If you’ve lost your marbles, find them at a science center

By: Judi Stuart
Port Discover - Visitor Services Manager

If you’ve lost your marbles, find them at a science center

When was the last time you “lost your marbles” or “had your marbles counted?”

Maybe you can find them at Marbles Kids Museum in downtown Raleigh.

The name comes from a wall which wraps around the museum and is filled with over one million marbles that light up at night. The museum brochure says that at Marbles “kids are encouraged to use their marbles (brains) to think and learn.”

Play is the work of children, and Marbles makes that work fun and inviting for the child’s mind. We took our grandchildren, a girl age 5 and a boy age 2, to the popular kid’s place on a Saturday morning recently. The building was literally jumping with children at work learning about their world.

Two floors of excitement house activity centers named “Around Town,” “Splash,” “Ideaworks,” “Art Loft,” “Money Palooza,” and “Power 2 Play.”

Everything is reduced to child size so they can fully explore and experiment.

Learning centers for children like Marbles and Port Discover operate with the idea that kids should be free to explore, experiment, observe, and come to their own conclusions about the world. Both centers are part of the Association of Science and Technology Centers Travel Passport Program which grants members free admission to over 300 science centers, aquariums, zoos, and museums nationwide.

In North Carolina, there are fifteen science centers to visit with one in almost every major city. You must live at least 90 miles away from the center to get free admission through the passport. The program also includes centers in Charlottesville, Martinsville, Richmond, Roanoke, and Winchester, Virginia. If you become a member of Port Discover, for ten more dollars, you can become an ASTC member also.

 

Statistics report that the United States ranks 23rd in math and 31st in science among 65 top industrial countries in the world. Since educational programs and teacher training have been severely cut in the state budget, Port Discover has become a resource for parents, grandparents, teachers, administrators, day care centers, afterschool centers, churches, girl scouts and many other organizations that serve the children of our community.

Through our school outreach programs, the center walk-in visits, Second Saturday events, toddler programs, afterschool programs, summer camps, Earth Day Festival, teacher training programs, and adult Science Café, and this Daily Advance column, we provided over 18,000 adults and children with information about science topics last year.

Funding for Port Discover comes from grants, contributions, and membership, and no admission is charged.

Membership not only gives you the satisfaction of supporting science education in our community, but also has rewards. Early registration for programs, center birthday parties, First Friday Kids Art-In, discounts for camps and science shop purchases are all benefits of membership.

We invite you to come by the center or go online (www.portdiscover.org) to investigate becoming a member at Port Discover, Northeastern North Carolina’s Center for Hands-on Science. You’ll be glad you did, and so will we.

(Source: www.toonvectors.com)

Demons of the Summer

By: Judi Stuart
Port Discover - Visitor Services Manager

Demons of the Summer

They’re back!

First, you hear their unmistakable deep, humming roar buzzing around your head. Then you actually sense their frantic wings moving the air around your ankles. Then, pow! You’ve been nailed by one of the most hideous creatures of the southern wetlands. You immediately feel the pain, and over the next couple of days, there will be swelling and intense itching.

You’ve been bitten by the demon yellow fly, and you won’t soon forget it.

We have already seen the Diachlorus ferrugatus of the Tabanidae family in greater numbers than usual at our house. As we pull into our driveway, we can hear the tap of their devilish bodies hitting the car windows.

They are approximately one-half inch long with black and yellow bodies. The male of the species does not bite and eats flower nectar. The female, on the other hand, is driven to find a blood meal so that she can make her babies. She lays from 50 to 300 eggs near water sources like marshes, streams, or ponds.

Tabanids go through a complete metamorphosis including egg, larva, pupa and adult stages. They live for approximately 30 days and prefer shaded, humid areas and avoid large, open sunny areas.

Usually they like to be active in the late afternoon and on cloudy days, but they can attack at any time. They will follow a victim into a car or house if they get the chance.

The pests are attracted to motion, so if you have to be outside, stay still in one area.

Thrashing about to scare them will just cause them to attack. If you have to move, do so at a fast pace. If you decide to swat at them, it will take several tries to kill the persistent beast.

Insect repellent offers little protection unless it contains deet (diethyl toluamide). The best defense is wearing clothing that covers your body as much as possible. Keeping the grass and areas around trees in your yard closely cut will help control them.

Some people are allergic to the bites and suffer more than others. Carrying medicine prescribed by a doctor may be necessary. There are over the counter products that will treat the bites along with some home remedy concoctions.

There are homemade traps which can be very effective. Painting objects like beach balls or large plant containers black and then coating them with STP will usually work to cut down on the population. Hang the traps from trees where they will blow in the breeze. The yellow flies will be attracted by the movement and then get stuck to the surface of the trap.

Insects make-up more than two-thirds of all known organisms on the earth. Entomologists study the creatures of the insect world and help us learn how to live with them, control them, and even make use of them. Yellow flies are definitely in a class all by themselves.

 

(Source: Wordsandtoons)

 

 

Fathers of the Animal Kingdom

By: Judi Stuart

Port Discover: Visitor Services Manager

Fathers of the Animal Kingdom

Sigmund Freud said, “I cannot think of any need in childhood as strong as the need for a father’s protection.”   Although they don’t get any recognition, there are some stellar examples of fathers who are doing a remarkable job of parenting in the animal world.

The seahorse would be at the top of anyone’s list of great animal fathers.  He is actually morphologically specialized to take care of the babies.  The female inserts the eggs into the male’s brood pouch where he keeps them for 10-30 days depending on the species.  The male’s belly swells as the 10-300 eggs mature.  The labor and delivery can take several hours and after the babies hide in the grasses, the daddy will return to the same female to mate again.

In the insect world, the giant water bug works hard to care for his young.  After mating, the female attaches approximately 150 eggs on the father’s back.  He does deep knee bends to aerate them, strokes them to keep them clean, and leaves the water to remove parasites.  When the eggs hatch, he kicks them off his back. 

While the female red fox stays in the den with her kits keeping them warm and fed, the father must hunt and provide her with food every four to six hours.  After three months, the father brings food for the kits and hides it beneath leaves and brush.  He teaches them to sniff and seek out the food, thus laying the groundwork for hunting in adult life.

A male sea catfish gives up eating while he carries eggs the size of marbles in his mouth.  For a month, he lives off his body fat and continues for another few weeks to feed his young as they grow. 

Some species of frogs and toads also carry eggs in their mouths and do not eat.  Some types embed the eggs under the skin on their backs or legs.  The pouched frog carries eggs similar to the way marsupials do.  

The arctic lumpsucker fish may not be beautiful, but he is devoted to overseeing the eggs that the female lays.  He attaches himself near his offspring with special suction cups on his body.  From there, he defends the eggs and attacks any predators who threaten them.

March of the Penguins, a popular movie produced in 2005, masterfully presents the family life of emperor penguins.  After an arduous walk to their mating grounds, the female lays the egg and gives it to the father to protect while she marches back to the sea to eat for two months to replenish her depleted nutrition.  The father holds the egg between his feet keeping it warm and safe from the harsh elements until it hatches.

Other animal species including the arowana, rhea, wolf, and marmoset have unique ways in which the males carry out their roles as father.  Mother Nature has fascinating ways of insuring the survival of every species. 

(Source: National Geographic News Website)

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