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Want to see what it looks like when you jump out of an airplane? Thanks to a new generation of cheap, rugged digital cameras it’s easy to find some amazing views, including the view from the back of a bird. Let’s learn these cameras, and watch some amazing videos.

1. Who invented the GoPro? Meet Nick Woodman, a surfer in search of a better way to capture his rides. He tells the story that led to his invention at http://bit.ly/1pozQHB.

2. Can you put your action camera inside a washing machine?  You bet! They have no moving parts and waterproof cases. We found more crazy uses for action cams, including the view from a hula hoop, at http://bit.ly/213Nqy4

3. How far can an Action Camera fall, and still survive? At https://youtu.be/aU-KvtA20v8 you can see what happens when a camera falls out of an airplane.

4. How much does an Action Camera cost?  Here are two options that vary in price. Both save their videos on tiny micro SD cards that cost about $20 for 64 GB (about 2 hours of HD video).

1. Kidizoom Action Cam ($50, VTech) comes with a waterproof container. You won’t get HD footage, but you won’t pay as much either. See http://bitly.com/1W2yVLb
2. The GoPro Hero 4 Silver ($350, GoPro) is the most famous action camera. Most of the videos you see on YouTube were captured with this camera http://bitly.com/1TqWdV2.

———————————————————————————————————————————————— 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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1. Who has the most famous drum? At http://bitly.com/1JviT22 you can learn all the facts about Purdue’s monster-sized drum. It’s 10 feet tall and it takes four marchers to move it.

2. How many apples can a marching band eat? We’re not sure, but at http://bit.ly/1gXiCNu you learn that the Fighting Irish Marching Band ate 2,742 apples during home games last year. This band is noteworthy for another reason: it was founded in 1846, making it the oldest marching band.

3. What is the “Skeeter Rabbit,” and who does it? That’s one of the dance moves that belongs to the Grambling Marching Tigers, one of the funkiest marching bands in the world. Learn more at http://bitly.com/1LRpGZQ

4. Which band is the the biggest? According to Wonderopolis http://bit.ly/1EClh52, the Allen High School marching band in Texas puts up to 800 people on the field at the same time.

5. Which band has the most famous dot? At http://bitly.com/1FgcJky you learn how one lucky tuba player gets to be the dot of the Script “i” in the world Ohio. Watch CNN tell the story, at http://bitly.com/1L0OlFn

———————————————————————————————————————————————— 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.

How long can you tread water, swim, or hold your breath?  What’s the fastest swimming living creature?  Here are some interesting sites and videos that have the answers, and you’ll never even get wet. Remember that all watersports, especially diving, can be dangerous, so never swim or dive alone.

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1. What animal is the world’s fastest swimmer?  At livescience.com http://bit.ly/1korc9a we learn that award goes to a 10 foot long sailfish, who can swim about the same speed most cars go down Garden State Parkway — about 68 miles per hour! Think you could out-swim a sailfish? If you put this speedy fish in a pool to swim a 200-meter race, he could do it in less than 10 seconds. Olympic gold-medalist Michael Phelps takes 1.42 minutes for the same distance at 4.7 miles per hour.

2. What is the sport “free diving” about? At http://www.aidainternational.org you can learn about athletes who compete to see how far they can dive under the water on a single breath. The world record is nearly three football fields deep. This sport can be very dangerous.

3. What is deepest free dive ever? Meet Austrian diver Herbert Nitsch http://www.herbertnitsch.com who can dive over 200 meters straight down which means holding his breath for almost 9 minutes!  At http://bit.ly/1un7xKQ you can read about the 5 deepest free dives ever completed.

4. How long can a human hold his or her breath? At http://bit.ly/1nCizXw you can learn about Croatian freediver Goran Colak who broke the Guinness World Record by holding his breath for 22 minutes and 30 seconds. But he cheated, sort of. He didn’t use regular air. He did something very dangerous and took a deep gulp of pure oxygen.

5. Who made the longest swim without flippers? According to the Guinness Book of World Records (per this obituary http://bit.ly/XnGmB7) Veljko Rogošić holds this record with a record breaking 50 hour swim, without flippers.

