Teaching Your Child Analytical Skills Through Science Projects

There are many things that science projects can teach a child. Science projects can teach your child more about science and the way the world works. Another thing that you can teach your child through science projects is analytical skills. Here are some ways that science projects teaches your child analytical skills.

First off you might be thinking to yourself what analytical skills are. Analytical skills are problem solving skills. You can teach your child analytical skills through science projects by getting their curiosity going. This can be done by finding something that interests them. For example, if your child is interested in how electricity is made. Help your child research a certain form of electricity device. Then use this research to conduct a science fair project. Using analytical skills, such as the scientific method, figure out ways to create electric currents, and to generate that electricity etc. Find out what your child can do or make to help show their studies and findings on their project. For example, say that your child wanted to explain how a remote control worked. Using analytical skills figure out a way to show how you have to have a signal that goes from the remote to what ever devise you are trying to control. Then use this as part of your presentation for your child’s science project.

You can teach your child analytical skills through science projects by correctly applying the scientific method. Talk to them about a subject, ask for a theory, then test it. Prove the theory false or true, then have a discussion about why things turned out the way they did. This will help your child see that thinking is a process of steps. That decisions should be made through tests, and that analyzing outcomes, procedures, etc. is the best way to come up with a solution.

Teaching your child analytical skills through science projects will help your child to start thinking about every little thing that was once just a part of life. Like using the telephone or putting a plastic bag over a credit card that won’t read when being swiped normally. These are things that a child could question. You could do a little research and show your child the answers to why things work the way they work by doing a science project on the question that your child has asked. This will help teach your child analytical skills through science projects because science is simply a process of analyzing what we see and breaking it down into simpler, not compound explanations.

Another way to teach your child analytical skills through science projects are to have discussions. Ask your child questions about how things work. Ask them how they think something works. Or ask your child what they think could solve certain problems. This will help their minds to start working and to start using analytical skills to figure out the answer to the questions you are asking. They will then start asking the right kinds of questions to deduct answers.

All of these are ways that you can teach analytical skills to your child through science projects. Teaching your child analytical skills through science projects is very important and will help them when it comes to the real world. Analytical skills will help your child in the work place with projects they are assigned to. Analytical skills will also help in personal situations with other co workers or friends. The more you work to teach your child analytical skills through science project the better. Teaching your child analytical skills will only help improve the way the think and the way they deal with real situations in life. Analytical skills will help them be able to cope in the real world because they will know how to solve problems because of the analytical skills they have.

By: Just Science

How To Make Science More Fun—Do Science Projects

Some people wonder how they can make science more fun for their children. Some people may want to know how they can help their children lean to understand science more. Here are some ways that you can make science more fun by doing science projects.

Doing science projects can help you and your children to learn new things about science and have fun while doing it. You can take things that your children are learning in science and make more out of it by creating a science project. For example if your children are learning about volcano’s and how they work. You can make your own volcano right in your own kitchen. Read through your child’s science book and find out what exactly they are learning about volcanoes. There are usually quizzes at the end of each chapter in your children’s science book. This will give you an idea about what you child will be tested on. So if your child is going to be tested on what makes a volcano erupt or what is the lava made out of. You can call the ingredients that you are pouring into the volcano the things that make lava or make it erupt. This will help your child to have fun while doing science and want to do more science projects to help them learn about science.

Another way to make science fun is to take your children on a nature walk. This will get your children off the couch and get them more active. You can then point out specific things that you see in nature have them pick out some things that they see. Then do sciences project to teach them about the scientific part of what they saw. This will help your children to have fun while doing science projects.

A different way of getting your child to have fun doing science projects is to be interested in what they are learning about in science, and ask if you can help them do science projects. You are your child’s best teacher. Your child will want to learn from you more than any one else. You can also help them to understand things in ways that other people can’t because you know how they learn the best. Do a science project that they are interested in or have asked a question about. For instance if your child is interested in hot air balloons, you could spend some time together researching hot air balloons and what makes them float. Then find an event with hot air balloons in your area and take them to watch them. Then discuss the way that the hot air balloon takes off and what is fueling it to make it float. This will help to make science more fun to your child and make them want to do more science projects.

