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If the Earth Were a Button

1/27/2022

David M. Schwartz
The amazing, engaging, math exponent

Imagine Earth as a button. I don’t mean you’re going to sew it onto your shirt. But imagine the planet Earth shrunk to the size of a button. (Of course Earth is not flat like a button but we’re giving our shrunken Earth the same diameter as a shirt button.)

Go ahead and draw a circle around a shirt button. Call it “Earth.” Suppose you wanted to draw Jupiter, the largest planet, at the same scale as this micro-Earth. That means you’re going to shrink it to the same fraction of its original size as our button-Earth. What size would little Jupiter be?

One way to find out would be to calculate how many times bigger the real Jupiter is than the real Earth. Earth’s diameter is about 8,000 miles (13,000 kilometers). Jupiter’s is about 88,000 miles (143,000 km). Divide the size of Jupiter by the size of Earth to see that Jupiter is about 11 times bigger.

So, since Jupiter’s diameter is 11 times that of Earth’s, put 11 buttons in a line to show the diameter of Jupiter. Then draw the circle that represents Jupiter. If you don’t have 11 buttons, just look at the picture. Did you think the Earth was a big place? Look at it compared with Jupiter!

     But what about the sun? The sun’s diameter is about 865,000 miles (1,400,000 km). That means it’s almost 10 times bigger than Jupiter. Can you find a way to draw a circle 10 times the size of our Jupiter? We’ve drawn part of it for you, on the same scale as our button-sized Earth. On the picture, it’s labeled “our arc.” (An arc is part of a circle.) Looking at the arc, you can imagine the rest of the circle and compare the sun to Jupiter and Earth. A minute ago, you thought Jupiter was big. Now it looks shrimpy compared to the sun!

      But is the sun really gigantic? Do some research to find out the size of a red giant star like the strangely named Betelguese (pronounced “beetle-juice.”) Figure out what it looks like compared to our sun, which is a medium-sized star. You may be amazed at the difference. And you thought the sun was big!

      Is anything truly big? Is anything truly small? Or does that depend on what it’s being compared to?

If the Earth were the size of a button, Jupiter’s diameter would equal eleven buttons because the diameter of Jupiter is eleven times that of Earth.

Both images are by Marissa Moss, the illustrator of David M Schwartz's book, G is for Googol.

Extend “our arc” to complete the circle and you’ll see what the sun would look like if the Earth were the size of a button. (An arc is part of a circle.)

G is for Googol: A Math Alphabet Book is a wonder-filled romp through the world of mathematics.
For more information, click here.
David Schwartz is a member of iNK's Authors on Call and is available for classroom programs through Field Trip Zoom, a terrific technology that requires only a computer, wifi, and a webcam. Click here to find out more.

MLA Citation
Schwartz, David M. "If the Earth Were a Button." Nonfiction Minute, iNK Think
Tank, 16 Jan. 2018, www.nonfictionminute.org/the-nonfiction-minute/
If-the-Earth-Were-a-Button.

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Sun Attack! 1852 When Earth Needed Some SPF8000 Sunscreen

1/26/2022

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Jan Adkins
The Explainer General

September 1, 1852, British astronomer Richard Carrington was sketching the pattern of sunspots being projected from his telescope onto a white panel. Suddenly, a rare white-light solar flare outshone the rest of the image. Trouble was on its way!

The revolving molten core of our Earth generates a magnetic field – the magnetosphere – that not only orients our compasses but protects us from the sun’s lethal radiation. Intense charged particles from the sun are magnetically bent around the earth. Some follow magnetic lines into the poles and light up the arctic and antarctic skies as aurorae. Periodically, during times of intense surface disturbance, giant flares of energy can burst out of the sun: CMEs, coronal mass ejections. They’re directional and they seldom hit earth. When they do, the most powerful can punch through our magnetosphere.

On September 2, 1852, Carrington’s flare energy reached the earth and danced along the copper wires of our (then) new telegraph system. Hundreds of miles of wire burst into flames. Telegraph offices burned down, operators at their keys were knocked back by severe shocks, instruments and switches melted. For two days the telegraph system that wasn’t destroyed sent nonsense. Then spectacular aurorae that lit up the skies, they, finally, proved that the sun’s energy was the aurora’s source. Aurorae were seen all over the world, even near the equator. After two days the effects ceased.

Could it happen again? It has. In 1882, a flare melted telegraph equipment in Chicago. In 1902, solar energy disrupted the Atlantic telegraph cable and shut down Swiss electric trollies. In 1940, hundreds of miles of American telegraph and telephone lines were destroyed. A solar flare in 1989 almost forced the Space Shuttle Discovery to return to earth early and knocked out Quebec’s electricity; only quick action in New Jersey, where a major transformer melted, saved the United States’ east coast from a long blackout. In 2003, a powerful flare destroyed or disabled many satellites, damaged instruments on our Mars orbiter, and sent the crew of the International Space Station into its flare-shielded module. In 2005, our GPS navigation satellite constellation was knocked out for 10 minutes.

