Cut Out and Keep: Icosahedron Sun, Earth and Moon Mobile

It's the first Cut Out and Keep project! How cute is this Icosahedron Earth, Sun and Moon mobile! We love making stuff in the lab, so our new regular post 'Cut Out and Keep' will be different projects for you to print out and create.
An Icosahedron is a 20 sided 3 dimensional shape. Wowza.  

Instructions:
Including printing, allow yourself an hour for this project. I rate this as 3.5 tricky sticky sausages out of 5. Anyone can make it, but some of the gluing is abit tricky, so you will need a little patience.

You will need the following images. These files are saved as PNG files, alternatively comment with your email address and I can send you a PDF containing the files :)

Click the image, then right click and save
to your desktop for printing...

... and again...

... and one more time.

You will need

♥ Three sheets of A4 paper/ card ( To print out the Icosahedrons)

♥ Scissors

♥ Glue

♥ Ruler

♥ A piece of string/ wool. A length of 20"/ 50cm will be plenty.

Not got a printer? Email me at chopstitchcrafts@gmail.com with a postal address and I will send you out the images and a piece of string.

I use this handy dinosaur book as a cutting/gluing matt :)

First you want to print out all three Icosahedrons, full size A4 landscape, then chop them out with the scissors.

You only want to score/bend tab number 11 on all three Icosahedrons.

The tabs are numbered in order of gluing (Number are not shown on the images as I added these later)

 Start by adding a generous amount of glue to tab number one. Stick this tab to the tabless side across from tab number one. The image above shows how to do this. Continue gluing along until tab number 5.

 Your Sun should look like the first image. get your piece of string, leave enough length for hanging, then add a knot, slip this knot under the center of the Icosahedron, leaving it trailing underneath then glue tab 5 to the tabless side across, this last tab will pull the icosahedron into shape (as shown in the middle image). Turn the shape onto its side and glue tab 6 to the tabless side across.

 Turn the sun upside down, and continue gluing tabs, in numerical order from 7-10.

You will have tab number 11 remaining. pull the string up through the center, then glue tab 11 in place. This tab is quite tricky, this is why scoring this tab earlier came in hand, if its too tricky to glue, tuck it in so no one can see it. 

 Now start gluing the tabs on Earth until you get to number 5. Pop a Knot in the string as far down as you want the Earth to hang from the sun. then glue tab 5.

 Continue doing the same as you did for the sun, making sure you pull the string through the bottom center.
Follow the above instructions again for adding the Moon.

Only this time, when you get to gluing tab number 11, trim and took the remaining string inside the Moon.
Then pat yourself on the back for all your hard work.

Hope you enjoyed this Cut Out and Keep Project.

Send me a photo of your mobile to chopstitchcrafts@gmail.com, and I'll pop it on the blog :)

♥

Science Facts Thursday: Lead

We had a busy week last week, so unfortunately didn't get chance to update you on some Science facts.

This week we have lots of fun updates! What do you think of the spooky new theme?

We also bring you some science facts on Lead!

The scientific term for a metal that is stretchy is 'malleable' . It's not as stretchy as a Stretch Armstrong, but has a slight flex that can be a handy property for some uses.

Lead is poisonous! It damages the nervous system and can effect the brain.

Lead was once used in paints, pipping and petrol too. In paints it can increase drying time, durability and resist moisture. Quite handy, but due to the effects it can have on your health it is no longer used in most things.

In Alchemy planets are paired up with metals. Lead and Saturn are best buds.

In Greek mythology, Midas was a magical King that could turn anything to gold.  Sounds fun, but have you seen the skittles advert with the chap that turns anything into skittles just by touching it? At least you can eat skittles. There is a level on Tomb Raider, Palace Midas, where you collect 3 lead bars and turn them into gold on Midas's hands. If you have never played it, go get yourself a copy.
Here is what happens when Lara stands on Midas's hands.

Hope you enjoyed this weeks science facts!

Join us later this week where we have a  new regular post to announce!

♥

Brains of the Month: Sir Isaac Newton

There are lots of super brainy people out there, without these clever clogs we wouldn't have what we have today. So, every month we will have a different 'Brains of the Month' from scientists to mathematicians, right intelligent noggins.