A RIDDLE: Two people fall off a cruise ship in the ocean. One is fat and the other is skinny. How long will they be able to tread water?  According to http://bit.ly/1oQpxsI the answer for most people is about 30 minutes. The answer depends on many factors. Are you a good swimmer? Is the water cold? How much body fat do you have?  Body fat makes you float better, so a skinny person will sink faster. In a warm Caribbean sea, a person in good shape could tread water for much longer, in part because they’d be more buoyant in the salty ocean water.

———————————————————————————————————————————————— 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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Every 4th winter, the world’s best snowboarders, skiers, skaters and sledders migrate to the frozen parts of the world to find out who deserves the gold medal. This year, they’re all going to a small town in Russia — Sochi, for the Winter Olympics. At http://www.sochi2014.com/en you can see the schedule and learn about the athletes, but that’s just the beginning. Let’s test your knowledge about the Winter Olympics and then watch some videos from prior Winter Olympics.

1. T/F Tropical countries don’t compete in the winter Olympics. Answer: False. There are athletes from Jamaica and the Virgin Islands listed on the roster, at http://bit.ly/1e84fgM

2. Which country has the most Winter Olympics medals?  Hint. It’s not the USA, Russia or China. The answer is at http://bit.ly/1f0MrZ3.

3. How many Winter Olympic sports are there? The answer is at http://bit.ly/1jiRrM3. Hint, there’s not nearly as many as the Summer Olympics, and the fraction 15/41 is a clue. Also, you should know that there are eight new sports at this year’s Olympics, listed here http://bit.ly/1mmaFxk.

4. If you win a gold medal, is it really gold? At http://cnnmon.ie/1jpS7PM you learn that, by weight, a “gold” medal is a mixture of metals; mostly silver. It is coated with real gold. The real value of a gold medal is symbolic.

5. Can a kid enter the Olympics?  According to Yun Mi Kim of Korea, the answer is yes. She was 13 when she won her speed skating gold medal. At http://bit.ly/1mmb82u you can learn the ages of all past medal winners, young and old.

Applications

Make a torch at http://bit.ly/LJopay

Try some Olympic trivia at http://bit.ly/1dOySeL and http://bit.ly/1e9vKcA

Follow the news on twitter by following tweets by NBC Sports at #NBCOlympics

———————————————————————————————————————————————— 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.

What game originated in China, and has been called the most popular sport in the world? We’re talking about soccer, my friends. Because the month of June falls in the thick of soccer season, let’s take a moment and learn more about this game.

1. Why do some people mix up the words “soccer” and “football?” At Slate http://slate.me/17aAWv you learn the modern edition of soccer started 100 years ago during the English boarding-school athletics craze. Back then it was called “Association Football.” This was commonly referred to as Assoc, and people who played it were referred to as soccers.When the sport migrated to America, the word Football was already being used, so it became known as soccer.

2. How are soccer balls made? At http://howisitmade.org/how-are-soccer-balls-made/ you can learn that the first soccer balls were made out of an inflated pig bladder. Today they are made in factores out of rubber or synthetic leather.

3. What country makes the most soccer balls? At made-in-china.com http://bit.ly/ZiD7s7 you can see a listing of the current soccer ball brands. An expert soccer ball sewer can make between 3-4 balls a day.

4. Who holds the record for the most goals scored in a game? At Sports Addiction http://bit.ly/ZiDt27 you learn that Archie Thompson http://bit.ly/142Pf2d scored 13 goals in one game. It was a FIFA game between Australia and American Samoa.

5. Can a goalkeeper score a goal? Yes! At FTB Pro http://bit.ly/17DCoYa you can watch the top 5 scoring goalkeepers at work– scoring goals unstead of defending against them. Goalkeepers are allowed to take penalties or free kicks, or even leave the goal box open to play on the field. With luck, skill and a good wind, goalies can score goals, too. Here’s another example http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Sq8Csw09kpY

6. Who is Mia Hamm? At http://www.soccermaniak.com/mia-hamm-biography.html see how a girl started playing soccer at age 5, after watching her older brother. Today she holds the goal scoring record, with 158 goals. Her name is Mia Hamm and she’s one of the most famous female soccer players.

