SCIENCE YEAR NEWSLETTER - ISSUE 76 Week ending Friday, 19th July 2002 G'day mate! This week's newsletter has a distinctly Australian feel to it, with information about kangroos and wallabies, three of the best Aussie websites around, and a sorry tale of dehydration in the blistering outback heat (with a good punchline). Ripper! So let's ignite the gas-fired barbie and throw this lot straight on the grill: • FREE EUROSTAR TICKETS (but you've gotta be in to win) • SUMMER HOLIDAY ACTIVITY OF THE WEEK - BANG what was that? • ECOSYSTEM QUIZ online • THE SCIENCE OF STAR TREK reaches Manchester • FARNBOROUGH AIR SHOW ticket-winners • SCIENCE LINE QUESTIONS OF THE WEEK • AUSSIE SITES OF THE WEEK • GROAN ZONE - 3 jokes to make you croak • AUSTRALIAN JOKE OF THE WEEK • A.O.B. GOING ANYWHERE NICE ON YOUR HOLIDAYS? What? You'd love to but haven't got anything organised yet? Well, if you're a teacher, it's time you got into the draw for Science Year's francais-tastic Eurostar giveaway. All you have to do is call to mind the most successful, attention-grabbing, science-relevant experiment or demonstration you've impressed your students with, and send the details to alice.bell@scienceyear.com . The reason we're asking is because as part of Science Year, we're putting together a book and online resource of the best-ever classroom experiments. And we need to round up some innovative or simply classic activities that will be helpful and inspiring for other teachers. All contributions will end up on www.scienceyear.com, and all contributors will go into the draw to win a family/group trip on the Eurostar to France, plus up to £100 towards travel costs to get you to London Waterloo to board the train... If this all sounds bizarrely familiar, that could be because we mentioned it in last week's newsletter. However on that occasion Farnborough Air Show would appear to have grabbed all the attention, as only a limited number of teachers wrote in with experiments. Like, three. You mean - three hundred and three? No, THREE! What? Is the country that brought forth James Watt, Isaac Newton, Rosalind Franklin, James Dyson, Edward Jenner and John Logie Baird all used up when it comes to experimental ideas? Obviously no it's not - so please email us, and get in that draw with its so far phenomenally short odds on you winning! >top SCHOOL HOLIDAY ACTIVITY OF THE WEEK To set the ball rolling, here's one idea... Tried and tested many a time, and always popular with kids/students/krazeee adults because it features a surprise mini-explosion. It's called: CATAPULTING CANISTERS! What you need is: - An empty film canister + lid (from a roll of film) - Some Alka-Seltzer tablets - A little bit of water - No fear of surprise mini-explosions What to do: Put the HALF of an Alka-Seltzer inside the canister, add a small amount of water. Stick the lid firmly back on, then place canister on the ground, lid side down. Stand back! The canister will soon fly into the air with a gratifying BANG! This is very amusing for the first 257 times you witness it, not least if you're watching innocent newcomers facial expressions at the time. However, if you want to push the excitement further, you can make it into a team sport with height competitions or by playing an almost unbearably tension-winding-up game whereby the last person to shout BANG before it goes off wins a bag of Revels. What's going on? Science-wise, what's going on is a chemical reaction, in which the water is reacting with the Alka-Seltzer to produce carbon dioxide. The carbon dioxide needs its own space, and as the reaction kicks in, the gas pressure inside the canister builds up... and up... and up... Until BANG - it blows its stack. Try varying the amount of water... Try using a WHOLE Alka-Seltzer... Try using lemonade - what happens? Enjoy! >top MEANWHILE BACK ON PLANET EARTH We have a new quiz for you on the Science Year website, particularly if you're under 19. It's our 'Ecosystem Quiz' . All you have to do is answer 10 questions about ecology correctly, and you'll go into the draw for a prize that'll help you get out and about exploring the countryside this summer. Emporium UK are the very kind sponsors of our prizes for this competition, namely three sets comprising a 'children's picnic backpack' - an extremely nifty looking mini-rucksack with in-built picnic set for two, including plates, beakers, cutlery, napkins, and insulated detachable drinks holder. And a 'book chair' for easy reading wherever you are. (By the way, http://www.emporiumuk.com is a brilliant place for buying groovy birthday presents, we've discovered - and we're not just saying that because they asked us to. Have a look for yourself!) >top STAR TREK TELEPORTS TO MANCHESTER If you're in the Manchester and looking for a brilliant day out, get along to the Manchester Museum of Science and Industry. Not only have they just - this morning - officially opened their new hands-on activity area, Xperiment (which sounds amazing, and is FREE to all visitors by the way.) They're currently also hosting the touring exhibition of 'Star Trek: Federation Science'. If you're a Trekkie, you'll love this huge exhibition, and if you're not ... you'll love it anyway, because there's something for everyone. The exhibition features 30 interactive displays, including a replica of the Bridge, where you can have a go at taking charge of the ship as she voyages through the galaxy; a demonstration whereby you can test out what it feels like to be weightless; and a Transporter Room where, thanks to virtual reality, you can teleport yourself onto or off the ship. You can also read about cosmic rays, anti-matter and some of those other extreme-physics concepts on the display panels. And altogether you'll come out more prepared for the possibilities of 21st C life than you were when you went in! "Beam me up Scottie!" "Beam yourself up mate, I'm off for a quick sesh on the tricorder in the Sick Bay." "Okey doke - see you in the gift shop." Star Trek has always been credited with a more robust science than many other sci-fi creations, and this exhibition allows you to explore the physics at first