Pine Mountain Observatory

Having gone there as a student long time ago, and knowing the youngest's interest in all things outer space, we had promised a trip to Pine Mountain Observatory this summer.

Weeks rolled by and summer was almost coming to a close. So, while it was still officially summer and school was still out, and before we slipped down the beastly slope of Broken Word, we managed the trip one fine weekend.

Possibly because he was expecting a lot more, it was easy for the kiddo to be disappointed a bit. And, now that the pink glasses of the student days have been replaced by the sturdy bifocals of parenthood, I felt a bit let down by the experience.

Although it is volunteer run and is a good undertaking, plus they have a wonderful school visit program, it would be nice to have special days where elementary grade school kids are the focus on-site (there is some fund-raising for this underway) - where the talk is geared towards their level of understanding and preferably presented by someone who is comfortable interacting with kids (not talking down to them), and are encouraged to ask questions.

Now that that's out of the chest, it was still a fantastic trip, almost like a pilgrimage for the little guy, especially since the astronomer pointed the telescope to Arcturus, Oggie's favorite star that week.

Since staying up late is still tricky with him, we have not done any of the OMSI Star parties, but, hope to one of these days.

The 15", 24", 32" telescopes

The gorgeous landscape

The mysterious stump figure

Comfortable camping

The towering Ponderosa pines

The Three Sisters

The looming cloud-covered Mt.Hood

Manfish

Manfish, A Story of Jacques Cousteau
by Jennifer Berne
illustrated by Éric Puybaret


This picture book biography of the world-famous Captain Jacques-Yves Cousteau is quite an homage to  his indomitable spirit as a marine explorer and conservationist.

I remember watching movies of the deep sea expeditions by Cousteau and his Calypso team; I remember being awestruck by the underwater images and the magical term 'aqua-lung' (not the Jethro Tull album, although that was quite captivating as well.)

Before his candid filming brought to the world the amazing creatures of the deep sea, little was known about this as-yet unexplored habitat.

The text is almost poetic in places, giving a rich account of Jacques' life from birth to late in his life. His love for water, his fascination for movies and filming, his irrepressible curiosity and spirit to explore the unknown all come across eloquently.

The illustrations are a visual treat, lush with the cool blues and greens of the ocean, with rich dark tones of the deep to remind us of the lack of natural light in those parts. Every double page spread captures the narration with elegance and charm, with a little bit of the whimsy.

For example, when Jacques dreamed that he could breathe underwater for real, having read a story about a man who could breathe underwater through a long tube, when he dreamed that he could fly, the picture shows young Jacques with outstretched arms flying with the gulls, swimming with the fish, in a gently ambiguous blue background that could be the sky or the water in a wide double-page spread.

My favorite is the page where Jacques tries on a pair of goggles his friend gave him - the split image shows the bottom half of the page with the gorgeous beauty under water and the top part of the page shows a hazy stretch of ocean and land with buildings and bridges in the far horizon, the focus being on the rays and Moorish idol and clown fish and other fauna in eye-popping colors.

It was magical to learn about the diving equipment Cousteau perfected with his engineers, with the deep sea gear and wet suits, and the discovery of many new species with strange adaptations.

Kids' favorite page: the fold out long vertical spread that mentions the discovery of  rays ("fish that fly through water"), truckfish ("big as a truck with lips like giant tyres"), Checkerboard fish ("with red and white checks from head to tail"), fish that looked like plants and plants that looked like fish.

Author's Note describes Jacques Cousteau as 'protector of our planet and its creatures', 'spokesperson for the sea', besides all the remarkable talents he shared with the world. Over 115 films and 50 books, and his rallying cry, "Il faut aller voir" ("We must go and see for ourselves"), doubtless has inspired many to follow in his illustrious footsteps.

While it is impossible to condense Captain Cousteau's life in a few pages, the book presents his story with clarity and grace, closing with his marine conservation efforts, adding a gentle call to action to the children:

Jacques dreamed that someday it would be you, exploring worlds never seen, never imagined. Whole new worlds, silent and shimmering. Worlds that are now yours. To discover. To care for. and to love.