All the life and energy we have comes from the sun. But that energy, itself, is dangerous. We’re partially protected by our magnetosphere. Hope for the best and reach for the sunscreen.

A solar flare erupted on the right side of the sun on Oct. 2, 2014, while a cloud of solar material just below was flung out into space. Image Credit: NASA/SDO/ Wiessinger

Adkins new book is about the first drive in an automobile. The wife of the inventor took her kids to see their grandparents.

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Take the Helicopter Pilot Challenge

1/25/2022

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Vicki Cobb
The Master Chef of Kids' Hands-on Science

Think you might like to be a helicopter pilot?  If so, here’s what the U.S. Flight Aptitude Selection Test for helicopter pilots says:  “Helicopter pilots must pass some of the most demanding physical tests of any job in the military. To be accepted for pilot training, applicants must have excellent vision and be in top physical condition. They must have very good eye-hand-foot coordination and have quick reflexes.”

    A sense of balance is also extremely important because sometimes instruments alone are not enough to keep a helicopter oriented properly in the air.  Pilots may have to make very subtle corrections. So here’s a test for balance. Be forewarned. Not many people can do this, maybe one in twenty.

1.    Stand at attention.

2.    Make two fists and extend your arms straight down by your sides. Point your index fingers to the ground.

3.    Close your eyes.

4.    Bend one leg back at the knee so that your lower leg is parallel to the floor and you are standing on one foot. Don’t let your foot droop. You must maintain your knee at a right angle.

5.    Keep your eyes closed and hold this position for ninety seconds.

6.    Try not to shake.

    I learned about this from a Scotsman who told me about this test to qualify for the British Royal Air Force.  He couldn't pass it, nor could I.  In fact, no one I knew could rise to the helicopter pilot challenge except a Navy pilot in my family.  He held the position perfectly for two minutes. Solid like a rock.  No problem.

    It’s clear that when it comes to certain skills not everyone is equal.  Some people are not even close.  So very few people are in the running to become helicopter pilots. You're probably not one of them but this may change with training.

This young man is an athlete who actually wants to be a helicopter pilot. He passed the test and is holding the correct position. Not sure if the bare feet helped. Photo credit: Alexandra Siy

Vicki Cobb is a former science teacher with a M.A. in secondary school science. She is also the founder and president of iNK Think Tank, the group that is producing The Nonfiction Minute. Thanks, Vicki!

Check out How Could We Harness a Hurricane?. To find out more about this book and other books that Vicki has written, click here.

Vicki Cobb is a member of iNK's Authors on Call and is available for classroom programs through Field Trip Zoom, a terrific technology that requires only a computer, wifi, and a webcam. Click here to find out more.

MLA 8 CItation
Cobb, Vicki. "Take the Helicopter Pilot Challenge." Nonfiction Minute, iNK Think Tank, 4 Jan. 2018, www.nonfictionminute.org/ Take-the-Helicopter-Pilot-Challenge.

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Morty Makes a Stink

1/24/2022

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Peggy Thomas
Curiosity Queen: writing science, history, and everything in between

Regular visiting hours are over at the Buffalo Botanical Gardens, but the line to see Morty reaches out the door. It’s an event that comes once in a decade, so I’m happy to wait for my chance to see, and smell, what’s inside.

A year ago the Botanical Gardens acquired corms or bulbs of a tropical plant called the corpse flower. These aren’t little tulip bulbs you hold in your hand. The corpse flower corm weighs 120 pounds and looks like a giant potato. A corm that big needs a lot of energy to grow, so, it spends several months dormant underground. When the first hint of green peeks through the soil, it’s a guessing game as to what it will look like. Most of the time, the corpse flower will send up a slender shoot and one complex leaf that looks like a tree canopy. Through photosynthesis, this leaf will provide energy that will be stored in the corm. When there is enough energy stored up, Morty will flower. And that’s what I’m excited to witness.

Weaving my way through displays of cactus, palms, and banana trees, I wonder if someone forgot to take the trash out. The odor of rotting meat wrinkles my nose, and I realize why Morty is called a corpse flower. As we move closer, the air grows thicker. This plant has been dumpster diving.

The stink Morty sends forth is the plant’s way to attract pollinators in its native jungle of Sumatra. The flower only lasts a day or two, so the scent has to be pungent enough to quickly draw in dung beetles and carrion flies that will collect the pollen and distribute it to other plants before it wilts. It’s curiosity that lures me in.

