Everyday Mysteries

Who invented electric Christmas lights? The Library of Congress sponsors the fascinating Everyday Mysteries collection: Did you ever wonder why a camel has a hump? If you can really tell the weather by listening to the chirp of a cricket? Or why our joints make popping sounds? These questions deal with everyday phenomena that we often take for granted, but each can be explained scientifically. Everyday Mysteries will help you get the answers to these and many other of life’s most interesting questions through scientific inquiry, asked by researchers and answered by librarians from the Library’s Science Reference Services. In addition, it will introduce you to the Library of Congress’ rich collections in science and technology.

Everyday Mysteries

Free Paper Toys

From the website 100 Exceptional Free Paper Toys: “There is an underlying web world about papercraft modeling. It is not visible. It is hard to find. And, in many cases, the web sites are in a language that most of us can’t read. But, believe me, it is huge. And it is not about printable cards or paper dolls, or even scrapbooking. It is about stunningly good looking three dimensional paper models: Gadgets, toys, characters, cars, robots, spaceships, airplanes, buildings and even working photo cameras. You name it. This list gathers some notable models available for download. But this is just a small sample. At the end of the article you will find links to paper modeling books, paper models directories, paper modeling software and tutorials, and paper models blogs, which in my opinion are the most important of all, just because they are constantly updated and the owners seem to have access to information that’s very difficult to find.”

Free Paper Toys

Gnarly Math

The educational CD-ROM Solid Gold Gnarly Math offers more than eighteen hours of entertainment and instruction and teaches Geometry, Algebra, Trig, Probability, Statistics, Numbers, and Topology. It also features games, magic tricks, puzzles, and a Math Lab. This CD can be helpful if you’d like to provide your kids with a head-start in mastering math, show your kids (and yourself) that math can be fun, refresh your own math and improve your math teaching skills. Monty Phister, creator of Gnarly Math, writes: “… we’re so confident that Gnarly Math will help you and your children learn and enjoy math that we offer it with a 5-year, Unconditional Money-back Guarantee.” Monty also edits a free hilarious math newsletter, the “Gnarly Gnews, ” which contains mathematical cartoons, limericks, riddles, and “news items” from today, yesterday, and tomorrow. (You’ll learn a little history, along with some art and literature, as well as math.) At his web site Monty offers six Mathematical “Gofers” which will encourage your interest in math, such as free downloadable examples that show how a computer can kindle your and your children’s interest in mathematics. You can play pool on a parabolic table, stretch a skyscraper, color soccer jerseys, visit [...]

Gnarly Math

Google Sketchup

Google Sketchup lets you create 3-D models of anything. You can build models from scratch, or you can download what you need. People all over the world share what they’ve made on the Google 3D Warehouse. Dozens of video tutorials, an extensive Help Center and a worldwide user community mean that anyone who wants to make 3D models with SketchUp, can do so – free. You can learn more at the Google Sketchup blog, and check out the second Google Model Your Town Competition. Model Your Town is about geo-modeling – making photo-textured models of real-life buildings that appear in Google Earth. The Model Your Town Competition is also a chance to celebrate your town by adding it to the 3D map.

Google Sketchup

USA Geography Quiz

Can you find all 50 states on a map? Can your kids? This fun geography quiz asks you to identify each state, awarding three points for each right answer for a total possible score of 150; each question is given three tries. Give it a try and see how many states you can locate!

USA Geography Quiz

Storyteller Odds Bodkin

Odds Bodkin’s character-voice and music-filled storytelling style has been mesmerizing listeners, young and old, for twenty-four years. The New York Times dubbed him “a consummate storyteller” while TIMEOUT New York writes, “Master Storyteller Odds Bodkin is the talk of the town with his remarkable one-man Art of the Tale.” His most recent recording, The Harper and The King: The Story of Young David won the Parent’s Choice Gold Award, The Dove Family Foundation Award and the Storytelling World Award. Odds Bodkin has been a featured teller at The National Storytelling Festival, performed twice at The White House, and at schools, universities, museums and theaters across America. He has told stories and conducted workshops as far afield as Bangkok, Thailand and Great Britain. His all-original music on 12 string guitars, Celtic harp, grand piano and other instruments makes his collection of stories resemble pieces of musical theater as much as storytelling. His seventeen award-winning audio recordings range from original dino-musicals for young children through an eclectic collection of international folktales, fairytales, and comic tall tales.

Storyteller Odds Bodkin

Science Projects

This school-oriented but homeschool-helpful site offers a listing of ideas for elementary, middle, and high school Science Fair Projects – experiments involving everything from plants to X-ray machines – with useful links and hot tips on how to prepare science experiments. They have hundreds of ideas for every science topic, from Astronomy to Zoology, all 100% Free!

Science Projects

Free Kids Music

The wonderful folks at Free Kids Music have gotten together a bunch of quality children’s music artists to share some of their great music for free. These are complete songs, not edited versions. And they are high quality…not poor quality versions designed to tease you into buying an album. All the music downloads for kids you’ll find on this site are FREE: listen, download, play them on your computer, or burn them to a personal CD for boombox or car listening (of course, you can’t copy and re-sell them to others…).

Free Kids Music

Laura Ingalls Wilder

The Laura Ingalls Wilder Pages from the Herbert Hoover Presidential Library and Museum offers many wonderful resources relating to the author of the beloved Little House on the Prairie books, including information and activities relating to the travels of the Ingalls family, activities to explore the town of De Smet, South Dakota during the time Laura lived there, mapping the journeys of the Ingalls family, patterns for constructing a pioneer town, making a nine-patch quilt, a chronology of events in Laura Ingalls and Almanzo Wilder’s lives, and a bibliography of books by and about Laura Ingalls Wilder and books on the pioneer experience. Also, the Hoover Library’s on-line resource, a retired teacher, will answer by email all of your questions about Laura and her family.

Laura Ingalls Wilder

CoolMath

Coolmath.com is a one-stop math shop for middle and high school students, and also has a helpful section for parents. Math teacher Karen Lyn Davis has run this award-winning site since 1997 as an aid to helping kids of all ages learn to enjoy math. The online math dictionary and calculators can help teach basic math concepts, including algebra and geometry. There are sections for math practice, math-related games, a math dictionary, and links to companion sites for younger kids and teens.

CoolMath