Today I've mostly bin...

[eirian]

Wulfruna will correct me if I'm wrong, but I'm sure my Grandma had all her teeth removed when she was in her 20s - the dentist said she could either have them all removed and a set of false teeth all at once, or have them removed one by one over a few years as they weren't strong. Seems like a good choice to me!

I've finally started going to the dentist regularly (first time since school), but that's because I've found an nhs dentist that will take me & the rest of the family, so I'm dragging Sigur there, kicking and screaming, next month - not to mention Thomas! No idea what he'll make of it all as he doesn't even let us look at his teeth.

[eirian]

... packing... off at the crack of dawn tomorrow to take our little boy down to visit his grandparents. reckon Wulf might be distracted over the next week and a bit...

[Bunnylump]

Have lots of fun!

Planning my new office...AT LAST I'm getting somewhere which I don't have to share with my boss (who is the messiest person you've ever met, leaves heaps of stuff all over the place and frequently loses things). I'm trying hard to get a pc rather than a rubbish laptop, and am considering investigating a printer which appears to still be left in its box in a corner for the past year...

[Wulfruna]

... packing...

........Looking forward with excitement to seeing Thomas toddle in at our front door tomorrow - and spent today moving precious objects out of reach of little fingers......

[giraffe]

...buying a new kettle (again). Took last week's kettle back and was offered the same again so I asked for a refund. Then remembered I had some money left on a Comet voucher from the last time the dishwasher blew up (I'm not very good with kitchen appliances ) whilst under guarantee, so went and got one from there.

[Bunnylump]

Timetabling. All day. And will be timetabling for the foreseeable future...11 staff, 7 years of children, all different subjects, two week rolling timetable...aaaaarrrrrrgggggghhhhh. Oh, and also dealing with 2 new members of staff AND an unconscious year 7. Someone please tell me WHY do I do this job?

[giraffe]

Was the year 7 unconscious before or after double history?

[Bunnylump]

No, it's generally me who's unconscious in history.

He was ill and fainted down the stairs. Had to be fireman carried to matrons...

[Laura]

... trying to entertain my 2 and 3 year old cousins, keep my 85 and 86 year old grandparents calm, and teach piano lessons to a 7 yr old, a 14 yr old and a 16yr old. I'm ready to collapse!

(The 3 yr old is at the 'Why?' stage. )

[Bunnylump]

Why?

[Laura]

The problem is, half of the questions were quite sensible, I just wasn't sure of the answers. For example, why does that baby penguin (illustration in book) have a blue nose when the mummy one has a yellow nose?

Ermmm?????

[Bunnylump]

I should've known my son would end up a scientist (like his Nan). He used to ask questions like

"Why is it that if I sit on my bike and don't pedal, I fall off, but if I pedal, I don't?" (age 5).

"Why does jelly wobble?" (age 2 and a half).

In those days I always used to say - "erm, why don't you ask Nanny that?" When he was about 8 we took him to a science day at Herts uni, and he was REALLY impressed by the man who exploded custard powder...

[MBH]

Love the questions....

No doubt the little-one will be a future reader of "How to Avoid a Wombat's Bum:" (and your Son will probably get it in his Christmas stocking this year Bunny )

[Bunnylump]

My son will get a wombat's bum in his stocking? Don't think it'd fit - his feet are rather big...

[clvrlad]

someone has to.....

why does that baby penguin (illustration in book) have a blue nose when the mummy one has a yellow nose?

so you can tell them apart (beaks are usually black not blue or yellow...)

"Why is it that if I sit on my bike and don't pedal, I fall off, but if I pedal, I don't?" (age 5)

When riding a bicycle, the spinning wheels have angular momentum. Unless there is some outside torque or force acting to change their angular momentum, the angular momentum of the wheels remains constant, as required by the conservation of angular momentum. Specifically the direction of the bicycle wheels' angular momentum tends to remain constant. Hence it takes a significant amount of external torque or force to change the direction that the wheels are spinning. The bicycle does not tip over easily and is easy to keep balanced.

When the bicycle is not moving and the wheels are not spinning, the wheels have zero angular momentum. It is therefore easy to change the direction that the wheels are spinning so balancing the bicycle is very difficult.


"Why does jelly wobble?" (age 2 and a half).[/quote]
Gelatin is made up of molecules which, when placed in hot water,are long and thin. As this solution cools, some of there molecules become intertwined with each other, forming even longer one. Eventually, some become so long that the stretch from one side of te jelly to the other, forming a springy three-diemsional web. When the jelly is moved or pushed, the energy in the movement is carried through the confection by this molecular network, cause the jelly to wobble.

When he was about 8 we took him to a science day at Herts uni, and he was REALLY impressed by the man who exploded custard powder...

what im still impressed with that

[Scurra]

Now give those answers to a five-year-old, clvrlad and see how far it gets you. Yes, those are (partly) the reasons, but you might as well say "flibble".

There's a brilliant bit in one of my favourite books "The Cuckoo's Egg" in which the author is having his viva voce panel (as part of earning his PhD.) He's an astronomer, and one of the examiners simply asks him "Why is the sky blue?" Which sounds exactly like a question a 5-year-old might ask - but requires a PhD to even begin to attempt to answer properly! (It's one of those things where each time you move up to a new stage in physics, you discover that the explanation given to you at the previous stage wasn't entirely accurate. )

[clvrlad]

well the only answer aimed at someone still that young was the penguin one....
which i think was a pretty good answer :-p
the others are pretty basic answers to relativly complex questions.....
(lets start with the bike one) its pretty easy to show a 5 year old that a spining disk with an axle is hard to tilt
(make one let them hold it by the axle spin it fast and get them to tilt it )

jellys well you can show its jelatin making it wobbly by making several "jellys" with various amounts in
one none in upto one with 10 times the right amount in
youd go from a very runny liquid to an almost solid "jelly"
(its something to do to entertain them too :-p )

and exploding custard powder is fun

[clvrlad]

anyway asking why the sky is blue? isnt fun
asking what colour is the sea? and why? is much more interesting

[Bunnylump]

Thing is, my son is STILL asking these sorts of questions. He was wondering why common crabs have black tips to their claws, for example. He was all set to do an amazing research project on it at uni. Trouble is, he has no common sense to go with his curiosity. I asked "so how would you investigate that then?" He replied:

"That's easy. They bring in live crabs to the harbour down the road."

My next question was:

"Yes, but WHERE are you going to KEEP all these crabs you want to study? In the bath at your flat maybe?"

So he's chosen crickets instead...

[clvrlad]

hes keeping crickets in his bath??