Cool Critters

Yesterday I went to my friends birthday party. Some people came and brought some animals to show. I thought they where really cool. First I met a gargoyle lizard. A gargoyle lizard is a brown and orange colored lizard. The species that comes from New Caledonian which is an island.








Next I met a baby Tarantula. A Tarantula is a venomous spider which is brown and black. They are from South America, India, and Africa.That's a Tarantula.












Second to last I met Vinegaroon. A Vinegaroon is part scorpion part spider, and part tick.
Vinegaroons are found in tropical areas. That's a Vinegaroon.









lastly, I met a Boring Bullfrog. A Boring Bullfrog is a frog that comes from Africa and can lay about 2,000 eggs every one or two years. A Boring Bullfrog can last up to 35 years. That's a Boring Bullfrog.




Here are some more critters I met yesterday.  I also got to meet two different box turtles.

These are the different types of animals.They are very cool. See you on my next page!
Bye!

---- Manu.

Blast from the past

Here are some pictures from my past project 4 years ago..
An exploratory science museum for kids of all ages, "Discovery Museum of Tampere".  While the museum is closed, I was looking for pictures of all the exhibits we built to get more ideas for the current project (yes, I will unveil the new project very soon...).   We had tons of fun building these exhibits.  Manu and a couple of other kids were always the testers of the exhibits at all stages.   Exploratorium, Childrens Discovery Museum of San Jose, Tom Tits of Sweden were some of the museums that inspired us in building these exhibits.   Still have some of these exhibits here at home long after the museum is closed while some others are still active in Finland. 

https://www.flickr.com/photos/35305965@N05/sets/72157645857288336

Solar Cookers International Convention - Part 1

Last week was Solar Cookers International convention at Sacramento, CA.  Me and my mom drove all the way from San Jose to Sacramento to join the SCI family.  We went to a cottage and stayed there for an hour and then went to the "Old Spaghetti factory" for dinner to meet SCI people.

At the Old Spaghetti factory, we ate Spaghetti (I didnt eat any) and then I introduced myself to John Amayo (director of Sure Solar) and talk to him about his project in Kenya.  Then I met Dr. Paul Funk (Scientist) who introduced me to many people like Roger W.Haines (Haines Solar cookers and inventor of folding Solar cooker), Joanne Kennard (CEO and Inventor of Easy Oven), Patricia McArdle (editor of SCI) etc.

We stayed in the cottage along with Sharon Cousins (Solar Grandma), Ioannis from Greece, Camily Wedende from Kenya.   In the night some of the people from SCI came to visit us at the cottage.  I met people from a university in Norway who showed me picture of the design they are working on which was really cool.  They have big concentrator outside and use the heat to make steam which comes inside the house and use it to cook!.

In the morning we went to the Auto Museum where SCI convention is going.  Me and my mom gave a poster presentation on the work we are doing in San Jose for Solar cooking.  I walked around explaining what I do in Solar cooking.  Then I ate breakfast and heard 3 presentations about projects in India and Africa.   I also met Mary Buchenic who also works with kids and Solar cooking

After lunch we went to a different room and people separated into different groups.  I went to a group with my mom called "Academic research".  I didnt understand a lot of it but they were talking about how to get different groups of people work together for Solar.  Before dinner, we took a small break and visited the city hall in Sacramento.  Then we did some grocery shopping and went home.  I finished reading 7th book of Harry Potter and slept.

In the morning, I woke up and ate breakfast.  Then we drove to a Solar picnic with Sharon Cousins.  It took half an hour to find the Solar picnic but we found it.  We unpacked and set up.  Sharon Cousins brought 20+ Solar cookers that she made and cooked lot of food.  We set up two Solar cookers and made Shrimp and Paneer and they tasted very good.

At the picnic, there was this cool place where some people gave you a sheet of paper and you have to visit all the stations marked there.  By visiting all those stations, you learn a lot about Solar cooking and at the end they give you a toy:)  I got a Jamba juice gift card and a Hot Wheels car.

We didnt stay till the end of the picnic as we had to drive back home in San Jose.  But I really enjoyed going to the convention and meet a lot of cool people

-Manu Kiiskila

Restarting the blog here

Hello everyone, sorry we didnt post anything in a few months but we were busy working on a project we will share here very soon.  I hope I will continue blogging from now atleast twice a week.

I started a class with my mom to learn about tinkering.  I am having a lot of fun building things.  This week we built a Scribbling bot that goes around on a paper making patters.  It only needs a small motor with two wires to connect to a coin cell battery, a yogurt container (or you can even use a glass or anything really), some tape, 3 markers and paper.  I am posting a small video of it for you to enjoy.

Bye and see you all in a couple of days.

- Manu (aka Sharko)

Electric slime?

We have been having a slimy week... we made normal slime, glow in the dark slime and slime with lego imprints on it.  Then thought we should try to shock the slime and so we did.

This slime is made out of Corn starch and vegetable oil.  Then created static by rubbing a balloon on the head and when you bring the balloon close to the flowing slime, it stops flowing and as soon as you remove the balloon, it starts flowing again....Magic indeed

Air bazooka + fog machine = cool cloud rings

Its fun to play with Airbazookas for sure....Blow air with speed that can move hair or even drop a small target from certain distance. Now imagine filling the Airbazooka with fog from a fog machine and you see cool cloud rings (smoke rings) coming out at quite a speed.

What's happening?  How do these smoke rings form?

A smoke ring forms when a puff of smoke is suddenly blown through a narrow opening.  It works best if the outer air is still (i.e. not windy).  In the still air, the outer part of the puff of smoke gets slowed down compared to the core of the puff which makes it look like a ring.  If the air around is quite still, these rings can travel quite a distance maintaining their shape.  

These rings will form even with just blowing puffs of air but the rings are not visible.  With smoke or fog (from the fog machine), these rings are visible quite well.

Are engineers super heroes?

Today is apparently Introduce a girl to engineering day.  I came across this USC Viterbi School of Engineering for girls but it can apply to anyone really...thought i will share here with all the kids..

Introduce A Girl To Engineering Day from USC Viterbi on Vimeo.