The book is available in four other languages - French, Korean, Portuguese and Polish.

Another book by Jennifer Berne that was much-enjoyed in our house is Calvin Can't Fly.

[This post written for Saffron Tree's CROCUS 2012 event]

[image source: http://www.jenniferberne.com/books.html]

The Periodic Table

Quite unintentionally, a sudden interest in the various chemical elements that make up our world found us knee-deep in books and supplementary materials embarking with gusto to learn as much as we can about the Periodic Table of Elements.

Well, not exactly sudden as the spark was ignited with TMBG's Here Comes Science CD+DVD.

The obsessive phase started when we bought Theodore Gray's Photographic Elements deck of cards after browsing The Periodic Table website and checking out The Elements book from the library.

The younger child got into it with the intense passion that characterizes his style of learning, completely immersing himself day-in and day-out on a single topic that catches his fancy at the moment. The older child likes juggling multiple areas of interest without being consumed by any one of them at a given time.

The deluxe set of cards in elegant 5-inch square format with stunning pictures got laid out on the floor patiently and enthusiastically. First we concentrated on the standard IUPAC arrangement, learning the names, atomic number, and chemical symbol, before attempting the other suggested layouts.

We played several games once all the cards were laid out on the floor:
calling out one card at a time with its atomic number;
calling out by its atomic symbol;
and as we got more familiar with the properties, calling out by some characteristic and a combination of clues
and picking up the correct card off the floor and making a separate pile.

From something as simple as 'an element found in bananas', 'element used in atomic clocks', 'radioactive element(s) discovered by Marie Curie', the clues we gave each other started getting progressively involved. Like, find 'a Lanthanide named after Ytterby, Sweden, with the highest atomic number'. (There are 4 elements named after Ytterby quarry in Sweden where they were first found.)

The cards also have many of the properties listed on the back of each element. So we started learning about solid/liquid/gas states and density and melting point, man-made vs. naturally occurring, radioactive and toxic/poisonous ones... peeling the layers and delving deeper as long as it interests the learner.

The most-enjoyed game was, "I'm thinking of an element..." along the lines of 20-Questions - only not 20, but just up to 5 questions/clues allowed.

Og: I am thinking of an element. Guess what it is!
Me: Is it a metal?
Og: Yes.
Me: Does it have more than 50 protons?
Og: No. it has more than 20 but less than 30.
Me: Is its atomic number greater than 25?
Og: No.
Me: Is it Chromium?
Og: No. It is used in making white paints.
Me: It must be Titanium!

(Zinc ³⁰ is also used in making white paints.)

Of course, some can be guessed more easily than others, but, it helped reinforce some facts we picked up reading books.

Speaking of which... It's Elementary! by Robert Winston is the most-enjoyed, much-read book at home by the children. In the edition we have, Oggie found a major typo! On page 84 showing Group I elements, Francium is listed as atomic number 67, whereas it should be 87.

The Elements by Theodore Gray was captivating to the kids for its pictures, the text of course is aimed for an older audience, so the adults in the family enjoyed it more than the kids.

The Periodic Table, Elements With Style (Basher/Dingle) had fun facts but did not engage the kids as much at this time, possibly because  we were already hooked on the Photographic Elements cards with gorgeous pictures. We'll be revisiting it and a few others by Adrian Dingle that seem like fun.

The book I enjoy reading, as much for its content as its ease of presentation is Nature's Building Blocks - an A-Z Guide to the Elements by John Emsley. At any given time, it is fun to turn to a random page and read: Think pink, think Erbium - at least when it comes to art glasses and goggles for glass-blowers... Erbium can be mildly toxic by ingestion...

Of course, Tom Lehrer's song, plus a few youtube videos at random came in handy.

One of the games/activities that the 7-yr old likes to play is the Elementary Words! using the Periodic Table Code as we call it. The idea is from Theodore Gray's cards. Spell the word using the chemical symbols.