There are many different things out there that you can get your child involved in to help them have more fun with science and get the interested in doing more science projects. Encourage them to try to figure out the science behind things and how they work. This will help your child to learn more about science. Make sure to have discussions about science and about what they have learned. Your child will be excited to tell you what they discover and have learned if you act interested in what they have to say. Do science projects that can create new ways of doing things like popping popcorn. Explain why popcorn will pop one way but not another. Creating new ways to do things through science projects will help make science more fun.

By: Just Science

e=mc2: 103 years later, Einstein's proven right

Thu Nov 20, 6:56 pm ET

PARIS (AFP) – It's taken more than a century, but Einstein's celebrated formula e=mc2 has finally been corroborated, thanks to a heroic computational effort by French, German and Hungarian physicists.

A brainpower consortium led by Laurent Lellouch of France's Centre for Theoretical Physics, using some of the world's mightiest supercomputers, have set down the calculations for estimating the mass of protons and neutrons, the particles at the nucleus of atoms.

According to the conventional model of particle physics, protons and neutrons comprise smaller particles known as quarks, which in turn are bound by gluons.

The odd thing is this: the mass of gluons is zero and the mass of quarks is only five percent. Where, therefore, is the missing 95 percent?

The answer, according to the study published in the US journal Science on Thursday, comes from the energy from the movements and interactions of quarks and gluons.

In other words, energy and mass are equivalent, as Einstein proposed in his Special Theory of Relativity in 1905.

The e=mc2 formula shows that mass can be converted into energy, and energy can be converted into mass.

By showing how much energy would be released if a certain amount of mass were to be converted into energy, the equation has been used many times, most famously as the inspirational basis for building atomic weapons.

But resolving e=mc2 at the scale of sub-atomic particles -- in equations called quantum chromodynamics -- has been fiendishly difficult.

"Until now, this has been a hypothesis," France's National Centre for Scientific Research (CNRS) said proudly in a press release.

"It has now been corroborated for the first time."

For those keen to know more: the computations involve "envisioning space and time as part of a four-dimensional crystal lattice, with discrete points spaced along columns and rows."

Hubble works but servicing slips

The final mission to service the Hubble space telescope has slipped deeper into next year, Nasa has announced.

Officials said the delay would give engineers extra time to prepare a spare control unit needed to replace one that broke on the observatory last month.

Hubble was taken offline for four weeks by the failure but has since been re-booted using a back-up system.

Meanwhile Nasa said the space shuttle Endeavour would launch on 14 November to the International Space Station.

The Endeavour is being sent to outfit the ISS for six crew members instead of three.

The 15-day flight will include four spacewalks to repair the station's power system and carry equipment to sustain the astronauts.

Path to launch

It was hoped the Hubble reserve control unit could be made ready for launch by February. April is now the earliest date.

The US space agency will then have to find a slot for the servicing mission in the sequence of construction and re-supply flights already planned to go to the International Space Station.

Evidence that science data is flowing again on Hubble came with the release on Thursday of a spectacular new image of a pair of interacting galaxies known as Arp 147.

Hubble's recent woes go back to Saturday, 27 September, just weeks before the fifth and final servicing mission was due to blast off.

Hubble's main flight computer put the observatory's instruments in a protective safe mode when it detected a malfunction in the telescope's Science Instrument Command and Data Handling (SIC&DH) Unit. The anomaly was traced to a box that formats, stores and routes data gathered by Hubble's imaging instruments.

Engineers successfully switched Hubble over to a "B" formatter - but the failure left the observatory with no redundant capability.

