Rinda Beach
  • Home
  • About Me
  • Blog
  • BOOKS
    • LAKE FUN FOR YOU AND ME
    • NEIL ARMSTRONG'S WIND TUNNEL DREAM
    • Zoe's Scavenger Hunt Fun
  • Contact
  • For Kids
  • My Reads
  • Speaking

The Mazza Museum and My Wind Tunnel

6/1/2020

0 Comments

 
​​Part 1 – This was me at the Mazza Museum on March 1st. It was a lovely day. Crowds enjoyed what this museum had to offer. It was their last open house before the Coronavirus shut everything down.
Picture
​
Mazza isn’t an ordinary museum. It’s extraordinary! It’s a museum just for picture book illustrations. I am not, nor will I ever illustrate them so I was thrilled to be invited to share NEIL ARMSTRONG’S WIND TUNNEL DREAM.
​
I brought my wind tunnel along. These kids were kind enough to get their pictures taken. I wish I had one when the wind tunnel was in action. Those kids were so excited to see it work. It was that way with every single kid who stopped to see it in action. 

​Part 2 – This is my wind tunnel on the dining room table. It’s almost as long as the table is. When kids stopped for a demonstration, I had them look at the red shape first, then peek in the window. 
Picture
​Look in the window below, and you’ll see a model airplane. It has a stick running through it. That’s to hold the model in place. It’s anchored in a cup of sand.
Picture
​
The red shape is a digital scale. When kids came over, I turned it on. The scale always started at 10 units, the weight of the sand/model. Then I reset it to 0, and took the kids to the end of the tunnel. 

​Not the one with the fan. I took them to the opposite end. It’s open. You can look down the tunnel past the model and into those black tubes. They’re really used in golf bags. You stick your club inside to protect them. 
Picture
Picture
They’re called diffusers in wind tunnels, and their job is to straighten or diffuse the wind. The tubes start where the brown cardboard meets the white cardboard. They end right before the window.

​I had them look down the tunnel, then we went back to the scale.  I told them to watch its numbers as I turned on the fan. 
​
Picture
Picture
Every single time I turned on the fan, the number dropped below 0. Sometimes it went down to -2, to -5, even to -10. Then I asked the key question – what happened? How could the plane weigh less after I turned on the fan? The weight of the plane and sand never changed.
​
Picture
Part 3 – The answer in one word – LIFT! Did you figure it out? A first-grader did. He said, “The wind lifted the plane.” He saw it and explained it in simple clear words.
​
Here’s mine. It’s a little more complicated – when the plane lifted up, it shifted its weight up too, so the scale went down. It was an example of Newton’s law of motion in action – for every action there is an equal and opposite reaction. The plane goes up, and the scale goes down. Simple physics! 

Picture


​​I think Neil would have loved seeing another wind tunnel in action. I hope I learned enough from researching Neil and wind tunnels to do a good job answering that first grader in March, and to write about it tonight. Wouldn’t it be lovely if that first grader, or a blog reader, wound up working in the space program? What a lovely dream!

​ Part 4 – The Mazza set up.  I came in and got my station ready first. Then I took a walk around the building to see what the museum was going to offer its guests. There was an amazing range of activities,
Picture
Picture
Picture
Picture
​ I couldn’t leave my station, but I saw so many kids and their parents around me having a wonderful day, thanks to the Mazza volunteers. 
​
Picture

​​​This activity came from The University of Findlay College of Sciences. They took up half the room beside me with table after table set up like these two. Whenever I peeked over, I saw families engaged in science experiments. My only regret – I didn’t get to ask or try out their activities. I was curious before the kids got there, and I was still curious after they left.

Picture
Picture
​This is a Rainy Day Craft, thanks to the University of Findlay Japanese Student. It’s so simple and cute. I think I could make it at home. I bet you could too!
Picture
Picture
​
What would you gather together?
My guess –  pencil and markers, 
                        -  cupcake liners 
                        -  a few cotton balls
                        -  A ’J’ and some raindrops

​Please send me a picture if you try out this craft.


