Archived Newsletters

The EnchantedLearning.com Weekly Newsletter Jan. 24, 2002

Here's a sampling of what's new this week at Enchanted Learning.
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The Enchanted Learning Project provides educational content to children and schools worldwide. The World Wide Web is starting to change the face of education, and Enchanted Learning is a part of that.

Enchanted Learning operates on the honor system. Please make your contribution, by going to our support page

All contributions will be used to keep Enchanted Learning online. (You need to be 18 years or older to contribute.)

We appreciate your support. Thank you!

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TODAY'S PUZZLE

Which is greater, the number of pieces of music that Bach composed, or the number of inventions that Edison patented?

Read the newsletter and find out!
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*** FEBRUARY HOLIDAYS ***
It's almost February. Get ready for next month's holidays with Enchanted Learning's activities, print-outs, and information pages.

Activities and Crafts for Groundhog Day (Feb. 2)

Arts and Crafts for Chinese New Year (Feb. 12 this year)

Cards and Crafts for Valentine's Day (Feb. 14)

Activities and Crafts for President's Day (Feb. 18 this year)

Black History Month (all of February)

*** OLYMPICS QUIZ ***
The Winter Olympics start on February 8. Use the Little Explorers picture dictionary to answer 15 questions about the Olympic Games. (Grades 2-3)

Olympics Quiz

Plus, for more information...

The 2002 Winter Olympic Games

*** MONTHLY ACTIVITY CALENDARS ***
These calendars suggest a fun, educational activity for each day of the month. Each activity is based on something that happened on that date -- a historical event, a scientific discovery, a famous person's birthday, etc.

Monthly Activity Calendars

*** SEASONS QUIZ PRINT-OUT ***
Read a web page on Earth's seasons, then answer 10 questions about them and why they occur. You'll especially like this quiz print-out if you're a teacher or a home-schooling parent.

Seasons Quiz Print-out

*** CALENDAR THEME PAGE ***
After the Monthly Activity Calendars and the Seasons Quiz Print-out, would you like even more calendar-based things for children to do? Then check out the rhymes, crafts, activities, and print-outs on our Calendar Theme Page.

Calendar Theme Page

*** NEW LABEL-ME PRINT-OUTS ***
Come visit our six new "Label-Me!" print-outs. First read the definitions, then label the diagrams.

"Where I Live in the U.S.A." Map Label-Me! Print-out

U.S. Time Zones Label-Me! Print-out

New York State Label-Me! Print-out

Flag Types Label-Me! Print-out

Parts of a Flag Label-Me! Print-out

Bicycle Label-Me! Print-out

Many More Label-Me! Print-outs (for all ages)

*** PENGUIN SCAVENGER HUNT (Grades K-1) ***
In this dictionary "scavenger hunt," children answer ten questions on penguins using our Little Explorers on-line picture dictionary. This simple activity is for pre-readers and beginning readers.

Penguin Scavenger Hunt

*** JOHANN SEBASTIAN BACH, BAROQUE COMPOSER ***
Read about the life of Johann Sebastian Bach, one of the greatest composers of all time. Did you know that he was an orphan? Or that he composed more than 1100 musical works in almost every musical genre? Find out how his work was forgotten and then rediscovered, long after his death. Bach married twice -- if you visit our web page, you'll even find out how many children he had (it was a lot!).

Johann Sebastian Bach

*** SACAJAWEA: GUIDE FOR LEWIS AND CLARK ***
Sacajawea was a Shoshone Indian woman who guided and acted as interpreter and negotiator for the Lewis and Clark expedition. She did this while carrying her newborn son, something that's hard for us to imagine. In 2000, the U.S. introduced a golden-colored dollar coin depicting Sacajawea with her infant son on her back.

Sacajawea, Guide for Lewis and Clark

*** NEW DINOSAUR FACT SHEETS ***
We've added three new dinosaur fact sheets. The 3-ton carnivore Daspletosaurus may have been an ancestor of T. rex. Parksosaurus is a little-known ornithopod. And amazingly detailed fossil impressions of the bird/dinosaur Archaeopteryx have been found in southern Germany.

Dinosaur Fact Sheets

The Dinosaur Fact Sheets are in addition to our extensive collection of Dinosaur Information Pages and our set of Dinosaur Print-outs.

Dinosaur Information Pages

Dinosaur Print-outs

*** JOAN MIRO: SPANISH ARTIST, WITH AN ART ACTIVITY ***
Read about the life of creative 20th-century abstract artist Joan Miro, then create a student work in the style of a simple Miro piece.

Joan Miro, Spanish Artist

Joan Miro Elementary-Level Art Activity

*** READERS' THEATER SCRIPT: WATER CYCLE ADVENTURE ***
Students learn about the water cycle as they read the script of this fun 10-minute play.

Readers' Theater Script: Water Cycle Adventure

*** ESSAYS AND WRITING ACTIVITIES FOR EARLY WRITERS ***
Find print-outs to get children started on a variety of writing activities, including a Book Report Form, an Autobiography Page, a Self-Portrait and Description, "My Family," "If I Were a Teacher," "If I Were the President," "I'm an Expert," Write a Silly Dinosaur Poem, and more.

Essays and Writing Activities for Early Writers

*** DINOSAUR MATH/COLORING PRINT-OUTS (Grades 1-2) ***
On each of these print-outs, children do single-digit addition problems in order to color a dinosaur scene. The kids will enjoy finding T. rex, Triceratops, Stegosaurus, and more.

Dinosaur Math/Coloring Print-outs

*** GALIILEO GALILEI ***
One of the most important thinkers in the history of civilization, Galileo was the inventor of the scientific method based on experiment. He was the first person to think of pointing a telescope at the sky, the first to measure the speed at which objects fall, the first to time the swing of a pendulum, the first to measure temperature.