7. What is the Golden Boot? Is it made out of real gold? At http://www.eurotopfoot.com/soulierdorhistorique.php3 you learn that the golden boot (or shoe) is a soccer trophy given to the player with the most goals. We’re not sure if the shoe is made of solid gold, but we can tell you that the World Cup trophy is (see http://bit.ly/ZyeiLa) which is why it is protected by bullet proof glass.

8. Are baseball cleats and soccer cleats the same? At Soccer for Parents http://bit.ly/11GYPbL you learn that you can wear a soccer cleat for baseball, but not a baseball cleat for soccer. Why? Baseball shoes have an extra toe cleat, so they’re not as good for extending running.

APPLICATION

How do I  juggle a soccer ball?

At Wikihow http://bit.ly/15jxnQe you learn these steps:

1.Hold the ball out in front of you with both hands and drop it onto the pavement for a bounce.

2.After the bounce, tap the ball back up to your hands with the shoelace or instep part your foot.

3.Catch the ball and repeat several times with each foot.

Select Videos About Soccer Here are some videos about Soccer at http://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLcBVHzUUEKwl54jmpunNuPwWOcFOcCTLB

———————————————————————————————————————————————— 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.

Citius, Altius, Fortius (Faster, Higher, Stronger). To an Olympic athlete, these three words remind them to give his or her best during competition, knowing that their effort is a victory in itself.

It’s time again for the Olympic Games! The XXIX Olympiad begins in Beijing, China, on 08-08-08. Here are some links related to this amazing international celebration

What’s the weather like — right now — in Beijing, China, where the Olympics will take place this summer (2008)?

Can’t get to China? You can online! Visit http://en.beijing2008.cn/ and you can find the current weather, time, and other facts about this year’s summer games. You can download your own screensaver or wallpaper, and see photos of some of the athletes who will be participating, like US Sprinter Tyson Gay, at http://photo.beijing2008.cn/en.

When and where were the first Olympics?

See http://www.historyforkids.org/learn/greeks/games/olympics.htm. Athens, Greece, was host to the first modern Olympic Summer Games in 1896. The first games were held in ancient Greece in 776 B.C. to honor the Greek gods. Find out more how the ancient games also marked a period of peace for the often warring Greeks. (This site has advertising.)

What do the five interlocking rings mean?

According to http://www.janecky.com/olympics/rings.html, the five rings represent the five major regions of the world: Africa, the Americas, Asia, Europe, and Oceania. The five colors of the rings, which always appear in the same order, are, from top to bottom and left to right: blue, black, red, yellow and green.

How do Olympic torches work, travel and stay lit?

At http://entertainment.howstuffworks.com/olympic-torch6.htm, you learn that the torch symbolizes spirit, knowledge and life. It is delivered from Greece to the host country, and must stay lit the entire way! It all starts in Olympia (Greece), where a flame is ignited by the sun rays reflected off a curved mirror, and then kept burning until the closing of the Olympic Games. Women dressed in robes, resembling those worn in ancient times, light the flame and pass the torch to the first runner in the Olympic Torch relay that ends in the host country (this year, China). (This site has advertising).

Which athlete won the most gold medals?

See http://sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/chronicle/archive/2002/09/22/LV47585.DTL, and you’ll learn that USA speed skater Eric Heiden won five individual (not team) gold medals during the 1980 Winter Olympic Games in Lake Placid, NY. Twenty-eight years later, no one has matched or beaten that record. Today, Eric, or Dr. Heiden, is an orthopedic surgeon who lives in California.

Is there a list of all Olympic medalists from over the years?

Yes. See http://www.olympicgameswinners.com/#, and you can research all the medal winners of each Olympiad.

True or False: Tug-of-War used to be an Olympic Sport.

True. Visit http://www.olympic.org/uk/sports/index_uk.asp where you can see a list of all of the games that are played at the Olympics, as well as those that were phased out, like the tug-of-war. If you have the time, keep poking around on this site. There’s a lot to explore.