Example:
Sir Nicholas = Sulphur Iridium Nitrogen Iodine Carbon Hydrogen Oxygen Lanthanum Sulphur = 16-77-7-53-6-1-8-57-16

I have a running list of words that we think up in our spare time - some are easy, they reinforce learning of certain elements based on their atomic symbol; some can be decoded in more than one way.

Example:
Phone = Phosphorus Hydrogen Oxygen Neon = Phosphorus Holmium Neon

And, of course, Harry Potter books 1 and 2 being somewhat of a recent study, the 7-yo liked to make up names like Bilius and Colin, tried very hard for Harry, Ron, Hermione, Hagrid, Dumbledore, Albus, McGonagall...

The best of all was Og's amazing teacher making up a Periodic Table "work" so children can work on it at  school if they choose to! I am blown away by her creativity and dedication.

Since Book-making is a favorite activity at home, a couple of books got made, with the older child working according to her ideas and the younger one collaborating with me, dictating extempore while I put on my Scribe hat and jot it down fast.

The books are works in progress - as we think of something to share in the book, we add a new page.

The five weeks of feverish frenzy has given way to a gently placid pace of study, possibly gradually tapering off to nil, making way for us to explore a new area when ready.

Here Comes Science

Here Comes Science CD + DVD
by They Might Be Giants


Following the Caspar Baby Pants Sing Along CD fever, things gradually slowed down for a while in the musical immersion department. An occasional Beatles favorite or the CDs that came along with the books we borrowed from the library (esp., Crocodile Smile), was all they requested, nothing caught the kids' fancy much, but they liked listening to them nonetheless.

But not for long... Here Comes Science album by They Might Be Giants is the latest obsession with the 4 yo and the 7 yo, although each enjoys it in their own way, based on their exposure and experience.

Ana enjoys almost all the songs, her top favorite being What Is A Shooting Star? with Meet The Elements coming a close second -something about the tunes resonated with her, and then the words of course.

Og's favorite songs are How Many Plantes?,  I am a Paleontologist, and Blood Mobile, in addition to the two above that are Ana's favorites. It wasn't a surprise as planets and outer space related things seem to interest him at this stage.

The music did not quite resonate with me the way it did for the kids, but that's probably because I am a jaded adult. However, I do love that the lyrics actually teach kids something useful. And I smile inwardly when I hear, "I LOVE Science, Mama, it is so much fun!" from the 4 yo who probably doesn't yet quite grasp what science is :)

We were enjoying the audio CD for a week and waited until the weekend (when it is a "Watch Day") to play the DVD, which was an instant hit with its brilliant animation. Oggie is now aware of why we have blood and what it does in our body, thanks to the catchy Blood Mobile song.

Before this becomes history, I wanted to record it here, not just for looking back, but also to thank the wonderful musicians who bring so much joy and excitement to my kids. (I did correspond with Caspar Babypants and got a sweet and prompt response back!)

Northern Flicker

For the third year in a row, a pair of northern flicker woodpeckers have taken up residence in the hole in the tree in our backyard. Out of the blue, like clockwork, they arrive towards the end of May and get busy making a home for summer breeding.

While part of my mind wonders how deep the hole in the tree is, the rest of the major portion of my mind is thrilled about this opportunity for the kids (and me) to observe and record something beautiful in nature.

Last year, we spent some time studying backyard birds, which led me to share the beautiful birds I saw in the Springwater Corridor nearby.

The female in the picture above is the first one we noticed moving in. She seems sleek and slim in the picture above. The female in the picture below seems to be puffier, as if it is a different bird altogether - probably the fledgling as it was taken days later than the above.



And, here are the male Northern flickers, clicked on day 1 and day 6 of my record-keeping. Am guessing there are atleast half a dozen babies in there, judging by the pictures taken at different times.



I remember last year when I desperately tried to get a picture of the eggs - they are certainly well-concealed and well-protected in that hole. I woke up at the crack of dawn hearing the incessant calls to watch if they came out to practise flying, or to catch the parent feeding the young.

