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What is 1,400 miles long, and is home to 3000 types life (including the great white shark?) This month’s release of Coral Reef by Tinybop inspired us to take a deeper dive into these amazing natural wonders. Test your knowledge…

1. Besides warm, clean saltwater, what does every reef need to survive? At coral.org http://bitly.com/2oMzBs5  you learn that light is the key ingredient. A reef can only exist in water less than 165 feet deep.

2. What is a coral polyp, and why should you care? They are tiny organisms that are the building blocks of a free. A cathedral is made of millions individual bricks. The polyp is the “brick” of the reef. Related to anemones and jellyfish, they collect calcium that becomes the reef. Learn more at National Geographic http://on.natgeo.com/2HWGI9T.

3. What is largest living organism in the world? It’s the Great Barrier Reef. It takes up more area than the country of Italy, and is 1400 miles long. It is off the coast of Australia and can be seen from space. Here are some more amazing facts about the reef http://bit.ly/2I368Ty and here’s what it looks like from space, via Google Maps https://goo.gl/maps/z9pBtCAu45t.

4. Do sharks live around reefs? Yes. And so do whales. In fact there are over 3000 fish species that call a reef their home. In Sport Diver magazine, we found some amazing diver photos http://bitly.com/2oMGTvP.

5. Can a reef die? Yes. According to the National Ocean Service things like global warming can stress kill coral, causing them to bleach. Learn more at http://bitly.com/2HWWpy1.

APPLICATION

1. Set up a salt water fish tank. It might be hard to grow a reef, but you can buy some living samples for as cheap as $5, http://bitly.com/2HXEZRM. We found this EVO saltwater kit on Amazon.com with LEDs for the coral light, at http://amzn.to/2I3aFp2.

2. Take a virtual dive. Google has done the work, by applying it’s “street view” technology to an underwater diver. The result is a virtual tour of a ship wreck in the Great Barrier Reef. Here’s the link http://bitly.com/2oLV4Bp

3. Send a question to Nancy Knowlton. She works at the Smithsonian as a marine biologist, and her job is to increase public understanding of the world’s ocean. Her email is knowlton@si.edu.

Librarians/Teachers: Download this page as an easy to print one page PDF

An aquarium lets you bring a small underwater world right into your room.

While tiny fish are hard to pet or take on a walk, they can be fun to watch, and can even have babies. Let’s learn more!

1. The most popular freshwater fish is the Guppy. How long can one Guppy live?
According to PetMD a guppy can live up to three years. They are an ideal starter fish for any fish tank, and the male can grow a beautiful, flowing tail. A female guppy can have live babies every 30 days.

2. What’s the biggest fish ever to live in a fish tank?  Can you imagine having a 40 foot long fish in your fish tank? Obviously you’d need a pretty big tank. At http://www.seethewild.org/whale-shark-facts/ we learn about the world’s biggest fish — the Whale Shark, and the world’s largest fish can grow up to 40 ft. There are several living giant aquarium tanks around the world.

3. What country has the world’s biggest aquarium?  Is it
a) The United States
b) United Arab Emirates
c) Japan

Answer:  According to http://bitly.com/2kPMDp5 the largest fish tank in the world is located in the The United States. Thanks to donation by one of the owners of Home Depot, the Georgia Aquarium’s tank can hold 6.3 million gallons, which is big enough for two Whale Sharks. It’s far bigger than the 2.64 million gallon tank — the second largest — found in a shopping mall in Dubai.

4. How much should I feed my fish? When should I change the water?
At Seaworld http://bitly.com/2jBpNMV you learn all sorts of useful things about getting started with an aquarium. You should only feed the fish as much as they can eat in 2 minutes. And you should change 1/4 of the water every month.

5. What about snails? Clams… and Crayfish?  Can they live in your fish tank? Yes, but you have to be careful because they can eat the fish or create other problems. Visit http://www.aquariumcarebasics.com/freshwater-snails to learn more.

APPLICATION Can you name the fish?  Visit the Australian Fish Museum site, at http://bitly.com/2keQ3P1 and see how many fish you can identify.

