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Look Up! Explore Our Universe Booklist

2021-06-08T18:29:11-06:00

Age Ranges Infant ABCs of Space By Chris Ferrie and Julia Kregenow Good Night Galaxy by Adam Gamble, Mark Jasper and Cooper Kelly Launch Ladies: An Illustrated Look at the Women who Bring Us to Space! By Jamey Erickson & Leila McNeill, illustrated by Lydia Fusco Pre-K  Here we are : notes for living on planet Earth by Oliver Jeffers  Look Inside Space by Rob Lloyd Jones, Benedetta Giaufret and Enrica Rusiná Early Elementary A Hundred Billion Trillion Stars by Seth Fishman, Jeremy Arthur and Isabel Greenberg Always Looking Up: Nancy Grace Roman, Astronomer By Laura Gehl, illustrated by Louise Pigott [...]

Look Up! Explore Our Universe Booklist2021-06-08T18:29:11-06:00

STEAM Engines: Rube Goldberg Machines

2021-07-20T13:04:17-06:00

One of the greatest things about living with my son is watching how his brain works. He is a tinkerer, a “how things work” enthusiast, an engineer, and a builder. Where he sees a world of possibility in a pile of Lego, without clear instructions and a plan I see clutter and confusion. Where I see a mess of sticks, he sees a potential fort. Nothing exemplifies this more than the following example: One Saturday morning not long ago I asked Desi to clean up “a world of possibility” from the middle of the floor. He agreed, and I returned a [...]

STEAM Engines: Rube Goldberg Machines2021-07-20T13:04:17-06:00

(Resource List) Look Up! Explore Our Universe with the James Webb Space Telescope Mission

2021-05-24T12:17:17-06:00

(Resource List) Look Up! Explore Our Universe with the James Webb Space Telescope Mission Look Up! Explore Our Universe with the James Webb Space Telescope Mission – Link Bank Presenters Claire Ratcliffe Adams Space Science Institute cratcliffe@spacescience.org Dr. Alexandra Lockwood JWST Science Communications alockwood@stsci.edu Yesenia PerezUniverse of Learningyperez@stsci.eduWebinar Recording: https://www.starnetlibraries.org/development/webinars/ James Webb Space Telescope Resources Look Up! Explore Our Universe Event Page https://www.starnetlibraries.org/look-up/Look Up! Explore Our Universe Clearinghouse Activity Collection http://www.starnetlibraries.org/look-up-explore-our-universe-booklist/ Look Up! Explore Our Universe Booklist http://www.starnetlibraries.org/look-up-explore-our-universe-booklist/ 21 Ways to Celebrate the Launch in 2021 from NASA  https://www.nasa.gov/feature/goddard/2021/21-ways-to-celebrate-the-james-webb-space-telescope-launch-in-2021  James Webb Space Telescope Website for Public Engagement Materials  https://webbtelescope.org/  Follow Webb using #NASAWebb on [...]

(Resource List) Look Up! Explore Our Universe with the James Webb Space Telescope Mission2021-05-24T12:17:17-06:00

Celebrate the Bees – World Bee Day

2021-05-29T08:08:07-06:00

On December 20, 2017, the General Assembly of the United Nations unanimously voted to declare May 20 World Bee Day. Why should we celebrate bees? Why not? The purpose of World Bee Day is to recognize more than just the most well-known of the bees - the European honey bee.  Many people don't know that the honey bee isn't native to North America.  It colonized the western hemisphere with the European settlers.  When the settlers arrived, though, this country already had plenty of bees of its own, some 4,000 different species actually, ranging in size from the world's smallest bee, the [...]

Celebrate the Bees – World Bee Day2021-05-29T08:08:07-06:00

Code Monsters: Computers and Social Emotional Learning at Skokie Library

2021-05-27T20:59:54-06:00

Before I get too deep into this post, I feel I must confess that there was a time in my life when I was a skeptic about gaming in the library. This skepticism was based on a number of misconceptions, the best of them being that nebulous old chestnut “you’ll rot your brain,” and the worst of them being that it’s a highly addictive, antisocial activity with little room for creativity. The latter opinion was loosely based on my own experiences obsessively squandering many a perfect summer day in pursuit of eight pieces of Zelda’s triforce. Not that there’s anything wrong [...]