​This was one of the most popular places to visit, Pawsible Angels Therapy Dogs. Who doesn’t love dogs, and these two were so well trained!
Picture
Picture
​
Their owners were wonderful to talk to, and the dogs were so well behaved. If you’re afraid of a dog, it’s critical that you meet the right dog, the right handler.  
Both dogs and handlers go through a lot of training to qualify as therapy dogs. They pass tests to show they’re ready. They don’t jump. They wait and let a child approach them first. These two were fantastic for two full hours, with lots of excited kids.

​Yum! They had snacks too! Rain drops and ice. And books, of course!
Mazza is a Picture Book Illustration Museum.
Picture
Picture
Picture

​And best of all, I’m not an illustrator, but Neil and I were welcome too!
It was a thrilling day!
Picture
Picture
Picture
0 Comments

Earth Day Trivia

4/23/2019

1 Comment

 
Picture
Earth Day 2019 was April 22, but every day should be Earth Day. Do you know which country puts out the most carbon?

Your choices:    
USA     China     India     Japan     Russia

The answer: China

Tomorrow: Details about each country and tips to be a good Earth citizen every day.


Can you find the countries below? Start on the western side of the Earth. Find a light green country. That’s the United States.
​
Now go east across the ocean to a huge yellow country at the top of the world. That’s Russia. Go south to an orange country. That’s China. 
Picture
Next go east of China and Russia into the ocean. Find a chain of islands that’s half pink, half purple. That’s Japan.
​
Finally go back to China. Travel south to a large green peninsula. That’s India. These are the world’s 5 top polluters. I don’t think any of them want to be on this list. Here are 2 charts that show 2 different ways to wrap your head around the numbers.

2015 Total Emissions Country Rank           Carbon dioxide emissions from fuel combustion (million metric tons)
  1. China                                                  9040. 72 million metric tons
  2. USA                                                     4997.50                                                     About half of China’s
  3. India                                                    2066.01                                                    Not quite half of the USA’s
  4. Russia                                                1468.99                                                    Almost 600 less than India
  5. Japan                                                 1141.58                                                    Almost 300 less than Russia  
2015 Total Emisions Country Rank       Carbon dioxide emissions from fuel combustion per capita (metric tons)
  1. USA                                             15.53 metric tons per units of population
  2. Russia                                         10.19
  3. Japan                                             8.99
  4. China                                             6.59       Note - China has more people than any other country on earth
  5. India                                               1.58
So what does all this mean? Is the USA alright? Do we need to do better? How?What do you think? I’ll share my thoughts tomorrow!
​
Sources: - https://www.traveltrivia.com/answer-which-country-has-the-most-carbon-emissions/
                   - Union of Concerned Scientists     Last Updated: April 19, 2019
Picture
So what does all this mean? Is the USA alright? Do we need to do better? How? What do you think?

There’s always room for improvement, for me as a person. For the US as a country. We span across a continent with miles of highway to connect us. We don’t have mass transit, except in our large cities or on the east coast.
​
If you look at this link: Union of Concerned Scientists, there are 2 other countries in the 15 metric ton per capita range. Canada is at 15.32, and Australia’s at 15. 83. They’re like us, continent-wide with miles of highway to cross. The biggest surprise on this page, Saudia Arabia’s at 16.85 and tops the per capita list.

One of the nice things about aging is watching things get better. When I grew up in the 60’s, people were becoming aware of pollution. As a country we stopped using DDT. We put animals on the endangered list and worked to protect them. Back then there was no recycling, and now I see it around my little town. Yay! We’ve gotten better at taking care of our planet since the 60’s. But, we still have room to grow.

Picture
Now, how can YOU help the Earth? My friends at Traveltrivia.com had a couple suggestions. 1) Ride your bike whenever it’s possible. I have to confess I’m not a bike rider, but I try to watch my car trips so that I accomplish as much as possible in 1 trip. I used to carpool to work. We drove 1 car, not 2. These are simple things, but if everyone does the simple things, we can have a big effect.

