The Sound Of A Coronation

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Queen Victoria commanded “Make me a coronation crown of purple velvet and silver and gold…”

This poster hung in the window of the royal jeweler, Rundell Bridge & Co. bragging that they’d created the masterpiece crown “in obedience to the command of her most sacred majesty Queen Victoria.”

The Queen was amused.

We can see paintings of what the coronation looked like, but what did it sound like?

We know that, too! 

And by the time they got to Hallelujah she must have been just as amused about the music!

Now you can listen to Victoria’s coronation for yourself–

Download Science Experiments And Use The Scientific Method

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William Perkin was one of the first scientists to use the scientific method. He identified a problem, did research to understand the issues involved, formed a hypothesis, performed an experiment, analyzed the results, and shared with others.
You can perform experiments using the scientific method, too.

SoundWaves  (pdf download)

RightOrLeft(pdf download)

PingPongMagic (pdf download)

PaperTowelMagic (pdf download)

March is Women’s History Month!

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March is Women’s History Month and Debbie and Tami are celebrating with 31 Heroines of Computer Science! Click here to explore 31 incredible women- from Nicole-Reine Lepaute to Jaime Teevan— and don’t forget Betty, Jean and Kay— who’ve pioneered computer science. Thousands of brilliant woman made computers what they are today and these are some of our favorites.

We’ve also made lots of fun and games- from Mary’s Math Mazes to the Algorithm Game to a one of a kind Computer Science Seek and Find for you to join in the fun!

Hip Hip HOORAY!

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 The American Society for Engineering Education, the International Technology and Engineering Educators Association, the National Science Teachers Association, the Society of Elementary Presidential Awardees, and the Children’s Book Council selected INSTRUCTIONS NOT INCLUDED as one of 31 BEST STEM BOOKS for K-12!

We’re thrilled!

But that’s not all–

INSTRUCTIONS also was named a 2020 NSTA-CBC Outstanding Science Trade Book!

The National Science Teaching Association (NSTA) and the Children’s Book Council have named INSTRUCTIONS NOT INCLUDED as an OUTSTANDING SCIENCE TRADE BOOK! We’re so honored!

Hip Hip Hooray for Betty, Jean and Kay!

We’d love to share INSTRUCTIONS with your science class. Email us to arrange a free Skype visit.

The Algorithm Game

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Computer programs are written with a series of steps. An algorithm is that series or the order in which the computer performs the steps.

A story is also a sort of algorithm. In INSTRUCTIONS NOT INCLUDED the three young women, Betty, Jean and Kay wanted to be mathematicians and, later, more specifically, computer programmers. To accomplish that goal they studied, applied for a job as a “human computer” and worked very hard. They were specially selected to work on the ENIAC project. By using logic and mathematics they were able to enter complicated problems into the computer and commanded it to solve them.

The Algorithm Game is a fun way to use a story to learn about algorithms. Download a PDF of The Algorithm Game HERE.

CODING WITH COOKIES ACTIVITY DOWNLOAD

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What’s as sweet as a girl scout cookie? A secret message– in cookie binary code. Girls have been computer programmers from the very start. Betty, Jean and Kay INVENTED computer programming. Read more about their work in INSTRUCTIONS NOT INCLUDED: How A Team Of Women Coded The Future.

You can be a coder, too. Get started with this unplugged basic coding activity, writing code like Betty, Jean and Kay, but we do have instructions!

Download a free PDF here.