DIY Rainy Day Activities!

Patria Lincoln Posted On Apr 3, 2018 | STEM

Spring has sprung, and we all know the saying, “April showers bring May flowers.” This means, while the excitement of spring is upon us, most areas of the United States will also be facing LOTS of rainy weather. NEVER FEAR: Whether you are reading this as a parent, teacher, or both; these ideas will keep your kiddos engaged in learning, even if they are cooped up inside the house until sunnier days appear!

Rainbow Round-Up

With spring showers often follow rainbows! Help your little ones pass the time during the storm by exploring the science of rainbows.. Set the stage and build background knowledge by exploring colors, light, and color mixing. These color paddles and color mixing lenses by Learning Resources are perfect for rainbow play and exploration. Let your students experiment with shining light through individual colors and also play with color mixing by overlapping primary color paddles to make secondary colors. Rainy Day Activities

After that warm-up, transition from color mixing to into rainbow fun with one of my favorite, simple activities for this time of year. The best milk color changing experiment I have found is from Spangler Science (here). Watch the video and follow the simple instructions to have your littles mixing colors like rainbow experts. Ask your kiddos to record their materials, steps in the experiment, and observations using a blank paper or in a journal.

Rainy Day Activities

Weather Wonders Exploration

When you’re stuck inside due to rainy spring showers, use that time as a learning opportunity, whether at home or school! Using fun, visual, and engaging weather trackers like these (large & small) from Learning Resources, you can turn the rainy day blues into a meteorologist broadcast. Then, extend that experience with the fun spring craftivity below, and perhaps even pair it with some weather-themed poetry. Rainy Day Weather Chart

Cupcake Wrapper Umbrellas

This activity is simple, adorable, and perfect for home and school creation. I made these gems applicable to fourth grade by having students start by creating the umbrella visual and then writing poetry about rain to celebrate National Poetry Month in April. You can do the same at home/school to enhance this craftivity.

Materials needed:

Assorted cupcake wrappers/liners

Assorted colors of pipe cleaners

White construction paper

Blue tempera paint

Paintbrushes

Scissors

Glue

Instructions:

Fold 2-3 cupcake liners in half.

Arrange on white construction paper.

Glue back half of the liners to the paper.

Cut pipe cleaners in half (or smaller, if needed).

Curl the bottom end of the pipe cleaner to form the handle (J) of the umbrella

Glue the top of the handle inside the umbrella.

Secure bottom of the pipe cleaner handle to the construction paper by applying glue underneath.

Using blue paint and paintbrush, make raindrops falling all around the umbrellas.

Clean up any mess and display the beautiful finished products! Rainy Day Crafts Umbrella

While you and your little ones might be thinking, “Rain, rain, go away,” you can make the most of your time inside with these hands-on spring themed activities. They will have a blast, and when the showers pass, they’ll be geared up and ready to explore outdoor spring weather! Rainy Day

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Bright Science! DIY Layers of the Sun Craft

Is it getting hot in here? Since those Firelytes love the heat, we thought we’d go an adventure with them to the hottest spot in our galaxy: the SUN!

The Sun is a spot of constant fascination for scientists and space-lovers alike. On August 12, 2018, NASA launched the historic Park Solar Probe. Its mission is to revolutionize our understanding of the Sun. Parker will be able to travel through the Sun’s atmosphere, closer to it than any spacecraft before!

The hope is that Parker will be able to provide humanity with the closest-ever observations of a star.Before we get into what Parker is looking for, let’s have the Firelytes describe to us all the parts of the sun. The sun accounts for 99.86% of our solar system, and is made up of the gases hydrogen and helium. It is so big that one million Earths could fit inside it. Wow! It is made up of several layers that help us understand its makeup, so let’s take a look. Take it away, Firelytes!

Layers of the Sun

Core

Erupto says: The Sun’s core is about 200,000 miles across and takes up about one quarter of the Sun’s size. The temperature inside is about 15 million degrees Celsius. The core is tightly packed, which creates an environment for nuclear reactions to occur.