I round the corner and catch my first glimpse of the stinker. Since it poked out of the ground it has grown five to six inches every day, and now Morty’s seven-foot spire, called a spadix, towers over me. I have to step back to catch the entire plant in my camera lens. Like a wicked witch’s collar, Morty wears a single pleated, blood red flower petal wrapped around the spadix. By midnight the flower will be fully opened and have reached maximum reek.

I click more pictures and take a deep breath. It will be a long time before Morty blooms again, and I want to remember every smelly detail.

Peggy Thomas certainly is a Curiosity Queen. You'll recall that her last Nonfiction Minute showed her taking an elephant's temperature -- not an easy task. Her book Anatomy of Nonfiction shows other authors how to write about real events.
To read about some of Peggy's other adventures and to find out about her books, visit her website.

MLA 8 Citation
Thomas, Peggy. "Morty Makes a Stink." Nonfiction Minute, iNK Think Tank, 9 01 2018, www.nonfictionminute.org/the-nonfiction-minute/Morty-Makes-a-Stink.

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A Transcontinental First

1/21/2022

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Roxie Munro
Visual Thinker

You’ve probably heard about Charles Lindbergh, the first pilot to fly across the Atlantic. But did you ever hear about Cal Rodgers?

Only eight years after the Wright brothers flew the first heavier-than-air machine, newspaper tycoon William Hearst offered a $50,000 prize to the first to fly across the continent in less than 30 days.

Although Cal Rodgers had just learned to fly, he was ready. “He’ll need every atom of courage..,” Wilbur Wright had said of any man who attempted to win the prize.

The nation had not a single airport, and there were no navigation aids or repair places. . To help him, a train carrying a second plane, spare parts, a crew of mechanics, Cal’s wife Mabel, his mother, and reporters was rented by a company producing a grape drink named Vin Fiz. In exchange, Cal named his airplane after it, and would scatter Vin Fiz promotional leaflets from the sky— the first aerial ad campaign.

On September 17, 1911, Cal took off from Brooklyn, made a sweep over Manhattan and headed for New Jersey, where the train, and an enormous crowd, was waiting.

The next morning, right after takeoff he tried to avoid some power lines, hit a tree, and plunged into a chicken coop. Feathers floated as he emerged from a tangle of wires, splintered wood, and torn fabric. Head bleeding, cigar clenched between his teeth, he muttered, “Oh, my beautiful airplane.”

They rebuilt the Vin Fiz, and a few days later he was again airborne. Stopovers were frequent, as were brushes with death. The plane struck telegraph wires; it piled into a barbed-wire fence (demolished again); and landing in Indiana, Cal was attacked by a bull. He became the first pilot to fly in a thunderstorm. But the Vin Fiz buzzed on.

When he reached Chicago, other contenders had dropped out. Cal realized that he wasn’t going to make it to the west coast in 30 days. But he pressed on…

To avoid the Rocky Mountains, he flew south over Texas, then west. By the time he reached California, after a dozen crashes, his plane had been rebuilt so often that little remained of the original.

A month later, after still another crash and in yet another rebuilt plane, he finally reached the Pacific, greeted by 50,000 spectators

Tragically, Cal’s luck ran out. A few months later, he flew into a flock of seagulls, and plunged to his death.

But he did it— he became the first pilot to fly across the American continent.

Call Rodgers in 1911. Wikimedia

Calbraith Perry Rodgers final flight. 1912. Smithsonian

The Vin Fiz departing New York. Roxie Munro

The first of what would be many crashes of the Vin Fiz. The chickens seem to be much more disturbed about the incident than Cal is. Roxie Munro

Cal in, or perhaps we should say on, the Vin Fiz getting ready to land on the shore of the Pacific. Roxie Munro

Victorious Cal is welcomed by his fans and the press. Note the crutches. It was not an easy trip! Roxie Munro

In eleven intricately drawn mazes, eight vehicles, each carrying a different product, are on their way to the city. Fish, apples, dairy products, corn, vegetables, flowers, eggs, and baked goods all travel through colorful and minutely detailed landscape mazes to reach the city farmer's market. Information on all of the products and their journeys is included, along with answers to all of the mazes. For additional fun, kids are challenged to look for objects hidden on each spread. For more information, on Roxie's Market Maze, click here.

MLA 8 Citation
Munro, Roxie. "A Transcontinental First." Nonfiction Minute, iNK Think Tank, 22
Jan. 2018, www.nonfictionminute.org/the-nonfiction-minute/
a-transcontinental-first.

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If the Earth Were a Button

Sun Attack! 1852 When Earth Needed Some SPF8000 Sunscreen

Take the Helicopter Pilot Challenge

Morty Makes a Stink

A Transcontinental First

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