Wind Chimes Activity

Create your own wind chimes to dance in the Saskatchewan wind.

Activity Type:

Craft

Age:

3 to 7 years old

What You Need:

Gather Your Supplies

• Paper cup or a single egg carton cup

• Pipe cleaner, twist ties, or kitchen twine

• Strings

• Big beads

• Small bells

• Metal washer, metal fork, or a metal button

• Straws

• Scissors

• Hole punch

• Paint

• Paintbrushes

• Markers

• Stickers, glitter, or other craft supplies you have at home

Preparation:

Cut Your Strings to Length

• Cut 4 strings to a length of 30.5 cm each (about the length of a ruler).

• Cut 1 string a little longer than the rest, about 38 cm in length.

• Cut straws into 2.5 cm lengths. These will act as long beads.

What You Do:

1. Using the hole punch create 4 holes evenly spaced around the paper cup. Your holes should be just below the rim of the cup.

2. Decorate your cup with paint, markers, glitter, or other craft supplies you have at home.

3. Tie a small bell to the bottom of each of the 4 strings cut to 30.5 cm size.

4. Thread the cut straws and beads onto each string. Be sure to leave about 2 inches at the top of the string to tie on the strings to the paper cup later.

5. Tie one string of beads and straws to a hole in the paper cup. Repeat until all four beaded strings are attached to the paper cup.

6. Using a pencil carefully poke a hole in the bottom of your cup.

7. Take a pipe cleaner and thread it through the hole you just made with the pencil, leaving enough on the outside to make a loop.

8. Twist the end of your pipe cleaner into a loop. This will be how you hang your wind chime. (This loop should be on the outside of your cup).

9. With the other end of the pipe cleaner, make a second loop. This loop should be inside the cup.

10. Attach your longer piece of string to the loop inside the cup.

11. Attach the metal washer, fork, or metal button to the string you just tied to the pipe cleaner loop inside the cup. Try to tie it to be the same length as where the bells are so when you hang your wind chime the metal and bells clang together.

12. Hang your wind chime outside where it will blow in the breeze.

A Completed Wind Chime

Explanation:

The first wind chimes were used by farmers to scare away birds and animals from their fields.

The wind chime has been around for almost 5000 years. In Indonesia, wind chimes were found to be used by farmers to ward off animals from their crops. Around 1100 BC, the Chinese started to cast bells and the wind chime began to resemble the ones we see today.

The western world adopted wind chimes in the 1800’s when Asian art and design started to influence Europe and North America.

Today’s wind chimes are used for decorative purposes

Taking it further:

Listen for sounds in your neighborhood. Can you hear another set of wind chimes?

Try to modify or change your wind chimes - what other materials can you use to make new sounds?

Did you create a wind chime? Share your experience in the comments below!

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Paper Airplane Challenge

What effect does wind have on a paper airplane? Your challenge is to create various paper airplanes and test them in the wind. Humans have been creating various things that fly for hundreds of years. By exploring the principles of flight, testing out materials, and observing the wind we can learn a bit more about the effect wind has on airplanes.

Make my way back home when I learn to fly.

Activity Type

Challenge

What You Need

Paper

Tape

Scissors

Before You Start

Think about the ways things move in the wind. Why does the wind make them move? What are some things that move in the wind? What are things that don’t move in the wind? What does an airplane or jet look like in the sky? And on the ground?

What You Do

Build and test a paper airplane.

1) Select the paper: What type of paper would work best? What size do you think it needs to be? Have a few types and sizes of paper. Most paper airplanes start with a rectangle (but yours doesn’t have to!)

2) Fold the paper: Here is one way to fold a paper airplane – but there are many others. Use this one first, then try to build your own design.

• Start with a rectangular piece of paper, fold the paper in half vertically

• Unfold the paper and fold each of the top corners into the centre line, where you just made the fold.

• Fold the top edges into the centre line. The paper should have a sharp point and you should see 2 triangles on either side.

