1.28.1 👻 Hunting Ghosts, SketchUp Pumpkins, STEM Secret Code Gifts, Pencil History, How Plants Absorb Water

Hello! Once again, it's the middle of a week in October. I have a couple Halloween-themed stories. For many years, I've watched ghost hunting programs and wondered about the technology. There's also a SketchUp 3D software project creating digital pumpkins. I also answer the question, how to plants get water from soil? And the history of pencils as technology. Plus another in a series of STEM/STEAM gift guides, this time, secret code stuff. (Last Wednesday featured books and magazines.)

Hunting Ghosts

Fall is the time of year we start to think about ghosts. There’s Halloween, of course, but that’s more about candy and fun costumes. Other cultures also have special days devoted to ghostly things, such as Dia de los Muertos (Day of the Dead), that reunites families both living and dead. There is the Buddhist festival of Obon which celebrates deceased ancestors as well as the Hungry Ghost Festival, in Asia, to ward off angry ghosts.

So are ghosts real? Apparently, some people think so. Believing in ghosts can be fun like in Disney’s Haunted Mansion ride or terrifying like in creepy movies or even comforting when you think about people you have loved and lost being here with us. While many want to avoid ghosts, some people are out looking for them, like in the ghost-hunting shows on TV or maybe even someone you know. (One of my kids joined a ghost-hunting group in college for fun and to make friends.) I watch those shows and wonder how their technology works. Let’s find out.

Gear up for Ghost Hunting
https://kidscodecs.com/ghost-hunter-technology-equipment/

Ghost Hunting
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ghost_hunting

Paranormal Technology: Gadgets for Ghost-Tracking
https://www.npr.org/2011/10/31/141868232/paranormal-technology-gadgets-for-ghost-tracking

GhostStop Ghost Hunting Equipment
https://www.ghoststop.com/

Festivals of the Dead Around the World
https://www.smithsonianmag.com/travel/festivals-dead-around-world-180953160/

The Science Behind Ghost Hunting
https://www.salon.com/2021/10/30/a-brief-examination-of-the-science-behind-ghost-hunting/

20 Most Haunted Places in America
https://www.travelandleisure.com/trip-ideas/most-haunted-cities-in-america

SketchUp Project: Pumpkins!

Three weeks ago my Wednesday email had links about 3D software. This week I want to share a final 3D SketchUp article. They're great for kids who like to build things. This more intermediate level SketchUp project shows you how to create Halloween pumpkins. It's less messy than carving a pumpkin.

And if you're wondering where the term jack o'lantern came from, National Geographic has an interesting spooky history.

Jack O’Lantern in Sketchup
https://kidscodecs.com/sketchup-jack-o-lantern/

The twisted transatlantic tale of American jack-o’-lanterns
https://www.nationalgeographic.com/history/article/the-twisted-transatlantic-tale-of-american-jack-o-lanterns

History of SketchUp
https://mastersketchup.com/history-of-sketchup/

SketchUp for Kids
http://learningfromcities.blogspot.com/2014/01/sketchup-for-kids.html

How to Create Your First 3D Model in SketchUp: A Beginner-Friendly Introduction
https://i.materialise.com/blog/en/first-3d-model-in-sketchup-tutorial/

Finding, making, and using incredible SketchUp textures
https://blog.sketchup.com/article/finding-making-and-using-incredible-sketchup-textures

Bonnie Roskes
https://3dvinci.net/

Pencil History

These days, pencils might seem old school. Computers are everywhere so pencils may not be common. But they’re still useful. And the history of pencils tells us a lot about how humans work with each other. I can send a text to my daughter to remind her to do something. Or I can find a pencil and paper, write down my message, and then put it where I know she’ll walk by. Both technologies work, computers and pencils.

One important difference? Pencils can correct spelling mistakes. Anyone who sends texts has misspelled a word only to find out after hitting send. I usually send a quick second text with the misspelled word = correctly spelled word. Maybe you’re not so annoyed. :-)

Pencils as technology also have another interesting quality. Some pencils write with light grey while others write with deep black. People like me who draw love this quality. You can draw light shadows or deep shadows by using different pencils. Light or dark depends on the mixture of graphite and clay in a pencil. The HB scale grades this light to dark quality.

There’s all kinds of odd fun facts about pencils, too. They can write underwater. A typical pencil can write 45,000 words. Before erasers appeared on pencils, in 1858, bread crumbs rubbed erased pencil lines. And you can sharpen a pencil 17 times before you have no more pencil.

