Welcome and thanks for being here today. Today I have links to a really neat detailed animation about how the Hubble and JWST telescope work and fun STEAM projects for St Patricks Day on March 17th. There’s also links with tips for searching online. Including links to hidden Google advanced search pages. And what plants need to survive. Plus you can learn how many dogs it takes to change a lightbulb. From the point of view of different dog breeds. Enjoy!
How Telescopes Work
Jared Owen is a 3D animator who makes amazing science videos. The only annoying part is that they’re on YouTube which forces ads on you every 5-10 minutes. Fortunately, the Skip link appears on the right side of the video within a few seconds. Click that link to continue watching the video.
This video describes in detail the Hubble and JWST telescopes. I’ve also dug out related NASA content for kids about telescopes in general. Plus information about Hubble, JWST, and Fermi telescopes.
How does a Space Telescope work? (Hubble and Webb)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=csIry_3pbDU
Jared Owen on YouTube
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCbsfyGlrjrKQC0gbzK0-EiA
https://jaredowen3d.com
How Do Telescopes Work?
https://spaceplace.nasa.gov/telescopes/en/https://spaceplace.nasa.gov/menu/telescope/
What Is the James Webb Space Telescope?
https://spaceplace.nasa.gov/james-webb-space-telescope/en/
What Is the Hubble Space Telescope? (Grades K-4)
What Is the Hubble Space Telescope? (Grades 5-8)
What Is the Fermi Gamma-ray Space Telescope? (Grades 5-8)
How to Search Online
In a recent Wednesday email, I wrote about using the site: search operator to find articles by their title. Especially when a search on the publication site failed. I want to follow up with links about all search operators you can use online. As well as kid-friendly search engines and guidelines for kid-safe searching online.
The Google Doc happens to be the first comprehensive list of Google search operators. Oddly enough, there does not appear to be a canonical list from Google. I also found links to their useful but very hard to find Advanced Search pages.
Most search engines like DuckDuckGo also use the Google search operators. And you can find in the Indeed links the most common search best practices. I tried and failed to find a canonical list of search engines that didn’t bomb you with ads. Looking for alternative search engines? Try using the search term, “search engines other than google“. That generated 24 options at the top of Google search results.
Google Advanced Search Operators (Google Docs)
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1ydVaJJeL1EYbWtlfj9TPfBTE5IBADkQfZrQaBZxqXGs/edit?tab=t.0
Google Advanced Search Pages
https://www.google.com/advanced_search
https://www.google.com/advanced_image_search
22 Internet Search Tips on Finding What You Need Online
https://www.indeed.com/career-advice/career-development/internet-search-tips
The Complete Guide To Google Search Operators
https://www.indeed.com/career-advice/finding-a-job/google-search-operators
5 Safe Search Engines for Kids
https://iste.org/blog/5-safe-search-engines-for-kids
Kid-Safe Browsers and Search Sites
https://www.commonsensemedia.org/lists/kid-safe-browsers-and-search-sites
“The function of good software is to make the complex appear to be simple.” – Grady Booch
STEAM Bits and Bytes
Links I’ve come across recently that might interest you.
- St. Patrick’s Day STEAM Projects. From Brown Dog Gadgets, fun electronics projects with live streaming tutorial schedule. Plus curriculum and other STEAM help on their website.
1. https://mailchi.mp/browndoggadgets/st-patricks-day-projects
2. https://www.browndoggadgets.com/ - Scientists finally figured out why tomatoes don’t kill you. They’re not poison apples, despite their toxic steroidal glycoalkaloids (say that fast three times).
https://www.popsci.com/health/why-tomatoes-arent-poisonous/ - Whale poop may have been a key fertilizer for oceans. Turns out their main food — krill — rely on its iron content. It’s counter-intuitive: fewer whales should lead to larger krill populations.
1. https://www.futurity.org/whale-poop-iron-fertilize-oceans-3269522/
2. https://www.nature.com/articles/s43247-024-01965-9 - What do plants need to survive? It’s more complicated than sunlight and water.
1. https://web.extension.illinois.edu/gpe/case1/c1facts3a.htmlhttps://web.extension.illinois.edu/gpe/case1/c1a7req.html
2. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u46A0WKp2nk (How plants grow, for kids)
3. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gIRR-VdIP1M (What plants need, for kids)
4. https://kids.britannica.com/kids/article/photosynthesis/353624
5. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D1Ymc311XS8 (Photosynthesis for kids)
6. https://kids.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/frym.2022.658692 (Plants can speak to each other) - Opportunity Activated: 3D Printing Casts for Kids. Doctor uses a 3D printer to create fun casts for kids with broken legs and arms.
https://makezine.com/article/science/health/opportunity-activated-3d-printing-casts-for-kids/
This Week
Our Sunday email this week will have fun often offbeat links about … Look for the email this Sunday.