• Fold the paper in half with the folds you just made on the inside.

• Fold the wings down by folding the paper back long the long side of the airplane. Matching the top edge with the bottom of the body is helpful.

• Add some tape to the nose or point of the airplane. This will help the airplane to stay together.

3) Test: Take the paper airplane outside. Throw the airplane toward the wind. Throw the paper airplane in the same direction as the wind. What do you notice?

Ready to fly

Wings

Explanation

There are four main principles of flight, and their interactions help us to explain flight. They are weight, lift, thrust, and drag.

Weight is the force of gravity. It acts in a downward direction—toward the center of the Earth.

Lift is the force that acts at a right angle to the direction of motion through the air. Lift is created by differences in air pressure. If lift becomes greater than weight, then the plane will accelerate upward. If the weight is greater than the lift, then the plane will accelerate downward. When you see birds flying in a formation, one reason is because it creates lift for the birds behind them helping them to conserve energy.

An airfoil is any surface that produces more lift than drag. This is important for your paper airplanes. Airfoils are seen in the wings that lift the plane, the fins that add more stability and the flaps that control the airplane.

Thrust is the force that propels a flying machine in the direction of motion. Engines or muscles can produce thrust.

Drag is the force that opposes thrust. Imagine sticking your hand out the window of a moving car and flying your hand. The force that pushes your hand back is called "drag". As your hand pushes on the wind, the wind also pushes against your hand. Drag is caused by friction and differences in air pressure.

Taking It Further

Here are some additional flight resources you may be interested in:

Paper Airplane Designs: https://www.foldnfly.com/

Effects of Wind on Airplanes: https://study.com/academy/lesson/the-effect-of-wind-on-airplanes.html

Centennial Wind Power Facility: https://www.saskpower.com/Our-Power-Future/Our-Electricity/Electrical-System/System-Map/Centennial-Wind-Power-Facility

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Canadarm Challenge Activity

Canadarm Challenge Activity 

You are an astronaut on the International Space Station and need to complete a task on the outside of the space station. However, it cannot be fixed by doing a spacewalk. In this challenge, you will design and build your own version of the Canadarm. Test your invention to see if it can successfully pick up an object and move it.  

Canadarm 2 And Astronaut David Saint-Jacques

Activity Type 

Challenge  

Age 

7 years old +  

What You Need 

• Markers, paints, paintbrushes, or other craft supplies to decorate your Canadarm 

• Brass fasteners 

• Cardboard 

• Toilet paper rolls 

• Skewers 

• Tape 

• Paper 

• Straws 

• Scissors 

• String 

• Rocks, balls, small toy or other objects  

• Paper cups 

What You Do 

• Imagine you are on the ISS, your job is to fix something on the outside of the space station.  

• Your challenge using the material you have in front of you, build a robotic arm that will be able to move an object. 

• Think about how you want your design to move and function. Draw it out on paper.  

• Think about the materials. From the materials in front of you – which would work best for this purpose? You do not have to use all your materials.  

• Construct your Canadarm. Be sure to test it as you go. Remember, part of the challenge is trying, rebuilding, and trying again!  

Canadarm Challenge Examples

Test and Evaluate Your Canadarm

Does it accomplish the goal of lifting an object? How much weight can it pick up? Can your design be changed to improve how it works? Is it durable? How can you make it stronger? Can it be used to hold a tool? What considerations might you have to make if you were designing a working robotic arm for a mission in space? What other reasons or situations could your design or a robotic arm be used for? 

More Information

The Canadarm is an example of what Canadians can achieve with collaboration and innovative thinking. It is landmark technological achievement and will continue to inspire future generations of Canadian scientists and engineers as they develop new technologies. Learn more about the Canadarm at the Canadian Space Agency Website.

Taking It Further 

Visit the Canadian Space Agency Junior Astronaut Program for more information about Canada’s space program and to find activities you can do at home.

