National Geographic News

Here's the latest newsletter from National Geographic.

Planets Align for the 4th of July

I hope that I remember to check this one out while we are watching the fireworks.

News Flash: On 4th of July weekend, NASA forecasts lights in the sky.

No, not those lights. Look beyond the fireworks. Almost halfway up the western sky, just above the twilight glow of sunset, a trio of worlds is gathering: Saturn, Mars and the crescent Moon.

See the full article and information posted yesterday Nasa.gov.

Sonic Boom

Wow. I did not know that.

Discovery Channels's Boom-De-Yada

Go Mike Rowe! Here at Arconati Kid's Korner, we love the Discovery Channel and we hope you do too!

Book: 100 Top Children's Movies

In our house, we love movies. But it's sometimes difficult to pick new and interesting choices for family-friendly viewing from the rack of new releases. However, the good news is that there are many great classics available in other sections that would make great choices. Some of them may not even be in the kid's section or immediately obvious choices.

In 'The New York Times Essential Library: Children's Movies' (Henry Holt and Company), film critic Peter M. Nichols looked beyond Disney and traditional forms of children's entertainment to assemble a collection of films that are stimulating for the whole family, including adults.

See the full list of 100 top children's movies.

Spirograph & More Spirographs

The Spirograph was one of my favorite art toys as a kid. Here's a digital version written as a Java Applet.

Created by Anu Garg.

A Spirograph is a curve formed by rolling a circle inside or outside of another circle. The pen is placed at any point on the rolling circle.

If you would like to get the analog version, you can find them on Amazon.com at the following two links.

• Craft Book and Kit (Board book)
• The Spiral Draw Book (Klutz) (Spiral-bound)

Opportunity cost - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

You can learn a lot at Wikipedia. For instance,...

Opportunity cost is the cost (sacrifice) incurred by choosing one option over an alternative one that may be equally desired. Thus, opportunity cost is the cost of pursuing one choice instead of another. Every action has an opportunity cost. For example, someone who invests $10,000 in a stock denies oneself the interest that one can earn by leaving the $10,000 dollars in a bank account instead. Opportunity cost is not restricted to monetary or financial costs: the real cost of output forgone, lost time, pleasure or any other benefit that provides utility should also be considered.

Opportunity cost is a key concept in economics because it implies the choice between desirable, yet mutually exclusive results. It has been described as expressing 'the basic relationship between scarcity and choice.'

View the full entry about opportunity cost on Wikipedia.