This month we bring you Sir Isaac Newton.

I bet Isaac was really good at pub quiz's. You would definitely want him on your team. He is so clever, he invented gravity, well discovered the theory of gravity.

Here is what happened:

Isaac was enjoying an afternoon in the sunshine, when an apple fell on his head.

A quote Isaac famously said, meaning someone who discovers by building on previous discoveries.

What a brainy fellow, we give him 5 brains out out 5 for his contributions to science.

♥

Science Facts Thursday: Changes of State

It's science facts Thursday again!!

Ever had a chocolate bar that has melted to a mound of mush? Or attempted to make homemade stock to find all the water has vanished? What's going on? Well, science has the answer.

All substances can take form in any of the three* different states, solid, liquid or gas. However, at room temperature some of these will be solid and some will be liquid or gas. To change this you need to change certain things. Temperature and pressure.

Changes of state

Pressure and temperature are what effect the change of state. Air naturally presses down on Earth, this is called atmospheric pressure.
The higher up you go, the lower the atmospheric pressure, so boiling points are lower as it is easier for particles to move about.
The atmospheric pressure is why your ears 'pop' when you go up in an aeroplane.

Don't forget to join us next week for more science facts!

Keep your eyes peeled at Cosmos and Crayons, we have some exciting new post coming soon! Including Sunday Cut Out and Keeps, mini craft projects for you to print out and complete at home :)
♥

Science Facts Thursday: The Kinetic Theory

It's Science Facts Thursday again!

Last week we had a look at the structure of an Atom, this week the behaviour of particles within an atom.

Kinetic theory explains the behaviour of particles in solids, liquids and gases.

A substances is classed as a solid liquid or gas depending on what state it is in at room temperature,( 20 Degrees Celsius).

Join us next week for more science facts!

♥

Scouting for Ad Buddies

Help spread the word!

Cosmos and Crayons are on the lookout for fellow bloggers to swap ads with.

We are still fairly new to blogging, and still getting our heads around all the jargon, so we are offering two sizes to choose from free for a month, ideally if you can offer an add in similar size on your blog.

Currently we are taking ads in the following sizes.

250x150 Pixels

Image URL from my Photobucket account:

 http://i878.photobucket.com/albums/ab343/chopstitch/cosmosandcrayons250x150_zpsd396cc3a.jpg

250x100 Pixels

Image URL from my Photobucket account:

http://i878.photobucket.com/albums/ab343/chopstitch/cosmosandcrayons250x100_zps8ecb5ba4.jpg

If you need the Cosmos and Crayons ad in a different size to fit on your blog, let me know and I will make one up for you. 

So, if fancy an ad swap, pop me an email at chopstitchcrafts@gmail.com

♥

Science Facts Thursday: The Atomic Structure

Don't trust atoms, they make up everything!

It's science facts Thursday! A slightly delayed one, since we have been enjoying a little break and have been on lots of mini adventures, including a trip to the Museum of Science and Industry to see an exhibition on brains! More on that another time..

..This week we look at the structure of an atom. What is an atom? Everything is made up of atoms, everything, including your breakfast cereal to the smell of roses. They are super tiny too, so super tiny that in a single grain of sand there is close to 78 quintillion! (That's 78, 000, 000, 000, 000, 000, 000)

So what does an atom look like?

Not to scale.

The diagram above shows the structure of an atom. We used Carbon as an example. Carbon has 6 protons,  6 neutrons and 6 electrons with 2 shells.
The number of shells an atom has depends on the number of electrons.

This is where is gets complex. There are things called isotopes. These are variations of atoms of an element. For example, the diagram above shows a regular carbon atom, an isotope of carbon is 'carbon 14' which has two extra neutrons! This carbon atom is unstable and is radioactive! Think of it as the naughty identical twin.

Protons and Neutrons are best buds, and hang out in the nucleus.

The positive charge of the protons and the negative charge of the electrons in an atom keep everything stuck together by attracting one another. They also cancel out the electrical charge making an atom neutral .

Next week we look at the Kinetic Theory! In the meantime enjoy this song about atoms. ♥