Galileo Galilei

*** HISTORY OF THE TELESCOPE ***
Don't stop with Galileo. Read about the development of the telescope from simple lenses to complex orbiting devices. See how different types of telescope work, starting from Lippershey's first telescope. Read about refractors, reflectors, radio telescopes, even the Hubble Space Telescope.

History of the Telescope

*** THE WRIGHT BROTHERS: WILBUR AND ORVILLE ***
Read about the two bicycle repairmen who built and flew the first airplane, in 1903.

The Wright Brothers, Inventor of the Airplane

*** THOMAS ALVA EDISON ***
The Wizard of Menlo Park patented an amazing 1,093 inventions. Read about this prolific American inventor.

Thomas Alva Edison

*** LEWIS HOWARD LATIMER, AFRICAN-AMERICAN INVENTOR ***
Lewis Howard Latimer was an African-American engineer and inventor who was a member of Thomas Edison's research team. He developed and patented many inventions, including a carbon filament for light bulbs, a forerunner of the air conditioner, and even the first toilet that could be used in trains.

Lewis Howard Latimer

*** BENJAMIN FRANKLIN, INVENTOR AND STATESMAN ***
Benjamin Franklin, well-known as one of the founding fathers of the United States, was also a prolific inventor. Among his many inventions were bifocal glasses, swim fins, the medical catheter, and the "Franklin" stove, to name just a few. Come read about this remarkable man and his many accomplishments.

Benjamin Franklin, Inventor

*** TIME ZONES ***
Time zones were first used, to simplify railroad schedules.

Time Zones - Their Invention and Implementation

U.S. Time Zones Label-Me! Print-out

*** THE ELECTRIC EEL, THE INCAS, AND GUANO ***
Who discovered the electric eel, made accurate drawings of Inca ruins, and realized that guano could be used as a fertilizer?

This explorer and naturalist may also have been the first person to recognize the need to preserve plants of medicinal value which were being over-harvested. Who was he?

The electric eel, the Incas, and guano

*** HOW CAN WE KNOW WHAT THE STARS ARE MADE OF? ***
Have you ever wondered how people can tell what stars are made of? Come read about spectroscopy and find out.

Spectroscopy

*** ROSA PARKS ***
Rosa Parks is a pivotal figure in the fight for civil rights. As a protester of segregation laws in the U.S., her actions led to the 1956 Supreme Court ruling desegregating city buses.

Rosa Parks

*** VALENTINA TERESHKOVA: FIRST WOMAN IN SPACE ***
Read all about the first woman in space, Colonel-Engineer Valentina Tereshkova, an expert parachutist from the Soviet Union. You'll even find a quiz print-out on Tereshkova.

Plus you'll find out what's special about Tereshkova's daughter Elena.

Valentina Tereshkova, First Woman in Space

*** DOLL CRAFT PROJECTS YOU CAN MAKE ***
Children can make our doll projects -- they'll love playing with beautiful dolls they made and decorated themselves. You'll find instructions for making two new dolls -- a Hopi Indian Kachina doll and a Japanese Kokeshi doll. You can also make an origami doll and a whole collection of bendable magnetic animals and people.

Doll Craft Projects You Can Make

*** PIRATE'S TREASURE CHEST CRAFT ***
Make a pirate's treasure chest from a shoebox and paint. You can use this treasure chest at a child's party to hide the treasure in a treasure hunt. Or children can store their own treasures in this great box.

Pirate's Treasure Chest Craft

*** MUSICAL INSTRUMENT CRAFTS ***
Children can make these simple musical instruments and then play in their own band. You'll find a box guitar, a rainstick (from the deserts of northern Chile), paper plate maracas (originally from the Tupi Indians and now popular in Latin America), and our newest entry, a Native American rattle.

Musical Instrument Crafts

*** HAND-MADE ENVELOPE CRAFT ***
Do you think of an envelope as something you buy at a store? Make your own special envelopes out of gift wrap, old maps, pretty wallpaper scraps, catalogs, brochures, newspapers, or magazines. You can even make a tiny envelope to match a gift exactly.

Hand-made envelope craft

*** PAPER PLATE SNOWMAN CRAFT ***
Make a cute snowman decoration from two paper plates.

Paper Plate Snowman

*** MAGAZINE/PAPER FILE CRAFT ***
You can turn a large cereal box into a great, personalized file for magazines or papers.

Magazine/Paper File Craft

*** MAKE A HEXAGONAL PRISM ***
Make a box that is a hexagonal prism, a geometric figure with two hexagonal ends and six rectangular sides.

Make a Hexagonal Prism

*** THE UNITED KINGDOM ***
Visit our introduction to the geography of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland.

The U.K.

*** FLAG GLOSSARY ***
If you like vexillology, you'll enjoy our illustrated glossary of flag terms! Discover fimbriated flags and saltires, couped crosses and burgees.

Here's a flag puzzle for newsletter readers: What type of flag is also a type of butterfly?

Flag Glossary

And if you like flags, don't miss our two new flag "Label-Me!" print-outs and our Flag Day crafts and activities:

Flag Types Label-Me! Print-out

Parts of a Flag Label-Me! Print-out

U.S. Flag Day Crafts and Activities
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All this, and much more, on our What's New page.

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The Enchanted Learning Project provides educational content to children and schools worldwide.

The World Wide Web is starting to change the face of education, and Enchanted Learning is a part of that. You can help make this happen through your donation, by clicking here.

All donations will be used to keep Enchanted Learning online. (You need to be 18 years or older to donate.)

We appreciate your support. Thank you!