Today's linkfest has nothing to do with sausage - unfortunately. The roofers are scheduled to come this morning, weather permitting, so I have some time to post these.
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Not as nice as the radio robots, but this is an interesting idea.
http://www.etsy.com/shop.php?user_id=6964432
Make Magazine’s video on transistors: I haven’t seen it yet but it’s probably good
http://blog.makezine.com/archive/2009/03/make_presents_the_transistor.html
This an interesting web-based series on electrical circuits, an "e-book". Really well-written. This is chapter 5, but you can see the other chapters by hitting the Previous and Next buttons on the screen. Even a pretend scientist can understand electric circuits by following this e-book.
http://www.ibiblio.org/kuphaldt/electricCircuits/DC/DC_5.html
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I prattled on recently about writing a series of science books for kids. Like most of my ideas, a good night's sleep made it sound less exciting (writing a book sounds like a lot of work!).
Right now the boys are interested in Harry Potter books. M has finished the first one and is on the second one. I am amazed at how much kids read these days. K has started Harry Potter, and while I suspect the kids are missing some of the finer points of boarding school and abusive guardians, they've seen the first movie, so they should be able to connect the major dots.
Since this is the Wednesday Morning Linkfest, here are a few links to science and using-your-brain books that I have read, either as a kid or an adult.
The Mad Scientists Club - in this book series, a group of boys use science and build neat objects to play tricks on people, including a submarine-based "sea monster"
http://www.amazon.com/Mad-Scientists-Club-Scientist/dp/1930900104
The Invention of Hugo Cabret - a neat book about a boy who lives in a secret room in a train station. He has a great mechanical mind, and discovers a secret message and the invention mentioned in the title. The book is huge, but there are many illustrations in it to show what's going on, and to give an idea of what things look like. It's very clever.
http://www.theinventionofhugocabret.com/about_hugo_intro.htm
The Great Brain series - about a boy who manages to be a little smarter than the people around him. He tricks people into doing his chores a la Tom Sawyer, bets on horses and wins every time (not at the track), and goes to boarding school, where he opens an illegal candy store. Not all of that happens in one book - there's one book devoted to the boarding school alone. And all through the books, the kids learn things whether they want to or not, such as why the smokestack from a steam engine has to point vertically. I'm surprised how much I remember these books, which I must have read about 30 years ago.
http://www.amazon.com/Great-Brain-John-D-Fitzgerald/dp/0803725906
4 comments:
Thanks. I looked at the four videos and then I downloaded the Volume 1 of Lessons of Electric Circuits. About 1000 pages, I think, because I downloaded the chapters one at a time instead of the pdf book because the print was too small in the PDF version.
I guarantee you that I'll be making a desk lamp or two using the ideas in the web site you mention.
I'm not excited about the lamps yet - I don't know what it is about them that I find so drab. The faucet handles help them to be a little more interesting (are they dimmer switches?) but I don't see that running electrical wiring through some pipes is clever enough. Perhaps I've been spoiled by some of the other creations that are more fun and inventive. I can't think right off what would help these lamps be more appealing. A trip down the plumbing aisle at Lowe's might provide some inspiration.
I know - it's the bases being made from other pipes and elbows. Because they have to be heavy enough to support the rest of the lamp, they're wide and clunky. And you can see the wiring go right up the middle, which breaks up the look of them.
Pick something different for the bases and I think I'd be happier.
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