Book Review: Mini Weapons of Mass Destruction

Despite its seemingly violent title, Mini Weapons of Mass Destruction: Build Implements of Spitball Warfare by John Austin has become one of my go-to books when I'm looking for a fun, easy project that doesn't require a fortune in supplies. Though the target audience for the book is clearly bored cubicle slaves, I've found that a lot of the projects make for great engineering builds and excellent physics experiments.

One of my personal favorites, which I build literally hundreds of times, is the tongue depressor catapult. This little beauty takes just minutes to make and costs pennies. But every kid has a blast with it. I've made my own adjustments, of course. Instead of gluing on a soda cap to make a bucket for ammunition, I just attach a disposable spoon. And rather than launching erasers, I love to shoot marshmallows. Now that tongue depressors come in so many fun colors, the projects are even more fun!

The book also has fun designs for other catapults and trebuchets, many based on historical reproductions. I've used it in class to explore how designs have change through time, as materials and technology have changed. Have students research each design then build their mini-weapon is a great integrated study, which doesn't cost a fortune.

Not every design is perfect; I've had some that took quite a bit of tweaking to work.However, for the shear number of designs and the creative play possibilities, this is one of my favorite books. In addition, the instructions are generally well-written, with clear black and white line-art diagrams of each step. That makes it something that many kids can explore on their own, building as they go.

The book has a companion, written by the same author: Mini Weapons of Mass Destruction 2: Build a Secret Agent Arsenal. Once again, the designs are well-written and clearly illustrated and the content encourages a strong DIY vibe. I have made the oragami-style shooting star many times in many settings. And the recycled marker converted to a crayon launcher is pure genius. This book always gives me ideas for my spy classes and parties.

As I was writing this book review, I found that the author is at it again! He's published a third installment: Mini Weapons of Mass Destruction 3: Build Siege Weapons of the Dark Ages. I have, of course, ordered it. I'll let you know what my favorite projects are, just as soon as it arrives!

Fun with dry ice

Let's face it, dry ice is fun. A super cold solid form of carbon dioxide, dry ice sublimates at room temperature, creating an eerie fog. Not only is dry ice great for science experiments, it's fun for parties too.

Luckily it's not that hard to get either. I have a local distributor called The Ice Factory, where I can drive right up and ask for a 30 lb. block any day of the week. You need to bring a cooler with you, or your frozen treasure won't last very long. A good pair of work gloves are needed to allow you to handle the stuff. I often ask to have it pelleted, for ease of use. But, as you'll see below, a big block of dry ice can be a lot of fun too.

So what do you do with your dry ice, once you've got it at home? I like to let kids explore the pellets alone first, observing the fog and talking about what's happening. Then we add warm water. The warmer the water, the more fog you get, because the difference in temperature affects the rate of sublimation. If you use a large clear container, kids can also see the bubbling as gas is generated. A little food coloring helps.

Then I like to add some dish soap. Suddenly everything changes, and big cloudy bubbles emerge from the container. Popping them releases the fog held inside. It's a ton of fun. Again add a bit of food coloring for added excitement.

Later, when all the dry ice is gone, the frothy, frozen soap will be left behind. It's lots of fun to play with too!

Remember how I said I like to get a big block of dry ice as well? If you use a power drill to add a wide hole to the top of the block and smaller ones to the sides, you can create a really amazing demonstration. You'll need magnesium ribbon as well.

Magnesium is a common alkaline earth metal. It's highly reactive and burns readily, producing a bright white light. Which is pretty cool all by itself, right?

When you place the magnesium ribbon in the dry ice and light it, things get dramatic. The burning magnesium can seal oxygen from the carbon dioxide in the dry ice, burning brightly without the need for other oxygen. In turn, the exothermic reaction speeds the sublimation of the dry ice, resulting in even more fog. The science is fun, but the visual is even better!

If you decide to try this at home, be sure to do it outdoors, or in a well ventilated area. And be sure to remove flammable items. This can get hot and bits of magnesium can be thrown off.

Hot and cold reactions

As part of our recent Chemical Reactions Workshop, we explored endo- and exothermic reactions. Many chemical reactions create light, heat or other forms of energy. An exothermic reaction is one in which heat is made and released by the reaction. The term is obvious if you look at the roots: ex = out/outside, therm = heat. Therefore, endothermic (en = in/inside) is a reaction where energy (in the form of heat) must be pulled in for the reaction to occur.