The spare unit Nasa now intends to fly on the rescheduled servicing mission is as old as the telescope and needs an extensive programme of testing before it is declared flight worthy.

"Our plan overall takes something on the order of about six-and-a-half months from now," explained Preston Burch, Hubble Space Telescope manager at Nasa's Goddard Space Flight Center in Maryland.

"There's about a month or so devoted to inspecting and resolving any of the performance issues associated with [the spare unit]; about three months for environmental tests; and then about two to two-and-a-half months to do final testing and shipping down to the Kennedy Space Center and getting it installed on the orbiter.

"In addition, there are also approximately three tools that need to be developed to facilitate its installation on orbit."

Longer life

The final servicing mission will be undertaken by astronauts on the Atlantis shuttle.

The telescope's batteries and gyroscopes, which are used to point the telescope, are degrading and need to be replaced.

The orbiter crew is also tasked with installing two new instruments: the Wide Field Camera 3 (WFC3), and the Cosmic Origins Spectrograph (COS). The new instruments will improve significantly Hubble's ability to probe distant, faint objects in the early Universe.

The Atlantis astronauts must also repair two instruments that have failed in recent years - the Advanced Camera for Surveys (ACS) and the Space Telescope Imaging Spectrograph (STIS).

If the work is carried out successfully, it should allow Hubble to keep operating into the next decade.

The Greatness Of Our Sun

For all the people in this world, the supreme star is not in Hollywood, it is at the pinpoint of our solar usage and is called the Sun. The earth is 93 million miles from the Sun and that reserve is known as one astronomical entity. All eight planets in our solar usage can hint their orbits to the gravitational weight of the Sun. The love and light, the winds and tides, the nights and being, the year and its seasons, are all the outcome of the Sun and its enormous life generous energy.

The Sun is a star as I avowed before. It is just one of more than 100 billion stars in the Milky Way Galaxy. If it is correct that the universe was natural over 13 billion living ago, then our galaxy is certainly a little more than 12 billion living old. Not all the stars in our galaxy are the same age and our Sun is estimated to be about 5 billion being of age.

As the Sun shines under its own command, it does so by energy from nuclear fusion. Only nuclear fusion could make the colossal quantity of entire energy approach from the Sun and keep it open for billions of years. Near the axis of this great heater, 700 million tons of hydrogen is converted into helium every flash and 5 million tons vanish to become pure energy.

Every second, the energy output is level to the explosion of 92 billion one megaton bombs. You might be wondering how this median aged star is able to assert its shape and extent. The answer is simple. The Sun is made of hot gas, but it is also 330,000 period as enormous as earth. That kind of gravitational force is able to cuddle the hot gas together.

The hotter the gas and the bigger the squeeze from gravity, the elevated the anxiety gravity draws in and load pushes out. When a certain diameter is reached, the two opposing services are alike or balanced and the answer is a costume magnitude.

How big is the Sun? It is 864,500 miles in diameter, or 109 times as thick as earth. In reality, 1,300,000 earths could fit inside the Sun. That is cute large I must say. What do such facts mean? Translate some of this into things or experiences you are regular with. How about a commercial jet smooth roving about 500 miles per hour?

If you boarded such a flat and traveled to the spotlight of the earth it would take about eight hours. It would then take another eight hours to catch the other side of our earth. This is based on the known diameter of 8000 miles for earth. The Sun is so much better than our planet that it is comparable to the difference in dimension between a basketball and the start of a pin.

The same jet even would take 72 time to include the diameter of the Sun. Of course I am only with this example to illustrate the great volume of the Sun by comparison to our planet. No vehicle of any description could actually trek through the Sun because the temperature at, or near its primary is 29 million degrees Fahrenheit.

Sunshine is the most emotive force operating in our world today. Without its love we could not live. Without its light, we would descend into everlasting darkness. Without these two blessings of fervor and light joint, all the processes of spirit would determine.

