Black History Month

As we celebrate Black History Month, remember the important contributions and achievements of African Americans throughout our nation’s history!

Elijah McCoy was born in Canada to parents who were slaves and had escaped slavery by way of the Underground Railroad. His parents really wanted him to get a good education. But they could not send him to the United States. So they saved up enough money to send Elijah to Scotland where he studied engineering. When he completed his studies he went to the United States, eager to work. But he was really disappointed. He tried very hard to get a job as an engineer, but nobody would hire him because he was black. Since he needed money he got a job with the railroad. His job was to shovel coal into the train engine, then stop the machine and oil it by hand. He started thinking to himself. Wouldn’t it be great if we could oil this machine without stopping it? He needed to oil the machine because when 2 moving objects rub up against each other they produce heat. Scientists call this “friction.”

Frederick Jones was born in Ohio in 1892 and fought in World War I. He had over 60 patents, but refrigeration was his specialty! He recognized a problem. Farmers would load their vegetables on a truck so that the truck could haul the vegetables to a market. Sometimes, it was a long haul and the food would spoil. So he invented a refrigeration system for the truck.

Katherine Johnson, born in White Sulphur Springs, West Virginia. By thirteen, she was attending the high school on the campus of historically black West Virginia State College. She was a space scientist. She studied how to steer and direct satellites.

One of HTHT experiments is called, The Real McCoy© So come join us on a fun filled adventure as we discover several very famous African American scientists and learn about their incredible contributions to science! All of these scientists all had incredible imaginations. They all had major struggles. Some of the scientists that we are going to learn about today lived a long time ago. Some are still alive today. But they all have several things in common. They are all African Americans who have overcome obstacles to make significant contributions to the field of science.

Check out our other AWESOME experiments here!

High Touch High Tech, Science Made Fun

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Sources: wikipedia.com

Pic Source: google.com

LIMELIGHT SCHOOL OF THE WEEK…..

GRADE: 4th Grade

TEACHER: Ms. Ibrahim

PROGRAM: Newton in a Nutshell

SCIENTIST: Meteor Martin

This week’s LIMELIGHT SCHOOL OF THE WEEK IS……Brier Creek Elementary School in Raleigh, NC.

This week I had the opportunity to visit the 3^rd graders in Ms. Ibrahim’s class out at Brier Creek Elementary School with our science program “Newton in a Nutshell”. We had a fantastic lesson on Sir Isaac Newton and gravity. The children had a great time being able to participate in several hands-on science experiments, involving the three laws on motion.

These students were so involved in the experiments and new so much about physics and gravity, that when it was time for the class to end, they could not believe that it was over all ready! I kept hearing, “NO, I don’t want you to go” and “just one more experiment please!” One class had so much fun with one of the experiments centered around inertia, (a property of matter by which it continues in its existing state of rest or uniform motion in a straight line, unless that state is changed by an external force) now just reading that definition of inertia doesn’t sound interesting or fun BUT when all the students grouped together in the middle of the classroom, turning one of the hands-on experiments into a performance, (Ms. Ibrahim had to video them) the children loved it!

Now that is what it is all about, how to learn about science, but yet make it fun for them!!! I look forward to being back at Brier Creek in just two weeks.

Thank you so much Brier Creek Elementary School for allowing High Touch High Tech to be part of your curriculum.😊

Until next time, this is Meteor Martin blasting off!

LIMELIGHT SCHOOL OF THE WEEK….

GRADE: 3rd Grade

TEACHER: Ms. Williams

PROGRAM: Newton in a Nutshell

SCIENTIST: Meteor Martin

This week’s LIMELIGHT SCHOOL OF THE WEEK IS……Long Mill Elementary School in Youngsville, NC

Hello Scientists, before I get into some detail about our Limelight school of the week, I wanted to tell everyone about a funny and embarrassing story that happened just before I arrived at the Limelight school.