Code Monsters: Computers and Social Emotional Learning at Skokie Library2021-05-27T20:59:54-06:00

Designing the Perfect Paper Airplane

2021-06-01T08:11:55-06:00

One of my most popular programs is also the least expensive and easiest to set up.  All I need are a pile of regular copier paper, a pile of copier paper cut into squares, 2 - 4 large pieces of bulletin board paper with giant targets drawn/painted on them, and the books we'll be using on display in the "engineering and design area," ready to be thumbed through, studied, and used.  A roll of masking tape comes in really handy, too.  Having a paper recycling receptacle for the fallen, crashed, and stepped upon makes clean up go a lot faster.  Just [...]

Designing the Perfect Paper Airplane2021-06-01T08:11:55-06:00

All the Many Observatories in Space! Build Your Own Space Fleet

2021-05-28T21:43:22-06:00

Today is the first Friday in May.  That means it is National Space Day! What better way to celebrate the day is there than by building your own fleet of model space observatories? On the NASA website there are printable models of a number of spacecraft.  Links to all of the models can be found on the Universe Spacecraft Paper Models page.  There you can download and print: The Great Observatories: Hubble Space Telescope (First of the Great Observatories) Compton Gamma Ray Observatory (Second of the Great Observatories) Chandra X-Ray Telescope (Third of the Great Telescopes) Fermi Gravity Probe B James [...]

All the Many Observatories in Space! Build Your Own Space Fleet2021-05-28T21:43:22-06:00

Learn to Facilitate Creative Learning in Public Libraries

2021-04-16T08:30:50-06:00

We’re excited to announce that the PLIX (Public Library Innovation Exchange) team is launching a four-week online course starting April 26th on the topic of Facilitating Creative Learning. This is a chance to delve into the facilitation side of creative learning, exploring some big ideas as well as practical tips around leadership and implementation of STEAM activities. PLIX connects public library professionals and MIT Media Lab researchers to co-design learning experiences, develop and share facilitation practices, and integrate creative learning into public library programming. PLIX strives to increase equitable access to and broaden participation in STEAM programming.  Recently, STAR Net met [...]

Learn to Facilitate Creative Learning in Public Libraries2021-04-16T08:30:50-06:00

(Resource List) Celebrate Citizen Science Month with SciStarter and STAR Net

2021-03-30T12:55:10-06:00

Celebrate Citizen Science Month with SciStarter and STAR Net – Link Bank Presenters Claire Ratcliffe Adams Space Science Institute cratcliffe@spacescience.org Caroline Nickerson SciStarter carolinehewittnickerson@gmail.com Webinar Recording: https://www.starnetlibraries.org/development/webinars/ Citizen Science Resources Main Citizen Science Month Landing Page: https://CitizenScienceMonth.org Library Resources from SciStarter: https://SciStarter.org/Library-Resources Library Kits: https://SciStarter.org/Library Featured Citizen Science Month Projects: https://SciStarter.org/NLM All of Us Research Program: https://joinallofus.org/nlm More about the All of Us Research program: https://blog.scistarter.org/2021/01/how-one-million-volunteers-could-one-day-revolutionize-medicine/ Library and Community Guide: https://media.scistarter.org/curated/The+Library+and+Community+Guide+to+Citizen+Science.pdf My weekly office hours and newsletter sign up: https://CitizenScienceMonth.org/MailingList Featured events: Citizen Science Kids Day (https://scistarter.org/citsci-kids-day), Gaming 4 Science with the Network of the National Library of Medicine (https://scistarter.org/gaming-4-science-day), and Citizen [...]

(Resource List) Celebrate Citizen Science Month with SciStarter and STAR Net2021-03-30T12:55:10-06:00

STEAM Engines from home: the busiest physicists

2021-02-10T15:42:30-07:00

Towards the end of summer, I fell victim to one of those AMAZING PAINTING YOU WILL BE MESMERIZED type videos floating around on social media. I admit that, like a cartoon squirrel presented with a decoy nut, I am easily captivated. I am handily distracted by cookie decorating videos. TRANSFORM THIS OLD WHATCHAMACALLIT INTO SOMETHING (objectively useless but still) COOL videos regularly siphon valuable minutes off my life. But readers, there was something to this AMAZING PAINTING video. It was an art form called pendulum painting, in which an artist sets a hanging paint container with a hole in the bottom [...]

STEAM Engines from home: the busiest physicists2021-02-10T15:42:30-07:00
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