Grandpa Cliff's Science Website for Teenagers
African Elephant [S]
Website Started: Nov 24, 2005
Latest Revision: April 11, 2011
Although a great deal of information about science has been put on the internet, much of it is written at a college level. This website tries to overcome that problem by writing for youngsters in grades 6-12. A great number of photos are used so that you will better understand what is being discussed.
I began this website for my grandchildren at a time when I was teaching them trees and flowering plants. Look out a window at home and you will see many more plants than animals. People could not live without plants. We need them for food, as material from which we build our homes, and to make the oxygen we breathe. We should try to understand something about plants since they make up such an important part of our world. Other topics about animals, earth science, and gardening will be added as time permits.
Science is a very interesting subject. On this website, the ideas are more important to learn than the words used by scientists. I put some words in italics to show that only advanced students should try to learn them. However, if they were taught in school, you will need to know them whether they are in italics or not. And if science interests you, you will also want to learn some of the words that scientists use.
Pronunciation Guide
Some words that are difficult to pronounce will have a guide to help you. For example, the word vocabulary would be pronounced vo-CAB-yoo-lair-ee . Your voice should rise a bit when you say CAB, because the accent or stress is on that part of the word. Glossary is pronounced GLOSS-uh-ree , which could also be shown as GLAH-suh-ree .
If you learn what is on this website, you will know some things that almost no other students in your class will know. Although some of the subjects below are taught in school, there are many interesting things included that schools would not have enough time to teach.
If a title is colored blue and underlined, it is a link to a webpage about that subject.
ANIMALS
MAMMALS
Polar Bear - a humorous photo
Junior Hippo Goes to School a humorous story
BIRDS
Make Your Own Bird Feeder - A Peanut Butter Log
FISH
Whale Shark - the World's Largest Fish
ARACHNIDS
How a Spider Constructs an Orb Web step by step; fascinating
ANIMALS - GENERAL SUBJECTS
ALBINOS
Introduction - gives facts about albinos; contains a list of photos of albinos on this website
PLANTS
Glossary of Plant Terms - learn some basic words that describe plants [some parts will not be used by 6-8]
Poison Ivy - with plenty of photos so that my grandson can avoid his yearly adventure with this plant
Forcing Forsythia Branches to Flower Indoors in Winter - Instructions. Also, two experiments you can do.
TREES
Wood & Hollow Trees - learn about the parts of a woody stem
How Old is That Tree? - learn about annual rings and how to tell the age of a tree
Bark & Cork - learn about what the bark does for a tree
Twigs - learn the parts of a twig (branchlet), and how to tell its age
Lumber - learn how a log is sawn into boards and why wood in the home has different patterns on it
Knots & Knotholes - learn why some pieces of wood have round dark spots or holes
Autumn's Colorful Leaves [6-8] - learn why leaves in Northern U.S. have so many colors in Autumn
Autumn's Colorful Leaves [9-12] - learn why leaves in Northern U.S. have so many colors in Autumn
Lightning & Trees - see what happens to trees when they are hit by lightning
Mysterious Hollow Log - can you answer the questions that accompany this unusual photo?
FUNGI
Fairy Rings - learn why mushrooms sometimes grow in circles called Fairy Rings
INVASIVE SPECIES
Invading Plants & Animals - learn why foreign plants and animals can outgrow our native species
Kudzu - a vine so heavy that it breaks all of the branches off trees and covers what is left
Kudzu in Albany, NY - found Nov 18, 2005. This is my webpage, but on a different website.
Japanese Knotweed - difficult to eradicate
EARTH SCIENCE
Can Rocks Float? - Some can. See some photos and find out how it is possible.
SCIENCE (Miscellaneous)
How Many Kingdoms are There? - discusses kingdoms, scientific names, species, organisms, and more
An Exercise in Thinking [9-12] - this will help prepare you to picture things in your mind and think more clearly
Investigating
Ice Circles - Using a rotating Ice Circle to demonstrate step by step thinking 
9 Mar 2011
Science Links - links to interesting science webpages for teenagers on other websites
ACTIVITIES
Make Your Own Bird Feeder - A Peanut Butter Log
Forcing Forsythia Branches to Flower Indoors in Winter - Instructions. Also, two experiments you can do.
All photos and diagrams that appear on this website are used for educational, non-commercial purposes as allowed by the Fair Use doctrine. [S] is a link to the source of the image.
Visitors since 24
Nov 2005
Website by Cliff
Lamere 
Albany, NY
[storage]
