Churchill Science » Technology

Simple Machines Game

Lisa — Wed, 25 Nov 2009 12:50:28 +0000

202 played the Simple Machines Game in class together. Some of the items were hard to find. We answered the questions together. We thought that some of the questions were hard, but we wanted to keep playing!

Click here to play!

Click the picture to play the game!

Bombing the moon!

Lisa — Thu, 08 Oct 2009 13:13:47 +0000

The LCROSS mission is a search for water on the moon. The LCROSS mission is going to do this by sending a rocket crashing into the moon causing a big impact and creating a crater, throwing tons of debris and potentially water ice and vapor above the lunar surface.

More about it:

New ring discovered around Saturn!

Lisa — Thu, 08 Oct 2009 09:55:06 +0000

Everybody’s favorite ringed planet is in the news again!

Hubble Telescope’s new & improved pictures

Lisa — Thu, 10 Sep 2009 18:30:24 +0000

Apollo 11 40th Anniversary Moon Landing

Lisa — Tue, 21 Jul 2009 00:03:04 +0000

Happy 40th Anniversary to Apollo 11. Forty years ago today, we landed humans on the Moon for the very first time.

We Choose the Moon – Follow the Apollo 11 mission “live”!

Lisa — Sun, 19 Jul 2009 12:17:54 +0000

It’s the 40th anniversary of the Apollo 11 landing on the Moon. Click on the picture to visit wechoosethemoon.org, an interactive website that is tracking the mission as though it were happening right now. It features audio, photos, and videos.

After June 20th, the site will stay up and you will be able to click through the entire mission from start to finish.

Shuttle damaged during launch

Lisa — Thu, 16 Jul 2009 19:42:16 +0000

During yesterday’s launch, the space shuttle suffered some damage. Some foam tiles, which protect the shuttle from burning up when it enters Earth’s atmosphere, have fallen off or were scuffed. So far, as this news report says, NASA doesn’t know how much damage there is. There are also different options for fixing the damage if it turns out to be a big problem.

Try rubbing your hands together very fast – you can feel the heat building up. This is what happens when a flying object like a spaceship lands on a planet or moon with an atmosphere. The ship rubs against the air in the atmosphere and a LOT of heat is built up. This is because of a force called friction. It’s super-important to have a heat shield so that the ship won’t burn up. A few years ago, the space shuttle Columbia was destroyed because of damage to its heat shield.

Space Shuttle (finally) takes off

Lisa — Thu, 16 Jul 2009 00:57:13 +0000

After a month of delays, the space shuttle is on its way to the International Space Station. First there were technical problems, then weather delays, including lightning strikes on the launch pad. The shuttle is delivering a module for the station.

Mars Rover Update

Lisa — Thu, 09 Jul 2009 01:28:29 +0000

Free Spirit! Video from JPL
For the past two months, one of the Mars rovers has been stuck in some loose sand. This video shows scientists testing out different ways that they could try to get the rover out and moving again. It’s really important for them to test things out before actually trying it, or they could end up getting the rover stuck for good! It’s hard to drive, especially when you’re millions of miles away!

Volcanic eruption viewed from the International Space Station

Lisa — Tue, 07 Jul 2009 00:42:42 +0000

Ever wondered what a volcano erupting would look like if you could fly over the top of it? This short video was taken from the International Space Station as it passed over the Sarychev Volcano on an island that is part of Russia:

It’s cloudy all around the volcano, but the gas was so hot that it cleared a hole. That is how astronauts aboard the space station were able to get a clear view.

Great Book of Questions 2008-9

Lisa — Mon, 22 Jun 2009 17:08:21 +0000

Great Book Of Questions 2008 9

View more PDF documents from Lisa Fischler.

Life on Venus??

Lisa — Sat, 20 Jun 2009 01:16:45 +0000

I love the description of Venus as “Earth’s evil twin”…

This video will make a LOT of sense if you’ve played Alien Safari! (see previous post)

Two awesome games – Interstellar Trip Planner and Alien Safari

Lisa — Wed, 17 Jun 2009 15:55:28 +0000

How long would it take to take a car to Mars? What about an airplane to the moon? Click the picture to find out!

Find “alien life” here on Earth and learn about where we might find similar life on planets and moons out in our solar system!

Video update on Mars Rover

Lisa — Sun, 14 Jun 2009 23:49:28 +0000

One of the Mars rovers, Spirit, has been stuck in some loose sand for a while. This video shows how scientists on Earth are trying to help get it out.

Send your name to Mars!

Lisa — Sat, 06 Jun 2009 12:44:08 +0000

Click on the picture to send your name to Mars about the new Mars Science Laboratory!

This video is an overview of the new Mars mission…

Animation showing the Mars Science Laboratory entering Mars and beginning its mission…