My wife was out of town, so my mother had to take my children to school that morning in order for me to begin my classes on time. I needed to stop by her house, which was close by, to drop something off and as I opened the door, her security system went off. Now, I do know her code, but was not expecting this loud, obnoxious sound and I panicked. I couldn’t remember a thing. To make a long story short, the alarm company called the authorities and I waited 10 min for them to show. After no body arrived, I left and headed to the school. My mom arrived home shortly after to a Sheriff waiting and escorted her into the house to make sure nobody was in her home. I have to say, that had it been a true emergency, I am not sure that I am thrilled that it took over ten minutes for anyone to arrive at the home

So that’s how my day began and thank goodness it got so much better once I arrived at Long Mill Elementary,” on time I might add.

Our lesson, Newton in a Nutshell, was a hit with the 3^rd graders. We had so much fun learning about and exploring Sir Isaac Newton’s Laws of Motion. As the second class of the day was about to end, one of the students calls out “I would rather stay here and do more activities than go to lunch.” All I can say is, “LOVE IT.”

As I teach, I really enjoy speaking with and getting to know the teachers that I am helping in each and every school that I go to. As I was talking with one of these wonderful teachers at Long Mill Elementary, she stated that, “This is so much better that other field trips. It is so much easier having you come in and teach than to load up on a bus, get permission forms signed and returned, make sure that all the students have lunches and keep up with them.” It is exhilarating to hearing such positive comments from both students and teachers about our programs.

Thank you so much Long Mill Elementary School for allowing High Touch High Tech to be part of your curriculum.😊

Until next time, this is Meteor Martin blasting off!

5 Things You Didn’t Know About Bumblebees

Our bumblebee friends make delicious honey. Did you know that they are also the most important pollinators in the echo system? We depend on these pollinators to transfer pollen between male and female flower parts. Their wing beating combined with their large bodies vibrates flowers until they release pollen, which is called buzz pollination. Buzz pollination helps plants produce more fruit.

Here are some more fun facts….

Their wings beat at 130 times per second
Bumblebees don’t die when they sting
Bees are covered in an oil that makes them waterproof
Bumblebees flap their wings back and forth rather than up and down
The queen is the mother of all the bees in a colony

At High Touch High Tech, we believe in making learning FUN! We provide high quality instruction and thought-provoking science experiences for all.

Learn more about bees and their honeycombs by participating in our
HTHT @ Home Science Experiment: https://sciencemadefun.net/downloads/HoneycombConstruction_EOTD_April%2028th.pdf

“Meteor Martin” Lets Hear It From A Scientist!

Lesson Plan of the Week

Hello Scientists, before we get started on this week’s topic, I wanted to take a second to share with you a great moment that I had at Lafayette Elementary School this past week. I arrived on campus and was walking into the school when one of the teachers standing outside helping with carpool that morning quickly stopped me. He began telling me that his son was in 5^th grade, and that the day before, I was teaching his class our lesson “Forced to Change”. That evening, he began telling his parents everything that we had covered in class that day including the topics we discussed as well as the experiments that we did and that he had a great time.

I have to say, that after three months as the Manager of the RDU location, this has to be my most memorable moment so far. I was so excited to hear that the child has such a great time. Since there was so much excitement with that lesson, I figured it would be worth going back and letting you all know more about what we did.

Forced to Change has everything to do with Sir Isaac Newton and his discovery of Gravity as well as his three laws of motion. Newton’s first law of motion has to do with Inertia, which is the physical force that says that an object at rest stays at rest and that an object in motion stays in motion unless a force either makes it move or stop.

We next talked about Newton’s second law of motion that states that the acceleration of an object is directly equal to the size of the object and the force acting on the object.

Newton’s third law of motion states that for every action, there is an equal and opposite reaction. This experiment was really exciting. One at a time, the children came over to me and stood on a round, rotating platform. I then handed them a wheel with two handles on it. The kids would stay on the platform and I would spin the wheel quickly. As the children rotated their hands from left to right, they would rotate in the opposite direction they were turning the wheel. In order to keep them interested while I was doing this experiment, the kids were able to explore working with incline planes.

As you can see, we all had a fun, exciting and busy lesson on Sir Isaac Newton’s Laws of Motion. I bet you can’t wait to hear about our next super exciting lesson!

“Meteor Martin” Lets Hear It From A Scientist!