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Cloud In A Jar Activity

Cloud in a Jar

Have you ever wanted to see a cloud close-up? Don’t want to wait for a foggy day? Try out this experiment to make a cloud in a jar.

Activity Type:

Experiment, Citizen Science

Suggested Age:

6 to 9-years old

What you will need:

• Warm water

• Jar with a lid

• Ice cubes

• Aerosol hairspray (dry shampoo also works)

• Kettle or measuring cup (to heat water in the microwave)

What you do:

• Pour warm water (not boiling) into jar and swirl water around to warm up the inside of the entire jar.

• Turn the lid upside down and place several ice cubes on top of it. Rest the lid on top of the jar with the ice cubes facing up towards you (not inside the jar).

• Quickly remove the lid and give a quick spray of aerosol hairspray into the jar. Replace the lid as before.

• Remove the lid and watch the cloud escape!

Explanation:

Clouds are formed when there are three things present: moist and warm air, a cooling process, and small dust particle or nuclei for the cloud to condense around.

By pouring warm water into a jar and trapping it, you create the first ingredient: warm, moist air. This warm air rises and meets with the cool air at the top of the jar which is made by the ice cubes. The aerosol hairspray provides the cloud condensation nuclei, simulating a dust particle.

As the water vapor inside the jar cools, it begins to form around the hairspray nuclei into many droplets.

When you remove the lid, the swirling cloud is released!

Taking it further:

Try different types of dust particles in this experiment. Does air freshener make a different cloud than hairspray? What other ways can you make dust in the jar?

Discover different types of clouds! Look out your window each day and draw the shapes and colours of clouds you see. Observe the differences between clouds, and notice the clouds that result in precipitation.

Gather data for GLOBE Observer and become a citizen scientist. By observing clouds and using simple photography, compare your observations with NASA satellite images to provide a different perspective of clouds.

Create A Nature Journal

Journaling is a great way to deal with anxiety, develop your creativity, and bring moments of joy into your day. Combine that with a walk in your neighbourhood, bird-watching, and enjoying all that nature brings us is a perfect inspiration for starting a nature journal.

In her book, Joyful: The Surprising Power of Ordinary Things to Create Extraordinary Happiness (Buy Online), author Ingrid Fetell Lee explored questions like “Have you ever wondered why we stop to watch the glow that arrives before sunset or why we flock to see cherry blossoms in spring? Through research and interviews she found strong evidence of the connection between access to nature and positive health benefits, including reduced stress and anxiety.”

“Natural settings literally make us more carefree.”

— Ingrid Fetell Lee

Creating a nature journal provides the benefits of journaling and exploring nature all in one.

What You’ll Need

A notebook and pen or pencil. Add art supplies as you need them.

What To Include In Your Journal

Start with a journey outside and experience nature in your own backyard or neighbourhood. Think about what you see, hear, and feel, and write about it in your journal. List the birds, insects, and trees you discover. You might choose to add a drawing, include poetry, or insert photos of a favourite place you like to visit. The possibilities are endless. Be creative!

Handy Resources

Download this bird identification card to discover some of interesting birds commonly found in Wascana Marsh. There are plenty of apps available to download that will assist you in identify species of wildlife you are likely going to see. We suggest iNaturalist. Not only does it provide photos and information about wildlife in your community it also allows you to record your observations directly into the app.

Inspiration For Your Nature Journal

Not sure how to add some innovative elements to your journal? Here’s some ideas the SSC Online team contributed.

Sandy was inspired by this poem:

there is

nothing left

to worry about

the sun and flowers are here

-rupi kaur

Lisa created this watercolour print of a Magpie.

Lisa Watercolor Painting

Carolyn shared these beautiful journal entries.

Carolyn Journal Page 1

Carolyn Journal 2

Vandana’s son wanted to be a part of the journal. Here’s one of his pieces.

Vandana’s Son Journal Entry

We hope this inspires your to enjoy the natural world and start your own nature journal. Share your thoughts, comments, and creative responses below!