Zooom!

See your house!

Amaze your friends by showing their houses with just a few keystrokes. Go to instantstreetview.com and then type in a street address that you know in the search box. In seconds, the house or building fitting that address will appear on the screen. If you then click on the Earth symbol at the top of the screen (near the middle), you’ll switch to Map mode and will see all the surrounding streets and landmarks.

Super Blood Wolf Moon Eclipse

The moon has always fascinated people. It’s 2,000 miles away and as it circles the earth, it goes through interesting changes throughout the year. By the way, did you know that the moon doesn’t shine on its own? When we see it shining in the sky, it’s really reflecting the light from the sun.

On Sunday, January 20, something special is going to happen, and it’s called the Super Blood Wolf Moon Eclipse. That’s a crazy name and it means that there will be a combination total lunar eclipse and supermoon. Let’s look at each one:

What is a lunar eclipse? First off, the moon circles the earth while the earth circles the sun. The sun shines on both the earth and the moon, and that creates shadows. You can create the same type of shadow if you shine a flashlight in front of just about anything. It will create a shadow on the other side. A couple of times a year, as the moon circles the earth, it passes through the earth’s shadow. If only part of the moon passes through our shadow, we call it a partial eclipse; but on January 20, the entire moon will pass through our shadow, so it will be a total lunar eclipse (lunar means moon). The moon will take on a reddish-brown color.

What is a supermoon? First off, we have to realize that the moon has many “phases.” We can’t always see the entire moon. The moon is in darkness because it doesn’t have its own light—so we can only see the part that the sun illuminates. People like to point out the full moon, and that’s when we can see the entire roundness of the moon. But it’s more common to see just part of the moon, from 1/4, to half, to 3/4, and then full, all during the course of one month. The moon doesn’t travel around the earth in a perfect circle; there are times when it gets closer and then moves farther away. A supermoon happens when the sunlight hits the moon just right, making it a full moon at the exact time it’s closest to the earth. This only happens three or four times a year.

So now that we know what a total lunar eclipse and supermoon are, what’s with the Super Blood Wolf Moon Eclipse? Blood refers to the reddish-brown color of the moon during the total eclipse. Wolf Moon refers to one of the native American names for the January moon (many native American nations gave a special name to the moon every month).

If you want to see the Super Blood Wolf Moon Eclipse through huge telescopes on that Sunday night/Monday morning, you’ll have to go to the Morehead Planetarium (250 E Franklin St, in Chapel Hill). They’ll be outside watching the eclipse from 10:30pm to 12:30am. That’s really late for most families to be out, so if you’re allowed to stay up late, you’ll still be able to see the eclipse if the skies are clear that night. Unlike solar eclipses, it’s safe to watch lunar eclipses without special glasses. If you take a nice photo of the eclipse, send it to us at durhamskywriter@gmail.com, and we’ll post it in the Durham Skywriter.

Fun with balloons

Here are some games you can play with balloons either inside or outside. Have fun with your friends!

THE BALLOON CATCH DANCE

You’ll need: a bunch of kids • 1 blown-up balloon • a radio or something else that plays music (and someone to turn the music on and off)

Play the music, and while the music is playing, the kids should pass the balloon around. Then stop the music suddenly! The kid holding the balloon when the music stops should call out the name of one of the other kids and throw the balloon in the air. That kid needs to catch the balloon before it hits the ground. But if he doesn’t, he’s out and the game begins again.

THE BALLOON WADDLE RACE

You’ll need: kids • 1 blown-up balloon for each kid

You can play this game anywhere. Decide where the starting line and the finish line is. The kids line up along the starting line and then place a balloon between their knees. They’re going to look so funny as they struggle to keep the balloon between their knees as they race to the finish line! If you have lots of kids, like in a summer camp, you can do this as a relay race. For example, you might have, instead of 5 individual kids, you might have 5 lines of kids with 3 or 4 kids in each line. So when the first kid runs to the finish line, he or she will then run back and hand the balloon to the next kid in line.

TIDY BALLOON GAME

You’ll need: kids • a bunch of blown-up balloons • 1 pool noodle for each kid • 1 big empty box or laundry basket

Place the empty box or basket in the middle of the floor, and then surround it with the balloons. Then give each kid a pool noodle. Then on the word “GO!” the kids need to put the balloons into the box or basket using only the pool noodle. If they use their hands, feet, or bodies, they’re disqualified—but they can work as partners if they want to.

THE SPELL-IT GAME

You’ll need: a bunch of kids • a bunch of blown-up balloons • a magic marker or Sharpie marker

Prepare the balloons in advance. After blowing up the balloons and tying knots to keep them inflated, take the marker and spell out words on the balloons (one letter per balloon). You probably won’t know how many kids will play this game, so keep the words short (like DOG, CAT, and BUG). When it’s time to play the game, shout GO! or blow a whistle and have the kids to grab one balloon each. Then they’ll have to run around and spell words with their balloons.

Do British grasshoppers like to watch soccer?
No, they’d much rather watch cricket!

If you had a zombie soccer player on your team, what position would he play?
Probably the ghoulie!

What runs around a soccer field but doesn’t move?
A fence!

Why didn’t the dog want to play soccer?
Because he was a boxer!

Why is it so hard to play soccer with pigs?
Because they keep hogging the ball!