APPLICATION Buy a fish tank for about $55. Here’s a link to a starter set with a 5 gal. tank, filter, LED light and pump. That’s everything but the water and fish. One that gets high ratings is the Marineland ML90609 Portrait Aquarium Kit, 5-Gallon. http://amzn.to/2kpSnF1

https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLcBVHzUUEKwm4SN0mhfIACYAJKvQEarC6&jct=1st2V149pWYADgNU0ynbjSPOcTO1vw

———————————————————————————————————————————————— LittleClickers.com (this page and the associated web site) is sponsored by Computer Explorers. Neither Children’s Technology Review (publisher of LittleClickers) or Computer Explorers has any vested interest in any of the sites listed on this page. Librarians and teachers are permitted to copy this page for non-profit use. To report a bad link, use this form, or contact us. Copyright 2018, Children's Technology Review.

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What’s four times bigger than the Titanic and can carry almost 8,000 people? Here are some sites and videos to help you learn more about some amazing vacation machines, also known as cruise ships.

1. Can you name the world’s largest cruise ship?  At http://bit.ly/1y8jyFq you can see facts and pictures of the two largest ships: Allure of the Seas and Oasis of the Seas. Both are 300 ft longer than the Titanic and four times heavier. Each can house, feed and entertain 7,800 people. Here’s a list of the 11 largest ships http://read.bi/1B0QFMw, plus a link to news about a third giant ship in production http://bitly.com/1z5O6EE.

2. What does an elephant and a cruise ship have in common? At http://bit.ly/1oDKARR you’ll learn that both can carry you at about the same speed, but an elephant is a lot less fun to ride.

3. What kind of mileage does a cruise ship get?  At http://bitly.com/1z5NHlz you learn that a large cruise ship goes about 50 ft per gallon, and it burns about 26,700 gallons of fuel each day it is used.

4. What can a child do on a cruise ship? At http://bitly.com/1tqP3DW and http://bit.ly/1tzp9wL you can see a list activities for children that includes bowling, water slides, bumper cars, surfing simulators and outdoor movies. On some theme cruises, you can meet characters from Shrek, Nick Jr. and Dr. Seuss.

5. What’s it like to be the Captain of a cruise ship? At http://ab.co/1tqPrlG you can meet a cruise ship captain and find out what it takes to become one. You’ll learn the job is a lot more about managing, and a lot less about steering.

APPLICATION

1. TRACK A SHIP Want to see where the Oasis of the Sea is — right now? Use the Vessel Finder which shows the ship’s current location on a map. http://bitly.com/15LnSyt

2. BUILD A CRUISE SHIP IN MINECRAFT At http://youtu.be/ux8EyVBRkBA you can take a tour of a cruise ship created entirely in Mincraft.

———————————————————————————————————————————————— LittleClickers.com (this page and the associated web site) is sponsored by Computer Explorers. Neither Children’s Technology Review (publisher of LittleClickers) or Computer Explorers has any vested interest in any of the sites listed on this page. Librarians and teachers are permitted to copy this page for non-profit use. To report a bad link, use this form, or contact us. Copyright 2018, Children's Technology Review.

Want to learn about fish? Try visiting these cool sites for fish-themed pictures, videos, games and activities.

See Dragons of the Deep– Leafy Sea Dragons are amazing creatures that look like little floating dragons. This site gives you lots of cool pictures and information. http://divegallery.com/Leafy_Sea_Dragon.htm

Tour an Aquarium–in Hawaii!

http://www.waquarium.org/

You can visit the Waikiki Aquarium without leaving your house! This virtual tour takes you to dozens of exhibits where you can learn about all kinds of water life.

Name that Fish

http://www.austmus.gov.au/fishes/

This site from the Australian Fish Museum has lots of pictures and activities. We liked the Identify- A-Fish game.

Visit the UK National Aquarium

www.national-aquarium.co.uk/behindthescenes/

Want to see the grocery list needed to feed all the fish at this United Kingdom aquarium? This site lets you take a peek behind the scenes of daily life at an aquarium.

Set Up Your Own Fish Tank

www.seaworld.org/infobooks/Aquarium/Aquarium.html

If you’re getting ready to set up your own aquarium, this site has lots of useful tips and information.

One of the best things about a visit to the beach is that you never know what the sea is hiding. For example, one day in 2002, some beachcombers stumbled upon a squid that measured 60 feet long! That’s longer than a school bus. You can read the news coverage at http://archives.cnn.com/2002/TECH/science/07/22/australia.squid/. For this issue of LittleClickers, we answer some common questions about the wonders of the sea using the Internet. Have a look!

What are the world’s largest fish?

