Education: How Gifted Children Are Assessed

Image by Kyle Jones via Flickr

How Gifted Children Are Assessed:

"It takes more than test scores that indicate whether or not a child is gifted. While IQ tests are certainly a factor in determining giftedness, they're not everything. It's also important to note than few professionals are specifically trained to assess gifted children. The gifted child has special education and emotional needs. If you suspect your child may be gifted, find a qualified professional with experience in working with gifted kids.

Testing involves administering standardized tests that report results in numbers. The information provided from tests is limited. Assessment is more interactive and requires a highly trained and experienced evaluator."

By Lela Davidson @ HubPages

From Denny: Useful information for every parent to understand how their child is evaluated. Just click on the title link to take you to the rest of the article.

Kid Science: Static Electricity Science Project For Kids: Swinging Cereal

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Static Electricity Science Project For Kids: Swinging Cereal:

"Did you know ordinary cereal can be used to demonstrate the properties of static electricity in an engaging science project? Kids can learn to love science if they are given the opportunity to learn about it within the context of the word around them.

Whether home on a break or just bored on the weekend, there are plenty of easy-to-do science projects kids can do at home. Fun science experiments can spur an interest in children who may or may not already be excited about science. This project demonstrates the properties of static electricity."

By Lela Davidson @ HubPages

From Denny: Great learning project for the kids and family to enjoy this weekend! Put a little science in your life! :) Just click on the title to take you to the rest of the article.

Abstract Optical Illusions: Faces

First you will notice a man's face. Look closely and you will also see a word spelled out on the diagonal. Hint: Begins with the letter "L."



Saving the best for last. If the text is too small on the photo here are the instructions:

1 – Relax and concentrate on the 4 small dots in the center for about 30 seconds

2 – Change your focus over to a wall near you, a smooth single-colored surface

3 – A circle of light will begin to develop

4 – Blink your eyes a few times and a figure will begin to emerge

5 – What do you see – who do you see?

This is one of the coolest illustions I've seen yet and the last thing I ever expected! Our brains can entertain us all day long...

3 Abstract Optical Illusions

Hmmm... but is this possible? :)



Are the purple lines straight or bent?



Do you see gray areas in between the squares?
Now where did they come from?

Are we having fun yet? Isn't it fun what your brain will create just to entertain you? And it's free! :)

Cool Optical Illusion: Rotating Circles

This is not animated but your brain will animate it for you! To test this, stare at one spot for a couple of seconds and everything will stop moving. Or look at the black center of each circle and it will stop moving. But move your eyes to the next black center and the previous will move after you take your eyes away from it... Are we having fun yet? :)

Science: Earth Gets Billion-Year Life Extension

From Denny: It seems like every few years scientists decide the Earth is really an older planet and, oh, by the way, they think the sun will exist for a few million or so years longer. Not to worry, folks, we will still have a home for mankind for a little while longer! :) Here's the latest from Wired.com's Wired Science blog.

"The Earth could be habitable for another 2.3 billion years, extending previous estimates of life’s horizon by more than 1 billion years.

King Fai Li and his colleagues at Caltech hypothesize that Earth’s atmospheric pressure has always varied, and that it could fall in the distant future, keeping Earth from frying for far longer than previous research had shown.

If the new idea proves correct and can be extended to other planets with biospheres, it could increase the chances that earthly civilization finds extraterrestrial life by doubling the percentage of time that planets could be inhabited.

“[T]he Earth will be identifiable as an inhabited planet for nearly half the total lifetime of the Sun, an important point to consider in the search for life on extrasolar planets,” the authors write in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

Over the next hundreds of millions of years, the sun will continue to get brighter until eventually, Earth becomes too hot to inhabit. Previous calculations had pegged that time at about a billion years from now, but the new paper argues that earlier models had neglected the role of atmospheric pressure in regulating the temperature of the planet on astronomical time scales.

Atmospheric pressure is a key variable in the overall greenhouse-gas effect because it determines how much infrared radiation greenhouse gases absorb. Higher pressures mean more absorption and consequently, more heat. Lower pressures have the opposite effect.

Life itself would be the mechanism for these temperature changes. By “fixing” nitrogen, pulling it out of the air and eventually into the Earth’s deep ocean, microbes could be making the atmosphere lighter one atom at a time.

