Posts Tagged ‘challenge’

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Virtually Pick Cacao Beans & Make Chocolate!

February 8th, 2013

Hi!  It’s Friday, February 8, 2013 and time for a Virtual Field Trip at ClickSchooling!

Recommended Website:

Field Museum: Chocolate

Age Range: 9 and up (approximately, with parental supervision)

Take a virtual field trip (sponsored by the Field Museum) and learn how to pick cacao beans, ferment them, and process  the beans into chocolate.

When you get to the site, you’ll see information about a chocolate exhibit at the Field Museum. While the exhibit is no longer at the Museum, there are several interactive resources still available at the site. Scroll down the page to the subheading, “Interactives” to take the animated and informative virtual tours that include:

*Manufacturing Chocolate – When you click on the title, it may take a few seconds for the program to load and open. Your patience will be rewarded when you click on the “enter” button, and follow the 12-step interactive, animated tour to see:

  • How Cacao Trees Grow
  • Harvesting Cacao Pods
  • Fermentation
  • Drying Cacao Beans
  • Shipping the Beans
  • Roasting the Beans
  • Winnow the Beans
  • Grind the Beans
  • Mixing
  • Refining
  • Conching
  • Tempering

Throughout the tour, as you read the information, you’ll be invited to use your mouse to activate the animations. Be sure to click on the “continue” buttons throughout the tour to learn more.

*The Chocolate Challenge – Take a virtual journey around the world to learn about the history of chocolate through a series of questions and answers.

*Cacao Farm – Use virtual microscopes and binoculars to discover the inhabitants that share the rainforest with Cacao trees.

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Fun with Homonyms & More!

January 16th, 2013

Hi! It’s Wednesday, January 16, 2013 and time for Language Arts at ClickSchooling!

Recommended Website:

Homonym Game

Age Range: All (with parental supervision, non-readers will need assistance)

ClickScholar Nicole suggested this site – and it’s a hoot! A father named Dave and his six-year-old son Isaac collaborated to create this free game to challenge your knowledge of homonyms, homophones, and puns.

As explained at the website, “Homonyms are words with the same sound and spelling but different meanings. Homophones are words with the same sound but different spellings and meanings. Puns are homonyms and homophones that are funny.”

When you get to the site, you’ll see a brief introduction. Just click on the words, “Click here to Start” and the game begins. Essentially, you look at the pictures and read the rhymes for clues to guess the right homonym, homophone, or word that solves each puzzle. The original illustrations are pure whimsy, and the rhymes are pretty “punny.” LOL.

I tried about 12 or 13 puzzles for this review. I’m not sure how many are there in total, so if you visit the site and get to the end, let me know how many are there.

To learn more about the creators, Dave and Isaac (and see their picture), click on “Info” on the menu bar at the bottom of each page.

This is just too cute for words. Maybe it will inspire you and your kids to design some entertaining learning games too.

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Free ‘Bedtime Math!’

December 10th, 2012

Hi! It’s Monday, December 10, 2012 and time for Math at ClickSchooling!

Recommended Website:

Bedtime Math Problem

Age Range: 4-10 (approximately, with parental participation and supervision)

What an ingenious idea! This website, sponsored by the Overdeck Family Foundation, provides a free, daily, Bedtime Math Problem that helps parents give kids a fun opportunity “to do math in their heads, so someday when they’re shopping and everything’s 20% off, they can figure out the sale price before the store closes.” :)

As explained at the website, the Bedtime Math Problem aims to be “fun and lively, but they won’t keep your kids from falling asleep. In our experience, math can get kids to sit still, focus, and quiet down.”

You can get your free, daily Bedtime Math Problem directly from the website, harvest it from their Facebook page, or you can subscribe to the daily newsletter that delivers it to your email inbox. (See details at the website.) Each BMP offers three levels of challenge to be used as a rough guideline:

  • Wee Ones for pre-school kids
  • Little Kids for children in grades K-2
  • Big Kids for children in grades 3 and up

This is not a math curriculum, and there’s no one right way to use it. It’s simply a fun idea to help parents and kids enjoy math in small daily doses.

When you get to the website, you’ll see the most recent Bedtime Math Problem posted on the home page. When I visited, there were fun math problems themed around:

  • Hot Cocoa and Marshmallows
  • Hanukkah Candles
  • Peacocks
  • Falling
  • Money
  • And many more!

Each problem is presented in a fun way that incorporates a little science and history and a lot of humor in the math story-problem. They are designed to engage children’s’ interest immediately. All of the BMPs are archived at the website.

You’ll also find a free, printable BMP calendar to track how many days you do Bedtime Math, and a Teacher/Parent Guide.

The site offers a couple of items for sale, too – but you don’t have to purchase a thing to access the Bedtime Math Problem each day.

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Challenging Math Puzzles, ‘Numberpedia,’ and More!

December 3rd, 2012

Hi! It’s Monday, December 3, 2012 and time for Math at ClickSchooling!

Recommended Website:

Archimedes’ Laboratory

Age Range: 9 and up (Approximately, with parental supervision. Younger children may enjoy aspects of this site, too.)

