For the past several years, the creators of the Quirkles® have had the privilege of working with an afterschool project in the Boston area called the LEAH Project, where emerging high school leaders mentor elementary students. (See our September 2010 newsletter for more on LEAH.) Exploring science with the Quirkles® has been part of that program. One of the LEAH students we have enjoyed following is ShuMing, a student who moved to the United States from China with her family four years ago. Here she recounts her experiences with the LEAH project and the Quirkles®. Thank you ShuMing for being an inspiration to all of us! Read her story here
Quirkles illustrator Jesse Kuhn travelled to Boston to meet several of the LEAH mentors including ShuMing. Together they demonstrate the Quirkles activity Hallie Heat's Rising Water.
What Shapes Your Holiday Traditions?
Each of us who celebrate Christmas probably has traditions we hold dear. What we eat, when we open gifts, or how we decorate a tree are all important parts of the holiday season. But what if you’re the President of the United States? How is the holiday “officially” celebrated? How has history impacted those celebrations? Have you ever thought about how our traditions have been impacted by science, technology, and history? Journey with us as we explore some interesting presidential holiday trivia.
But before that, did you know that the first settlers to this country (Pilgrims and Puritans) did not celebrate the holiday, considering it pagan? Therefore if you were a working person in New England in the 1600’s, you would have worked on Christmas day. In fact, Massachusetts passed an anti-Christmas law in 1659 declaring: “Whosoever shall be found observing any such day as Christmas . . . shall pay for each offense five shillings as a fine to the country.” The law was repealed in 1681 but only a few celebrated. It wasn’t really until the 1830’s and 1840’s that Christmas celebrations were broadly accepted in New England. Even in 1870 in Boston Public Schools, a student missing school on Christmas day could be punished or expelled. Read on for more Presidential holiday traditions
Quirkles Science Fact of the Day!
While we humans have most of our taste receptors on our tongue, butterflies have theirs in their feet, allowing them to taste food by standing on it! Read the Quirkles Nosey Nina to learn more about how the senses work together. Want more fun facts, science riddles, and links to cool articles? Check us out at these locations...
Did You Know???
Many noteworthy science related events took place in December. For example,
Dec. 3-The first successful heart transplant occurred in 1967.
Dec. 4-The phonograph was invented in 1877.
Dec. 5-Walt Disney was born in 1901.
Dec. 8-Inventor Eli Whitney was born in 1765.
Dec. 9-Ball-bearing roller skates were patented in 1884.
Dec. 12-The golf tee was patented in 1899 and the Hovercraft was patented in 1955.
Dec. 14-The South Pole was discovered in 1911.
Dec. 17-The Wright brother’s first flight occurred in 1903.
Dec. 20-The electric light was demonstrated in 1879.
Dec. 22-It’s the first day of winter!
Dec. 22-First Christmas lights were sold in 1882.
Dec. 22-The mercury thermometer was invented in 1714.
Dec. 24-Apollo 8 reached the Moon in 1968.
Dec. 28-Chewing gum was patented in 1869.
Have You Been Naughty or Nice this Holiday Season?
Here’s a science activity your children are sure to love. All it takes is some red cabbage juice, lemon juice, ammonia, and vinegar and we guarantee you will be the talk of the December dinner table. Our improvised Naughty or Nice Test comes from the book Andy Acid and is called Andy Acid’s Magic Cabbage Experiment. (You might want to make sure you get the naughty juice so you don’t traumatize a young child!) Watch the video below as Quirkles co-creator Terri Johnson plays a trick on her trusty sidekick, KOLR weatherman, TomTrtan. Then click through for this fun science experiment that actually is a way to measure whether a substance is an acid or a base.
Finally, don’t forget in all the fun and excitement to emphasize what is really going on with the science in this activity. After all acids and bases play an important role in our daily lives. For example, we preserve foods with vinegar (acid), take an “antacid” when our stomach hurts (base), and take vitamin C (ascorbic acid) when we feel a cold coming on. Scientists use the pH scale to measure how acidic or basic a liquid is.
Thank You for Your Comments
Recently we received an email from kindergarten teacher Megan Campbell from Amherst, Ohio. Thank you so much for sharing, Megan!
We received a grant that purchased this product [the Quirkles®] for us this year in kindergarten...We LOVE it and so do the students! I look forward to each lesson every Friday and the kids are very involved 'scientists' and we even write a conclusion every week in our science journal. Wonderful, wonderful program...
Want Free Resources?
Download the free Quirkles coloring page and activity sheets featured in December.