All plant and animal life, with us, is dependent leading the forces that are brought about, and controlled by the beneficent emission of the Sun. Without the Sun, no plants, fruit, vegetables or flowers would survive, there would be no life. The book of Genesis tells us that our Creator gave us two great light; the greater to statute the day and the slighter to power the night. God said that it was good, would you not grant? I would grant.

By: Jeff Seward

Discover The Galapagos Penguins

Not surprisingly, the term “Galapagos fauna” may conjure a slew of archetypal images: gargantuan tortoises, exotic sea creatures and of course, Darwin’s beloved finches. But what about the island’s more elusive populations like, say, the Galapagos penguins? What might appear a paradox is, in fact, a veritable reality. Despite the archipelago’s location atop the equator, in the Northern Hemisphere, there, in its tropical perimeters, exists a myriad of Galapagos penguins.

The Galapagos penguins are in fact the only penguins in the northern hemisphere, as this species traditionally inhabits cooler regions of the southern hemisphere. Their presence on the islands is attributed to the South American Humboldt penguin, from which the endemic species apparently evolved. According to the Charles Darwin Research Station, penguins have adapted to the Galapagos’ tropical land temperature, employing sundry tactics to prevent their frames from overheating. They shade their feet, ventilate the hollows under their wings, and swim in the cool waters of the Cromwell Current.

The Cromwell Current plays an integral role in the survival of the Galapagos penguins, as it provides the region’s most frigid current—an opportune place for penguins to dwell. Resting approximately 100 meters beneath the Pacific Ocean’s surface, this submarine current offers penguins a gentle enclave in which to swim and catch fish throughout the day. When evening approaches and the heat is tempered by nightfall, Galapagos penguins return to the land to sleep and nest.

Unfortunately, these adorable 4-5 pound, 53-cm creatures have recently been listed as endangered on The International Union for Conservation of Nature’s Red List of Threatened Species. The IUCN, which has been evaluating the conservation status of species for over 40 years, first designated the species as endangered in 2000. Devastated by El Nino storms as well illegal fishing, oil spills, and several other threats, it is anticipated by IUCN that population trends may continue to decrease.

Despite these challenges, the Galapagos penguins remain a fascinating anomaly. Their presence along the equator continues to amuse and bemuse scientists and tourists alike.

By: Enid Glasgow
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Enid Glasgow is a travel writer who enjoys luxury Galapagos cruises with Big Five luxury travel

Solar energy mobile lab sparks student interest

Written by William Gest
Monday, 03 November 2008

A mobile learning lab featuring solar energy, wind turbines, and fuel cell technology visited Taylor High School Friday as part of an outreach program designed to get students thinking about careers in renewable energy.

Texas State Technical College-Waco, collaborating with the Texas Renewable Energy Education Consortium, created the lab to demonstrate renewable technology. The lab, which can be pulled by truck, is completely powered by solar panels and a wind turbine on the roof. The exhibit includes a solar-powered golf cart and a working demonstration of fuel cell technology

Johnny Sanford, vice president of the Taylor school board, said exposing students to renewable energy gives them an early start in a promising new field.

"Solar energy, to a lot of people, is still just a word," he said. "But if we always do what we always did, we'll always have what we always had."

Teacher Ed Johnson brought his afternoon auto mechanics class to see the lab.

"I'm trying to expose them to higher technology, and this is much better than just showing them a video about solar energy," he said.

While working in the auto mechanics class, senior Chris Currie figured out how to create an air-compression powered car using lead batteries and an electric motor. Currie plans to attend TSTC when he graduates

Inspiring students like Currie to think about career opportunities in renewable technology is the primary mission of the mobile teaching lab, TSTC-Waco Fuel Cell and Renewable Energy Technology Coordinator Sidney Bolfing said.

"You never know, you might spark an interest, if we can just get two or three of them to look at this," he said. "Some may call me and say 'I want to talk to you about this.'"