This amazing commercial and ad-supported website was developed by fervent European puzzle enthusiasts, G. A. Sarcone and M.J. Waeber who comunicate the wonders of mathematics and science to the public through challenging and entertaining puzzles. You’ll find all kinds of free puzzles and brain teasers that incorporate math, logic, and geometry problems to challenge young minds to think in ways that lead to discovery and greater understanding.

When you get to the site, you’ll land on the “Puzzles & Tests” page that archives a selection of puzzles, tests, math games, brain-teasers, tangram-like manipulatives, and mental tricks. There’s a brief introduction (available in English, French, and Italian), and a menu that includes:

*Monthly Puzzle – Solve it and win a prize.

*Create Your Own – Get instructions and inspiration to build your own puzzles and try hundreds of puzzle activities.

*Numberpedia – Don’t miss this! Explore (or download for free) a colossal collection of facts about numbers including:

  • Numbers in Various Writing Systems
  • Numbers’ History
  • Prime Numbers
  • Fibonacci Numbers
  • Magic Star Numbers
  • Barcode Numbers
  • 80-20 Rule – The Pareto Principle
  • Numerical Sculptures
  • Memorizing Numbers and Number Facts

Below that, you’ll find newly added activities, visitor favorites, and a way to purchase puzzles, games, and books from the online store. No purchase or registration is necessary to access the many freebies on this site.

But wait, there’s more! Use the tabbed index at the top of the page to investigate other regions of this site that include:

*Illusion & Paradoxes -Check out the “Illusion of the Month.” Stretch your brain by exploring the “Illusion Gallery” and be amazed by the “Hypnoptical Illusion.”

*Mind & Brain – Get a recipe for healthy brain food, play with an anti-stress tool, and test your mental aptitude though games and quizzes.

*Oddities & Curiosities – An assortment of activities that include, puzzles, tests, optical illusions, and “teacher resources” that index some of the activities in other areas of the site.

There are many, many links to activities on this site, and most of the ones I tried were good. I did find a few duds, but not enough to dampen my interest. You’ll want to bookmark this site, as it’ll take more than one visit to see it all.

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Free Workbook Helps Kids Write Novel in 30 Days!

October 17th, 2012

Hi!  It’s Wednesday, October 17, 2012 and time for Language Arts at ClickSchooling!

Recommended Website:

NaNoWroMo: Young Writer’s Program

Age Range: 8-17 (approximately, with parental supervision)

Do you know about National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo)? It happens every November! It’s a fun, free writing event where the challenge is to complete an entire novel in just 30 days. Participants begin writing November 1 and must finish by midnight, November 30.

The Young Writers Program (YWP) allows participants (17-and-under) to set their own, reasonable word-count goals. To spark the young writer’s imagination and guide them in their noveling journey, NaNoWriMo provides free downloadable and customizable workbooks (pdfs) that help young writers create characters, build settings, hatch plots, and stay motivated to write throughout the month. Even if you don’t participate in the NANO WRIMO event, you can use the workbooks to jumpstart your inner novelist.

When you get to the site you’ll see a brief introduction and an icon menu for all three free workbooks for:

  • Elementary School
  • Middle School
  • High School

Just click on “Free Download” to access the workbook.  (You can purchase a copy too, but no purchase is necessary.)

After you download your workbook, use the menu to explore the other resources at the site, and find out how to enter this year’s NaNoWriMo event.

One of the best ways to learn how to write – is to write a lot. This is a fun and engaging way to practice creative story writing.

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Free, Fun Music Theory & Games!

September 22nd, 2012

Hi!  It’s Saturday, September 22, 2012 and time for Music at ClickSchooling!  

Recommended Website:

PracticeSpot.com

Age Range: All (with parental supervision)

This commercial website offers free music theory, lessons, drills, and games.  When you get to the site you’ll see some of the highlights of what is offered in this free section, and then a menu that includes:

*Practice Spot’s Rhythm Gym – Get interactive practice in counting rhythm and time signatures in written music. Click on “Quarter Note Quest” or “Eighth Note Challenge” and then follow the instructions that will take you through each exercise until you gain proficiency.  You’ll see a piece of music. The idea is to clap out the rhythm correctly.  Once you do, you can listen to a midi file and hear it played correctly.  You can also print out the music and practice on a keyboard offline. Once you’ve completed all of the exercises satisfactorily, you can print out a certificate of achievement.

*Music Crosswords – Have fun solving these puzzles that test your knowledge of music and musicians.

*Sightreading Genie – Get over 100 exercises to test your music sight reading ability.

*Chord Wizard – This interactive guide helps you find and learn all of the chords by displaying them on a keyboard.

*Note Reading Wizard – Choose between treble or bass clef, select space or line notes, and then test your skill.

There are more offerings, including “Scales Chef” – a tool to help you learn all 24 major and harmonic minor scales. Unfortunately, the “Scales Chef” wasn’t working properly when I visited the site. Nevertheless, you’ll find plenty of free content that is operating properly that will help music students and teachers alike.

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