Did You Hear That?

Sounds are all around us, and we make a lot of sounds every day. Oral stories predate the written word, and may even outlast it. Think of the power of sound: it can break glass – and eardrums. It can move a nation. What wakes you up in the middle of the night? Often it’s a mysterious sound. And how about the infectious quality of a laugh? Explore the world of sound.

Connect:

• The University of Washington’s web site “Neuroscience for Kids” provides several fun learning activities to help child build aural acuity. The site also has a tour of the ear, appropriate for high school students: http://faculty.washington.edu/chudler/chhearing.html
• This thinkquest by fifth and sixth graders explains each sense: http://library.thinkquest.org/3750/hear/hear.html
• The Soundry, another thinkquest, has several sections covering the process of hearing, the physics of sound, the role of sound in daily life, a timeline about sound-related technology, and an interactive sound “lab”: http://library.thinkquest.org/19537/?tqskip1=1
• This website offers free computer games to build auditory skills: http://www.up-to-date.com/saitwebsite/computergames.html
• Do you think animals sound the same around the world? People in different cultures hear them in different ways: http://bzzzpeek.com/ and http://www.eleceng.adelaide.edu.au/personal/dabbott/animal.html

Create:

• The Science of Sound for Kids (http://www.sciencekids.co.nz/sound.html) offers games and other sound activities.
• Aural Urban Fabric Project provides interactive exploration of spatial narrative through aural perception: http://www.jpda.net/proj_aural.html
• You’ve heard of landscapes; what about soundscapes? You can create a soundscape at http://www.wildmusic.org/soundscapes/buildsoundscapeFamilies have great stories to tell. You can capture them on a computer, and turn them into a podcast. 
• This website discusses podcasting for children, and links to sites to guide children to create and upload podcasts: http://coolpodcasts.wordpress.com/2006/09/09/podcsat-for-children/
• If you have a Mac, explore Garage Band. For PC, try Garage Door and MixCraft. Try telling a story just through music and sound effects.

Care:

• This Light is a radio show featuring young activists for social change: http://soundsforsocialchange.com
• Create a musical or narrated podcast about your favorite social cause. You can also record interviews of social activists, and make podcasts to disseminate their ideas.
• The oral word has special meaning for visually impaired people. This website gives you tips on reading to the blind: http://www.ehow.com/way_5130602_reading-blind-people.html
• Produce a poetry slam for a social cause; go to http://www.poetryslam.com for help.
• Create a soundscape about a social cause.

Careers:
How does a career sound to you? Here are several possibilities: in entertaining, science, engineering, forensics, history, ethnography. Explore these websites:

• http://www.audioproductionschools.org/jobs
• http://audio.tutsplus.com/series/how-to-work-in-audio-careers-in-sound/
• http://www.soundonsound.com/sos/jul04/articles/alternativecareers.htm
• http://www.bhphotovideo.com/find/newsLetter/Career-in-Audio.jsp

Count on Summer!

Yes, you can count on math to make your summer add up to more fun. No matter the angle, you and your family can figure out how to help those summer days measure up to your expectations – and help you get an edge on fall.

Connect:

+         Amuse yourself with Cool Math! It contains an online theme park of game games and puzzles: http://www.coolmath.com/

+         Which mathematician shares the same birthday as you? Find out at http://www-groups.dcs.st-andrews.ac.uk/~history/ m which features mathematicians for every day. The site provides biographies, quotes and even posters. You can also find which mathematicians lived in your area of the world.

+         Puzzle it out! Your family can choose from a treasure trove of fun math puzzles at different levels at http://www.mathpuzzle.com/

+         It’s a good idea to exercise your brain as you exercise your body to keep mentally fit. Move your mind with arithmetic arcade and math baseball at  http://www.funbrain.com/brain/MathBrain/MathBrain.html. You can also try your hand at math basketball at http://www.scienceacademy.com/BI/index.html. There’s even a whole math playground to explore at http://www.mathplayground.com/

+         How do you make lemonade without lemons? Online with this virtual lemonade stand at http://www.classbrain.com/cb_games/cb_gms_bag/lemonade.html. See how much money you can make –without squeezing a dime or a lemon. And there’s no clean up either.

