The Kid Should See This.
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There's just so much science, nature, music, art, technology, storytelling and assorted good stuff out there that my kids (and maybe your kids) haven't seen. It's most likely not stuff that was made for them...
But we don't underestimate kids around here.
Kid-friendly not-made-for-kids videos for all! Collected by Rion Nakaya and her three four year old co-curator.
Tip Jar: Curating this blog takes work! If you like the videos on this site, please support the science education projects that we've picked on DonorsChoose.org.
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Melvin the Traveling Mini Machine is two suitcases filled with a wonderfully detailed Rube Goldberg Machine, all to put a stamp on a postcard.
Besides doing what Rube Goldbergs do best – performing a simple task as inefficiently as possible, often in the form of a chain reaction – Melvin has an online identity as well, which he uses to connect to and interact with his audience. Melvin the Mini Machine uses a smartphone and bespoke code and software to determine its location, write messages and recognize the people around him…
Once a picture is uploaded after it’s been processed, the data and the picture are published to Facebook and Twitter… Melvin’s travels page runs the Google Maps API with a custom layout… In short, this new Melvin is a Rube Goldberg machine specifically built to travel the world… Information on how the new Melvin works, its different parts and how to contact us can be found here.
My guess is that after it’s traveled for a while, we’ll have a whole map of photos taken by the machine that show happy audiences watching Melvin as intensely as this.
via This Is Colossal.
William Kamkwamba’s story is already out there as a book, a young readers book, a Kickstarter documentary film project, not only one but two TED Talks, and luckily for us, the six minute story in video form. A description of that story:
Enchanted by the workings of electricity as a boy, William had a goal to study science in Malawi’s top boarding schools. But in 2002, his country was stricken with a famine that left his family’s farm devastated and his parents destitute. Unable to pay the eighty-dollar-a-year tuition for his education, William was forced to drop out and help his family forage for food as thousands across the country starved and died.
Yet William refused to let go of his dreams. With nothing more than a fistful of cornmeal in his stomach, a small pile of once-forgotten science textbooks, and an armory of curiosity and determination, he embarked on a daring plan to bring his family a set of luxuries that only two percent of Malawians could afford and what the West considers a necessity—electricity and running water. Using scrap metal, tractor parts, and bicycle halves, William forged a crude yet operable windmill, an unlikely contraption and small miracle that eventually powered four lights, complete with homemade switches and a circuit breaker made from nails and wire. A second machine turned a water pump that could battle the drought and famine that loomed with every season.
Soon, news of William’s magetsi a mphepo—his “electric wind”—spread beyond the borders of his home, and the boy who was once called crazy became an inspiration to those around the world.
We love windmills and really love William’s drive and ingenuity. This is exactly what the kid should see.
After a friend tweeted about a research page full of passive motion robotics videos by Andy Ruina, Professor of Theoretical and Applied Mechanics at Cornell and of bicycle physics paper fame (SciFri video), I happened upon this 2008 video of Andy introducing his 22-pound, four-legged bi-ped robot named Ranger.
“The basic way this thing walks is that it falls down over and over again… this is walking as falling and catching yourself over and over again.” In 2011, Ranger did this for 40.5 miles — that’s 307.75 laps on a running track or 65km (watch the video) — unassisted over almost 31 hours before it needed a battery recharge.
I love how not-human this bot looks. The kid should see this!
h/t @themexican.
Nine year old Caine Monroy made a super-detailed cardboard arcade in his dad’s used auto part store. His first customer happened to be filmmaker Nirvan Mullick, who was inspired by Caine’s inventiveness and decided to get Caine a flashmob of customers one Sunday. This is a film about that day.
We loved this video immediately. And when the video ends, it’s always good when my kid says, “I want to see it again.” If you’re inspired by Caine and his cardboard arcade, too, you can follow @cainesarcade on Twitter and visit CainesArcade.com to donate to his college fund (which is happily climbing)!!
via @Veronica.
Other kids makin’ it happen: Audri and his Rube Goldberg Machine, and Milah and Korben sing Depeche Mode with their dad.
Eske Rex’s Pendulum-Powered Drawing Machine immediately came to mind when I first saw Robert Howsare’s Drawing Apparatus. They both play off of the old spirograph-ish connection, however the pendulum-powered machine is fascinating because it’s using gravity (transferring back and forth between potential and kinetic energy) to power the drawing, vs. being motor-powered. Science + Art FTW!
Robert Howsare’s Drawing Apparatus attaches a Sharpie to records spinning on a record player at different revolutions.
We’re fascinated with spirographs around here, and these sorts of cycloid/hypotrochoid-ish-making inventions are no exception!
via Kottke.
My kid loved watching this kid and his Rube Goldberg monster trap machine. Audri is seven years old and has been making Rube Goldberg machines since he was five. He’s inspired by Bill Nye, Beakman, Mythbusters, Joseph Herscher, and this OKGO video, and we’re inspired by him! Seriously, an enthusiastic kid with a Rube Goldberg machine, a hypothesis and a chart ready for recording data?! GO AUDRI!
via BoingBoing.