Well, they've been here for well over a fortnight now - from the time I started recording them, that is - and we catch ourselves being drawn to them when we are in the house.

They seem to fly in and out of the hole, rat-a-tatting on the patio roof and making the kleer-kleer-kleer noise, as recorded in WhatBird.com.

The male has this bright red cheek marks - moustache - and black neckband - he looks rather grand, with reddish/orangish parts in the wings and black spots all over. The female doesn't have the bright red moustache, but looks every bit as gorgeous with grey-brown-beige coloring, black neckband and dark spots all over.



I am guessing the little ones are getting lessons in finding the juicy worms and bugs before they take off on their own. I see quite a few of them around these days. One or the other is cautiously peeping out from the hole, then mustering up courage, takes flight and then soon heads back in, possibly after getting a luscious snack from our garden.

Sometimes one is at the base of the tree while the other is looking down from the hole. Perhaps it has been long enough for the young to fly out with a parent to find food and get back in the hole safely.



And sometimes I see the birds together by the hole briefly, just for an instant, as if to exchange a hello before one of them takes off in a flash, too fast for me to get the camera and catch them together.

But, other times, one is resting further up in the tree while another pokes out from the hole.



Og and Ana took turns looking at the birds through our sturdy old binoculars. We looked over and over at the pictures we took to study the birds' features. We talked about the male and the female and what they might be doing in the hole: laying eggs, incubating, raising babies. We noticed that as soon as they arrived they got busy with nest excavation, hammering and chucking out the scraps. We read about their migration, flying south to stay warm as the winter approaches.


Then, Ana was ready to make a book about our very own backyard Northern Flickers.

Having spent way more time than I budgeted on observing them, it seems like I am getting too fond of them, almost too attached and reluctant to let them go. I can see there are at least 3 different-looking females, and 2 different-looking male birds flying in and out of that hole. Between 34x zoom and cropping, some pictures are not as sharp as when seen via the binoculars, but, it certainly captures each bird's personality, me thinks...

Soon, they will fly away. I hope they come back next year.

Living Sunlight

Living Sunlight
How Plants Bring The Earth To Life
by Molly Bang and Penny Chisholm

Ages 4-8

The Blue Sky Press

As Molly Bang explains in this article, the book came about as a collaboration between an artist and a scientist to bring an important concept - viz., photosynthesis - to the children via simple language and gorgeous illustrations.

Listen to me. Do this one thing: Lay your hand over your heart, and feel. Feel your heart pump, pump, and pump. Feel how warm you are.

That is my light alive inside of you.

I am your sun, your golden star.

Thus starts this journey about understanding how Plants Bring The Earth To Life.

The sun is the narrator. This appealed to my five-year-old directly. The sun tells us how life on earth would not be possible without plants and their ability to process the sunlight via chlorophyll, make glucose, and release oxygen so we can exist.

The fact that all life on earth is connected and interdependent is brought out beautifully in this book. Not just photosynthesis. And, it sets the stage for understanding chemical, biological and physical processes down the road.

The text is easy enough for the five-year-old to follow, yet scientifically sound. The illustrations are simply magnificent! It is not easy to represent such an abstract chemical reaction or phenomenon as photosynthesis, and Molly Bang has done it.

Notes at the back of the book answers such questions as How Does Life Work?, What happens to water in Photosynthesis?, How do we get energy from the plants we've eaten? and so on, with additional information for older children.

Aside: Clare Norelle's The Same Earth Holds Us All CD is a big hit with both the kids, although the almost-3-year-old probably only understands half the lyrics with the exception of Chickees-and-Duckies. My favorite in this collection is called The Common Pot (La olla común) which seems to have struck a chord in Ana. Anyway, this CD has a very catchy song about Photosynthesis, which in conjunction with the book has proven invaluable to me as a parent and am glad we have these on our shelves at home to reach for at will.


[image source: http://www.mollybang.com/Pages/livingsun.html]

[cross-posted as Saffron Tree]