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01. NEW QUIZ: JULY HOLIDAY SPECIAL
Eek - where did June go to? Wherever it went, July will be along to take its place on Thursday, and therefore we have a new Planet Science challenge to tell you about... It's called the July Holiday Quiz, and it's all about the science of sun, sea, sand, sugar, sharks and other things you might encounter on vacation - not necessarily all beginning with an S, mind. If you get all ten questions correct, you could win a groovy day-sack and a map case to help you find your way to a nice day out. Click to it here Editor's note: The question level has been reduced this month for a trial period only - so roll up, roll up and have a go. You're DEFINITELY in with a shout this time!  |
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| 02. ACTIVITY OF THE WEEK: VERY BERRY LIPGLOSS It's raspberry time of year, and so a good opportunity to discover the joys of making your own lip gloss. And the message for any boys going moan moan I-don't-want-to-make-stupid-sissy-lipgloss-can't-we-do-explosions-instead is: you can make this as a present for your sister, your mum, or any other gorgeous women in your life. Even your GIRLFRIEND! You will need: * 1 tbsp sweet almond oil * 10 fresh raspberries * 1 tbsp honey * 1 drop Vitamin E oil (optional) * A sieve or tea strainer * A small portable plastic container or tin * Decorative stickers, gift box and tissue paper (if you're making it for someone else) * A microwave oven What to do: 1. Mix all the ingredients together in a microwave-safe bowl. Microwave for two minutes or until the mixture just begins to boil. (If you don't have a microwave, place the bowl on top of a pan of water on a stovetop and then boil the water. This will take longer and you have to be careful not to let the water boil over into the mixture. If you are doing it this way you should get an adult to supervise.) 2. Stir well and gently crush the berries. 3. Let the mixture cool for five minutes. 4. Strain through a fine sieve or tea strainer to remove all the fruit pieces. 5. Stir again and set aside to cool completely. 6. When cool, transfer into your container. 7. Ok then... pucker up and apply a small amount onto your lips. Smile - or pout. Either looks good - but eating an apple might not! (f you're making this as a gift, decorate your container with stickers and put in a gift box lined with tissue paper.) NB remember this lipgloss doesn't provide any sun protection, so if you're heading to the great outdoors, put on some plain old lip balm with SPF in it, and put the Very Berry lipgloss on top. |
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| 03. SCORPIONS IN THE UK Did you know there were scorpions in the UK? Tony Stevens, from the Science Department in Trinity School in Newbury, has been in touch to tell us about an article from last week's paper that has been whipping up great interest - and no doubt some alarm - amongst his pupils... The article in question was in last Friday's Daily Mail, entitled 'March of the Scorpion'. A suitably huge picture of the arachnid, known as the 'European Yellow-Tailed Scorpion' was featured - along with allegations that they've been seen in Kent, Essex, Middlesex and North London, and that yes they ARE poisonous, and could be potentially life-threatening to infants and older people. If you'd like to check out the original article, get along to your local library and look on page 23 of last Friday's mail. Yeowcheree - that really is a particularly hair-raising picture. Newspapers do enjoy a good scare-story, but the facts about this particular creature are backed up on the following websites: http://www.introduced-species.co.uk/Species/ http://www.ub.ntnu.no/scorpion-files/european_scorp.php |
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| 04. EINSTEIN YEAR GRANT SCHEME On a brighter note, did you know that next year is 'Einstein Year'? Einstein Year is the UK & Ireland's contribution to the world-wide celebrations marking International Year of Physics, and it's a great opportunity to renew all efforts to enthuse young people about physics and to highlight the contribution of contemporary physics to society. The Institute of Physics is very keen for the event to make its presence felt throughout the whole country, and to be represented as far and wide as possible. To this end, the Einstein Year personnel are actively encouraging indivuduals and organisations to run their own physics-based outreach activities in local communities during 2005. What's more, they're prepared to put their money where their mouths are, in the form of grants up to the value of £1,500. To check out what sort of projects have Einstein-appeal, and to get yourself an application form for Round 1 of the grant scheme, take a look at: http://www.einsteinyear.org/get_involved/funding The closing date for Round 1 is 24 September 2004 and priority will be given to activities taking place in the first half of 2005. (The closing date for Round 2 will be 25 February 2005). For more general information on Einstein Year please contact Caitlin Watson, the Einstein Year Project Manager. Her email is: catlin.watson@iop.org |
