SMMART SCIENCE: Atmosphere

Even WITH the strata of our earth's atmosphere, the sun's penetrating heat is so powerful, that it warms the earth, and can burn our unprotected skin after a few hours

"We are enveloped by an atmosphere that consists of 78 percent nitrogen, 21 percent oxygen and 1 percent other ingredients. The atmosphere affects Earth's long-term climate and short-term local weather, shields us from much of the harmful radiation coming from the sun and protects us from meteors as well: most of which burn up before they can strike the surface as meteorites. Earth-orbiting satellites have revealed that the upper atmosphere actually swells by day and contracts by night due to solar heating during the day and cooling at night."(http://solarsystem.nasa.gov/planets/profile.cfm?Object=Earth&Display=OverviewLong)

These activities will  help your child recognize two purposes of our atmosphere-to insulate, and to protect.
Gather five mason jars or mugs and fill them each with a cup of water.  Place various covers on each mason jar lip and secure with a rubber band.  You could use wax paper, a wash cloth, celophane wrap, and a brown paper bag piece.  Leave one jar uncovered.  Place the jars in the sun for a few hours.  Have your child use a thermometer, or just use their finger, to determine which jar holds the hottest water.  Which cover allowed the most sunlight through and which jar cover allowed the least sunlight through?  All of the covers insulated the area inside of the jar.  By definition, Insulation prevents or reduces the passage of heat, electricity or sound.  Did any of the jar covers reduce the passage of the sun's heat the best?

This activity shows a visual effect of the sun's power: 
-Cut the top and bottoms from 5 rinsed tuna cans.  (You could also cut 5 strips of construction paper and tape into a circle to use as your base.) 

-Place covers on four of the cans and secure with a rubber band.  You could use wax paper, a wash cloth, celophane wrap, tin foil, or the bottom of a balloon stretched over the rim. Lay the cans on top of a piece of construction paper in a sunny area for the day. 

-Label the paper beside each can naming the type of cover on the can.  After a day, have your child remove the cans from the construction paper.  Notice the faded circles on the construction paper.  Observe which cover allowed more of the sun's rays through and which covers allowed the fewest rays through. Explain that our atmosphere protects the earth, the plants and our bodies from too strong of sunrays.  The more faded circles had an "atmosphere layer" that allowed more penetration than the less faded circles.(http://www.kids-science-experiments.com/)

SMMART SCIENCE: ANIMAL CARE

Ringling Brothers and Barnum & Bailey Circus

"Fully Charged"

How to approach and pet a Dog

Can you believe that the Circus is almost in Utah...September 22-25th!  Not sure if I would ever be bold enough to kiss a tiger, but you can have a chance to get an up-close look at the animals of the Ringling Brothers Circus during the hour pre-show, 90 minutes before the performance (free to all ticket holders).   "Dance with the dancers, high-five the high wire act, take pictures with acrobats and aerialists, laugh with the clowns, and enter to win an original pachyderm Picasso created by Asia, the painting Asian Pachyderm."

You will also have a chance to meet the circus animals' care-experts and learn about the lives of these amazing animals.  It's an opportunity to ask questions about your favorite circus animals!   Great care is taken to provide a healthy environment, medical care and respectful training of these animals. 

You may not see exotic animals outside a trip to the zoo or a circus visit, but our children have opportunities to interact with animals almost daily.  It's important to remind them of how to properly care for (or avoid dangerous) animals in our  neighborhoods.

My cousin, who is visiting this week, is in her third year of Vet school.  My girls have loved spending time with her and her dogs, Homer and Zoe.  The first thing that Cousin Ann taught my girls was how to correctly approach a dog.  This is a good reminder for all of our little ones before sticking their hand out to an unknown animal:

-Never approach a stray dog or a sleeping dog. 
-Never sneak up behind a dog
-Don't try to take a toy or food away from a dog.
-Ask the owner if it's okay to pet his dog and if it's friendly.
-Approach the dog from the side and not head-on, but be visible.
-Put your hand out and let the dog approach you. 
-Pet the dog on the shoulders or back, or wherever the owner says you should pet their animal.
-Give the dog a treat if the owner has one for you and says it is okay.

Share these tips with your child and be safe playing in the neighborhood!

(See more photos under "belly" at http://jenbullockphotography.blogspot.com/)

SMMART BABY

.
He's finally arrived...and we are in love...again!
.
Thank you for your patience as I regroup after our son's birth. His three older sisters are showering him with LOTS of love:)
.
I'll start my weekly Monday post again...soon!

SMMART MATH: Banana Fractions

How Does an Elephant Eat an Unpeeled Banana?

The Ringling Brothers Barnum and Bailey Circus will be in Salt Lake City from Sept. 22-25th. The iconic circus animal must be the Asian elephants... especially when there's a little baby elephant.  Some types of elephants can eat up to 660 lbs of vegetable matter a day!  So do they bother to peel the bananas?  No way!  Their stomach's strong digestive enzymes take care of the peel too.

This is a fun trick to help teach your children fractions...sneaky fractions.

When your child opens this peeled banana, they'll find it evenly cut into FRACTIONS!

Poke a long, skinny, cleansed pin into the banana and move it from side to side to cut the banana inside the peel.  Cut the banana inside the peel into even segments.

