Wednesday Reference: Science is Fun!

For today's Wednesday Reference I present to you Everyday Mysteries. This website is put out by the Library of Congress and contains all sorts of interesting and fun science facts. For example, did you know that a coconut can be considered a fruit, a nut, and a seed? It's true. The questions and answers are sorted into 12 major categories ranging from agriculture to astronomy, to motor vehicles and chemistry. Each answer includes a list of related websites for more information, as well as a bibliography for further reading. This could be a useful site for science teachers and students looking for interesting topics for papers or experiments.

Wednesday Reference

OK, here is a quickie reference link today, for all the teachers out there: Netstate.com. A website with basic information about all of the states, including the year it became a state, where the name came from, and the various nicknames. If you click on the links in the sidebar, you can find even more interesting facts. For example, did you know that the official cooking vessel of Arkansas is the Dutch Oven? Or that the square dance is the official dance of both Washington and Arkansas (and, I feel sure, at least a couple other states...must be a strong square dance lobby out there). The facts have some sources included, so you can go find more information, or at least be sure your students are getting real information.

Addendum: There is a strong square dance lobby out there! At one point they were trying to get the square dance to be the state dance for all of the states! It's on this website, if you look for it.

Wednesday Reference: Disaster Planning

Image from http://www.meteorologynews.com/2008/06/08/june-8th-national-tornado-day/ Credit: Fred Smith

Do you live in an earthquake zone? Tornado Alley? Blizzard-ville? On the Hurricane Coast? Do you live on the planet Earth? If you answered yes to any of these questions, then you should be prepared for a disaster. Mostly, we don't like to think about the bad things that could happen, because they scare us, shake us out of our comfortable lives and remove any pretense we might have that we are safe. But when disasters strike, we are better able to survive and adjust if we have a plan. The government has put together a comprehensive web site to help you put together a plan and an emergency kit that could just save your life.

For example, you should enough water and food for every person in the household for 3 days. If that food is in cans, don't forget the can opener! Also, if you have pets, you should also make sure you have enough food and water for them as well. If you take medications, try to have a supply of those stored or handy.

What else should you have? Check it out at Ready.gov.

Wednesday Reference

I have been reading a lot of blogs lately, mostly food-related, and some of the best have regularly recurring themes. So, I am going to try something new - a regular (well, that's what I say now!) weekly post about an interesting, useful or otherwise noteworthy reference source. Since this is a blog, and therefore online, I will try to keep these to online sources, but I won't guarantee that they will always be so.

Today's inaugural reference site is the Australian War Memorial web page. "One of the finest military artefact, document, and media collections in the world" (their own description) related to various wars, the web site has pictures, virtual tours, genealogy information, and exhibitions.

This picture is from one of the online exhibits, "A is for Animals: An A to Z of Animals in War." According to the description, this kitty was a mascot for a light cruiser during WWI. Check out the exhibit for pictures of a German doggy gas mask, other mascots, and working animals.