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| 05. MOUSES AT THE READY for 'TITANIC - THE ARTEFECT EXHIBITION' The deep ocean is said to hold more mysteries to science than the furthest reaches of space, because the physical barriers to exploring it are just so extreme. It also covers a vast geographical area. No wonder the American oceanographer Bob Ballard hit the headlines in 1985 when he and his team discovered the long-lost wreckage of the Titanic. "The Titanic lies in 13,000 feet of water," he wrote, "on a gently sloping alpine like countryside overlooking a small canyon below. Its bowfaces north and the ship sits upright on the bottom. There is no light at this great depth and little life can be found." The spookily silent, spot-lit film of his team's early underwater explorations of the ship suddenly brought the horror of the tragedy into the public consciousness, decades after the original disaster. Not long afterwards, James Cameron created his multi-Oscar-grabbing blockbuster about the disaster. One way or the other, most people now have an idea as to what life onboard the ship might have been like. But here's an opportunity to get even closer. 'Titanic - the Artefact Exhibition' is a collection of over 200 items that have been retrieved from the debris field of the wreck site and are now on display at the Museum of Science and Industry in Manchester, ccourtesy of RMS Titanic Inc. The exhibition is organised so as to tell the story of the liner, from its construction to its final moments. A huge section of the ship's hull dominates the exhibition, and the ship's bell, which was rung out by the duty lookout, Frederick Fleet, as the first indication that the Titanic was in trouble, is the first thing the visitors see as they enter the exhibition. Both first and third class rooms onboard the ship have been recreated for the exhibition, and in a specially creaeted 'Iceberg Gallery' there's a real wall of ice designed to give some, at least, indication of the cold experienced by passengers on the night it all happened. The exhibition is open from today until January, and we've been given four free family passes to give away to Planet Science Newsletter readers... If you'd like to get into the draw, send an email entitled TITANIC EXHIBITION to planet-science.news@nesta.org.uk, with a note of your name and address. Please note that multiple entries are not allowed (three red cards were issued for this offence last week - so be warned!). The closing moment for entries is 5pm on Thursday. |
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| 06. TICKET TO SPACE If you're a primary teacher, and you're looking for yet another groovy way of enthusing your pupils about science, here's an invitation that will enable you to take them into space... Ok, not literally, but what they can do is enrol in space school, take a virtual tour of the solar-system, discover the possibilities of space travel, and pick the brains of an astro-expert. 'Ticket to Space' is a six-week classroom resource which has been funded by NGfL Scotland, and developed in collaboration with the astronomers at the Glasgow Science Centre. There's both an offline and online resource, and this year there's also a space school competition to be entered. There'll also be a teachers' forum to encourage the exchange of inspirational ideas. The package supports the teaching of the Scottish curriculum science strand 'Earth and space' at levels C-D in Environmental Studies - Society, Science and Technology; 5-15 National Guidelines. The resource, however, is open to classes throughout the UK and wherever you are, you're cordially invited to take advantage of what's on offer. The six-week event will run from 25 October - 3 December 2004. The organisers say, "Online registration will open on 23 August 2004, but if you log in as a 'Guest' prior to this date you will get a flavour of the Ticket to Space, including details of FREE pre-event workshops taking place in four Scottish local authorities, event activities, case studies and testimonials from schools who participated last year. "Once registered your school will have access to teacher's notes, lesson overviews, learning outcomes and activities." Register at http://online.pioneer.LTScotland.org.uk For further information e-mail tickettospace@LTScotland.org.uk |
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| 07. THIS WEEK IN SCIENCE HISTORY: APOCALYPSE WHEN? Wednesday 30th June is the anniversary of the so-called 'Tunguska Event' - a mysterious and apocalyptic aerial explosion that occurred in a remote area near the Tunguska River in Siberia almost a century ago. Our intrepid investigator Ken Grimes has been uncovering the evidence... At approximately 7.15am on June 30, 1908, seismic stations across Europe and Asia registered a substantial ground tremor, the result of a huge blast impact which felled 60 million trees in an area of over 2,000 square kilometres. The blast was later estimated to measure between 10 and 15 megatons, the equivalent of over a thousand Hiroshima bombs. If this explosion had occurred in a populated area, rather than in the Siberian wilderness, it would have caused devestation and loss of life on an unimaginable scale. The precise cause of the explosion is still unknown, but the most common theory is that a large meteorite struck our planet. Meteorites have two origins: asteroids (rocky objects mainly confined to the Asteroid belt, orbiting the Sun between Mars and Juputer); and comets (icy bodies with vast elliptical orbits which sometimes extend beyond Pluto's orbit). The precise