April 5, 2012

Today’s "Cool Video of the Week" is an animation that puts me in a holiday mood. Just looking at it makes me feel like I can smell chocolate!

The video below is an example of what is called "Stop Motion" animation. Do you see the black camera on the right hand side of the photograph? It is mounted on a stand, and the animator take a photograph, then moves the pieces of chocolate on the cake slightly, takes another photograph, moves the pieces a little further, and so on. When you put all the photographs together, it seems as though everything is moving. It takes a lot of patience to make this kind of animation, but it certainly pays off.

Press "Play" (below) to see it - just for fun.  And best wishes to all my readers for a Happy Easter and Chag Same’ach (Happy Passover)! 

March 26, 2012

When Seymour Simon visited Carl Sandburg Elementary School, a  student named Jacob read his independent writing to welcome Seymour. Jacob’s principal, Mr. Kincaid, wrote: "What a special moment that was for all of us who were fortunate enough to hear him read it to Seymour that morning in the hallway at school!"

Take a look (below). We think you will agree!

March 21, 2012

When Seymour Simon visited Carl Sandburg Elementary School in Springfield, Illinois last week, he was interviewed by the 5^th Grade Sandburg News Team. Click on the "Play" button below to see their report. (Be patient - it may take a minute or two to load!).

March 18, 2012

Last week, Seymour Simon visited Carl Sanburg Elementary School, in Springfield, Illinois. The fourth and fifth graders made a wonderful book - 100 pages long! - about his life and his books. We decided to scan some of the book and make it into a video, which you can see here. Hope everyone enjoys it!

March 9, 2012

I had a wonderful time with the kids at the Menands School yesterday. Each group I spoke with were terrific participants, well-prepared, asking and answering good questions. We had a lot of fun together.

These fifth graders prepared a presentation that included a music performance and an original poem! Here is a video of their performance; the words of their poem are below.

Science and nature he knows very well,

When he writes a book it surely will sell.

Lions and tigers, planets and trees,

Puppies and kittens and human disease.

Tornadoes and blizzards, earthquakes and rain,

He knows all about them, he uses his brain!

Past and present, old and new,

Unsolved mysteries he presents to you.

Read Seymour Simon whenever you can,

And when you do, you’ll become his fan.

Dogs are born both blind and deaf,

Police dogs stop all kinds of theft.

Bloodhounds, terriers, yorkies and shar pei

Are all kinds of dogs that love to play.

Writing nonfiction, advanced technician,

Animals, animals, animals!

Outer space and weather,

Science is his mission.

He is the dean, he is the man,

He can write about anything, yes he can!

He’s taught science, he’s taught writing,

Everything he writes is so exciting!

Funny books, lots of laughs,

Airplane books and tall giraffes.

Science is his main theory,

All those books must make him weary.

Rattlesnakes, hyenas and devil rays

make his book a fright,

And sharks, bats, grizzly bears

are animals that will bite.

Vultures and Gila Monsters

are an interesting lot

But spiders are creepy

and they’re hard to spot.

Writing nonfiction, advanced technician

Animals, animals, animals!

Outer space and weather,

Science is his mission.

Huge coastal storms known as hurricanes,

He knows all about them, he uses his brain.

The history of them, old and new.

And how they can form, he tells to you.

He knows how they start, he knows how they end,

Writing so much he started a trend.

*Fifth graders - I think I missed a word here or there. Someone write and help me correct these lyrics! And thank you again to Mrs. Ford, all the faculty and especially the kids at Menands School for a great day!

February 23, 2012

The latest period of heavy solar flares erupting on the surface of the sun continues (as do the beautiful auroras that they create for us to see here on Earth).

Solar flares are actually great bursts of superheated plasma. There is a NASA satellite that can capture amazingly detailed images of the sun’s surface, and scientists pieced together photographs snapped every five minutes to create this amazing video of recent solar activity.

Each of the loops of plasma that you see in this video is two to three times larger than Earth. What an amazing sight!

You can see more photographs and learn more in Seymour Simon’s book, THE SUN.

February 9, 2012

Today’s Cool Video of the Week is the cutest puppy dance we have seen in a long time. Our friend Henry, from Connecticut, has been videotaping his corgi, Sparky, doing his kibble dance at feeding time.

What do you think? Cute or Not?

Click here to go to iTunes and download a free sample for your iPod Touch, iPhone or iPad.

February 3, 2012

Yosemite National Park, in Northern California, is one of nature’s most spectacular sights. John Muir, the great American environmentalist, explorer and "father of our national parks," wrote of Yosemite:

"It is by far the grandest of all the special temples of Nature I was ever permitted to enter."

Yosemite has been officially declared a World Heritage Site, because of its gorgeous granite cliffs, wild rivers, waterfalls, and giant sequoia groves.

Yosemite National Park is a place that everyone should have the opportunity to see…..but not everyone can travel to Northern California. That is why I was so excited to discover this magnificent, 4-minute-long, high definition video of Yosemite National Park, by filmmakers Sheldon Neill and Colin Delehanty. They used time lapse photography - which means that you film the same scene over a period of time. When it is all strung together into a film, it seems to ‘speed up’ time.

So, this is our "Cool Video of the Week." Enjoy your visit to Yosemite!

Bobcat Photo: U.S. Park Service 

January 12, 2012

Have you ever imagined fun things you would like to do in a weightless environment? Here’s a good idea.

Today’s very cool VIDEO OF THE WEEK is of Japanese astronaut Satoshi Furukawa playing baseball with himself onboard the International Space Station. He pitches, hits, and even manages to get himself out!

December 12, 2011

Here’s a cool idea. Daniel and his teacher, Ms. Vega, have created a game called "Fishing for Sharks." The paper sharks in the tank all have questions taken from my book. The student "catches" the shark on his fishing line, and answers the question about sharks.

Nice job, Daniel!

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