Fun with Math & Science

MATH IN A FLASH: Right out of the gate this morning I decided that we needed to make sure to do some math and science today (our week has been arts and language arts heavy).

I found a box of addition flashcards in a closet and we headed upstairs. I asked the kids to each get 20 cards and to stand a few paces apart and take turns quizzing each other. We don't do that very often, so it's novel and fun for them when we do.

They each did really well (it was mostly 2-digit numbers plus 1-digit numbers). Their only real frustration came with the fact that they weren't able to stump each other.

We did catch CJ cheating once, early into the exercise. ... The backs of the cards have the answers on them and once for 9+6, he immediately gave an answer of 51. Hmph. Where do you suppose THAT came from?

Next, I found some worksheets with a mixture of addition and subtraction (mostly 2-digit numbers). When the kids needed a little more room to compute than their worksheet allowed, they used the white board.There were also a few story problems. ("If you have 15 apples and take some away and then there are 9 left, how many were taken away?" - that kind of thing.) I showed the kids how to write a solve for "x" equation, plugging in the factors you know and working with the info you're given to figure out the missing number.

CONSUMER INQUIRY: Last night after lights out, CJ called out from his bedroom, "Is the Nintendo phone number open now?"

We asked him why he wanted to know and he said that he wanted to find out if and when they were going to release a Super Mario Galaxy 3.

I told him we'd try to contact them in the morning to find out.

This a.m., though his first inclination was to call Nintendo, I couldn't readily find an 800 customer service number, but we did find a spot on their Web site where you could send a written message regarding general Nintendo-related questions. Naturally, I made CJ fill out the form.

Imagine his delight when we heard back within 2 hours. The Nintendo rep wrote:

Hi, thank you for contacting us.

At this time, Super Mario Galaxy 3 has not been announced. If or when we do make an official announcement about this title, we will share all the exciting details on our website (www.nintendo.com). In the meantime, keep checking the "What's New" section on our website for all announcements and postings on new games.

Sincerely,

Barbara Soules
Nintendo of America Inc.

Granted, it wasn't the answer he wanted, but it was gratifying to get a response back, and it definitely helped reinforce the concept that "it doesn't hurt to ask."

STARRY, STARRY NIGHT: Though we live less than 10 minutes away and have been members for two years now, until today we'd yet to go to a show in the Pacific Science Center planetarium. I checked the schedule and saw that there was a 2 p.m. session for "Sky Tonight" which is a tour of the night sky over Seattle.
I was surprised when we walked into the planetarium - it was much smaller than I imagined it would be (about the size of a big living room), and a circle of couches lined the walls. Parked in the middle of the room was a computer/control board and a bunch of expensive looking projecting equipment. There were maybe 30 of us in the room.

The first shot overhead was of a pinkish greyish sky filling the rotunda/ceiling, and the Seattle skyline was a 360-degree band around its bottom. I think I could see two stars. It was disappointing. Which, of course, was the point - that light pollution from the city knocks out most of the starlight.

Eventually we were transported to the hinterlands, and about 1600 stars became visible (that's the number the projection unit pictured above has the capacity to show). The narrator explained how to orient ourselves to north, south, east and west, and then she began identifying constellations. One of the first things she told us is the Big Dipper is not a constellation. You can imagine the gasps/shrieks of horror at that.

We were shown Ursa Major and Minor (a mother and son) and the narrator shared the Greek mythology regarding how they came to live in the sky. We found the North Star (Polaris), Orion, and a few other constellations.

The show was 40 minutes long. I could have done with half as much talk and twice as much tech. (Not until the last like 2 minutes did the narrator show that she could rotate the projector and show us what it looks like in the other hemisphere, or what stars we could see overhead during the day if the sun wasn't blazing up the sky.)

That, and you know, when you buy ticket, it says not recommended for children under 6. But what it MEANS is that it's for kids who know how to sit still, who know when not to interrupt/interject/blather, and kids who can go 40 minutes without playing with an electronic device. There were probably a dozen kids in the theater (Annabelle and CJ were the youngest) and I'd say eight of them were a nuisance.

That said, I should note that really I fault their parents (who were with them). For chrissake, people, can't you get your kids to sit and be polite for 40 minutes? If you can't, don't come into the planetarium.

The narrator was quite obviously annoyed. A couple of times she just quit talking, waiting for a kid to be quiet, and once she actually had to tell a kid to put his phone or whatever away, because the parent didn't/wouldn't. Sigh.

SPIROGRAPH ON STEROIDS: Today the Pacific Science Center was a ghost town. The crush of summer tourists has gone, and it's too early in the school year for the flood of field trip students. CJ, Annabelle and I practically had the place to ourselves. This allowed us to do something Annabelle has been wanting do do for months, but the line has always been too long. Today we would finally use the Harmonograph station to create a work of art.

The geniuses at Wikipedia tell me that a harmonograph is "a mechanical apparatus that employs pendulums to create a geometric image."

Annabelle paid $2 at the information desk for a big sheet of poster cardstock. We were given four markers to use. The station is like a tabletop suspended by four chains. You clamp your posterboard down to the plateau, and then swing the tabletop in the direction(s) of your liking, and drop a pen down in the fixed pen holder in the middle of the contraption.

By doing so, the kids, via the harmonograph, produced ovals of varying shapes and sizes. They were very proud of their final product.
STORM ON THE HORIZON: This morning, a flag was hoisted atop the Space Needle. Annabelle noticed it as we were walking up to the Pacific Science Center. It was the flag for the Seattle Storm - the Women's National Basketball Association team. They are playing in the WNBA finals starting this Sunday. I've been sporadically monitoring their record all season and post season, and the night I found out they won a spot in the finals, I said to Christian that I thought we should buy tickets. We go to lots and lots of sporting events and we're always watching men play. I think it would be good for the kids, especially, to see that there are women professional athletes.

So Tuesday night we'll be at Key Arena watching the Storm take on the Atlanta Dream. I'm really looking forward to it!

FUNNY NUMBERS: A joke, from Annabelle

Q: What did Zero say to Eight?
A: Nice belt!

SPRING FEVER: While we were enjoying dinner @ our favorite dive, Hattie's Hat, at one point Rick said to CJ, "You sound like the spring." Naturally, we had to ask what he was talking about. Rick explained that it was a spring character in one of the short educational films featured on Mystery Science Theater 3000 (MST3K) several years ago. Rick, Kennedy and I used to watch MST3K all the time and I remembered the short right away.

So, when we got home, the kids got a lesson in all the things springs are used in like pocket watches and rotary telephones and, oh wait, those things mean nothing to them. Well, there are still springs in car seats and furniture and there's still spring action in golf clubs, so that they got.

The educational film was awful and annoying and unwatchable as is, which is why the folks with MST3K took it and made it their own. If you are just bored or curious enough that you choose to watch this, I warn you, it's 8 minutes (or so) of your life you'll never get back.