Showing results by author "Amy Tao" in All Categories

Do you know where your clothes come from? Learn about the processes of making certain materials that are used in clothing! Guess what plant or animal that rubber boots come from? What material is made from plastic bottles? You’ll be surprised to learn how the clothes you wear everyday are manufactured!

Your skin does a lot to make sure you are healthy and feeling good. It can keep you warm on a cold day, and cool on a hot day. It's tough and helps protect you from the sun. Its ridges help you grip things. Let's face it, your skin has you covered.

What happens to your body while you sleep? Does it just shut off like the bedroom light? On the contrary, it turns out that all sorts of things happen.

Have you ever wished you could speak to your dog? If you pay attention, you'll realize they actually speak to us all the time! Learn about the different noises and behaviors dogs use to communicate. The next time your dog "talks" to you, will you be able to understand him?

Firefighter Greg has an important job to do–he helps people who are in danger of being hurt by fire. He has a lot of equipment to help him do his job. A computer inside the fire truck shows Firefighter Greg exactly which house to go to. Ladders, rigs, and tools help get the job done! Can you name other equipment that will be needed for Firefighter Greg to help others, and be safe? How can you be safe at your house to prevent fires?

Our sun is great at shining down light and heat on earth, but was the sun always that bright? With the help of gravity, the sun is eventually able to produce enough energy to give off light. Our sun has kept this up for four billion years and will keep shining for another five billion years!

No one knows for sure just how the ancient Egyptians built the Great Pyramid of Giza, which is taller than the Statue of Liberty. How could an ancient civilization have achieved this engineering feat? Perhaps the solution to this mystery can be answered with simple machines!

Firefighter Greg has a physical job to do so he stays strong and fit. He gets up early in the morning and sleeps where he works. Did you know that Firefighter Greg practices putting on his safety gear–in less than one minute? Or that his gear–helmet, facemask, air pack, boots and jacket–weighs 75 pounds? Find out how firefighters practice putting out fires in a training tower!

Take a look at your shadow in the sunshine. Try a shadow puppet. Learn how the sun's position in the sky affects your shadow.

See how the science of physics is utilized not only in the kitchen, but also around the house on a daily basis. Simple machines are everywhere! From brooms and rolling pins to lightbulbs and window blinds, basic everyday kitchen items transform into scientific concepts such as screws, levers, ramps, and wedges!

Have you ever wanted to live in Antarctica? What kind of house would you live in? A snow house, of course! Follow the instructions to learn how to build a snow house. What is a snow house made from and what tools do you need to build it? Guess what the first step is to build a snow house?

Go on an adventure with Polly as she learns how to use special names to categorize shapes! Any closed, flat shape with at least three straight sides is called a polygon. Did you know a quadrilateral—or a shape with four straight sides—can have several names? You can call one a parallelogram, a rhombus, a trapezoid, or even a square! What shapes can you recognize?

When volcanoes blow their top, watch out! They can blast out dangerous lava, rocks, ash, and steam that can contain clouds of poisonous gas. But when lava cools, it becomes rock, which in turn creates new land.

Enjoy this collection of stories for children about life on the farm. In "Hector Helps Out", Calliope the hen enlists the help of Hector the rooster in an effort to retain her egg. They work to pull a fast one on Farmer Bean. Also included are nine other stories about animals and living on the farm: "Hatch!", "Fresh from the Farm", "Grandpa Drives a Milk Truck", "Mem and Grandpa at the Farm Stand", "Diggory Dog", "Fleece Fiber, Yarn Sweater", "Harvest Time with Papa", "Herbert, Hurry Up", and "A Rootin' Tootin' Cowboy".

Birds are easier to hear than they are to see. If you want to encourage more birds to visit your backyard–learn how to build a bird feeder and a bird's nest! What types of birds will you find? Learn two simple ways to help birds live and to observe them in your own backyard!

Red is a red blood cell. Luke is a leukocyte, or white blood cell. Patty is a platelet. What do these three have in common? They are the workers in your blood. Listen to find out why each worker is important for your body.

Do you know how buildings you see in your city got there? Before buildings are built, machines that move the ground are used! The excavator or digger move old ground away, preparing the space for a new building! A driver sits in the cab where all the fun begins! The tools to control the machine are inside the cab. Levers control the arms which do all the digging. How does the digger’s body move?

Have you ever wondered why wheels are round and not triangles or squares? Try this activity to learn why wheels are the shape that they are.

Do you know how your ears can hear? Did you know they’re responsible for other things, too? For one thing, they keep you balanced on your feet! Learn about the anatomy of your ear and how its structure allows you to hear all the different noises you experience every day.

Have you ever wondered what lifts a big, heavy airplane up in the sky without falling down? This article explains how their wings and air keeps planes—and birds, too—flying high! Learn how wings work just by blowing on a piece of paper in a fun experiment.