Hello Scientists, this is “Meteor” Martin and I hope that everyone had a safe and wonderful Thanksgiving. The past week has been loaded with fun and exciting lessons which included; Cosmic Capers, Invisible Forces, Mystery Science, DNA is Here to Stay, Edison’s Workshop, Forced to Change and finally, Eco Safari.

We first traveled to outer space at Lafayette Elementary and learned about Planets, Stars, Dwarf Planets and other small solar system bodies. The students were able to make their own sundials as well as study and build a glowing constellation. We then made glow in the dark “space mud” with the help of a special ingredient and finally everyone had an opportunity to make a comet to show off to their parents

Our next stop was at Sterling Montessori where we learned about invisible forces such as Magnetism, Gravity and Inertia. We explored how and why magnetism works and were able to see and feel a magnetic field with the help of some strong magnets. The children also made hover disks that could glide on the floor on a cushion of air. Our next experiment involved taking a closer look at inertia and how objects at rest will stay at rest and objects in motion will stay in motion as we had a picnic and attempted to pull out a table cloth from underneath at various speeds while observing the results.

We spent some time with the after-school children at Sanford Creek as the kids took a closer look into the mystery of science and how we can make a penny appear and disappear with the help of refracting light. They also poked holes into a water filled bag with little to no water escaping. Is it Magic or Science???

At Greensboro Academy, we learned about DNA and had the opportunity to fingerprint each child. We then talked about genes and traits and took a closer look at why some children could roll their tongue and others could not. Next, we were able to see a 3D picture of a DNA Strand as well a make an edible double helix. Our final experiment involved extracting the DNA out of a strawberry. The kids loved using different chemicals in order to make the special solution.

We then had a lesson at Franklin Academy where we took a closer look at Thomas Edison and discussed and demonstrated how static and current electricity work. The children were then able to “touch” lightning with the help of a lightning globe and then made their very own electroscope, which takes static electricity and is able to turn it into current electricity. Finally, we took a closer look at the stored energy within a battery and how we were able to use them to power a light bulb and school bell.

Lafayette elementary then had us back with the 5^th graders this time to teach and demonstrate lessons involving the Three Laws of Motion by Sir Isaac Newton. The children participated in several experiments looking at inertia with the table cloth pull, chip flip, and clothes pin drop. Next, everyone had a chance to test the 2^nd law of motion by walking with a bag of beans and letting it go at various speeds in order to observe acceleration and mass. They were then able to “feel” Newton’s 3^rd law by standing on a rotating platform and using a gyroscope that would move the children left or right depending on the direction the gyroscope was moved.

Our Final destination for the week was Turner Elementary where we discussed the lesson Eco Safari. The children were able to talk about, explore, and build their very own rain forest ecosystem starting with the forest floor then moving up to the under-story, then the canopy and finished with the emergent layer. The children then continued their lesson by learning about different aquatic ecosystems including ponds, rivers, lakes, and oceans. They were then able to make a very realistic corral reef to take home.

As you can see, we were very busy this past week or so and covered many different and exciting topics including Outer Space, Magnetism, Gravity, Inertia, DNA, Electricity, Motion and Ecosystems.

I can’t wait until next week!!!

Trivia Thursday

TRIVIA THURSDAY!

The Answer is:

B. Metal, probably iron.

Did you guess the correct one??

Because naturally-magnetized pieces of magnetite, called lodestone, will attract small pieces of iron.

Today it is mined as iron ore. Small grains of magnetite occur in almost all igneous and metamorphic rocks.

For experiments or information, check out our website at:

ScienceMadeFun.net

Think About It Thursday….

Why Do Leaves Fall Off Trees?

During that process, the trees lose a lot of water – so much water that when winter arrives, the trees are no longer able to get enough water to replace it.

And so now we know. Leaves fall—or are pushed—off trees so that the tree can survive the winter and grow new leaves in the spring

Make sure you check out HTHT’s Experiment page, but especially check out the science experiment, Binocular Build & Scavenger Hunt!

You could build a binocular, then go on a scavenger hunt to find all the different color leaves!

