Helpdesk
Q: I am sure you will be getting this suggestion from many others after your column on saying ink. But just in case: Changing the print option under printer preferences from “Plain Paper - Best Quality” to “Plain Paper - Fast Draft Quality” will save a lot of ink (about double). Using this option I see no difference in the quality of letters or spread sheets and minimal differences when printing pictures to review as proofs. The option can be changed back for the final print if needed. Once changed under tools or the printers options it remains the default.
Anthony “Tony” F. Smith
A: Thanks Tony, it’s a great tip and one that I should have mentioned in my column.
Send questions to Bill Husted at tecbud@bellsouth.net
Hungary, Belgium, Ireland, Poland, China, Slovenia, United Kingdom, Switzerland, Germany, Liechtenstein, Taipei, Netherlands, Australia, Estonia, Canada, New Zealand, Korea, Japan, Singapore, Hong King, Finland, China.
That’s a list of countries that rank ahead of the U.S. compared to how secondary education students performed in science in 2009. The study comes from the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development.
You may be surprised – after that lead in – that today’s topic is holiday gifts. Today we are going to talk about educational toys and kits that help develop science skills. When I grew up scientific toys were common holiday gifts – Erector sets, chemistry sets, electronic projects and microscope gifts all fit comfortably under the tree. But gifts like that are rare now. I’ll try to do something about that.
Listen Up
Kits that can be built as a family project – parent and child – are great ideas. You get more bang for your money that way – besides the educational experience for the child, the joint project is a great way to bond and spend time together. I suggest constructing a shortwave receiver. That way, once the building is done, using the radio and the stations it receive continue the learning process. An American company called Ten-Tec offers a fairly simple radio, the Model 1253 9-band regenerative shortwave receiver kit. It sells for $93 and can be found on the Ten-Tec website at www.tentec.com.
Regenerative radios are fairly crude compared to today’s technology. But this one works fairly well. And while you could buy an off-the-shelf radio that works better, the idea here is to create something with your own hands.
No small thing
I’ve already mentioned microscopes. Using one opens up an entirely new and mysterious world that only appears under magnification. But most gift-quality microscopes are really cheap pieces of junk. And that includes the microscope sets from my childhood.
But, for just $75, you can purchase a microscope that performs. And it allows both monocular and stereo viewing. The kit comes with everything needed to get started including slides, staining solutions that help your sample stand out, forceps, Petri dish and more. It's called my First Lab Duo Scope and can be found on this website: www.labessentials.com/holiday_shopping_guide.htm.
A physical thing
While microscope and chemistry sets have been around forever, physics gets neglected when it comes to kits designed for young people. But there is one – reasonably priced too – that you may want to consider. It can be found at the www.ramseyelectronics.com site.
Your young scientist will explore the way sound waves, water pressure and gases work. There are more than 200 activities possible with this kit. And the cost makes it easy to try – just $27.95. But let’s say that the notion of a physics kit doesn’t fit your needs. Visit the website anyway. You’ll find chemistry sets, electronic projects and more there. And Ramsey has been around a long time so it’s a trusted merchant that should deliver what it promises.
Only for those who compute
Assembling you own computer is a great learning experience. But you need to understand that buying a kit won’t be less expensive that buying a read-to-go computer. So the idea here is that once the computer has been assembled there innards of a computer won’t be a mystery anymore. And – by assembling your own computer – you will know enough to fix hardware problems on any computer, not just the one you built.
This is another gift that should be a family project. There are many computer kits out there, but start by looking at the what Tiger Direct calls barebone kits. You'll find them on the company's website at www.tigerdirect.com/.
Just as is true with the computers you buy at the store, the prices vary based on the power and storage offered by the computer. So you can spend as little as about $200 or as much as nearly $1,000.
I’ve offered just a sampling of what’s out there when it comes to education kits and toys. You can use your favorite search engine to find almost endless options. Start with a search phrase such as – educational science kits – and gear your purchases to the age and preferences of your recipient.
Your gift can result in a gifted child.
Don’t believe me, here’s a quote about kit building from a guy who profited from putting them together as a child. The name is Steve Jobs and here’s what he said:
“You’d actually build this thing yourself. I would say that this gave one several things. It gave an understanding of what was inside a finished product … these things were not mysteries anymore. It gave a tremendous level of self-confidence that through exploration and learning one could understand seemingly very complex things.”
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