Both are fun and easy to demonstrate. Grab the following supplies:

• 2 Styrofoam cups (reusuable insulted cups are even better)
• 1 thermometer
• baking soda
• citric acid (you can find it with the canning supplies in the grocery store)
• hydrogen peroxide
• a packet of yeast

For the first reaction, create a baking soda solution by adding baking soda to warm water one teaspoon at a time, stirring after each addition. Stop when no more will dissolve. Let the solution cool to room temperature, then place it in your cup. Use the thermometer to check the temperature. Add a teaspoon of citric acid. The solution will fizz and the temperature will drop. Keep adding citric acid and see how low you can make the temperature go. This is an endothermic reaction. Kids can put their fingers into the solution to feel the cold directly. Just wash your hands afterwards.

For the second reaction, we're going to generate heat through a decomposition reaction. Fill your cup with hydrogen peroxide. Check the temperature. Slowly add the yeast, a little at a time. Soon you'll have a big bubbling mess and spike in the solution temperature. Keep feeding the reaction. How high will the temperature go? Again, kids can touch the solution without fear. 

Older student may enjoy exploring the concepts of enthalpy and entropy as well. Have fun playing! Let me know what you discover!

Making Matters: 5 things to do with paper towel rolls

We all know that toilet paper and paper towel rolls are one of the all-time classic craft supplies in the typical classroom. Which is awesome -- I love toilet paper owls and other fun projects made from these upcycled marvels. But what about using such humble supplies for science? Here are five projects
to try at home.

Ok. One toilet paper roll owl. I can't help myself.

1. Marble Slides -- Break out the masking tape and get ready to have some fun! Using whole and halved rolls, junior designers can attach tubes to any wall creating multi-layered slides for marbles to zig-zag towards the floor. If you want to get some motion going, try attaching rolls to foam board using brass brads or tacks!
2. Spectroscope -- Find all the colors of the rainbow in white light. Using black construction paper, cut a circle the size of the paper towel roll opening. Cut this circle in half. Tape half of the circle to one end of the roll, being sure to tape well around the edges. Attach the other half circle to the same end, leaving a narrow slit across the center. Again, tape well at the edges. Now,with your eye at the open end, look at a CD held near a light source (an incandescent bulb just behind the bulb is great). The CD will diffract the light, breaking it into a rainbow that you can see through the slit. Wow!
3. Kaleidoscope -- Cut you paper towel tube to 8 inches. Longer will make it tough for enough light to travel to the eye. Use black construction paper to cover one end of the tube. With a pencil, poke a hole in the paper. Use clear tape and apiece of clear cellophane or acetate (a report cover, a transparency, etc.) to create a triangular tube that will fit inside the tube. Slide it in. Cover the other side of the tube with plastic wrap, pushing it down to make a little pouch and securing it with tape or a rubber band. Add beads, sequins, gems or anything small and shiny. Cover with another piece of plastic wrap and secure in place. Now hold it to the light, look through the hole and enjoy the power of reflected light as it creates an amazing display!
4. Telescope -- Using construction paper create a roll that can just fit inside the paper towel roll. Ideally, you'll want two double-convex plastic or glass lenses, one 150 mm and the other 300 mm. If you can't come by those, try magnifying glasses - one larger and weaker and the other smaller and more powerful. You may have to experiment with different options. Tape the smaller lens onto the construction paper tube. Tape the weaker one onto the cardboard tube. Then fit the open end of the construction paper tube into the open end of the cardboard tube. Look through the stronger lens. Move the construction paper tube in and out until the object you're looking at is focused. 
5. Pulley Towers -- Grab some old thread spools, bamboo skewers, cotton string and toilet paper rolls to explore one of the most fun simple machines. Use the rolls to make two towers -- feel free to go big, stacking two of three rolls together. To form the base, cut slits into the bottom of the tower, spread out the "feet," then tape them to a table. Thread the spools onto the skewers and place them between the towers, poking holes into the cardboard as needed. Then it's time to play! Use the string wound in various ways through the pulleys to see how the number and placement of affects the what you can lift.

   

   That is one complicated pulley system!

Whew! That's a lot of fun with paper towel rolls. I'm going to take a bit of break. Come back later this week for 5 MORE fun ideas!

Making toons with iPad... for FREE

Our family recently bought a shiny new iPad 3. For the kids education... totally. It's an amazing device, of course. My girls took to it quickly, playing games and exploring. One thing my eldest daughter wants to do is make movies, and I'm hoping that the iPad will give her some tools for that purpose. Caitie and I decided we'd give cartoon making a try first.

There are dozens of apps out there for making everything from simple cartoons to professional animation, with price tags ranging from free to, well, not, ahem, free. In this post, I'm going to focus on free apps that are easy enough for children ages 6 and up to use, but offer enough of a fun factor for older kids (and parents) to enjoy and that require little or no drawing skill.

Toontastic by Launchpad Toys. 
FREE app. Additional character sets $0.99 to $1.99.
All Access for $9.99.