Visit http://www.nefsc.noaa.gov/faq/fishfaq1.html and http://www.elbert.k12.ga.us/showcase/sreid/home/fish.html.
Answer: The whale shark — which is a fish and not a mammel like a whale — can grow to be moe than 50 feet long. Coming second place is another member of the shark family, called the Basking Shark, which feeds on plankton by straining water through large comb-like structures in the gills. Both fish are harmless to humans.

What animal has the largest eyes?
A) an elephant
B) the giant squid
C) a horse

Visit http://www3.nationalgeographic.com/animals/invertebrates/giant-squid.html where you’ll learn that the giant squid is a meat-eating mollusk that is actually related to a snail. It has a beak-like mouth that is strong enough to cut through a steel cable, and because it lives in very deep, dark water, it needs large eyes that can grow up to 10 inches in diameter. That’s the size of a plate!

How tall is the world’s largest standing sand structure?

A) 5 feet

B) 10 feet

C) over 20 feet

See the photos at http://www.harrisand.org/guinness_world_records.htm where you can learn about a sand-building contest where the winners sculpted a 21-foot-tall Christmas Tree is 86 hours.

How long is the world’s largest ship?

Visit http://www.ayrshirescotland.com/ships/jahre.html and http://www.vincelewis.net/viking.html. The oil tanker Nock Nevis (also called the Jahre Viking and Seawise Guant) is really big. It was built in 1981 in Japan, and it is 1,504 feet long with one giant propeller that is 30 feet wide! By comparison, the Titanic was only 882 feet long.

T/F: Do fish talk?

It turns out that they do, if you count snaps, clicks and grunts as talking. Fish also use chemical odors (or pheromones) and electrical signals. Have a listen for yourself, at http://www.fishecology.org/soniferous/sound_demo.htm (click on “sample” under each drawing for the sound that fish makes)

How Much Do You Know About
ICEBERGS?

Want hear an iceberg sing?
How about watching one explode when a cruise ship runs into it?
A good way to start learning about icebergs is to visit this month’s YouTube playlist, with ten iceberg-related videos:
http://www.youtube.com/view_play_list?p=7F0F9570F20AC686

1. How big was the iceberg that stopped the Titanic?

According to http://www.titanic-nautical.com/RMS-Titanic-Iceberg-FAQ.html, the exact size of the famous iceberg will never be known, but it was estimated to be about 50 to 100 feet high and 200 to 400 feet long. Learn more at http://express.howstuffworks.com/wq-iceberg.htm.

2. What does it mean when an iceberg “calves”?

It has nothing to do with cows, but if glaciers had babies, they would be icebergs. According to http://pubs.usgs.gov/of/2004/1216/glaciertypes/glaciertypes.html, an iceberg is calved when part of a glacier falls into the ocean.

3. How much is “the tip of an iceberg?” (How much of an iceberg is above water?)

According to http://bit.ly/4M6LSl (www.coolantarctica.com) “the tip of the iceberg” can vary between 50% to 99% of the total size of the berg. That’s because bubbles of air might be trapped in the ice, causing it to rise out of the water. This can also make it unstable.

4. T/F: Water from a melted iceberg would taste salty.

False. According to http://oceanworld.tamu.edu/students/iceberg/index.html, icebergs come from snow, which is fresh water. You could break off a chunk of an iceberg and drink it, and if you were stuck on an iceberg, at least you wouldn’t die of thirst. After you’ve explored the pages on this site, take their interactive quiz to see what else you’ve learned about icebergs: http://oceanworld.tamu.edu/students/iceberg/iceberg_quiz.htm.

5. How big can an iceberg get?

Really big. Visit http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/IOTD/view.php?id=3955, where you can see photos of an iceberg named B-15 that was about the size of Long Island, NY. During a storm in 2000, it broke away from Antarctica and started floating, blocking shipping lanes and penguin migration routes. You can see other giant icebergs from satellites, at http://www.avistadegoogle.com/88/15/Iceberg and http://bit.ly/8K1Khn.

6. How fast do icebergs move?

Generally, really slow according to http://www.icebergfinder.com/iceberg-guide/iceberg-faq.aspx#a5. The average drift speed is about as fast as you can walk, but can be affected by winds or currents.

