Free Summer Fun!

Pulleys and Gears
Students in our Pulleys and Gears academic workshop will never look at their ten speeds quite the same once they learn the relationship of gears, torque and speed.

We break out the LEGO for two hands-on activities focused on gears and pulleys. First students use LEGO bikes to investigate the effects of changing gear ratios. Then they work together to build inchworm bugs and explore how pulleys and gears are used in this complex machine of levers, pulleys, gears, and wedges. If there's time they might even get a chance to race their bugs and see which design is the fastest!

Interested in bringing one of our creative academic workshops to your classroom? Call 617-395-7527 or email info@ctwboston.com for more information.


Check it Out!
Free Friday Flicks: bring a picnic and the family to the DCR Hatch Memorial Shell for Free movies, such as Toy Story 3 and Iron Man 2. Visit the DCR website for movie listings.

Free Fun Fridays: The Highland Foundation sponsers free Fridays to key attraction in Greater Boston region. Upcoming specials include Stone Zoo, the Children's Muesum,. and the Ecotarium. See the complete list of attractions and dates on the Free Fun Fridays website.

Boston GreenFest: A weekend of free green events is coming up starting August 18th. Concerts, eco-friendly fashions, forums, and the One Gallon Challenge car race are just a few features. See the complete schedule on the offical website.

Zooniverse: Put your downtime to work by joining in some cool citizen science projects! Learn more on our blog.


Fall Planning
We're almost ready to roll out the fall schedule! Library workshops, after-school clubs, in-class academic programs, and special events are on their way. Looking for some creative programs for your classroom, after school program or child's party? Learn more about our classes and events by emailing info@ctwboston.com, or calling us at 617-395-7527.

Scenes from icamp 2011
Just a few of many memorable moments from icamp- see more pictures on our Facebook Page!

Zooniverse!

Back in February we talked about Crowd Accelerated Innovation, the notion that the internet allows more people to share more information and thereby make more advances to new ideas. Zooniverse capitalizes on that power of crowds to help sift through science data.

Run by the Citizen Science Alliance, an international organization of researchers, Zooniverse has 8 different projects for everyday people to be involved in by sifting through data points. While you may think that computers would be more appropriate for performing that work, the Citizen Science Alliance argues that humans are much better at recognizing the strange and unusual quirks that often lead to important discoveries. In the Planet Hunters project, for example, people sort through images taken from the NASA Kepler space mission and search for decreases in brightness that may indicate a planet passing before a star and lead to the discovery of a new planet. These changes in light can be much easier for humans to spot than for computers to recognize.

Other projects include Moon Zoo, Galaxy Zoo Hubble, Galaxy Zoo Understanding Cosmic Mergers, Galaxy Zoo the Hunt for Super Nova, Solar Storm Watch, The Milky Way Project, and Old Weather.

So next time you’re bored and tempted to waste some time on addictinggames.com, why not put your downtime to work and help chip away at some scientific advancements? Who knows, you might just discover something new!

Workshops and Summer Events

Stability Workshop
The three little pigs may have fared better had they learned about stability and factors that keep structures from collapsing! Students in our Stability in-class workshop won't have a problem building a house that can stand up to the big bad wolf.

Working under the guide of our instructors, Triangulation at work.students use Lego materials to investigate the shapes and conditions that keep structures stable. Three activities in bridge construction, house building, and an exercise in balance teach students about symmetry, triangulation, tension and compression.

Interested in bringing one of our creative academic workshops to your classroom? Call 617-395-7527 or email info@ctwboston.com for more information.

Check It Out!
Through the Looking Glass: Be sure to visit the MFA to behold this spectacular display of glass sculptures. Luscious colors and shapes are presented in unique arrangements, including a ceiling display of colorful pieces that visitors can view from below. Visit the MFA website for more information.

Summer in the City: The Cambridge Arts Council presents a variety of free programs and performances throughout the summer, including puppet shows, music jams, dance performances and more! See the full schedule on the Cambridge website.

Invention Awards: Check out our blog for highlights from this year's Popular Science Invention Awards.

Competition and Learning: We explore the uses of competition in education and how to organizations like FIRST foster healthy competition with kids. Visit our blog to read more.

Fall Planning
We're planning ahead and getting our schedule ready for fall! Library workshops, after-school clubs, in-class academic programs, and special events are on our radar. If you're like us and starting to plan your calendar for the next academic year, learn more about available programs by emailing info@ctwboston.com, or calling us at 617-395-7527.