Summertime, and the learning is easy
Welcome to the summer issue of the CreositySpace newsletter.
Just because school is out it doesn't mean the learning needs to stop. And you don't need to be in a "STEM camp" to appreciate the science that is all around you. Just listen to a conversation  8 year olds Henry, Copper and August are having with their swim coach Curt.
If you're looking for something to get your kids off the computer and out exploring the world around them check out our family bundles - which includes our Summer Invention Challenge Pack. For this and other CreositySpace products visit our online store. 

In the News...

CreositySpace is happy to be working with the Technology Access Foundation (TAF) and Boze Elementary School Summer S.T.E.A.M. (Science, Technology, Engineering, Art, and Mathematics) camp, a free one-month camp for students entering grades 3–5 made possible by Tacoma Public Schools title one summer program funding.

Boze Elementary was identified for district funding because of its partnership with TAF, a non-profit committed to improving access to STEM for students of color and underrepresented communities for the past 20 years. TAF accomplishes this mission by providing high quality Project Based Learning (PBL) training and implementation rooted in STEM for school teachers, instructors and administrators, which includes a PBL instructional coach, real world experiences, and experts in related fields of study. This will be the third year of partnership between TAF and Boze Elementary.

Program facilitator Shoshanna Cohen chose to incorporate the CreositySpace materials because they “offer a comprehensive STEAM curriculum with creative entrepreneurship and invention connections. They make it easy for the teachers to connect the CCSS and NGSS to the lesson based on the grade level, and they make it easy for the students to connect the curriculum to the real world and have a personal interest in what they are learning.”

The team at the Boze STEAM academy would like to thank Windermere, Roboterra, Cubits, and STEMBox for their donations and for helping them bring these amazing opportunities to their scholars!
Three toilet paper crowns before experiment

Activity: 
Salty Diamond Crown
What you need:
finished toilet paper rolls - bowls - salt - water - scissors
optional - markers or food coloring

What to do:
  1. Cut the toilet paper roll into the shape of a crown. Fold the tips outwards a little bit.
  2. In a bowl, add about 3 teaspoons of salt to 1 inch of water. 
  3. Place the crown in the bowl and put it next to the window. 
  4. Observe the crown for the next 5 days.
Record your observations: 
- What happens?
- Why do you think this happens?
- What would happen if you made a shorter or taller crown? What if you color the crown or add food coloring to the water?

Still wondering what's going on? Check out our STEM-At-Home page for an explanation and a mini-notebook for the activity!

Kids' Corner

-  Tiana, grade 3, Troy NY

Did you know that chickens have a tooth!  Well they do!  In reality, a chicken only has one tooth and keeps it for only a short time!

When chickens hatch they have what is called an egg tooth.  A baby chick uses the egg tooth just to peck its way out of the egg.  Once the chick is out of the egg, the egg tooth falls off the chicken, usually within a week. 

It is so cool to only have one tooth for such a short time!
-  Royale, grade 3, Troy NY

You may not know much about lightning.  Well let me tell you some facts about lightning.

First of all, lightning is very dangerous. I'll inform you not to go swimming during a LIGHTNING STORM.

Next, when a lightning bolt strikes the electrical energy quickly changes into heat.  Temperatures in the path of a lightning bolt can reach as high as 50,000 degrees Fahrenheit, 5 times hotter than the surface of the sun.

In conclusion, lightning is dangerous and now I hope you know why I made this passage.

 

For previous Kids’ Corner article check out our archives.
Technology  Highlight

What's more fun than just playing video games? Learning how to hack them, of course, and longtime CreositySpace partner Embedit Electronics is providing tools and kits to help kids do just that. Robbert and Brian have a goal to make physical computing—that is interacting with your computer programs and games—easy to get into and accessible to everyone. 
Their introductory product—Circuit Playground Inventor's Kit—is a great way to introduce kids to the world of coding. The Circuit Playground can be programmed using Scratch. Scratch is a free "drag and drop" programming language that helps kids learn the concepts behind coding without having to worry about all the formatting and syntax details. Check it out here.

For more advanced programmers Embedit’s flagship PiSoC product and accompanying project suggestions are a great way for kids to take their skills to the next level. Visit them out at www.embeditelectronics.com.


Interested in other technology highlights? Che ck out our archives. 

Interested in contributing to a Kids' Corner or Technology Highlight? Send us a note at Kath@CreositySpace.com