+         What do a sunflower, a nautilus shell, and the Greek Pantheon have in common? Fibonacci numbers. They are all around you; explore Fibonacci numbers in nature, art, and the creative arts at http://www.maths.surrey.ac.uk/hosted-sites/R.Knott/Fibonacci/fibInArt.html

Create:

+         Did you know that Walt Disney created a film about mathematics starring Donald Duck? You can join Donald in his adventures at http://www.schooltube.com/video/4330a09d98c125dcaa00/Donald-Duck-in-MathMagicLand. You’ll see some fun visual puns about mathematics (such as square roots) and creative mathematical “expressions” through music and other activities. You might try your hand at creating a geometric image or math-based musical instrument.

+         Some of those great animation effects of movies seem so realistic. You can think math, fractals in particular, for such realistic detail. Explore fractals at http://math.rice.edu/~lanius/frac/, and try your hand at creating your own fractal images.

+         Have designs on math? You can create grids, polygons and more at http://mathforum.org/~sarah/shapiro/index.html. Or if you just want to create fun images using geometric shapes, you can use the online grid palette at http://ejad.best.vwh.net/java/patterns/patterns_j.shtml. That experience can help you use simple computer drawing and paint tools.

+         Tessellations are any repeating pattern of interlocking shapes. This ThinkQuest, created by students, traces the history of tessellations, focusing on Escher’s contributions, largely through its extensive historical image gallery. The creators explain different types of patterns, and provide templates to enable users to create their own tessellations. http://library.thinkquest.org/16661/

+         Want more money? Want to lose weight? Want to go faster? It’s all in how you calculate it! Instead of having one dollar, you can have 1,562.88 liras for the same cost (You might explore which currency has the least and the most value). Or maybe you don’t want to look greedy; instead of asking for a pint of ice cream you can ask for a mere 0.002 of a hogshead. Would you rather run a mile or 160 934.4 centimeters? How many seconds have your lived? Create your own conversion games and fantasies by using http://www.onlineconversion.com/

 

 

Care:

+         In order to find out the status of world social issues such as hunger and poverty, you need to know the statistics. What are some of the statistics about children’s well-being in today’s world? Find out at http://childstats.gov/.  Maybe you can think of a way to improve those statistics…

+         What’s the fairest way to vote? It’s a more complex issue than you might first think. Figure out what might be the fairest way to elect a president by exploring http://www.ctl.ua.edu/math103/

+         Speaking of great mathematicians, the world needs more females in the field. Here are some famous women mathematicians: http://www.agnesscott.edu/lriddle/women/women.htm. Find out ways to support girls who like math at http://blog.amigram.com/parenting/how-parents-can-support-their-girls-in-math-and-science/

Careers:

+         Did you enjoy Cool Math? Do you find math to be cool? That site also has information about math-related careers: http://www.coolmath.com/careers.htm

+         Ok, so the sound of math doesn’t excite you. How about money? Space? Interior design? Sports? Forensics? Animation? Ecology? Law? Writing? Photography? There’s a math career associated with each of these; check it out at http://www.toroidalsnark.net/mathcareers.html   and http://www.math.com/students/advice/careers.html

+         STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Mathematics) careers are hot these days – and universities are willing to give students scholarships to major in these areas. Explore STEM, and especially math, careers at these websites.

+         http://education.ti.com/studentzone/StudentZoneUS/careers/index.html

For parents:

Are you a bit intimidated by math? By exploring these math activities, hopefully both you and your family can feel more self-confident about math. It’s all around us,  and you can count on it – so enjoy it. Nevertheless, everyone can use a little math help. Here are some math tutoring site. Remember that the more that you and your children engaged in math-related activities that they like, the better they are likely to be in math.

+         http://mathforum.org/

+         http://www.ies.co.jp/math/java/

+         http://school.discovery.com/homeworkhelp/webmath/

+         http://occawlonline.pearsoned.com/bookbind/pubbooks/vandewalle_awl/

+         http://www.homeworkspot.com/middle/math/ 

+        http://www.teachthechildrenwell.com/math.html

Slammin’ Poetry!

Think poetry is all hearts and flowers? Think again! What about song lyrics? Rap? Hip hop? Shakespearean drama? Teen novels in verse are hot too. Out there is a poem for YOU! And it may be inside you, just waiting for you to surface it…

Connect:

Ø      Nursery rhymes are childhood favorites around the world. Sometime nursery rhymes cross cultures. Explore http://itsasmallworld.co.nz/index.php. Do different cultures have different themes? Do you need to know about the culture to enjoy the rhyme? Do the rhyme patterns sound different? What feelings do the rhymes convey?

