs to turn around because the bridge will not take the weight whether the birds are sitting on their perches or flying around in the container. It'is all to do with Newton's third law - that's the one about equal and opposite forces matching each other. Any force has an equal and opposite force. Imagine two people on an ice rink and one person pushes the other away, both are likely to move away from their central point. Birds hang around in the air (you can ignore their forward and back motion as this has no effect on the weight) because the gravity downwards is equalled by their wings pushing on the air to keep them up. So every time they flap their wings they force air down and they stay up - equal and opposite forces. Of course the force from the air they push down will reach the bottom of the lorry and in the end the lorry will weigh the same whether the birds are in flight or not. One thing the driver could do is to get all the birds to jump (as opposed to fly) at the same time just before he crosses the bridge. On one side of the bridge the lorry will weigh more, but if the birds don't land again, without flapping, until he is on the other side they will all be alright. However, he needs to make sure the birds don't try to fly or they're all in trouble as the lorry will regain its weight... Here's another one... Why bother flying around to the other side of the world when a hole right through the middle could get you there so much faster? What would happen if you jumped into such a hole? Would you fall right through and end up in space? The answer will be along next week... |
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| 10. WINNERS The winners of the five family passes for the National Space Centre were: C Pickup of Warwick, David Williams of Sutton Coldfield, Hilary Yarde Martin of London, Sue Driver of Pershore, and Jean Maund of Birmingham. Congratulations to all! Your tickets are on their way... |
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| 11. JOKE OF THE WEEK Daniel Payne has been in touch with our joke, and a limerick too this week. He writes: Consider the pitiful plight Of a runner who wasn't too bright But he sprinted so fast, That he vanished at last By red-shifting himself out of sight. And, what he himself describes as "slightly more cringe-worthy"... My name is Bond, Ionic Bond; Taken, not shared! Think you can do better? Well have a go... Send your favourite joke in right now - and all clean and even slightly funny ones will go in a special draw to win a £10 CD token... How about that, we've finally resorted to bribery! That's all for this week, but another will be along before you know it. Alison Begley will be our guest editor next week, so all contributions will be passed straight on to her. But send them to the usual address: anne@planet-science.com and we'll sort them out this end. Have a great week! |
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