Showing results by author "Amy Tao" in All Categories

Have you ever been to a big city before? Learn about the different elements that you can find in a large city by using your senses! What can you see, smell, taste, hear, and touch in a city?

Do you know where your clothes come from? Learn about the processes of making certain materials that are used in clothing! Guess what plant or animal that rubber boots come from? What material is made from plastic bottles? You’ll be surprised to learn how the clothes you wear everyday are manufactured!

What would we do without wheels? We use wheels for all kinds of things, including transportation. Learn about alternatives for transportation other than the wheel! Do you use any of these different ways of moving around?

What does the school you attend look like? Does it have two floors? Does it have a playground? Look at the building plans the architect has drawn for Hopperville’s new school. Next, the old building needs to be removed with machines like a crane and a wrecking ball. Only the excavator can build a big, deep hole for the building. Find out what the surveyor does!

Do you know how buildings you see in your city got there? Before buildings are built, machines that move the ground are used! The excavator or digger move old ground away, preparing the space for a new building! A driver sits in the cab where all the fun begins! The tools to control the machine are inside the cab. Levers control the arms which do all the digging. How does the digger’s body move?

Germ Busters are on patrol! See the Germ Busters fighting bad germs in your blood marking them for destruction. The Busters are a team of antibodies that come from medicine you get from a shot. They are weak germs that can’t make you sick. Germ Busters keep protecting you from germs if they get inside your body again. Will you join the Germ Busters to fight the germs?

Did you know that sound vibrations make music? Learn how different musical instruments like guitar, drum, xylophone, and trumpet, make sound vibrations from the movement of strings or air—that together make music! Follow the activity to make your own instrument from straws! Experiment with short and long straws to discover which makes a high or low sound.

People visit the doctor at least once a year–even when they’re not sick! Doctors ask questions to check that your mind and body are healthy. Doctors use different tools to find out if you’re healthy like stethoscopes, thermometers and blood pressure cuffs. The nurse will measure your height and weight, too! Find out other ways doctors check if you’re healthy?

If you plan to visit one of the coldest, windiest places in the world, you’ll need to be prepared! Antarctica's roads are covered with packed snow and ice, requiring special vehicles and snowmobiles to drive on this slippery land. A bus named ‘Ivan the Terra’ carries 56 people and has tires big enough to keep the ground from sinking! Learn about other vehicles that transport cargo and people.

Do you know how the buildings in your city got there? Before buildings are built, different types of machines that move the ground are used! Some are large like the excavator or digger that moves old ground and dirt away, preparing the space for a new building! A bulldozer clears away old stones and dirt. The scoop, called the loader, does many jobs–it smooths, scrapes or carries dirt away?

Do you know how the anatomy of the eye allows us to see colors? Learn about the part of the eye called cones. Cones are like sensors that detect colors. The more cones a person or animal has, the more colors the eye perceives. Can you guess if your pets see you in full color, or if you see your pets in full colors?

Have you ever wanted to live in Antarctica? What kind of house would you live in? A snow house, of course! Follow the instructions to learn how to build a snow house. What is a snow house made from and what tools do you need to build it? Guess what the first step is to build a snow house?

Have you ever wondered about all the shapes it takes to design and build structures like buildings or bridges? Different shapes like squares, triangle and rectangles are used in construction, but which shape forms the strongest? Follow the activity using straws and string to find out which shape is the strongest, sturdiest construction?

Can you guess when trees stop growing–they don’t stop! Their massive roots keep them in the ground and require plenty of water, sunshine and nutrients from the soil to help them grow. Trees are the oldest, largest and tallest living things on Earth, with the oldest part of the tree being its strong, woody middle. Find out how a maple tree gets its start! How does a tree grow?

What kind of insect protects itself with bright colors, warning insect eaters to stay way–a ladybug! Learn about insects and animals that live together in a garden. Interacting together, these living organisms have a lot in common! Some can help a garden grow strong and others can cause a lot of trouble. Raccoons like to eat the seeds and berries while spiders help by eating the pesky insects.

Birds are easier to hear than they are to see. If you want to encourage more birds to visit your backyard–learn how to build a bird feeder and a bird's nest! What types of birds will you find? Learn two simple ways to help birds live and to observe them in your own backyard!

Got a pair of old tights, an empty can or a plastic bottle that you plan to throw away? You can upcycle those old things and turn them into new items you can use! Upcycling is recycling in a better way! Learn how to make a decorative pencil holder, a draft dodger to keep the cold out, or turn plastic bottles into bowling pins. What things can you create to reduce the use of plastic and metal?

What makes fish great swimmers–and how do they breathe underwater? Different animals use their body in different ways to take in air, food, and water. Learn how fish use gills to take in oxygen from water, much like humans use lungs to breathe in oxygen from the air. Whales, dolphins and sea turtles come up for breath–are they fish? In ocean life, guess which fish have gills and which are not fish!

The wind moves air. The heat from the sun warms the earth’s surface, warming the air above it. Warm air is lighter than cold air, so the warm air floats up to the sky! Why are some places windier than others? Learn what happens on a sandy beach when the air over the beach rises. Does the air become hot? Can you see hot air? Try the hot air experiment to find out how to see hot air rise!

Animals have unique skills to live, find food or escape becoming a predator’s meal! Animals that live in snowy places have athletic skills like strength need to compete in Winter Olympics sports. The snow leopard can leap 30 feet high and run fast! Seals can glide across the ice on their bellies like athletes competing in tobogganing. What skills do prairie chickens and red-crowned cranes have?