Ø      Some nursery rhymes change their meaning over time. In fact, some nursery rhymes start out as political statements. Listen to a discussion about their hidden meaning at http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=4933345. And here are the origins of ten nursery rhymes: http://listverse.com/2009/08/19/10-nursery-rhymes-and-their-origins/
Ø Dig music? You can learn about poetry. Parents, you can try the following ideas with your kids: http://www.corndancer.com/tunes/tunes_lesplan.html
Ø      Yee haw! What do cowboys do all day besides herding? Some of them write poetry. Lasso a few at http://www.westernfolklife.org/site1/

Ø      Find your roots in poetry. Here’s a site of African American poetry: http://www.aalbc.com/authors/poetsinfo.html 

Ø      Poets can start young. Connect with teen Canadian poets at http://www.youngpoets.ca/

Create:

Ø      It’s been said that if you keep a poem in your pocket, you’ll never be alone. Did you know there’s a “Poem in Your Pocket” Day? You can celebrate it with others – and create your own special poetry day. Look for ideas at http://www.youngpoets.ca/. This site also includes a poem-a-day app. It’s still a poem in your pocket!

Ø      What’s a haiku – and how do you create one? Here’s a good place to start: http://www.toyomasu.com/haiku/
Ø Get in shape with poetry: try writing concrete poetry -- check it out at http://www.wild-about-woods.org.uk/elearning/concretepoetry/

Ø      Make poetry a creative family habit. The International Reading Association provides simple tips for you parents to help your children create your own family of poetry: http://www.readwritethink.org/parent-afterschool-resources/tips-howtos/help-child-write-poem-30317.html

Ø      Want your own poetry page? Try Teen Space Poetry, and connect with other teen poets: http://www.ipl.org/div/teenpoet/

Ø      What’s a poetry slam? A chance to share your favorite poetry, including your own. It’s usually in the form of a competition, and you can do it just for fun too. This site -- http://www.poetryslam.com/ -- is a national organization, but you can do this as a family or community activity too. The American Library Association has a great site about poetry slams, and how to celebrate poetry: http://www.ala.org/yalsa/teenreading/trw/wayscelebrate

Care:

Poetry has been used to sooth and to incite. Poems connect the head and the heart, and move others. Here are some ways to use poetry to care for others.

Ø      The first poetry you heard was probably a lullaby. These are usually soothing sounds, although, let’s face it, “When the bough brakes the cradle will fall” doesn’t seem very calming!  Listen and read some lullabies from this collection: http://www.kididdles.com/lyrics/lullabies.html. You can share your family lullabies and learn some new ones, and share them with little ones when you’re babysitting.

Ø      Protest poetry has a long tradition. Check out this website, which focuses on the history and impact of African American protest poetry: http://nationalhumanitiescenter.org/tserve/freedom/1917beyond/essays/aaprotestpoetry.htm  Maybe you can think of something worth protesting about through writing poetry, such as cyberbullying. You can use the Teen Space Wiki to share your care.

Ø      Show you care by giving the gift of poetry. You can create a playlist of your favorite poems and lyrics read aloud by you, including your own writing, as a gift to a friend. You can also illustrate your favorite poems, including your own, as a special card. Or you can create a poetry poster using http://edu.glogster.com/, and post it online. Make sure to credit other people’s poems and images!

Career:

Can you make a living as a poet? It’s more than writing greeting cards! Here is a good starting point about careers in poetry:

http://www.textetc.com/modernist/career-in-poetry.html

Food for Thought

We eat to live – and maybe live to eat… and in a way, we are what we eat. The more we know about food, the better choices we can make about eating it – and the more we can appreciate the impact of food. Food can also be a creative pastime and even career. There’s lots of food for thought here.

Connect:

There is a palette of ways to think about food, and this site is a great place to start tasting: http://www.cspinet.org/smartmouth/index1.html

Now that your taste buds have been whetted, try a couple of the following activities.

> How do you know what’s good for your body to eat? Let’s start with a balanced meal: http://www.choosemyplate.gov/

> Bone up on good food here: http://www.bestbonesforever.gov/

> What’s in your food? The contents may surprise you. Find out how to read food labels at http://kidshealth.org/kid/stay_healthy/food/labels.html.  A fun activity is to cut out the food labels, and read aloud just the ingredients to your family – see how long it takes them to guess what the food is. Marshmallows may never look the same….

