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Elementary Aged

What If? to Oh Cool! The Scientific Method Put to Work Launching Stomp Rockets

2016-06-08T18:55:32-06:00

      How can  kids use the scientific method to develop better, higher flying paper rockets, or, better yet, shock the administrators on the third floor?  It's easy! For the last several years, I've been doing stomp rocket programs at my library.  Whether it's during summer reading club or in the middle of the school year, it always draws quite an good crowd.  The pre-program preparation requires a fair amount of work, but it's both fun and the results make it worth the effort involved.  Each time I do the program,  I add a bit more experimentation to the kids' activities. [...]

What If? to Oh Cool! The Scientific Method Put to Work Launching Stomp Rockets2016-06-08T18:55:32-06:00

Paper Airplane Challenge!

2016-05-18T15:06:55-06:00

Last week my Crafternoon participants (with a few moms and one teen-aged sister included) enjoyed a paper plane tournament.  It was a wonderful, low cost, quick prep program which everyone enjoyed thoroughly. I collected all the paper airplane books that my library system owned, added quite a few that I bought online, and had them laid out on tables around the room.  I made sure that I had paper of the correct dimensions available, as well.  Most of the books that I used required standard 8 1/2 x 11 letter size paper, but a few called for 6" x 6" squares.          [...]

Paper Airplane Challenge!2016-05-18T15:06:55-06:00

Host a BioBlitz at the Library

2016-05-03T09:25:56-06:00

BioBlitz participant examining a planter with a magnifying glass. As part of Earth Day celebrations, the Skokie Public Library hosted a BioBlitz, inspired by the annual event of the same name coordinated by National Geographic. A BioBlitz is a survey of a defined geographical area in an attempt to inventory all the species (animals, plants, bugs, etc.) in that area in a set, short amount of time. Everything living counts and is counted in a BioBlitz, and in the end, we have a biodiversity data snapshot of a given place at a given time. National Geographic hosts 24 hour [...]

Host a BioBlitz at the Library2016-05-03T09:25:56-06:00

Life on Mars: Citizen Science for Upper Elementary

2016-04-21T09:41:12-06:00

One of my favorite STEM programs combines the awe factor of potentially living on Mars and the positive impact of Citizen Science. This “Life on Mars” program was presented to youth in grades 3-5 at Skokie Public Library and would work well through grade 6. Citizen Science, where the general public contributes to science research, is resurfacing with the help of online platforms--like Zooniverse--that curate various Citizen Science projects to support research in areas like space, climate, social science, and art. Emphasize the importance of Citizen Science to youth in the library: when non-scientists are doing scientific work for the betterment [...]

Life on Mars: Citizen Science for Upper Elementary2016-04-21T09:41:12-06:00

States of Matter: Chemistry Programming for Preschool and Early Elementary

2016-04-11T08:12:03-06:00

When you put the time into creating a dynamic STEM (science, technology, engineering, and math) program for youth, it feels like a big bonus to be able to offer modified versions of the program to multiple ages of children. Below is a great example of a program that can be adapted for multiple age groups--and it’s recently field tested, having been facilitated here at Skokie Public Library for both preschoolers (ages 3-5) and kindergarten-2nd grade. Our goal for early childhood STEM programming--which we typically offer under the program titles “Science Club Jr.” (for preschoolers) and “Science Club” (for early elementary)--is to [...]

States of Matter: Chemistry Programming for Preschool and Early Elementary2016-04-11T08:12:03-06:00

Explore! Marvel Moon Free NASA Webinar

2016-03-29T18:28:10-06:00

I recently received this e-mail from Christine Shupla, with the Lunar and Planetary Institute.  I hope she doesn't mind my forwarding her announcement. I've attended some of these webinars in the past, and they are fantastic, as well as a lot of fun!  I remember one where we created the phases of the moon by taking bites out of Oreos.  At the same workshop, we created the layers of the earth with Rice Krispie Treats and other candies.  I gained pounds of knowledge... and sugar calories.  It was great!  Of course, I don't think they actually intended for the participants to [...]

Explore! Marvel Moon Free NASA Webinar2016-03-29T18:28:10-06:00

Eggs and Art – The Tradition of Pysanky

2022-01-02T13:07:17-07:00

Eggs and art.  Those are two words most people don't often connect, unless it's spring and one is thinking of Easter.  In the Ukraine, though, egg art is a centuries old tradition, and people design and decorate the eggs year-round, as well as collect and prize them as fine and treasured art.          The word "Pysanky" comes from the Ukrainian word that means "to write."  The term is used in relation to these beautiful eggs because they are not simply dyed in the way with which we are most familiar.  The intricate designs are drawn, or "written," on them [...]

Eggs and Art – The Tradition of Pysanky2022-01-02T13:07:17-07:00

Want to Be a Stellar Artist? Send Your Creative Arts Into Space

2016-02-19T19:20:21-07:00

I received this opportunity from Andrew Shaner of The Center for Lunar Science and Exploration: (This could be a great opportunity for a arts and science program for pre-schoolers, school-aged kids, and/or families.)   February 19, 2016 RELEASE 16-019 NASA Invites Public to Send Artwork to an Asteroid NASA is calling all space enthusiasts to send their artistic endeavors on a journey aboard NASA’s Origins, Spectral Interpretation, Resource Identification, Security-Regolith Explorer (OSIRIS-REx) spacecraft. This will be the first U.S. mission to collect a sample of an asteroid and return it to Earth for study. OSIRIS-REx is scheduled to launch in September [...]

Want to Be a Stellar Artist? Send Your Creative Arts Into Space2016-02-19T19:20:21-07:00

Tangrams – Stories, Shapes and Spatial Thinking

2016-02-19T16:03:11-07:00

      Tangrams are possibly among the easiest of puzzles to make, and the among hardest to master.  The traditional tangram is composed of seven pieces - 2 large triangles, a medium sized triangle, 2 small triangles, a square, and a parallelogram - that will fit together into a perfect square, among thousands of other shapes.  The pieces themselves are called tans, while the images created with them are called tangrams.  The challenge of the puzzle is to create various shapes by arranging the pieces so that they touch, but do not overlap.  Patterns can vary from very easy to form [...]

Tangrams – Stories, Shapes and Spatial Thinking2016-02-19T16:03:11-07:00

New Life for an Ancient Tool – Making and Using Abaci With Elementary Age Kids

2016-01-01T21:49:51-07:00

              What can you do with a group of kids, corrogated cardboard, a lot of beads, pipe cleaners, and some masking or decorative duct tape?  Make abaci, of course!                         With a little bit of preliminary work, this is a craft program that even pre-schoolers can master.  The tools I used in my program were: -  6" x 6" corrogated cardboard (2-3 pieces glued together with the "tunnels" running perpendicular to one another) If using 3 layers, I make sure the center layer has the vertical channels.  That [...]

New Life for an Ancient Tool – Making and Using Abaci With Elementary Age Kids2016-01-01T21:49:51-07:00
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