Radiative Zone

Hearther says: The radiative zone is just outside the core and generates energy by nuclear fusion. Both the core and radiative zone spin differently than the rest of the sun. This energy produced is in the form of photons, or particles of light or radiation.

Convective Zone

Chark Says: A thermometer would read 15 million degrees Celsius in the convective zone of the Sun. Energy created from the radiative zone is transported through here by radiation and conduction.

Photosphere

Blazer says: The photosphere is the visible surface of the sun. It is what we see on Earth. Light is radiated from the photosphere’s surface.

Chromosphere

Magmunch says: Temperatures at the Sun’s chromosphere are about 4,000 degrees Celsius. This is the layer that emits the sun’s reddish color only visible during eclipses.

Corona

Twotorch says: The Sun is surrounded by a “jacket of gases” called an atmosphere. The outermost later is corona. It is usually not visible because of the Sun’s bright light, but can be seen by a total solar eclipse.

Now back to Parker, the NASA’s space probe currently making its way around the Sun. For the first time, Parker will be able to gather data from the corona, hoping to deepen scientists’ understanding of the origin and evolution of solar wind. The neatest part? Parker will be able to give information to NASA’s ability to forecast changes in Earth’s space environment that will affect life and technology here on our planet. Sun NASA

Parker will hurtle around the Sun at 430,00 mph.

How fast is that? Well, fast enough to get from Philadelphia to Washington D.C. in one second!

And what about the heat? Parker’s outer solar shield will be up against temperatures of about 2,500 degree Fahrenheit, but inside the probe it will stay a comfortable room temperature. The Sun is the only star we can study up close. As the source of light and heat for the Earth, the more scientists study it, the more we can understand how life on Earth developed. Solar wind, or the flow of gases from the Sun, can cause disturbances in the Earth’s magnetic field. All good stuff to find out – Parker is going to help scientists do it.

Stay tuned on Parker’s latest findings at nasa.gov. And thank you, Firelytes, for our Sun fun facts!

Patria Lincoln | Posted on Apr 20, 2018

Celebrate Astronomy Day with Kids

Each year Astronomy Day is celebrated worldwide. The stars have fascinated humanity for literally centuries, and even to this day captures the imagination of kids of all ages. Celebrate this event with them this year and don't worry if you don't own any expensive telescopes. These DIY activities use real life discoveries to inspire your little astronomers!

Track the Phases of the Moon

Bone sticks from across Europe and Africa dating back as long ago as 35,000 BCE that tracked the moon’s phases. Use a simple number line with your kids to track the phases of the moon over the course of a month, from full moon and back again. Do it for several months and see what patterns they begin to observe.

Depict a Celestial Phenomenon

A celestial phenomenon is a astrological event that involves one or more objects. The earliest example depicted was discovered in Germany in 1999. The Nebra Sky Disc dates back to 2000 BC and it depicted a star cluster, phases of the moon and the rising sun.

Use a black paper plate, or even just black paper, and encourage your children to depict their own star formations. If they can’t stay up to observe them at night, project some indoors with this Shining Stars Projector.

Astronomy to Keep Time

The Chinese astronomers kept detailed observations beginning about 600 BC, for the primary purpose of timekeeping. Their records allowed them to predict eclipses, and include the first record of events such as supernovas and comets.

On the other side of the world, the Mayans developed their own astronomical tables for predicting the phases of the moon, eclipses, and the appearance of the other planets. They used these and the cycles of the Sun, the Moon, Venus, Jupiter, Saturn, Mars and constellations to establish the Mayan calendar.

All of the above astronomy was without a telescope, and you can still observe these astronomical events with your kids today. Check out this astronomy calendar and pick a full moon, eclipse, planetary event, or meteor shower to observe as a family.

Try this simple astronomy experiment to help kids as young as preschoolers understand what makes night.

Just because ancient astronomers did all of this without a telescope doesn't mean your little ones have to! All of the above activities can be done with the naked eye but if you feel like shooting for the stars check out Learning Resources Big View Telescope. How will you celebrate Astronomy Day?