October 26, 2009

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BONUS! This Issue's Printable Activites:

• Bat Ears
  SKILL: Chart-Reading Skills
  BASED ON: "Real-Life Bloodsuckers," p. 8
  
• Hands-On Science
  BASED ON: "Smashing Pumpkins," p. 18
  Try this activity to learn how the correct angle helps a catapult hurl pumpkins farther.

Science World PowerPoints

This year, Science World is introducing PowerPoint presentations to go along with select feature articles. They are perfect for use on SMART Boards, as well as on your school computer, or as handouts. Click here to download FOSSILS, this year's first PowerPoint presentation, or click here for more information.

Download this issue's Teacher's Edition here. Please note that the answer key has been removed.

Reproducibles from the Teacher's Edition

• Science News (Reading Comprehension)
  
• Check for Understanding (Reading Comprehension)
  
• Tinkering With Trebuchets (Math Skills)
  
• Silk States (Chart-Reading Skills)

This issue's Web Extras:

• Send your friends an e-card to celebrate Smokey's 65th birthday, and learn about preventing wildfires at: www.smokeybear.com
• Check out Bill Schutt's Web site for more vampire animals at
  www.darkbanquet.com
• Visit the Saguaro National Park's Web site
  www.nps.gov/sagu
• Find out what it takes to become an earthquake scientist at
  http://earthquake.usgs.gov/learning/kids
• See Punkin Chunkin machines in action at
  http://science.discovery.com/tv/punkin-chunkin/punkin-chunkin.html
  

Article-specific web links from this issue's Teacher's Edition:

•  "Real-Life Bloodsuckers," p. 8
• Want to see more parasites in action? Meet the stars of the new Animal Planet show Monsters Inside Me, at
  http://animal.discovery.com/tv/monsters-inside-me
• Learn about the adventures National Geographic filmmakers had tracking down vampire bats in Nicaragua, here:
  www.nationalgeographic.com/fieldtales/bats/?fs=animals.nationalgeographic.com

• "Cactus Trackers," p. 12
• Want to learn more about the different types of deserts? Check out the University of California Museum of Paleontology's online exhibit here:
  www.ucmp.berkeley.edu/exhibits/biomes/deserts.php
• The Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum's Web site is full of information about the area's plants and animals:
  www.desertmuseum.org
• Pima County, Arizona, has this Web site for kids with Sonoran Desert-related games, activities, quizzes, and more:
  www.pima.gov/cmo/sdcp/kids/index.html

• "Smashing Pumpkins," p. 16
• Trebuchets use levers to propel heavy objects. Check out this lesson plan about levers from Tufts University's STOMP Web site
  http://stompnetwork.org/tufts/fellowresources/activity-database?sobi2Task=sobi2Details&catid=0&sobi2Id=20
• This Web site that accompanies NOVA's "Medieval Siege" episode from its "Secrets of Lost Empires" series has trebuchet-related lesson plans, interactive games, and more
  www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/lostempires/trebuchet

• "Secrets of Silk," p. 18
• For everything you could ever want to know about silkworms, visit this Web site from the University of Arizona. It has information sheets, lesson plans, tips for raising silkworms, and more! http://insected.arizona.edu/silkinfo.htm
• Check out this online exhibit about the art and history of the Silk Road from the University of Washington:
  http://depts.washington.edu/silkroad/exhibit/index2.html
• Find out more about the mulberry tree, which is the main food for silkworms, here:
  http://faculty.ucc.edu/biology-ombrello/POW/mulberry_tree.htm