Dinosaurs came in all shapes and sizes, but Troodon (TROE-odon, based on a Greek word meaning “wounding teeth”) was apparently a bit of runner. Fossil evidence of its long legs and retractable second-toe claws give every indication that a high rate of speed was possible for this theropod. The image below is from Howard Temperley’s In the Days of Dinosaurs. On your mark…
Electricity is a very useful modern-day invention, but it needs to be handled with care. The infotoon below points out a few safety tips for kids and adults. (Text © Kids Discover Electricity)
A front is the area between air masses that have different levels of humidity and temperature. Cold air can move in and slide under warmer air, which makes it rise and condense, causing rain. The same thing can happen when warm air rides over the top of colder air.
Highlighted RED in the story in the image below (click for a larger version) are words that describe items within the image, but instead of being literal clues, they are phonetic puns. As an example, for the word apparent, think “a parent.” See how many words and images you can match. When you think you’ve solved it (or if you need some help), drop me a note here and I’ll let you in on the surprise.
March 29th is the birthday of Cy Young, the pitcher whose records have stood for many years. His name graces the award given to the previous season’s best hurler. Cy was born on March 29, 1867, and passed away on November 4, 1955. In spite of his accomplishments, the gifted thrower also retired with 316 losses, a record in major league baseball.
In ancient China, earthquake warnings arrived via metal dragons and frogs. The mouths of the dragons were hinged and held a brass ball. When the pendulum would swing slightly, the ball would release and noisily fall into the mouth of a frog. Not only would this warn of an earthquake, it would tell in which direction the Earth was moving.
The earthquake and ensuing tsunami in Japan were a result of plate tectonics, or large scale movement of the Earth’s crust. The major plates are African, Antarctic, Australian, Eurasian, Indian, North American, South American, and Pacific. The minor plates (of which there can be many) include Arabian, Caribbean, Juan De Fuca, Cocos, Nazca, Philippine, and Scotia. Click the map for a larger image.
When Kids Discover magazine asked me to illustrate the process by which a wound heals, I pretty much knew how I wanted to approach it. The only thing that plagued me was how to replicate the whorled pattern of fingerprints—until I uncovered some old topographic maps. If you look closely, some of the elevation callouts are still visible. And of course, no illustration is complete without the occasional pun. Click for a larger image… (Text © Kids Discover Skin)
I’ll be presenting a one-hour class on creativity for Butler Community College’s Free Class Day, April 2nd (I believe). I pulled off the video below in one shot. Can you guess how?
When does creativity strike? Who knows? Award-winning children’s magazine author/illustrator Michael Kline takes you on a one-hour tour of how the creative mind works, when it doesn’t, and gives you the formula for bringing a creative approach to everything, from grocery shopping to world domination, for CEO’s and Soccer Moms. To wit: If you’ve ever used the phrase “Thinking outside the box,” then you’re already late to the party. There never was a box…
Earth’s water is constantly being recycled, a phenomenon also known as the hydrological process. It can take one of three forms: liquid, gas, and solid, and all three can be involved in the cycle. This infotoon originally appeared in Kids Discover Rain & Snow. Click for a bigger image…
