Professor Noggin's Card Games - Official Review

Our family has been using these games for years and they are a fun, entertaining and exciting way to learn a number of subjects in numerous categories from Science to History to Art to Geography. These fun games can take your family to the far corners of Outer Space and deep into the Ocean. You can find a complete list of titles - HERE

Each game comes with 30 cards and 1 three numbered dice - meaning a six sided die that has 1, 2, & 3 on two sides each. Each card has 6 questions - 3 easy and 3 hard - which makes it fantastic to play with the whole family regardless of the amount of knowledge individuals may have in each area. Questions come in the form of true or false, multiple choice or trivia. I truly can not say enough about these fantastic product!

Here are the titles we have on our bookshelf -

  

Teenagers: Enter YouTube Space Lab competition by 12/14

Teenagers: Enter YouTube Space Lab competition by December 14 - Boing Boing

You Tube Monday - Fun Science: Stars

Sometimes the program just flops! - Math and The Cosmos Review

KM was really excited about the Math and The Cosmos curriculum when we found it online. She has always been fascinated by astronomy and very strong in math so we thought this would be a great supplement to show how math is applied. I ordered it read through it and realized that I was going to need to spend some time really going through it to allow her to be independent while doing the program - how ridiculous of a statement is that? - and this is right when I should have known it wasn't going to work for her, but she was so excited about it, that I figured I could take the time to organize it. I proceeded to go through the assignment lists and break it up so that she wasn't overwhelmed with the 12 - 22 assignments per sheet and made it so that she would be able to complete each sheet over the course of a week or more so that it was manageable. 

The concept is great -  introduces students to the wonders of astronomy and its connections to mathematics, physics, history, and mythology. Explore the constellations, graph star charts, investigate planetary motion, and probe Newton's laws; employ the math fundamentals of graphing, angles, trigonometry, and scientific notation in real-world contexts; and learn how ancient civilizations spun stories inspired by the stars.  - however the design of the program is rather boring and really condescending, especially given that it is suppose to be a "gifted" and "independent learning" program. I had expected a lot more from it than here is the vocabulary word sheet now fill in the definition, which you can find in the glossary on the disc in alphabetical order so that you are literally just copying it word for word. The chapter questions were really no better either - predictably in order and leaving no room for interpretation, but just regurgitation.

The first week KM started out with a lot of energy, but when she got the second week's assignment sheet and saw nearly the same format you could see she was losing interest a bit. She was hopeful though that the projects that began in week 3 would bring some more interaction into the program, but sadly this was not the case. The "independent learner" was suppose to work with classmates to complete three different tasks - no that is not a typo! - "Why would they working in a group if it is suppose to be independent?" you may ask, well so did KM!

We decided to jump ahead and see if it would continue in this manner or if this week was just an anomaly - sadly it was not! It was just more and more copywork, parroting of facts, and projects that were nearly impossible to do by oneself. While I don't have any experience with any other Duke TIP programs, this has ruined any chance of us trying them out. Sometimes regardless of the enthusiasm of the learner the program just flops!!!

Rather Unique Experiences - PART 2

Today we got to be part of another rather interesting and unique experience at the Museum of Science. We were lucky enough to attend their Space Day program where they had two incredible astronauts discussing what it takes to become a NASA employ, as well as the many people in varying positions that are needed to get the astronauts into space! Astronaut Nicholas Patrick did an incredible job explaining all aspects of space flight and had some incredible pics and video from his recent trips to the International Space Station.

We also heard from Retired Astronaut Jeffrey Hoffman, who is now a professor of aeronautics and astronautics at MIT, about the ZERO robotics program - a close relative of the FIRST Lego League programs.

Hearing from these two gentlemen about the incredible opportunities available, now and in the future, in these programs and with NASA was fantastic.

As always, we had a great time during the rest of our visit...

FREE - NASA KLASS Program and Curriculum

I honestly don't know how I ever missed this incredible program - NASA KLASS Program and Curriculum.

It has over 40 hours worth of lesson plans for 6th through 10th grade students and a full simulation program TOTALLY FREE!!!

I haven't downloaded it yet, but had to share this incredible find! I will be sure to post more when I get to play around with it a bit!

Rain Rain GO AWAY!!!!

So if you live anywhere in the New England area I am sure you will be right there with me on this sentiment! I just want to see the SUN!!! We have still been able to do a lot of outdoor activities as it had been warm up until yesterday. Now it is just COLD, RAW, WINDY weather!

We have been on break for the past week, but of course that just means that we have no official lesson plan. We have however still been learning lots and we have been focusing on our local nature study and our fascination with astronomy. So here are a list of new resources that I have come across in the last week or so...

Nature Study -

• some of our original links are here
• Peterson Field Guides - The Young Birder's Guide to Birds of Eastern North America
  
• New England Wildlife - Pocket Naturalist
• The Pond Book & Tadpole Tank
• Wetlands, Marshes, & Swamps DVD
• South Shore Quests
• A Golden Guide - Butterflies and Moths
• Perterson Field Guides for Young Naturalists - Backyard Birds
• Peterson First Guides - Trees
• lots of additional local fields guide from library

Advanced Astronomy Study -

• here is a link to our original list
• Night Sky - A comprehensive Guide to the wonders of the universe
• Exploring the night sky
• Astronomy - Out of this World ~Basher series
• Astro-Dome 3D map of the sky
• Philips' Planisphere
• International Astronomical Union
• International Year of Astronomy
• Free monthly Skymaps
• Make a Star Finder at NASA site
  
• Amazing Space - also has lost of educator links

If you have any resources to recommend - please do!!!
We are always looking for more ideas and fun!

Astronomy Mural Completed

Though we are still working on our Astronomy unit, KM has finished the mural.


If you click on the photo it will open up in a bigger window and you can see it with more detail.

Here are some more pics from our trip to the MOS last week from the planetarium area -

we checked out the scale model of the planets.

analyzed the stars lights

sent and decoded messages with extraterrestrial life
and discovered her weight on the moon would be 14lbs.
but on Jupiter it would be 148!

Astronomy Elective Resource List

KM wanted to do Astronomy for her elective this term and she has been doing an incredible job!
Here is a list of the resources that we have been using -

• Usborne Internet Linked Book of Astronomy
• Learning Pages Space Mural
  
• Ancient Astronomy By Isaac Asimov
• Mythology and the Universe By Isaac Asimov
• The 50 Best Sights in Astronomy and How to See Them By Fred Schaaf
• An Intimate Look at the Night Sky By Chet Raymo
• The Constellations Stars & Stories By Chris Sasaki
• The Galaxies a Project Pack By Hands of a Child
• Astronomy 101 DVD
• Space and Astronomy By Sorcha McDonagh
• Seeing Earth from Space By Patricia Lauber
• Exploring our Solar System By Sally Ride
• Stars and Constellations By Gregory Vogt
• Mercury, Venus, Earth & Mars By Gregory Vogt
  
• Jupiter, Saturn & Uranus By Gregory Vogt

I will post pics of the mural that she is finishing up this week as well as pics from our trip to MOS to do the planetarium exhibits.

Total Lunar Eclipse on 2-20

This is an unbelievable rare event that it is happening this early in the evening so that even the youngest won't be staying up "TOO" late to see it!

Make a point to check it out it is an incredible site.

Here is a link to help explain it:



http://science.nasa.gov/headlines/y2008/13feb_lunareclipse.htm