DID YOU KNOW?

Bulls are colorblind and respond to the motion of a red cape and not its color.

TO A COLOR BLIND PERSON, DOES THE WORLD LOOK LIKE A BLACK AND WHITE MOVIE?

Color blindness is misleading, because it rarely means that no colors are seen. Bulls, like most color blind people have trouble telling the difference between red and green. Thus, they are said to be red-green color blind.

Color blindness is caused when there is a decrease or absence of cones in the eyes. Cones are light sensitive cells inside the eye that absorb different light colors. The three types of cones are red cones, green cones, and blue cones.

DISCOVER FOR YOURSELF

Look through different colored cellophane or plastic, such as the red, yellow, and blue transparent plastic report folders. Notice that the color of things looks different. This is not how color blind people see things. But, it gives you an idea how the world would look if some of the cones in your eyes were not properly working.

CONCLUSION

Color blindness generally means that an organism has a color vision deficiency. This vision disorder is due to a decrease or absence of some of the eyes cones.

Think about This:

Fact: Yellow light bulbs are often used for outdoor lighting.

Inquiry Question:

“I wonder… Are flying insects colorblind to yellow?”

Problem:

What effect does the color of light have on attracting flying insects?

Hypothesis:

A hypothesis is an inference or guess based on previous knowledge that answers the problem question.

Example Hypothesis:

If the light is yellow, then there will be fewer flying bugs attracted to it.

On Your Own

How could you experiment to test this hypothesis?

Send your experimental ideas and I will post responses next week. Send responses to Janvancl (at) aol (dot) com

You can find more fun science challenges in Janice VanCleave’s Super Science Challenges (Wiley/Jossey-Bass, 2008).

I absolutely love the internet for homeschooling. It especially suits my do-everything-at-the-last-possible-minute personality. With a request for recommended links on Twitter and a few Google searches, I pulled together a week’s worth of media-rich lessons about the sun in thirty minutes. I’ll share the actual unit after we are finished, but in the meantime, I wanted to share one of the best resources I have found on the web in a long time: The Vital Network.

Vital stands for “Video in Teaching and Learning” and is a website designed to give New York State teachers access to the best media resources available from Public Television for their classrooms. The best part, however, is that anyone (even homeschoolers) can register and it is absolutely free.

Registration gives you access to over 2,000 educational resources with a heavy emphasis on science, although the site is expanding to include math, language arts, social studies and the arts.

I’ve spent a good deal of time lost in all the offerings and highly recommend registering.

Dana Hanley homeschools her four (soon to be five) children in America’s heartland. She blogs about homeschooling at Principled Discovery and the simple joys of life at A Very Nearly Tea.

DID YOU KNOW?

Bats do not try to fly into your hair. If they fly close to your head, it is because insects are nearby.

DO VAMPIRE BATS TRY TO SUCK YOUR BLOOD?

Vampire bats live in Central and South America, and they do not suck blood from humans. In fact, they don’t suck blood at all. Instead, when they bite an animal their sharp teeth make a small incision. They lap up about one teaspoon of blood that comes from the wound. The animal usually doesn’t feel the bite.

CONCLUSION

Most of the negative things you have heard about bats is probably wrong. Some people encourage bats to live nearby because they eat so many flying insects.

FUN WITH BATS

Make a balancing bat using stiff paper, such as card stock or an old manila file folder. First make a copy or trace the bat pattern pictured below. Fold the stiff paper in half. Lay the center line of the bat pattern on the fold. Trace the bat on the paper. Then cut out the bat design.

Unfold the paper. Voila! You have a bat with spread wings. Kids can color the bat black with crayons or markers.

Now, for the real fun part—turn a box upside down, and then stick the pencil into the cardboard so that it stands vertical with the eraser end up. Attach one paperclip (size #1) to the ends of the wings as shown. Place the bat’s head on the pencil’s eraser. If the bat doesn’t balance, adjust how far the paper clips extend past the end of the bat’s wings.

WHAT’S HAPPENING?

The center of gravity is the point where the weight of an object appears to be located. As long as the bat’s center of gravity is in line with a supporting base (the pencil), it will balance.

SOMETHING MORE

Find out: Why are scientists studying vampire bat saliva to help stroke victims?

You can find more fun science activities in Janice VanCleave’s Great Science Project Ideas from Real Kids (Wiley/Josey-Bass, 2007)

Microscopes are an investment worth their dollars when it comes to science exploration. I’ve done a little exploration myself to find low prices for a variety of microscopes with different features.

Monocular eyepiece, Tungsten illumination, Basic Stage:

• Triple lens: See the Kids’ Microscope for $95 at Home Science Tools: (Note: you cannot add a mechanical stage to this model and it has lesser-quality lenses.) Consider the $110 model at Bargain Microscopes, with better lenses and an adaptable stage.
• Quadruple lens (has a 1000x oil immersion lens): See the $174 model at Bargain Microscopes.
  

Monocular eyepiece, Fluorescent illumination, Basic Stage

• Triple lens: See Great Scopes SF3 for $149.
• Quadruple lens: See Great Scopes SAF4 for $209. If, however, you want a mechanical stage, then see Home Science Tools Home 1000x Microscope for $240.

Binocular scope

• You can’t beat Bargain Microscopes $276 model, which includes a mechanical stage, halogen lighting, and magnification up to x1600. It’s certainly the best value if you are an enthusiast and have the budget for it.

For more information about these features, see Buying A Compound Microscope at my AtHomeScience blog

I’ve seen many people make beautiful pictures with autumn leaves, but I didn’t know how to describe it to my children. Then we found The Leaf Man at the library.

It has wonderful illustrations of animals made out of leaves. My children and I were excited to go home and try it for ourselves.

Try this simple fall activity with your children:

1. Gather pretty leaves in different colors.
2. Press them in a phone book.
3. Glue the leaves to a large sheet of poster board.
4. Color grass, water, sun, etc…
5. Hang the poster board on the wall for continual admiration.

Simple science observations:

• Notice the colors of the leaves.
• Explore why leaves fall.
• What happens to the leaves after they fall?
• Research the animals you create.
• Discuss animal habitats (water/land).