All About The Stars

We all love gazing stars in the sky but do we know as to what are these stars made up of and how they are born. Well, there are lot many questions surrounding the stars. So, let us begin with their formation. Stars are basically made up of plasma. Nebula is a term often used in this regard. It basically refers to the assemblage of dust particles and gas and when all these dust particles and gases get together, they form a star.

Did you know that sun is also a star? It might appear strange to you, but yes sun is also a star which appears to be bigger than rest of the stars but is actually smaller in comparison to others. Not only that, it also has a much less quantity of mass as compared to others. This is the reason why it has been able to survive for so long. After knowing this fact, you must have come to know that mass of the star is inversely related to its life cycle; the more the mass a star has, the lesser will be its life span and vice versa.

Let us now discuss the life cycle of a small star of about one solar mass. It passes through different stages of life. As mentioned before, when nebula is available in high density, it leads to the formation of a star. After that, it condenses to form a huge blob of gas and ultimately contracts under its own gravitational force. As the star becomes hot, it glows in the sky and transforms into a protostar. If it has adequate substance, it attains a very high temperature of 15 million degrees centigrade. At this heat level, nuclear reactions take place, thereby causing fusion of hydrogen. This in turn gives rise to helium. At this stage, the star starts releasing energy and shines all the more. It is now called the main sequence star.

A small star stays into the main sequence stage till the entire hydrogen converts into helium. In the next stage, the helium core begins to shrink. When the core becomes extremely hot, it causes fusion of helium to form carbon. This leads to the expansion of its outer layer. After some time, it becomes cool and glows. The expanded star is popularly called red giant. After a certain period, the helium core vanishes and its outer layer goes away from the star in the form of a gaseous shell. The left core turns into a white dwarf and fades away. Then a stage comes when the star stops glowing and is called a black dwarf. So, this is the life cycle of a star.

By: Cushy
Article Directory: http://www.articledashboard.com
Dave Clark is a freelance article writer and has been in the industry for many years, he has written many books and is very knowledgeable in various fields, Dave also works for Cushy Sofa a supplier of Memory Foam Mattresses Sofas and Divan sets

A Fun Science Activity Simulating The Phases Of The Moon

The moon circles around the earth and the journey takes about a month. The moon does not have any light of its own and we only see the moon because of light from the sun reflecting from it. As the moon circles the earth the sunlight illuminates different parts of the moon. This is why the moon seems to take on different shapes or "Phases" during the month. When it is full moon the moon is completely lit up and it happens only once a month.

What we are going to do is simulate it and see why it happens.

This is what you'll need:

*A football (soccer ball) or beach ball
*Glue
*Glue Brush
*A glass
*Silver paper or foil
*A pair of scissors
*Reusable adhesive
*A torch
*A friend to do this project with

This is what you need to do:

1. Do this project in a room that can be darkened.
2. Wash and dry the ball thoroughly.
3. Now you have to paint glue all over the ball.
4. Rest it on a small bowl to keep it still.
5. Now you have to cut silver paper or foil into large square sheets.
6. Whilst trying to keep the paper as smooth as possible, wrap up the ball in the paper.
7. This now represents your moon.
8. Place a small piece of reusable adhesive under the ball (your moon.)
9. Place your moon on a table, with the adhesive keeping it in place and preventing it from rolling of the table.
10. Now is where the friend comes into the picture.
11. Let your friend stand at the one end of the table and shine the torch with a strong beam on your moon.
12. Now you have to go and stand at the opposite side of the table.
13. With the main lights out, look at your moon.
14. Now you have to gradually move around the table whilst still looking at your moon.
15. The moon is still being lit up on the one side by the torch.
16. You will see the different shapes it takes.
17. These shapes represent the different phases of the moon.
18. Can you name the phases?
19. Try to illustrate the phases for your project.