7. What is the Cryospher, and why should you care?

The Cryospher refers to the part of the earth that is below freezing. It is important to watch because the size of the earth’s ice caps tell us if the earth’s temperature is changing. Learn more at http://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/goto?3619 or watch the YouTube video at right.

Learning Links About

Oil is something we use every day, but seldom think about. Without it, we couldn’t drive our car or have LEGOs, because they’re made of plastic, which comes from oil. How much do you know about this ancient, magical substance?

1. Where does the gasoline in our car come from?
a) Dead plants and animals that lived on the Earth, millions of years ago.
b) A distillery.
c) It might be imported from half way around the world.
d) All of the above.

Find out with this Shell Oil video: http://bit.ly/9LrUjU. Oil is made up of dead plants and animals many millions of years old. Before it can be used in your car, it has to be distilled.

2. Which country uses the most oil, per person?
A) China
B) The United States
C) Canada

The United States is the world leader in oil consumption. Find out at http://bit.ly/aKbXoD.

3. If a puddle of gasoline catches on fire, what’s the best way to put it out?
a) Spray it with water
b) Use a special fire “Type B” fire extinguisher, or smother it with a wet cloth. But don’t throw water on it.

B. Find out at http://www.fire-extinguisher101.com.

4. In the Gulf of Mexico, how many miles down do you have to drill before you find oil?
a) 1 mile
b) 5 miles
c) 15 miles

It depends, but the deep water rigs go between 3 and 5 miles down. That doesn’t count a mile of ice cold salt water! Find out at http://bit.ly/9lnKMG (Wired Magazine).

5. How big is the BP Oil Spill of 2010?

Visit the EPA’s page on the BP spill, http://www.epa.gov/bpspill/ to see some photos of the world’s largest oil spill. You can also find some ongoing coverage at National Geographic, http://channel.nationalgeographic.com/episode/gulf-oil-spill-5488/Overview#tab-Photos/0. You can see the giant slick from the sky.

6. How many oil rigs are in the Gulf of Mexico?
a) 360
b) 4000
c) 50
d) 9000

There are about 4000 off shore oil rigs in the Gulf of Mexico. Not all are active. Find out at http://bit.ly/dwtGAF.

YouTube videos.

Want to watch a whale sniff an oil drill or know what it’s like to live on an oil rig? Click on the  video to find a dozen pre-selected YouTube videos that deal with oil. You’ll see
some pretty cool things!

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1. Which is greater, the highest mountain or the deepest ocean? The ocean wins. If the highest mountain, Mount Everest, were placed on the floor of Challenger Deep (part of the Mariana Trench), there would still be over one mile of water piled on top, according to http://visual.ly/tallest-mountain-deepest-ocean-trench.  You can also see some satellite photos at Google Earth Blog.

2. When was the first American military submarine made?  The Turtle was built in 1775 to break the British naval blockade in the New York Harbor.

It had a hand-driven propeller. Learn more at the U.S. Chief of Naval Operations Submarine Warfare Division’s Submarine Technology Through the Years website.

3. TRUE/FALSE:  A submarine can go under the North Pole.  At subguru.com you learn about the Nautilus, a nuclear submarine that was the first to go under the North Pole.

4. How much does a submarine cost? At least as much as a very nice car, for even the cheapest model. At International VentureCraft Corporation  you can buy a Sportsub kit for about $50,000. You should know how to scuba dive before you use one.

APPLICATION: Does it float or sink?  At How Stuff Works.com, you can learn more about how subs use a “ballast” to go up or down (float or sink).  Get a ball of clay and put it in a bucket. It will sink. But make it into a hollow ball, and you can see how the same substance, of the same weight, will float.

Go inside a submarine.

There are 25 submarine museums located in the USA. First visit SubmarineMuseums.org and see if there’s one near you. Next, bug your mom or dad to take you.

Make a submarine.  If you’re really serious about your submarine experience, visit Submarineboat.com and get the instructions on how you can build your own working submarine.

Submarine Videos!  Visit Children’s Technology Review’s playlist (below), to view select YouTube videos based on topics in this month’s column.

———————————————————————————————————————————————— LittleClickers.com (this page and the associated web site) is sponsored by Computer Explorers. Neither Children’s Technology Review (publisher of LittleClickers) or Computer Explorers has any vested interest in any of the sites listed on this page. Librarians and teachers are permitted to copy this page for non-profit use. To report a bad link, use this form, or contact us. Copyright 2018, Children's Technology Review.