When your child opens the banana (SURPRISE!), have him child count the number of pieces of the banana.  Put one piece aside and have your child repeat "one sixth" (if there are 6 pieces).  Then put two pieces aside and repeat "two sixth".  When you put three pieces aside, say "three sixths and this is half of the banana!"  Ask your child to eat a sixth of the banana and to share two sixths with you. 

SMMART SCIENCE:

Rubber Band Wind-up Boat

This easy to build boat uses resources you should be able to find around the house.  Remember Newton's III Law, "For every action, there is an equal and opposite reaction".  So, as the flipper pushes against the water, the water pushes back and the boat is propelled forward.

You will need:

Small water bottle and cap or recycled plastic bottle

Two pencils

duct tape

rubber band

flipper (plastic gift card works great) 

1) Fill your water bottle with a little bit of water to give it some weight.  Tape the two pencils to both sides of the water bottle. You'll want to leave at least 2/3 of the pencil length hanging down from the bottom side of the bottlle.

2) Place a rubber band between the two pencils.

3) Make a flipper by cutting down an old plastic gift card or solicitation credit card to size.  You want the flipper to slide in the rubber band and not touch the pencils or the bottle.  Twist the flipper over and over in the rubber band.  Hold onto the flipper so it doesn't unwind yet.

4) Place the boat into the water and release the flipper. 

5) As the flipper unwinds and pushes against the water, the boat is propelled.

SMMART MATH: Juggling Patterns

Circus Jugglers

The Ringling Brothers Barnum and Bailey Circus will be in Salt Lake City, UT from Sept.22-25th!  Along with the circus come the amazing Fusco Brothers and Smaha Troupe of juggling experts.  Focus, dexterity, skill and a lot of practice!

The Fusco Brothers were actually born in the circus and began their entertainment career as part of their mother and father's act.  The twins began juggling as something to pass time, but soon proved their skill and talent to be the some of the greatest jugglers on earth!  "Emiliano and Maximiliano have a unique advantage being twins.  They often spin in unison without planning or signals, simply acting on their own impuses.  Added to that, they put in six to eight-hours a day practicing.  It's no wonder few jugglers in the world are capapble of doing the tricks the Fusco Brothers perform."

For twins Petr and Lenka, and older sister Zuzana, the circus was a tradition in their family for generations.  Their circus-performing parents coached their children to become a world-class juggling act, the Smaha Troupe!

Juggling is more than just throwing balls up in the air.  There are many mathmatical patterns that dictate just which ball is thrown, how high it is thrown into the air, and how many balls are included in the computation.
There are actually numbers assigned to how high a ball is thrown:

Then comes the pattern that could include up to eight, nine or more objects flying through the air! In it's simplest form, the three ball toss that many of us can perform (not me:) is the 4-4-1 "site swap" pattern where one ball is thrown into the air and the other that just landed is shifted to the throwing hand. 

Show your child the chart above and toss a soft foam ball up in the air.  Ask your child what number the ball would be.  Pass the ball between your hands and show him a 1.  Toss it below your chin for a 3 or at eye leve for a 4.  Have your child toss up a ball and try to make it a 4 or a 5. 

You can create your own pattern by throwing one ball at different levels.  Ask your child to show you a 3-3-1, 3-3-1, or even show you a 4-1-4, 4-1-4...

Depending on your child's age and ability, he may be able to juggle a few balls in the air! 

SMMART SCIENCE: Solar Art

Just this summer we introduced the girls to the power of the magnifying glass, burning a small hole into wood and smelling the smoke. (Of course, parental supervision needed.)

This activity takes a bit of patience, but the result is a pretty cool display of harnessing the sun's magnificent power.

You'll need a magnifying glass and a piece of wood...and a sunny day.

Find the right distance of the magnifying glass from the wood where the sun's light is concentrated into a pinpoint of bright light.  Slowly, slowly, slowly start to burn the wood with the concentrated light.  Move the pinpoint of light down and around to draw a picture or write the first letter of your child's name.

It's a pretty cool memento to display-"harnessed sunlight".

SMMART ART: Fun in the Sun!

These fun outdoor activities let your child express herself while at play.

Sandcastle Keepsake

You'll need:
3 c fine sand
1 1/2c water
1 1/2c cornstarch
(glitter-optional)
old pot
plastic trash bag (tape)
large spoon

Combine the water, cornstarch in an old pot over low heat.  Add the sand and stir continually until the mixture becomes thick.  You may need to add a little more sand till the mixture is "sturdy" enough to be molded into shapes.  Take the mixture off the heat and let cool.  Dump the sandy mixture onto a plastic trashbag that is laid out like a tarp.  Let your child mold the mixture.  Use measuring cups and spoons, little funnels or cookie cutters to create unique shapes for your sandcastle.

If you are using a sandcastle mold, use a little cooking spray to coat the mold and the packed sand mixture should slide out more easily.  Let your child decorate her sandcastle with shells, glass jewels or other adornments.  You can try incorporating glitter into your mixture while it cooks or sprinkle some on your finished project and shake off the excess when the castle dries.

Sunny Name

Scour the beach or your yard for unique shaped objects- twigs, leaves, rocks, shells.  Have your child lay the objects out on a piece of construction paper to form her name (or the first letter of her name).  Leave the paper in the sun for the day.  When your child removes the objects she'll discover that the sun has faded the paper around the objects and your child's name is left unfaded by the sun.