Gliders Roundup

In a previous post, we explored gliders and paper airplanes. If you search for preschool gliders, well, you can see from the image above pretty much the only kid of glider you will discover so I am going to sift through the furniture ads and pictures of cute Australian sugar gliders to find some flying machines you and your preschooler can make.

Straw Gliders
This is a nice description of the gliders we make in Messy Fingers with a bit of good explanation at the end as to why this flies.

Essentially the two circles help to channel the air and create lift. What happens if the two circles are the same size? Does it matter which way you throw the glider - small circle or big circle first?

Egg Carton Glider
This is a really cool glider made from a foam egg carton. There is no explanation at that site as to how or why it flies the way it does. It is presented more as a craft project, but the template is great.

Is the penny necessary?  What would happen if you left it out or added two pennies?

Helicopters
This was a very colorful and detailed explanation of how to make these gliders.  Here is a better explanation of the science, but with only two colors.

Does the length of the wings matter to the helicopter?  If you made them shorter or longer what happens?

Book Review: The Very Lonely Firefly

The Very Lonely Firefly by Eric Carle is the story of a firefly searching for other fireflies. Along the way he finds other lights like a lantern and a candle. Once he finds other fireflies, he's happy to be flashing right along with them.

I've always loved this book. Mine was a gift from a dear friend so it has special meaning.I would recommend finding a copy that has the lights at the end. They make for a special surprise.

4/5 stars.

Scientist in the house...

I was chatting with one of the moms of a frequent participant in Messy Fingers about Sid the Science Kid. Her son adored watching Sid. He was telling me about decomposition and how much he loved Sid.

Me too!

I love Sid. I have always been impressed with how well the show organizes a topic so that preschoolers are not just interested but excited about science.

The show's science and teaching methods are based on solid scientific research. I've been completely, pleasantly, delightedly impressed with the research on preschool science. As many of us already know, preschoolers are wicked smart! Now there is a growing body of peer-reviewed, hard science on how preschoolers learn and express scientific thinking.

I hope that I am as enthusiastic, creative and knowledgeable as Miss Susie, the teacher.

Just don't expect me to sing.