2) Turn off the water. Don’t let it drip! Water is a natural resource. Don’t waste it. I also try to watch what I throw out into my yard. Whatever goes into the ground can go into our water system, and it can pollute your water.

Picture
3) Turn off the lights when you leave the room. The same is true for anything that uses electricity. Turning it off saves the natural resources that make your electricity. Saving water and electricity also saves money, and that’s a great thing! Money saved is money you can spend on something else that YOU want or need.

4) Reuse something instead of throwing it away. If it’s broken, can you fix it? Turn it into something else? I saved a card from my father’s funeral. I cut it into pieces, glued it onto a frame, and now it’s a treasured possession. Another great thing!
​
5) If you can’t use it, recycle it! I don’t throw out my newspapers – I recycle them. Did you know paper is one of the biggest things going into the garbage dumps? I can’t recycle old clothes, but I give them to places like Goodwill. You can get things there free or at a great price. Sometimes you even find treasures! Happy Hunting!

If you have other suggestions, please comment or email me. I’d love to share them so we can all make Earth Day every day.!
Sources: - https://www.traveltrivia.com/answer-which-country-has-the-most-carbon-emissions/
                   - Union of Concerned Scientists     Last Updated: April 19, 2019

Picture
​Usually I don’t get comments, but I thought I’d share this one with you, along with my answer.
​
Daniel:   It is interesting to see the “emissions from fuel combustion per capita”. Regarding greenhouse emissions and global warming: This is the possibility that each of every American has an impact on carbon pollution. Instead of working against this outrageous number, people get more, bigger pick-ups, companies discontinue fuel saving vehicles like Ford Focus...Strange new world, and I’m disappointed about Americans who seem to not care. 

Picture
Rinda: Daniel, I agree that every American has an impact on carbon pollution. I understand your concern about the big pick-ups versus the economy cars. I drive a Honda Crosstour. I’m not sure what my mileage is, but it’s better than our Honda Pilot (my husband worked at Honda, and they’re great cars).

I think Americans do care about the environment, but it’s one choice among a million you might make in a day. I was a soccer mom. Having a car big enough to haul my 3 kids around, plus any of their friends, was huge back in the day.

Our next car will probably be a truck, sorry! It’s not because we don’t care about the environment, but because we have a boat to move around. We also have a trailer that helps us move anything from tree limbs to furniture. In America, we don’t have the luxury of taking a train so we want a car that’s comfortable. I spent an hour in my car, round trip 5 days a week for 33 years. Now I substitute teach. I sub in Wapak, not my old district because it saves time, energy, and money, all things valued by Americans.
​

I hope my response will redeem truck-driving Americans in your eyes. At least in my family, we have a good reason for our choices. And Daniel, if you need a car, take a look at the Hondas! They’re fuel efficient, and last forever. Our Pilot has almost 300,000 miles. It’s a gem!

1 Comment
    Picture

    Author

    When I write, I can only have one voice in my head, mine.  A little noise is fine.  But too much, or worse yet, WORDS, and I must change rooms or pull out headphones.  Then I can write on!

    Subscribe to Newsletter

    RSS Feed

    Categories

    All
    Language Arts
    Science Earthspace
    Science-earthspace6f21738650
    Science-earthspace6f21738650
    Science Life
    Science Physical
    Social Studies Economic
    Social Studies Geography
    Social Studies Government
    Social Studies History

Thanks for stopping by!

Website design by Amstutz Ink

  • Home
  • About Me
  • Blog
  • BOOKS
    • LAKE FUN FOR YOU AND ME
    • NEIL ARMSTRONG'S WIND TUNNEL DREAM
    • Zoe's Scavenger Hunt Fun
  • Contact
  • For Kids
  • My Reads
  • Speaking