SuperScience articles from February 2009

SuperScience archives from February 2009

Sweet (smelling) dreams.(LIFE SCIENCE)(Brief article)
February 1, 2009... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] Hoping for sweet dreams? It might help to stop and smell the roses. A recent study suggests that sniffing certain scents may affect your dreams. When scientists gave people the scent of roses to smell while they...

Martian snow.(EARTH SCIENCE)(Brief article)
February 1, 2009... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] Are there snow days on Mars? Scientists say yes! They have been able to check out the weather there with a probe called the Phoenix Mars Lander. With its camera and weather station, the probe helped scientists learn...

Birthday dragon.(Komodo dragon)(Brief article)
February 1, 2009... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] When Krakatoa, a Komodo dragon in a Florida zoo, turned 8, a hundred 8-year-old kids joined in the celebration. But when it was time for the birthday cake, Krakatoa had a meat and dead-mice pastry all to himself. ...

Surprise find.(Columbia astronaut Ilan Ramon's diary)
February 1, 2009... Pages from a diary are the last things one would expect to find after an explosion. But that's exactly what happened in 2003 after the space shuttle Columbia exploded as it returned to Earth. All seven astronauts on board were killed. But...

The case of the slow boarder.(friction and science play)
February 1, 2009... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] This month, learn how fiction affects moving objects Characters NARRATOR 1 NARRATOR 2 NARRATOR 3 BRADY MR. CASHMAN ANDREW MELISSA Scene 1 Narrator 1: Mr. Cashman is...

Seal Sitters to the rescue: a group of volunteers band together to keep harbor seals safe.(life science)
February 1, 2009... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] Early one morning, a harbor seal and her pup swim through the cold waters of Alki Beach near Seattle, Washington. The two animals glide over a kelp forest, where there are plenty of fish to eat. The mother seal wants...

Rescue raft: can you create a raft for a harbor seal?(hands-on)
February 1, 2009... THINK: Suppose you were in a pool and wanted to float on the water. Would you choose an inflatable tube or a standard beach chair to help you float? Why? PREDICT: To create a raft for a harbor seal, you would need to use a material that...

Cool science jobs.(astronomers at SETI Institute)(Interview)
February 1, 2009... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] WHO: Jill Tarter JOB: Alien Hunter What do you do? I'm an astronomer at the Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence (SETI) Institute in California. At SETI, we look for intelligent life on planets...

Duckie arctic explorers: rubber ducks aren't just for bath time anymore. Scientists are using them to learn about a giant sheet of ice.(earth science)
February 1, 2009... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] Summertime in ice-covered Greenland isn't exactly toasty. But it's warm enough for the enormous Jakobshavn (yahcub-SAH-ven) glacier to slightly melt. Meltwater forms rivers and rushes down ice tunnels called moulins....

Moving glacier.(galcier erosion experiment)
February 1, 2009... Can you create your own "glacier" to see erosion in action? You'll Need * Newspaper * 450-gram (1-pound) box of cornstarch * Large mixing bowl * 475 milliliters (2 cups) of water * Large mixing spoon * 2 sheets of wax paper...

Mystery photo.(properties of crayons)(Brief article)
February 1, 2009... WHAT'S PICTURED IN THE MAGNIFYING GLASS? TO FIND OUT, USE THESE HINTS (PLUS A DICTIONARY OR THE INTERNET!). 1. Early types of these were made of charcoal and oil. 2. Today their main ingredients are wax and pigment, a substance that...

You asked.(eye color and genetics )(Brief article)
February 1, 2009... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] Q: Why do people have different eye colors? A: Like nearly everything else about our bodies, eye color is a trait that's determined by genes (units of hereditary information). The genes for eye color control the...

Think and link.(science test)(Brief article)
February 1, 2009... Use the stories in this issue to determine the missing word in each of the statements below. Then, write the word in the boxes provided. The letters in the colored boxes spelt out the answer to the fun fact below. 1. Mars' nickname is the...

Keeping science cool!
February 1, 2009... Beat the winter chills with SuperScience's cool features this month! Your students can be transported from the comforts of the classroom to the icy world of Greenland's glaciers in "Duckie Arctic Explorers." There, scientists are using an...

Connect to your curriculum.(Table)
February 1, 2009... CONNECT TO YOUR CURRICULUM PAGE ARTICLE CURRICULUM AREAS 4 Science Mystery: Scientific Inquiry: manipulating variables; The Case of the observing; gathering data; drawing Slow Boarder ...

Glaciers of the globe.(MAP SKILLS)(Brief article)
February 1, 2009... Glaciers form over thousands of years during which time snowfall builds up and becomes tightly packed on tall mountains or near the Arctic or Antarctic poles. The map below shows where major glaciers of the world can be found. Use the map to...

No-sweat bubble test.(test on harbor seal protection)(Brief article)
February 1, 2009... Directions: Read each question below, then use the article "Sea[ Sitters to the Rescue!" (pp. 6-9) to determine the best answer. Fill in the bubble next to the correct answer completely. 1. In what type of forest do harbor seals search for...