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Welcome to WR Science


Each month, WR Science will help your students learn about their world by exploring science news. Our issues are designed to help you meet National Science Education Standards and make learning science fun.

On the Web site, you will find updates, issue-related links, and activities made especially for WR Science by science educator Robert Krampf. Check back often to see what we have for the 2007-2008 school year.

Please feel free to contact me with any comments or questions.

Sincerely,
Chris Jozefowicz, editor
wrscience@weeklyreader.com 

 

May 2008

Saving the Planet

In this issue, students will learn about scientists that look to the skies to protect Earth from asteroids, a bank to save seeds, and the growing problem of allergies to food.

Web Links:

Learn more about NASA's Near Earth Object Program at their Web site. The Planetary Society also has a lot of information about asteroids and comets here.

Explore details of the Global Seed Vault at the program's Web site.

Learn more about food allergies at Kid's Health.

 

March/April 2008

Guarding the Giants

In this issue, students will learn about how zoos care for elephants and a big garbage dump floating in the Pacific Ocean.

Issue Links:

Solar Power: See video of a solar storm knocking the tail off of a comet here.

Future Flier: See video of a model of a blended wing-body aircraft in flight here.

Web Links:

Learn more about Asian and African elephants at the Web site of the Smithsonian National Zoological Park.

The Library of Congress has an online timeline of human flight that spans more than 3,000 years.

Follow an ongoing trip to the garbage gyre by Algalita Marine Research Foundation.

 

February 2008

Learning From Lucy

In this issue, students will learn about the skeleton of an extinct relative of humankind. They will also learn about a small, battery-powered car .

Issue Links:

Find out more about the Stayin' Alive program and how your class can help raise money for malaria nets at the Web site for Malaria No More.

Classroom activity:

Paleo-Cookies

Your students can see for themselves how tough it can be for scientists to put together fossilized skeletons. Download an activity here that uses cookies as models of broken fossils.

Web Links:

Learn more about Lucy, her world, and Ethiopia at Lucy's Legacy: The Hidden Treasures of Ethiopia.

A lot of information on volcanoes around the world is available at the Global Volcanism Program from the Smithsonian.

Learn about electricity at the U.S. Department of Energy's Kid's Page.

Correction:

The backpage illustration, "Bones Into Stones," does not contain many details of what can happen to bones after an animal dies. Many facts were omitted. As a result, the answers to question two are ambiguous. According to the illustration, answer C is correct. However, in reality, the sun can also crack bones, and water can wash bones away. As a result, answers A and B are also acceptable. We regret any confusion this may have caused.

 

January 2008

Going Up!

In this issue, students will learn about about the challenges builders face as they construct the tallest building in the world. They will also learn about the health challenges faced by young people with diabetes.

Web Links:

Learn more about the design of tall buildings at the World's Tallest Towers online exhibition from the skyscraper museum.

Follow along as the WWF tracks polar bears at the WWF-Canon Polar Bear Tracker Web site.

Find more tips on diet and exercise for kids at KidsHealth.

 

December 2007

A Computer for Everyone!

In this issue, students will learn about efforts to get computers to kids around the world, and how wolves shape the environment in America's western states.

Issue Links:

The One Laptop Per Child Organization is running a special drive in which people in the U.S. can buy a laptop for themselves and one laptop will be donated to a child in a developing country. The computer is more expensive this way, but the Give One Get One program is a charity drive. To learn more, click here.

Classroom activity:

Big Dig Drilling

Your students can get an idea of the challenges Chikyu faces as it drills deep into the Earth. Click here to find a downloadable PDF with instructions for how to make a small model of a long drill with drinking straws.

Web Links:

Learn more about the XO at the website for One Laptop Per Child.

Learn more about Chikyu and its mission at the official Web page for the project.

See how many wolves live in Yellowstone and where they live at the Web site for the Yellowstone Wolf Project.

 

November 2007

Bio Bots

In this issue, students will learn about robots inspired by animals and one wild idea on fighting global warming.

Issue Links:

See video of the sala-bot making the transition from walking to swimming here. Then compare the motion to that of a real salamander making the same transition here. (Note: a short commercial precedes each video.)

Web Links:

NASA's ROVer Ranch has information about robots (both real and fictional), activities, and links to many roboics Web sites.

Check out various types of astronaut outfits at NASA's Living in Space, Space Wear page.

The Environmental Protection Agency has information for kids and resources for teachers at their kid's page.

 

October 2007

Is this a Bird?

In this issue, students will learn about feathered dinosaurs and a world-class athlete with artificial legs.

Web Links:

To learn more about birds and dinosaurs, go to the Dinobuzz Web site from the University of California, Berkeley.

The Octopus News Magazine Online has a giant squid and colossal squid fact sheet.

Read about research that helps patients move artificial limbs by thinking, at Science News for Kids.

Classroom activity:

Drawing Really Big Dinosaurs

Your students can see how big Gigantoraptor was in real life. Click here to find a downloadable PDF with instructions for how to draw a life-sized dinosaur.

 

September 2007

NEW Animals!

In this issue, students will learn about new species and a planet outside of our solar system that may be a bit like Earth

Video Links:

Watch Octi the octopus open bottles here at the Reuters news site.

See the Bornean clouded leopard on the prowl in the embedded video here at the WWF (World Wildlife Fund).

See how the walking shark got its name in the video here from the Washington Post.

Web Links:

To learn more about habitats and endangered species, go to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service's Kid's Corner.

NASA's Kids Science News Network answers "What causes a lightning flash?"

NASA's Kids Home has links to games and information for students.

Classroom activity: Listen to Lightning

Your students can use a radio to hear the power of lightning and sparks. Click here to find a downloadable PDF with instructions for an activity about lightning and static electricity.

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