Happy Hunting!

Source: Pixabay Images

Source: Google.com

Now You See Me, Now You Don’t!

Now you see me, Now you don’t!

Who doesn’t love a good game of hide and seek? Hide and seek happens in nature through adaptations known as camouflage and mimicry. Most of these adaptations have developed over time. Members of those species who use camouflage or mimicry are more likely to survive, so many species have evolved to use these adaptations.

Camouflage and mimicry sound similar but are quite different. Camouflage helps a creature blend into their environment, so they can be hidden; however, mimicry helps them blend in by standing out. With mimicry, one creature mimics another to gain an advantage – sometimes this means having the same bright colors or markings.

A great example of camouflage is the octopus. There are many species of octopus but most of them use some form of camouflage both to hide from predators and ambush their prey. They have specialized cells called chromatophores that contain pigment or reflect light. As they move they can rapidly change colors to match their environment. They can even manipulate the papillae on their skin to change texture and fully blend into their surroundings! Being an invertebrate cephalopod also means that they can easily adjust their shape to fit into small spaces.

What about predators? Both owls and cheetahs utilize camouflage. Owls not only visually blend in they also blend in sound wise. Owls have a specialized rounded wing shape that allows them to fly silently. This adaptation serves them well because a lot of their prey have very sensitive hearing. Most owls also have plumage that matches their environment, for example: the great horned owl blends with the bark of a tree; the snowy owl blends into the white snow of the tundra.

Cheetahs use camouflage and mimicry. The adults with their tawny coats blend into the grass while their spots mimic shadows. It is this appearance that helps to break up the cheetah’s outline making them hard to spot as they stalk their prey. Young cheetahs have totally different markings to both blend in and use mimicry. They have a silvery patch of fur on their back that mimics the honey badger, which protects cubs through association, since the honey badger is super aggressive. Nothing wants to mess with a honey badger!

Mimicry is a very efficient adaptation – by looking like something else, the organism saves energy hiding or fleeing. Even though a lot of mimics stand out with their markings, they gain the same protection as their inspiration through association. There are a few different ways that creatures mimic each other, but most are to avoid predation.

In the butterfly world there are many mimics, but the best example is the monarch and viceroy butterflies! Monarchs are poisonous thanks to the milkweed they consume as larvae. By mimicking them, viceroy butterflies avoid predation through association. The interesting thing is both butterflies are poisonous, so this is considered Mullerian mimicry. The thought is this mimicry evolved simply because it is easier to look alike and avoid predation versus a predator having to learn multiple ways to avoid these and other poisonous butterflies.

Now that you’ve learned all the ways that animals blend in, how would you blend in to your backyard? Take some time to look around your backyard and see if you can find any hidden creatures. Being a good copycat pays off in nature!

Join our HTHT @ Home Science Experiment to make you own scavenger hunt binoculars:
https://sciencemadefun.net/downloads/scavenger_hunt.pdf

The World’s Largest Crocodile!

The tiny town of Bundawan isn’t exactly a tourist mecca for the Philippines, but they’re doing their best to develop attractions. The first thing on Bunawan’s list of things to see? A 6.2 meter (20 foot) long, 1-ton crocodile that is believed to be the largest crocodile in the world. The world’s largest crocodile was captured in the Agusan marsh outside of Bunawan on the southern Philippine island of Mindanao in September. It was measured at 6.2 meters by famed Australian zoologist Adam Britton, who measured the current Guinness World Record crocodile, 5.8-meter Cassius, in 2008.

“We are happy to announce that we have the biggest crocodile in the whole world,” crowed Bunawan town council member Apollo Canoy. ”So far we have not had any contacts with Guinness, and we do not know whether they plan to visit us soon.”

Guinness is aware of the crocodile, believed to be the largest saltwater crocodile in captivity at this time, and they’re following the story as details emerge. They need more evidence before they crown the Bundawan crocodile as the largest ever captured. Until then, Bundawan continues to reap the benefits of having a giant crocodile, with the croc drawing 27,000 visitors every year to the tiny swamp town.

The croc eats nearly 37.5 pounds of pork in a day.