movements of many of these bodies are hard to predict, but asteroids and comets do occasionally drift into the gravitational grip of the planets, including our own, becoming "meteorite" as they hurtle surface-wards with catastrophic force. THE DINOSAUR CONNECTION Some of these interplanetary objects are much larger than the estimated 50-100m diameter of the Tunguskan meteorite. The ancient impact of one such giant body is thought by some scientists to have seen off the dinosaurs. The reason they think this is because about 65.5 million years ago, and very suddently in evolutionary terms, about half the Earth's animal species became extinct. The so-called 'Cretaceous-Tertiary Extinction Event' - or 'K-T' boundary - coincides with massive sedimentary fossil concentrations of iridium, a metal rare on Earth but common in asteroids. The current best evidence suggests that our planet was struck at that time by an object approximately ten kilometres across, causing largescale environmental chaos, perhaps enough to trigger a mass extinction... FUTURE IMPACT? The potential consequences of a similar impact today inspire not only Hollywood disaster movies like 'Armageddon' and 'Deep Impact', but also government projects such as the UK's Near Earth Object (NEO) Information Centre. Currently under close supervision is the catchily-named 'Asteroid 1950 DA', which the NEO calculate is the most likely to crash into Earth. The asteroid - which is large enough to cause a KT-type extinction event - will pass this way in 2880, with a currently estimated 1-in-300 chance of striking. Let's hope that the currently infant science of Asteroid Deflection has made progress by then! |
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| 08. RECOMMENDED WEBSITES OF THE WEEK This week's top tip is BUG INVESTIGATORS, for upper primary school children. Big and bold, this is a site aimed at teaching young people about the 'friendly' micro-organisms that inhabit our bodies, the not so friendly ones that sometimes try to get a look in - and the role that antibiotics can play. Your host around the site is a giant pill called Andybiotic (gettit?) As you explore the site, Andy will help you discover via his collection of games and activities, that while antibiotics can kill off bugs we don't want - they can also kill off the good ones. They're not a magic bullet, and you need to take your prescription exactly as your doctor told you, and not stop the course early because you wake up one morning feeling fit as a flea... The biological information is carefully woven though three games and a set of printable project resources. It's quite quick to work your way through them, and once you've done so, you'll never, ever make the mistake again of asking the doctor for an antibiotic to help shift your cold. Here's the link: http://www.buginvestigators.co.uk/ NOW WASH YOUR HANDS! |
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09. AWKWARD QUESTION OF THE WEEK |
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| 10. WINNERS WINNERS WINNERS... The draw for the winners of the June Sunshiner Quiz has now taken place, and the three lucky recipients of a solar-powered radio are: Calum McLeod from Dundee Shamash Alidina from Twickenham Roisin McDermot from Sale Special mentions also to Culford School in Bury St Edmunds, and Towneley High School in Burnley for the sheer volume of entries. Very good effort everyone! * * * * * * Last week we also had eight copies of the Aventis Prize-winning book, 'Really Rotten Experiments' to give away. The Awesomely Awful Eight Winners are: Mrs C Benson, from Woodlands Primary School in Gillingham, Kent S. Thompson, from Park School for Girls in Ilford, Essex Linda Galvin, from Kings Copse Primary School in Southampton J Cornish, from Duchy Manor Middle School in Mere, Wiltshire Linda Smith, from Kirkby College in Kirkby-in-Ashfield, Nottinghamshire Sue Blake, from Lymm in Cheshire Laurence James Boyle from Ripon in North Yorkshire Shona Colaco from Hampton Court House in East Molesey, Surrey Congratulations to all of you - your prizes are on their way. |
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| 11. JOKE OF THE WEEK Hurray! This week's joke is funny! It was sent in by teacher Dale Robinson, who says he's road-tested it with his class, and it was very effective - particularly when doen with actions and sound effects... Here we go: Two monkeys are in a bathroom, filling up a bath. One monkey climbs in and goes "Ooo ooooh ooooh ooooh ooooh oooh" The second monkey says, "Why don't you put some cold water in?" * * * * * * Which is for some reason reminiscent of another classic joke: A woman gets on a bus with her baby. The bus driver says: "That's the ugliest baby I've ever seen. Ugh!" The woman goes to the rear of the bus and sits down, fuming. She says to the man next to her: "The bus driver just insulted me!" The man says: "You go right up there and tell him off - go on, I'll hold your monkey for you." (So now you know why it was reminiscent!) Sorry if you've heard it before - good jokes are always funnier second time around ... right? * * * * * * That's all for this week. If you've got anything (news, website recommendations, jokes etc) you'd like to be included in a future newsletter, email it through to Anne McNaught on planet-science.news@nesta.org.uk Have a great week! |
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