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that everything can cause a child to ask questions! yesterday my 21 month old wanted to watch Ice Age. At the point where the dodo birds are on my 4 yr old walks in and after a minute or two asks me about the birds and if we can see them some time. So, with the laptop on my lap already I looked up info on the net about the dodo and why they are extinct--got the opportunity to discuss a little about enviornmental awareness--and then he wanted to know about saber tooth tigers (also in the movie). did you know that there were many different types of animals that had saberteeth? and that they probably used them to slice at the underbelly of the prey to let it bleed out and then chow down? More info than you wanted? Well it was a beautiful thing! oh, and when we were talking about the dodo birds Shawn said he wanted to look at their bones and then I read a little bit about what the paleontologists said and I asked him if he knew what a paleontologist was and he said "a scientist that studies bones." ok, maybe I shouldn't be amazed and impressed, but I am:) and this is why I LOVE unschooling...the opportunities are constantly presenting themselves:)

Beth in GA

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AWESOME and he is only 4? Although I am new at "officially" unschooling I
have long enjoyed just learning new stuff on the net and I hope my children
will pick up this skill as well. Somehow I always find what I want...my
partner says if I don't know it I can certainly find it out by getting on the
net and typing in a few searches.

The other day when the space shuttle crashed one of the former astronauts (a
senator-can't recall his name) was talking about the reentry and what the
shuttle was made of that caused it to be able to withstand such high temps.
Anyway, he said silicone and my partner said, "He means byrillium" And I
said, "Yeh right! Do you think he doesn't know what he is talking about?"
Yes that was me being a bit arrogant but at time my partner comes up with
some stuff...like everytime I say, "Did you know..." and no matter what the
subject he always say, "Oh yeh...blah, blah, blah" So I assumed he was way
off base.

So I went to my trusty computer and looked it up...didn't even know how to
spell it but I finally found it and guess what? He was right! The space
shuttle is made from byrillium. So I apologized and that is when he made the
comment that all I have to do it get on here and I can find out anything.

Gotta love the net! I never liked encyclopedias much but this thing works
for me everytime!

Debra
Mom to
Lyndee (11)
Kelsey (8)
Dylan (9 mos)
& TTC #4


> Shawn said he wanted to look at their bones and then I read a little bit
> about what the paleontologists said and I asked him if he knew what a
> paleontologist was and he said "a scientist that studies bones." ok, maybe
> I shouldn't be amazed and impressed, but I am:) and this is why I LOVE
> unschooling...the opportunities are constantly presenting themselves:)



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Fetteroll

on 2/3/03 6:45 PM, debsusedbooks@... at debsusedbooks@... wrote:

> So I went to my trusty computer and looked it up...didn't even know how to
> spell it but I finally found it and guess what? He was right! The space
> shuttle is made from byrillium. So I apologized and that is when he made the
> comment that all I have to do it get on here and I can find out anything.

I think he probably said silica. That's what the heat tiles are made of.
They're spun glass basically. (90% of the tile is air!) (The adhesive used
is maked of silicone.) (One site says the heat dissapates from them so
quickly that they can be touched *seconds* after being removed from a 2300
degree oven.)

The shell of the shuttle is made of aluminum and then covered with tiles and
other insulation that keep it from getting above 350 degrees.

There is a more flexible blanket that's put over the top side of the shuttle
which is also made of silica by a different process that only needs to take
heat up to 700 degrees.

The tiles on the nose and wing tips are "Reinforced Carbon-Carbon." (One of
the substances used in it is rayon cloth! There's more about the process at
http://www.eng.iastate.edu/explorer/topics/spacecoat/RCC.htm And down that
the bottom of that page are links to the other insulation substances on the
shuttle.)

I found out beryllium is very light and used to make alloys that are both
light and strong so that makes it attractive for the space shuttle. Some
sites did mention beryllium is used in the shuttle, but when they got more
specific, the only parts mentioned as being made of it are: windshield
frame, brake discs, support beams, and other structural components of the
space shuttle.

Yes, the internet is amazing! :-) It would have take *hours* to find out
just a portion of that stuff even 10 years ago.

Joyce