hand. And although it costs £4.50 for adults and £3 for children and other concessions, the organisers have very kindly sent us four free passes. They'll will go to the first four respondents to correctly answer the following question - fingers on buzzers - What is the shape of the Starship Enterprise? Is it: a. shoebox-shaped with a go-faster tailfin b. rocket-shaped with a solar umbrella c. Disc-shaped with various smaller protuberances Send your answer asap to anne.mcnaught@scienceyear.com . >top FARNBOROUGH AIR SHOW WINNERS Still on an aeronautic note of sorts, we can now announce the winners for the free passes to this year's Farnborough Air Show. David Tasker, our new Aussie team-mate was in charge of the tickets and lucky dip, was bowled over with the response he received - and the kind suggestions for where he should go. On holiday with his girlfriend, that is. He says, "Thanks to to everyone who wrote in, not only all the entries for tickets to the Farnborough Air Show, but also the great holiday destination ideas that my partner and I could visit while here on the UK for the next two years. "I must say some of the these places we have already tried, such as Oxford, the Yorkshire Dales, and the Cotswolds, and have found each of them to be quite different to anything we'd seen before, and very picturesque. "After some welcome prompting I am now putting in my diary that I have to make time to stop in at Oban in western Scotland. Which, according to Ped Saunders is one of the most beautiful regions in the UK. With ferries available to Mull, great people and the pubs staying open till 1am, it sounds like a must. Ped also advised that I should also try and find a ceilidh to dance at too, which I must say sounds very interesting. But on the way to Oban, I have also been told that I should stop in at Dartmouth, Edinburgh, and maybe even the Orkney Islands, so I might need some time off work... "Oh, and if you were wondering, the winners of our competition were; 1. 1. Sue Connor 2. Ped Saunders 3. Pari Collis 4. Peter Adamson And the tickets are on their way... >top AUSTRALIAN QUESTIONS OF THE WEEK Australia is indeed an amazing country, and our fascination with its native wildlife is reflected in a couple of the Q&As in the Science Line files. One about kangaroos, and the other about... cuboid faecal pellets. First: 'Why are baby kangaroos born in a pouch?' Find out at: http://www.sciencenet.org.uk/database/Biology/0204/ And secondly: 'Do wombats have square faeces and which way do their pouches open?' Find out at: http://www.sciencenet.org.uk/database/Biology/9610/ Check out all the other questions in the Science Line files at http://www.sciencenet.org. And if you've a question you'd like to ask you can enter it online, or give them a ring on 0808 800 4000. And it's free. >top RECOMMENDED WEBSITES OF THE WEEK The Aussie theme continues with three of their best as recommended by another of our inhouse Aussies, Ms Bobby Cerini: 1. ABC Science. The ABC is of course the Australian Broadcasting Corporation, and this is the home of all their science-linked programme information and resources. 2. Questacon. This is a huge hands-on science centre in Canberra and their site is full of good stuff. Particular highlights for this web-reviewer were the moving optical illusions in the Kids area, and the Aboriginal stories about the constellations in the southern sky. An excellent resource. And didn't you used to work there, Bobby? 3. Wicked 4 Kids. Mainly for younger children (but hey some of those recipes for Aussie tucker look quite good for any age.) There are things to make and do, brainteasers, jokes and things to colour in. They've even got an online version of that psychologists' favourite 'The Stroop Effect' test, in which coloured words pop up and instead of saying the colour the word says, you have to say the name of the colour the word IS. Aaaaaaargh - very frustrating - but fun too. ANZAC cookies all round when you've finished. Check it out here. >top JOKES OF THE WEEK Many thanks to everyone who sent in jokes last week. They have been tested out on key members of the Science Year team, who are reported to be in a stable condition now and responding well to medical treatment. Tony King - what a nice guy - wrote saying, "I'm really sorry about this, but since you mentioned: http://www.switcherzoo.com I'm amazed you never asked what you get if you cross an elephant with a rhinoceros?... Ell-if-i-know.........GROAN! Best wishes!" Aww bless. And Jonathan Forgham, with a bit of news the Media Guardian clearly missed this week... "Heard the one that Sky television has signed up all the rights to broadcast the World Origami championships? Unfortunately it will only be available on Paper View.!!!!!!!!" Excellente, thank you Jonathan! And finally from an anonymous benefactor (perhaps just as well): "An elephant was drinking out of a river one day, when he spotted a turtle asleep on a log. So, he ambled on over and kicked it clear across the river. "What did you do that for?" asked a passing giraffe. "Because I recognized it as the same turtle that took a nip out of my trunk 53 years ago." "Wow, what a memory" commented the giraffe. "Yes," said the elephant, "turtle recall". >top AUSTRALIAN JOKE OF THE WEEK Taken with thanks from the aforementioned 'Wicked4Kids' site, this was sent in by Jamie, aged 10: There was a man who needed water staggering along side a road. All of a sudden a man and a kangaroo bounded up. "Water, water! I need water!" "Sorry mate can't help you there, but you can have this tie, nice pokerdot one" "WATER!" They bounded off. Still staggering along side the road another man and kanga bounded up. "Need a tie mate?" "Water!" "Nice beige one" "WATER!" They bounded off. Two hours later he came across a big building and he said to the door man: "WATER!!" The door man said "Sorry mate, I can't let you in without a tie!!!" from Jamie (age 10), Australia >top A.O.B. And that's all for this week. If you've got any news items for inclusion in the next newsletter, ping them over to anne.mcnaught@scienceyear.com Have a great week - and see ya later mate! >top