This was my first find, and it remains my favorite. Toontastic works like a puppet show. Pick your background and characters, place them in the scene and record. You can move the puppets around and record your voice. The app lets you resize the individual characters, change their colors and move specific limbs, if you like. You can even draw your own backgrounds and characters if you prefer, using the simple paint program provided. Once you've recorded a scene you can add background music as well. String together as many 1-minute scenes as you like to create your movie.

The app comes with a several backgrounds, characters and props from several different themes that you can mix and match. You can add additional sets for between $0.99 and $1.99. There are presently over 30 sets, each with a background and selection of 2-3 characters and assorted props. Themes include fairy tales, pirates, historical figures, space and rock and roll. For $9.99 you get complete access to all current and future sets.

So why is this app my favorite? It hits a nice balance between being simple enough for my 8-year-old to use it completely independently, while offering enough customization for older users. I also LOVE that when you go to create your video, it explains the basic parts of a story and helps the user lay out a story arc. This is great for children as an educational tool. (Toontastic has a free guide for parents and educators interested in use the app for lesson planning.) Lastly, as a parent, I get notification when my child wants to publish a video to the product's ToonTube, and let's me approve it. Since my kids are still young, I appreciate knowing what they're creating and sharing. That said, uploading to the website was very easy to do, and the notification email provides a simple link to share with family and friends.

On the downside, I will say that sometimes the movement of characters "jams" while recording, and it can be difficult to move arms and legs. I also had trouble orienting the characters to match the backgrounds, and getting the characters to turn as I wanted. There is certainly a learning curve to get the best out of the product, but my kids didn't seem to mind that their cartoons weren't "perfect." And, honestly, neither did I. Toontastic was a win for function and price.





Puppet Pals HD by Polished Play, LLC.
FREE app. Additional character packs $0.99, or Director's Pass for $2.99.


Puppet pals is similar to the above Toontastic, but is definitely meant for an older audience, as it includes political characters and talk show hosts as characters, and the graphics are more gritty and mature. Like Tonntastic, you pick your background (all photographic), add your characters and then record to animate and add voiceovers. Rather than recording short scenes and putting them together, Puppet Pals allows for one long shoot. The app exports to the Camera Roll on the iPad, and from there you can upload it to various online locations, like YouTube.

I did like that it was easier to flip the characters in Puppet Pals, using a simple double tap. And the motion was smoother than in Toontastic. You could also resize characters, and even leave them off the background, pulling them in and taking them off at will. But you couldn't move the limbs or the characters, or change them in any way. You can't add music later within the app, which is a bit of a bummer. You also only have access to one pack of characters, the Fairy Tale pack, with the free app, so there isn't much variety.

Puppet Pals does have one advantage over Toontastic: you can take your own pictures, using the iPad camera, to use as backgrounds. You can even take pictures of people, pets, etc. and use them as characters. (The app allows you to cut our character out from the background.) However, you can only use those features if you pay $2.99 for the Director's Pass version of the program. I could see that as being a really fun feature, and the price point isn't very high.

The pass also gives you access to all the additional character packs, both present and future. Packs, individually available for $0.99 each, include 5 to 7 characters and a background. Themes include monsters, pirates, political and pop-culture, zombie and wild west. Though Puppet Pals is available for free, the Director's Pass holds the majority of the fun.



Sock Puppets by Smith Micro Software, Inc.
FREE app. Additional content from $0.99 to $4.99.


This app is the simplest of the bunch. With Sock Puppet, you set up your background, pick you puppets, pick your props and scenery, then hit record. You tap on the puppet you want to speak for and when you talk, the app automatically lip-syncs the puppet to your words. Very cool! You can record up to 30 seconds, then the app "scrubs" your voice to make it more cartoon-like. Both photorealistic and animated elements are included, though only some props can be moved during recording. You can resize your puppets too.

The app comes with 6 puppets and 7 backgrounds. In the store, you can buy additional puppets for $1.99. You can also buy upgrades like additional recording time ($0.99 for 90 seconds) or the ability to import your own background ($0.99). Halloween and Alien packs with additional characters, backgrounds, props and scenery are $0.99 each. A VIP Content Pass is $4.99 and inludes all available content and provides as new releases for free.

Of those I cover, this app would be the easiest and most amusing for a younger child. All you need to do is make sure you're speaking into the mic. It also disguises your voice very well, so you don't need to worry about sounding too different for each character. The app takes care of that. It's pretty easy to upload online as well, directly to YouTube or Facebook. Sock Puppets is the quickest to learn and provides immediate gratification.




I may be no artist, but even I had a lot of fun making my own short cartoons. With these free apps you can let your child's imagine fly. And all of them would be excellent for teaching basic storytelling as well. Have fun!