> How safe is your food? Check it out at http://www.cfsan.fda.gov/~dms/educate.html> Where does food come from? Explore food chains at http://www.planetpals.com/foodchain.html

> There’s a science to cooking as you can find out at http://www.exploratorium.edu/cooking/

> Have you ever heard of bug juice? That’s sometimes what fruit punch is called at camp. But there really is bug food; explore the possibilities at http://www.ca.uky.edu/entomology/dept/bugfood1.asp

> And now for a little history: http://www.thenibble.com/REVIEWS/nutri/matter/2006-09.asp   history of the hot dog

http://researcharchive.calacademy.org/research/anthropology/utensil/index.html   http://inmamaskitchen.com/FOOD_IS_ART/pasta/historypasta.html

Create:

Let’s get creative with food!

> Try your hand at kid-friendly cooking at http://www.kids-cooking-activities.com  and http://www.spatulatta.com/

> Here’s a parent-approved way to play with food: http://www.goldeneggs.com.au/kids_crafty.asp

> Here’s everything you need to know about pumpkins, including how to grow them. A great ay to recycle your Halloween pumpkin is to make it into a pie! http://www.pumpkin-patch.com/

Care:

Food is very precious in some parts of the world. Is there enough food to feed everyone?  How can you help the food situation? This lesson plan has lots of good issues about food, and what you can do to help: http://learningtogive.org/lessons/unit358/lesson3.html

Here are some other sites where you can make a positive difference in terms of helping feed the world:

http://feedingamerica.org

http://www.kidscanmakeadifference.org/

http://www.thehungersite.com/cgi-bin/WebObjects/CTDSites.woa/138

!! As you’re looking at ways to help out, know that not everyone is honest, so be careful as you locate “do-gooder” websites; some might be more interested in helping themselves than anyone else.

Careers:

Are you a foodie? You could make a living from being a food expert; in fact, the food industry is the largest business in the U.S. (which makes sense since everyone has to eat). Here is a list of 150 food-related jobs! http://www.globalgourmet.com/food/cookbook/2008/food-jobs/culinary-job-list.html#axzz1zOOao82j

> Find out more about careers in food at http://www.kidsarus.org/kids_go4it/your_future/food_industry.htm

> The Bureau of Labor Statistics discusses different food careers; start here at http://www.bls.gov/ooh/Food-Preparation-and-Serving/Chefs-and-head-cooks.htm

> Become a Crime Scene Investigator: Check out page 1 of the family guide.

> Learn about several different forensic disciplines as you try to solve the murder of playboy Robert Hughes: http://www.museevirtuel-virtualmuseum.ca/sgc-cms/expositions-exhibitions/detective-investigator/en/game/index.php

What’s In A Name?

Where do words come from? The English language is filled with immigrant terms – brought by the people who moved to the United States. And English has been exported around the world, as evidenced in the “Les bleu jeans” and the movie “Spanglish.”

Explore the fun world of words – and maybe create your own new words.

Connect:

Think about your own family and the words you use.

> For instance, what is the origin of your first and last names? What do they mean in their original language? Do you relate with those meanings?  Here are some lists of name origin websites:

• Behind the Name  http://www.behindthename.com/
• Name Meanings  http://www.name-meanings.com/index.php
• Baby Name Wizard  http://www.babynamewizard.com/namevoyager.html/lnv0105.html
• Baby Name Worlds (has pregnancy info)  http://babynamesworld.parentsconnect.com/
• Behind the SurName  http://surnames.behindthename.com/
• Last Name Meanings  http://www.last-names.net/
• Internet Surname Database  http://www.surnamedb.com/
• Native Names map  http://ngm.nationalgeographic.com/2009/04/departments/native-names-interactive

> Have you noticed how the same word has a different meaning in another part of the country – or another country that uses the same language? That happens a lot with English since it is used around the world, often as a second or third language. Explore some of these differences:

• World Wide Words (International English with a British viewpoint)  http://www.worldwidewords.org/
• Soda vs Pop  http://popvssoda.com/
• Visual graphical dictionary  http://www.visuwords.com/
• Periodic Table in different languages  http://www.vanderkrogt.net/elements/multidict.php

> Etymology is the science of word origins. Place names are a fun way to investigate word origins, especially as they translate from one country to another. The Rio Grande means Big River, for instance. Here are some fun website about place name etymologies:

• Etymology’s View if the World  http://www.spiegel.de/fotostrecke/fotostrecke-37310.html
• Atlas of True Names  http://www.kalimedia.com/Atlas_of_True_Names.html
• Country Name Etymologies  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_country_name_etymologies
• Country name etymologies  http://www.fact-index.com/l/li/list_of_country_name_etymologies.html

Create:

Language is dynamic. You can think of language as a family of words, where some die over time and others are born.

