Your Body Magnified

Wonder what makes you, you? Take a journey into the human body at Zooming Into DNA, www.thetech.org/genetics/
zoomIn, where complex human systems are at your fingertips. Recent technological advances have made it possible to get a good look at cells, chromosomes and strands of DNA. See the image of the hand, and the click along the bottom of the page as the photo is magnified to greater and greater degrees. You'll stare in wonder at the glowing fluorescent images of a karyotype, a view of a person’s chromosomes, as they light up your screen.

Dressin' Up History

Wisconsin Kids Paper Dolls, www.wisconsin
history.org/kids/dolls, invites youngsters to see what life was like in the beautiful state of Wisconsin many years ago. Author Sterling North, in “Rascal,” takes you to his home in Brailsford Junction in 1918, where canoeing was the fun thing to do. Then dress up the literary character Caddie Woodlawn to see which outfits were popular in 1860s Wisconsin. This is a fabulous resource for American history and English teachers, so be sure to share it with yours.

Stamp This

Take a lesson from print artist Edward Bawden at ArtisanCam's Explore Lino-Printing, www.artisancam.org.
uk/flashapps/explorelinoprinting/
explorelino.php. Lino-printing involves carving and stamping the images you wish to reproduce. Bawden created print art in London in the 1930s to help attract tourists. This site allows you to try out this technique and see your work in action. First, take a look at the different blocks, and then use them to design an original poster. You can also choose great paint colors to roll onto the images that appeal to you the most.

Do you have a favorite poster?
If so, what is it of?

Speak Out Here!

Dear Amy: Where can I find cool adventure game websites? — Gurleen, New York

Dear Gurleen: A great place to go for adventure games is National Geographic Kids, http://kids.nationalgeographic.com/kids/games. Click on Interactive Adventures for some great virtual adventures. You can explore the New World 400 years ago, film critters in Kenya, or study an Egyptian tomb to figure out who is buried there. Click on Action Games to kayak down a river, explore a shipwreck, visit Pluto and more. Another fun place to go is Cyberchase, http://pbskids.org/cyberchase/quest. Join the cybersquad and complete four different quests that will have you collecting special items and solving problems along the way. Have fun!

Dear Amy: How many space shuttles launch per year? — Raquel, El Paso, Texas

Dear Raquel: Unlike older spacecraft, space shuttles can be reused. The three space shuttles NASA uses are named Atlantis, Discovery and Endeavour. In recent years, shuttles were launched three to five times per year. In the '90s, NASA launched as many as eight shuttle missions per year. To learn more, visit www.nasa.gov/centers/kennedy/shuttleoperations/
archives/2005.html.

—Amy

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