Use Discount Code —AFF20–To Save 20% The discount code applies for books published by John Wiley and purchased from this website. Janice VanCleave’s Astronomy for Every Kid: 101 Easy Experiments that Really Work Janice VanCleave’s Constellations for Every Kid: Easy Activities that Make Learning Science Fun Janice VanCleave’s A+ Projects in […]
Projectile Path
Question: A satellite is a projectile that is constantly falling towards the Earth. Why doesn’t it fall into the Earth?Answer: First of all, I need to show you the shape of a projectile’s path. Example: In the diagram, the cannon ball is shot horizontal with Earth’s surface. The force of gravity acting on the ball […]
Earth Science Investigations
What are the oldest stars? Where can you find Leo the lion? How did the Milky Way Galaxy get its name? How can you bring a constellation into your room? Now you can explore the answers to these and other questions in Janice VanCleave’s Constellations for Every Kid. Find the constellations Draco, Libra, Hydra, Hercules, […]
Mass vs. Weight
The difference between mass and weight is often difficult to explain. I have created two diagrams that I think will help. First, let’s compare the mass and the weight of a box on Earth. Since mass is defined as the amount of matter that something is made up, I decided to identify the amount of […]
Magnetosphere
Question: What and where is Earth’s Magnetosphere? Answer: The Earth has a magnetic field surrounding it with properties much like those of the area surrounding a bar magnet. The photo below shows iron filings tracing out the bar magnet’s lines of the magnetic force. The drawing to the right shows lines for Earth’s magnetic field. […]
Cosmic Rays
Question: What are cosmic rays? Answer: Cosmic rays sound like something from a science fiction movie. They are a type of radiation that originates in outer space, but are not rays. Instead, a more correct name would be “cosmic particles.” Sometimes common names continue to be used even though they are incorrect. Cosmic rays can […]
Direction of the Moon’s Terminator
Question: How can one identify a waxing Moon from a waning Moon? Answer: The Moon’s terminator is an imaginary line dividing the lit and unlit parts of the Moon disk seen from Earth. A waxing Moon is growing. This means its lighted part is increasing. A waning Moon is shrinking. This means its lighted part […]
Astronomy: Sun’s Colors
The Sun and sky have such beautiful colors sometimes. It amazes me that they change because of such teeny tiny particles in Earth’s atmosphere. The Sun gets so hot that it emits white light, which is a combination of all the visible colors of light. When this white light passes through Earth’s atmosphere some of […]
Clouds: Man-Made
There are many types of clouds in the sky, some are even man-made, such as the clouds left by airplanes as they fly by. The name of these man-made clouds is contrail (short for “condensation trail”). Contrails are vaporized water that condenses. Condensation is a process by which water vapor is cooled resulting in the […]
Astronomy: Moon Divider
Question: What is the boundary between the light and dark regions on the Moon Called? Answer: The terminator. Question: If the photo is of a waning moon, was the photo taken from the Northern Hemisphere or the Southern Hemisphere? Answer: The lighted part of a waning moon continues to get smaller each day until it […]