Common Sense Note
Parents need to know that the kid-friendly nature of this site (brought to you by NASA and its partners) gets kids interested in anything space related. Most of the projects -- such as making a star finder -- require kids to use household or craft supplies to build things offline. Although the site isn't the most slick, each project, animation, or game does come with a lot of good information about the subject at hand. Much of the site is also available in Spanish, and there are no ads to be found.
Families can talk about the fun subjects on the site from how is time travel possible to why the sky is blue. Families can also visit hands-on science museums or planetariums to experience the science they learn about on the site.
Common Sense Review
Reviewed By: Jean Armour Polly and Heidi Kotansky
NASA offers an engaging selection of space-themed games, animations, projects, and facts at this fun educational site.
Try "Migration Concentration" and match the animals whose flock or herd or pod movements are currently tracked by satellite. After you're done with the game, you can watch a video of migrating geese or click on the animals in the game to learn more about them. In "Pixel This!" you can guess what object is illustrated on the screen. Is that a radio or a child? In low-resolution, low pixel imagery, it's almost impossible to tell. That's why the number of pixels in a photograph really matters, because more pixels allow you to capture more detail. You'll also learn that devices similar to high-resolution megapixel digital cameras are used on spacecrafts.
There are loads of other space and scientific facts, too. Although kids do have to read quite a bit on the site, everything is written with kids in mind -- with plenty of "wowing" information about science-related subjects. You can find out how hurricanes form and what makes a laser so special. If you still have questions about how things work, go to the "Ask Dr. Marc" section to find out. You can read the answers -- or in some cases listen to his recordings: What is the brightest star? Why can't an airplane just fly into space? Is time travel possible?
Don't forgot to visit the "Projects" section, where you can learn how to use household materials to make a "Super Sound Cone" or an edible "El Niño Pudding." How about a "Galactic Mobile" to hang in your room or possibly a "World Map Puzzle" made out of clay and paint? Also, a fun feature is the printable calendar filled with space facts.
Fans of this site might also want to check out HowStuffWorks.com or read the book, Team Moon: How 400,000 People Landed Apollo 11 on the Moon.
Reviewed: 04/16/2007
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