Kids Britannica Encyclopedia: Pencil
https://kids.britannica.com/students/article/pencil/276344

13 Fascinating Facts You Never Knew About Pencils
https://www.cos.net.au/c/cospedia/13-fascinating-facts-about-pencils

Invention Of Pencil - The Dr. Binocs Show | Best Learning Videos For Kids | Peekaboo Kidz
https://youtu.be/mKxIWzkQ2EI

HB Graphite Scale
https://pencils.com/pages/hb-graphite-grading-scale

Holiday Gifts: Secret Codes

Since the fall of 2014, I've published an annual holiday STEM/STEAM gift guide. This fall, I want to publish items in these Wednesday emails. People shop the holidays at different times. And besides, it's never too early, amiright? :-)

Last Wednesday, I shared ideas for STEM books and magazines that might make great gifts. This week I’d like to cover something different: secret codes. It’s a topic that often interests kids. Especially if they like to solve problems. Plus, as kids grow up, they develop their own identities apart from their families. Exploring secret codes is one way some kids cope.

Top Secret: A Handbook of Codes, Ciphers, and Secret Writing
This takes a slight turn away from the ‘fun kits’ without the tools and toys, but it does cover a lot of the codes used throughout history, and gives some test codes to break.
https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/top-secret-paul-b-janeczko/1100671619

Cracking Codes with Python
This book combines two fun experiences, Python which is easy to code and secret codes. All kinds of ciphers are covered with details about how to use Python to break the ciphers. Could be a fun engrossing source book for someone interested in solving puzzles with code.
https://nostarch.com/crackingcodes

Secret Decoder Deluxe Activity Set – On the Go
A little less focused on established codes, but has three workbooks which kids can worth through and crack the mystery as they go!
https://www.melissaanddoug.com/secret-decoder-deluxe-activity-set—on-the-go/5238.html

Telegraph Kit – The Science Cube
We covered Morse Code in an earlier issue of the magazine. So why not let the kids make their own machine? Definitely a cool gift idea for anyone who wants something physical to engineer.
https://us.amazon.com/Telegraph-Kit-The-Science-Cube/dp/B0082CRY7A

Top Secret: A Handbook of Codes, Ciphers, and Secret Writing
https://www.alibris.com/Top-Secret-A-Handbook-of-Codes-Ciphers-and-Secret-Writing/book/29266712

My Best Mathematical and Logic Puzzles
https://www.alibris.com/My-Best-Mathematical-and-Logic-Puzzles-Martin-Gardner/book/4530304

The Colossal Book of Short Puzzles and Problems
https://www.alibris.com/The-Colossal-Book-of-Short-Puzzles-and-Problems-Martin-Gardner/book/9059571

Codes, Ciphers and Secret Writing
https://www.alibris.com/Codes-Ciphers-and-Secret-Writing-Martin-Gardner/book/29035096

The Simpsons and Their Mathematical Secrets
https://www.alibris.com/The-Simpsons-and-Their-Mathematical-Secrets-Simon-Singh/book/24632654

Secret Code Games for Clever Kids
https://www.alibris.com/Secret-Code-Games-for-Clever-Kids-More-than-100-secret-agent-and-spy-puzzles-to-boost-your-brainpower-Gareth-Moore/book/53313937

How do plants absorb water from the soil?

As anyone with a black thumb knows, plants need water to thrive or else they die. But dry conditions are common for plants. They have to sense and respond to water in their environment.

When water is available in the soil around a plant, osmosis pulls the water up into plants. If you don’t know, osmosis is a process that balances liquids like water. In this case, between the ground with water and a plant without water. If you put a dry sponge in a bowl of water, for example, the water moves into the dry sponge. Plants work in a similar way to pull water from soil.

What’s more interesting to me are the many ways plants adapt to a lack of water. In the desert, for example, plants often have hard shells. Plants also have another problem: they can’t move. If we’re hungry, we can get up and go into the kitchen to find a snack. Plants stay in one place. Some plants are able to survive long droughts. When water appears, they spring back to life. Until then they do as little as possible to sustain their life.

How plants absorb water
https://www.rhs.org.uk/advice/understanding-plants/how-plants-absorb-water

How Do Plants Deal with Dry Days?
https://kids.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/frym.2017.00058

Water Uptake and Transport in Vascular Plants
https://www.nature.com/scitable/knowledge/library/water-uptake-and-transport-in-vascular-plants-103016037/

How Do Trees and Plants Drink Water? A Simple Science Experiment
https://youtu.be/to6mZyGcXBE
https://brandikreutzerconsulting.com/how-do-trees-drink-simple-experiment-for-kids/

This Week

Our Sunday email this week will have fun often offbeat links, for example, scientists discovered that our universe should not exist. Except we do exist. There's also a few links about a recent drilling expedition to the Earth's mantle. Learn what scientists discovered down there. Google has built a robot that can outplay humans at ping pong. Mayonnaise has led to a nuclear fusion discovery. And there's a few more fun quirky links to enjoy. Look for the email this Sunday.