In this project your "moon" kept still and you moved around it. This was only to let you see the effect. In real life, of course, the moon circles around the earth whilst the earth circles around the sun. Try and explain why that has the same effect on the appearance of the moon as your circling your "moon."

By: Magriet
Article Directory: http://www.articledashboard.com
For a very similar project on the earth, have a look at our site Easy Science Fair Projects You can also have a look at the Squidoo Lens Example Science Fair Projects

Let's Learn About Our Planets

As we all know, there has been topical speculation of what constitutes a globe and what doesn't. The objective of this mystery was Pluto. Yet the IAU (International Astronomical Union) says that earth is "a celestial body that is in orbit around the sun, has sufficient heap for its self gravity to overcome rigid body army so that it assumes a near round model and has blank the neighborhood around its orbit."

Besides Earth and its moon Luna, there are eight other planets within our solar procedure that also surround their own orbiting satellites, or moons. The first of these planets, and the next to the sun, is Mercury. You would think that this globe being so close to the sun would mean the stuffed thing is quite toasty, but that is not firm. Only the piece bordering to the sun is the fried section. The elevation away from the sun can actually plummet hundreds of degrees below nought.

The second globe is Venus with its irritable posture near the sun. It needs to keep all the passion to itself with its thick atmosphere. Therefore the planet is hot all over and full of volcanic activity. It is not like us here on Earth where temperature is just right and everything has a particular square to espouse life. Mars, on the other hand, isn't so lucky. While the mistrust of where the water went looms in all our minds, this desert planet is constantly probed for a hint.

Then we have fifth planet, Jupiter with its active atmosphere and wild magnetic subject. Perhaps one of these living we can understand it and see why it is the enraged giant it is, but is it as annoyed as Saturn? Saturn sports rings that are made of ice and shake chunks and make the rings of Uranus look like infants. Unfortunately, not as much is known about Saturn and Uranus other than Uranus was apparently hit by a very titanic item that slanted it on its region.

Anyway, we now determine with lowly Pluto. This little deported that is more or fewer an increase orbiting the sun is still the axis of contest. Since it has been considered a planet since 1930, each is worn to its survival and many may become distraught at the verity this little guy may be exiled. Either way, we have a very impressive solar system with much more examine to come. Maybe through long and accurate study Pluto will learn its accurate destiny.

By: Jeff Seward
Article Directory: http://www.articledashboard.com
For info on facts about Mars and Moon facts, visit the Planet Facts website.

Solar Panel Installation Procedure

The process of solar panel installation is easy if you know what to do. A thorough understanding of the installation process helps home owners to choose the right devices and equipments to produce the most desired results. In this article, we’ll discuss solar panels and its installation process.

Define: Solar Panels

Solar panels are special devices capable of capturing the light emitted by the sun and convert the absorbed light into the electricity. Solar panels are the most important equipments of the solar power system. Therefore, one should always choose the highest quality of solar panels regardless of the selection of the installation process.

Solar Panels Installation: The Process

Once you have decided to install solar panels at your home or office, gathering relevant information is must. Educate yourself a bit to develop an understanding to choose the best to complete the entire installation process. Gathering information is important as different solar panel brands need to be installed differently. Also, the installation process of solar panels varies with their sizes. Hence, a good understanding is important while installing solar panels.

You can hire a professional installer if you are not able to install the system of your own. Usually, installing the panel without prior experience is not safe as it could be a risky job to do. For example, if you are planning to install the solar panels onto the roof, you should be careful about handling the wires and other equipments used in the process. You may have to climb ladders and do such works, so prepare yourself or take the help of professional installers who holds some experience in the solar panel installation process.

In general, solar panels are installed on a low pitched shingle or metal roof. However, many people prefer installing their panels on a flat roof..

By: Editor22
Article Directory: http://www.articledashboard.com
The article is contributed by a professional content writer, having experiences of working in different industries. For further information on home solar panels and solar panel installation please visit www.getsolar.com/