> Here is a website of new and emerging terms:

Double-tongued English (fringe and new words)  http://www.doubletongued.org/

> How about creating your own language? Here is a language construction kit to get you started: http://www.zompist.com/kit.html

Care:

As mentioned above, some languages are in danger of becoming extinct. Because they reflect the culture of their speakers, the death of such a language lessens other people’s ability to understand those people. International organizations such as UNESCO try to save endangered languages by documenting them, revitalizing them, or protection them. Check out these websites. Maybe you can learn and share a few words in that language. Think about helping record languages yourself!

http://www.unesco.org/cpp/uk/declarations/linguistic.pdf

http://www.unesco.org/culture/languages-atlas/

http://rosettaproject.org/

http://www.endangeredlanguagefund.org/

http://www.languageconservancy.org/

One of the fun things about the Internet is sharing with your friends, and you can make friends on the Net as well, such as other people with the same interests. But sometimes those strangers can be unkind and hurtful. Along with being careful as to what you say, and to whom, you should think about having a good online name, similar to an avatar, that can be used to share some things that are OK to be broadcast, such as a neat drawing you did. It’s a way to keep some privacy. But choose your name wisely so you will be proud to use it: Fat Cat or Gatto Gordo might not be a great choice as you grow up.

Careers:

Do you like investigating words? Language specialists and linguists help develop and sustain the world of words. You can specialize in lots of different ways: by subject matter, language, clientele, historical aspect, and so on. Look at this list of over a THOUSAND jobs of language specialists: http://jobs.careers.org/i/search/language-specialist

Usually language specialists require advanced skills. This site discusses what language specialists do, the skills and education needed, and possible salaries: http://www.mymajors.com/careers-and-jobs/Language-Specialist

Do You See Dead Bodies?

Let’s find out how to solve crimes – in the convenience of home.

Forensics is the practical application of science to matters of the law. You may have seen TV shows such as CSI, Bones, or Law and Order. All of these feature forensics in terms of figuring out crimes. Partly because of the popularity of these shows, forensics is becoming a popular career.  Forensics is more than blood and guts; in fact, you don’t need to get your hands dirty at all. There are many ways to look for evidence and analyze it: by observation, by experimentation, even crunching numbers. AND, the law is more than just crimes; you might use forensics to make a case for changing your bedtime hours…

Connect:

Rice University has a fun website on all things forensic: http://forensics.rice.edu/en/Fun-Stuff/ They include free downloadable learning activities, guide to family activities that can be done at home, online activities, and cool links to even more information.

Explore at least one activity under each guide. Here are some suggestions:

> Test your powers of observation at http://forensics.rice.edu/en/materials/activity_four.pdf

> See strands of DNA with your own eyes: see page 3 of the family guide.

> Track down answers to a forensic quiz with an online scavenger hunt: http://forensics.rice.edu/en/Fun-Stuff/OA/Scavenger-Hunt.html

> How much can you deduce after searching these crime scenes? http://dsc.discovery.com/

Create:

Let’s create our own forensic materials!

> What does handwriting reveal about people? Construct your own handwriting quiz by using http://forensics.rice.edu/en/materials/activity_one.pdf.

> Make your own fake blood, and investigate its splatters: see page 2 of the family guide.

> Try your hand at forensic art after looking at http://www.forensicartist.com/

Care:

> How can you protect your home and community from fire? Check out these fire prevention games: http://www.befiresmart.com/

> How can you safeguard your family from computer-cyber crime? Check out this video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MbBYIPOPcgk

Research some good practices on http://www.fbi.gov/scams-safety/, and make your own animated video, using http://www.xtranormal.com, to help others be safe.

Careers:

What might you do as a forensics professional? Be a medical examiner, be a crime scene examiner, be a crime laboratory analyst, be a forensic engineer. You can also provide assistance using skills of psychology, statistics, computers, or drawing.

> Become a Crime Scene Investigator: Check out page 1 of the family guide.

> Learn about several different forensic disciplines as you try to solve the murder of playboy Robert Hughes: http://www.museevirtuel-virtualmuseum.ca/sgc-cms/expositions-exhibitions/detective-investigator/en/game/index.php