“I am glad that Li and colleagues have raised the issue of how overall variation in atmospheric pressure may have affected past and may affect future climate,” ecologist Ken Caldeira of Stanford University said in an e-mail. “This could be relevant for understanding climate change on the billion-year time scale.”"

For the continuation of this article just click on the title link.

The Smarter Emergency Kit for Disasters

From Denny: Since I live in a hurricane zone, and June 1st is always the beginning of hurricane season, this article really caught my eye. It's useful information for all of us living in any area where Mother Nature gets a bit wild from time to time - be it hurricanes, floods or fires. From the folks over at Wired.com's Wired Science blog.

"The Smarter Emergency Kit

When the next world-crushing disaster strikes — tsunami, quake, dirty bomb, whatever — one thing is certain: You're on your own. As hurricanes Katrina and Rita showed, help may not arrive for 72 hours. Don't fret. Wired has your back with these shopping lists for your DIY emergency kit. Because when everything goes to hell, you'll want gear that gives you an evolutionary advantage over your less-prepared neighbors. Clip and save; lock and load.

The House Kit

Store all this gear in a sealed plastic trash can or containers. It won't cost as much as you think: You probably own most of this stuff already.

A. First aid You could buy the $25 kit from Red Cross. Or you could build your own: bandages, alcohol, cotton balls, antidiarrheals, anti-inflammatories like ibuprofen, and prescription meds.

B. Clothes A full change, including warm outer layers (wool or synthetic) and sturdy shoes, for each person under your roof.

C. Plastic sheeting Fiber-reinforced, laminated polyethylene film, 0.006 inches* thick. You can buy 1,200 square feet of Dura Skrim DS2 for about $100. Or get a tarp — for covering broken windows, roofs.

D. Zip ties Handy when you have to make splints, compression bandages, or tourniquets.

E. Water A gallon per person, per day. For a family of four, that's 12 gallons. If you have the space for that, great. If not, keep as much as you can manage. Have unscented bleach on hand, too — 16 drops in a gallon and you've got potable H20. Tea bags make it taste OK.

F. Food Raid the pantry: dehydrated soups, canned tuna and veggies, nuts and candy. Peanut butter is high-calorie and has a long shelf life. You can also buy freeze-dried camping meals.

G. Flashlight We like the Inova X5 — it's water-resistant, aircraft-grade anodized aluminum and uses LEDs. But a cheap drugstore version and some batteries will do just fine.

H. Protective wear Waterproof and cut-resistant Kevlar gloves and N95 face masks.

I. Tools A crowbar to pry debris that might stand between you and a loved one. An adjustable wrench. Screwdrivers. A staple gun. Rope.

J. Matches You're probably not a Boy Scout. Get the kind marked waterproof and windproof and store 'em in a ziplock bag. In another bag, hoard some dryer lint for kindling.

The Go Pack

Keep these items in a backpack that's readily accessible — you know, in case you have to bail at a moment's notice. One bag per person.

K. Radio A cheap transistor set with batteries is fine. Or you could get something that'll pick up TV and NOAA bands and that has a hand crank, like the Eton Grundig FR300 — it comes with a cell phone charging jack and built-in flashlight. If you want to splurge, see page 95.

L. Cash $500 in small bills. ATMs won't work when the power is out, and neither will credit card readers.

M. Documents A copy of your home insurance policy, plus contact numbers, medical insurance card, passport, driver's license, bank records, and photos of family members. (A local map and spare keys may come in handy, too.)

N. Mylar space blanket It's a super-compact means of both keeping warm and reflecting heatstroke-causing rays of sun.

O. Clothes Put spares in a waterproof bag. Remember a hat. Toss in a few basic toiletries, too, like a toothbrush and toilet paper.

P. Food Make room for sports nutrition or candy bars. Nuts and trail mix are good options, too. Include a bottle of water.

Q. Essential medicines Whatever you've been prescribed, plus sunblock and ibuprofen or acetaminophen.

R. Duct tape Well, duh.

S. Signal devices Roadside flares will do. Or you could get Greatland Laser's Rescue Laser Flare — two AA batteries and you have 72 hours of 20-mile-visible brightness. Also try the Fox 40 whistle (115 dB!).

T. Multitool Whether you come down on the Swiss Army side or the Leatherman side of the greatest debate of our time, just have one with you. Make sure it has a can opener, a good knife blade, and both Phillips and flat-head screwdrivers.

By Melissa Miller"