Young Scholars

Photo Credit: Pixabay, CC0, via Wikimedia Commons Spring will be here in a few months and plants will start growing as the land warms up! Have you thought of plants you can plant at that time?  We bought some shelled Sunflower seeds to eat last week. They are tasty and give us valuable protein, vitamins and minerals. We will buy some unshelled Sunflower seeds in a few months to plant!  Srinivasan Ramani                     

Photo by: Andreas Weith, CC BY-SA 4.0 <https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0>, via Wikimedia Commons Drop a cube of ice in a bucket of water and see if it sinks. It will not, because ice is less dense than water. In comparison, rocks are more dense and they sink in water. The fact that ice floats is very good for the fish and us. If ice was denser, lots of it would have sunk and gone to the bottom of lakes and the sea. In many places it would not have melted in that case and would have made the bottom of lakes and the sea very cold. Luckily for us ice floats and melts as soon the air gets warmer in spring.   Srinivasan Ramani 

  Utahcamera at en.wikipedia, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons We say dogs and cats are mammals. That tells us a lot about them. That they have four legs. Mammals give birth to young ones and feed them with milk. They don’t lay eggs like many non-mammals do.   Birds and insects are not mammals and they lay eggs. After many days, the young ones that grow inside the eggs break them and come out. They find their own food even on the day they come out of the eggs!  Now a question: are squirrels’ mammals? Yes, they are. Are squirrels’ rodents? Yes. They are also rodents. What does this mean? Rodents usually have short limbs, small bodies and long tails. They mostly eat plant-based food like nuts. Their front teeth never stop growing.  So, they keep gnawing something or the other to keep the teeth becoming too big!  Srinivasan Ramani

  ICMA Photos, CC BY-SA 2.0 <https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0>, via Wikimedia Commons Suppose your daddy has brought two toys for you and your sister. You want to choose what you like most. Your sister says, “No! I will choose. You can have the toy I do not choose”. Your mom may say, “Let us make a fair decision. We will toss a coin. If it comes out “heads up” you will choose. If it comes   “tails up”, your sister will choose”. What is this coin tossing? Learn how to toss a coin and what is “heads up” and what is “tails up”. Srinivasan Ramani

 Children see magic because they look for it - Christopher Moore Please visit the artcle I had posted earlier this week on the topic of Kolu. This follow-up post shows a photograph of another Kolu.  Kolu at Satkriti Saatvik  Srinivasan Ramani   

  Stimulating Conversations with Children Welcome to this blog on stimulating conversations with children, roughly in the age group of 4 to 8. The aim is to promote the curiosity of children and to make learning fun. We have a bias in favor of science and mathematics. We also have a bias on activities that promote knowledge and skill development. You, the parent, or an older sibling of a child have a major responsibility. You will be the real teacher. This blog will mainly provide some content to help you. Please adapt it as you see fit. There is a sister blog for slightly older children. Visit  https://candies-for-the-mind.blogspot.com Srinivasan Ramani  

  People in India celebrate Navratri, nine days of celebration of victory of good over evil at this time of the year. In some parts of India, families create displays of idols and dolls. Such a display is called a Kolu. They are arranged in rows at three or four levels.  Navratri is also a major social event. Families invite their friends to drop in and see their kolu. The hosts as well as the visitors wear clothes reserved for celebratory occasions. A good, light, snack is offered to the visitors.   Kolu arrangement and photo by Dr Sarojini Children everywhere can arrange their dolls in their own version of kolu. Depending on what dolls are available, the display can be on a theme, say animals. Or the kolu can tell a story. Srinivasan Ramani