Transit of Venus 2012 with Solar Eclipse/Transit Viewer 6 June 2012

It was awesome witnessing the  transit of Venus this morning from home.

The kids used this piece of transit viewer SGD6, bought from the shop below in Singapore.

It enabled us to see the Sun clearly and protect our eyes from intense sunlight.

This shop is located at Omni-theatre, Singapore. 

Find Direction Without a Compass and Sundials at Bukit Kiara Park 19 March 2012

Our sundials.

Sophisticated Lego sundial. 

Paper sundial works well.

Another masterpiece.

And another.

Checking on shadow to determine the cardinal direction. 

En and her traditional fish trap, bubu.

2011 Total Lunar Eclipse 10 December 2011

Why does a moon look red during a total lunar eclipse?

The total lunar esclipse was visible to the naked eye at our neighbourhood's park. Such an astounding phenomenon, from sparkly full moon to full total esclipse with brownish red colour.    

Star&Sun-gazing with Starfield Instrument Supply @Janda Baik 23 July 2011

Astronomy presentation by Hui Chiek, a charming and passionate lady in astronomy. 

We joined Starfield Instruments Supply for a stargazing trip at Janda Baik.

Stargazing started after midnight when the rain has stopped and the sky was clear. The dark sky was filled with stars. Milky way was visible between the Teapot (part of the Sagitarius) and Scorpius. (I just learnt from this trip!)

According to Hui Chiek, what we need is just planishere, red beam torchlight to facilitate dark adaptation and compass to determine the direction. 

If you wanna proceed further, the next thing to buy, is a good pair of binoculars. She lent us her pair of binoculars. By looking through the gadget, it was as if we were swimming in the sea of star!   

Sun observation with a 99.9%  filter.

We also used these two telescopes for stargazing.

This is Hui Chiek's telescope. :) She bought it for almost a thousand few years back.

The Sun through the telescope.

Stargazing with Singapore Astronomy Club 8 July 2011

Every Friday night 750pm to 10pm.

Singapore Astronomy Club will be at "The Observatory" @Singapore Science Centre for stargazing, free for people of all ages.

Waiting and watching the member setting up the telescopes.

At the top deck of The Observatory, is the largest telescope among those that were set up.

The entrance where people queue and took turn.

The weather was clear and we saw moon, bleached white by the sun and its craters.

We also saw saturn, so clearly. Hui said "It looks exactly like the one on the poster"

Another telescope. Hui observing the moon.

This one cost SGD80k, I heard.

We saw Saturn and its moon.

 Though there were some clouds, but we were able to see the Moon and Saturn, so thankful.

They May Be Giants 16 May 2011

Yesterday night, I introduced 'They may be giants', which sings science related songs. Without any expectation, I simply showed the video above. After that, they watched another topic "Roy G Biv".

They don't seem to show any interest and asked for "Nobody but you" by Wonder Girls instead. Hui exclaimed " You don't sing I SING" , and happily dancing away.

The very next morning, Hui woke up and asked "Why does the sun shine?" And she wanted to watch the video again. Then she watched it again and again.

It was great. Facts set to music make learning easy and fun. And right brain reponds to it. ! :)
Here Comes Science

Solar system 28 April 2011

Thursday afternoon.

We are waiting for the solar system to dry up before assembling it.

Thanks to aunty PL for the gift she bought from Shamrock Craft

Similar product Dylite Styrofoam Solar System Kit - White

We have just read MAGIC SCHOOL BUS BLASTS INTO SPACE (EARLY READER LEVEL 2) where we borrowed from Playcentre library.