IndyPL Blog

Crystals are made when a substance has atoms or molecules that form in a very organized, repeating, 3D pattern. When we think of crystals we often think of some well-known gemstones like diamonds or rubies. But there are some very common crystals too like sugar, ice, snowflakes, and salt.

Learn more about the naturally occurring crystal formation of snow and ice by reading Curious About Snow. Find out the science behind how snow crystals form, the stories of record setting snowstorms, and an introduction to the life and work of photographer Wilson Bentley. Bentley made it his life’s work to study and photograph snowflakes. It is because of Wilson Bentley that we know no two snowflakes are alike!

Enjoy Bentley’s fascinating biography, Snowflake Bentley. You know what is really amazing about him? He made his discoveries in the 1890s! He invented and used a special device that combined a microscope with a camera to capture his microscopic pictures. The book includes some of Bentley’s actual snow crystal photographs.

You can make a scientific observation yourself or do a crystal experiment at home by growing borax crystals. Borax is a laundry detergent booster. You can find borax in the laundry room at home or in the laundry detergent section at the grocery store.

What You Need to Grow Borax Crystals at Home

Try this experiment at home! You will need:

Glass Jar
Pencil or Pen
String
Pipe Cleaner
Borax
Pitcher
Measuring Cup
Tablespoon
Hot Tap Water
Piece of Yarn or Cotton String, about 6 inches long

Instructions for Growing Borax Crystals

Fill a pitcher with 3 cups hot tap water. (Not so hot that you can’t touch it!) Add 3 tablespoons of Borax for each cup of water. We used 3 cups of hot tap water and 9 tablespoons of Borax. A mason jar was a great container for this. Stir the mixture.

If all of the Borax dissolves, add a little more Borax and stir. Add Borax until the water can’t dissolve it anymore – the mixture is saturated. That means the water is holding as much of the Borax as it can. In fact, this solution is supersaturated, that means the water is holding even more Borax than it normally would because the water has been heated. Now pour this supersaturated solution in the glass jar.

Make a shape out of the pipe cleaners and tie one end of the string to it. We made a snowflake shape out of pipe cleaners to see if we could make a snowflake crystal. Tie the other end of the string to the middle of the pen. Hang the pipe cleaner shape down in the jar with the pen across the top of the jar to keep it from touching the bottom of the jar. Watch what happens in the jar over the next few weeks.

Here is what our crystals looked like after growing on the pipe cleaner snowflake for about 2 weeks. The secret to growing borax crystals is having a supersaturated solution.

Science Experiment Idea

Grow three different borax crystal snowflakes. You need three glass jars that are exactly alike. Fill one with cold tap water and one with hot tap water. Get an adult to help you fill the last jar with boiling water. Now add Borax a little a time to each jar until the Borax will not dissolve anymore. The warmer the water, the more Borax will dissolve in the water. That’s because heating the water helps it become supersaturated. Now add a pipe cleaner snowflake to each jar and compare the crystals that grow over the next couple of weeks. Which jar has the most crystals? Which jar has the largest crystals?

Websites, Activities & Printables

You can also ask a math and science expert for homework help by calling the Ask Rose Homework Hotline. They provide FREE math and science homework help to Indiana students in grades 6-12.

e-Books and Audiobooks

Use your indyPL Library Card to check out books about crystals at any of our locations, or check out e-books and audiobooks about crystals from OverDrive Kids right to your device! If you have never used OverDrive before, you can learn how to use e-books and learn how to use audiobooks.

Need more help? Ask a Library staff member at any of our locations or call, text or email Ask-a-Librarian. Additionally, the Tinker Station helpline at (317) 275-4500 is also available. It is staffed by device experts who can answer questions about how to read, watch and listen on a PC, tablet or phone.

Explore the Science of Crystals from Minerals to Gems to Snowflakes

Learn about the qualities and identifying characteristics of crystals, the amazing naturally occurring patterns that happen in both minerals and snowflakes. No two are exactly alike, and yet each one has a uniform and repeating pattern. You can study how crystals form by growing some of your own!

Tags Homework Help, Science Experiments

Matter can be a solid, a liquid, or a gas. Matter changes when you heat or cool it. When you heat a substance, its molecules move faster. As the water in a pot on the stove gets hotter, its molecules begin to move until the water is boiling. When you heat gases, the same thing happens. You can do a dramatic experiment with a bar of ivory soap to observe how heat can change matter.

What You Need

Bar of Soap that Floats (Ivory Soap does!)
Bowl of Water
Paper Plate
Microwave

Instructions

Break or cut the bar of soap into four pieces. Put the pieces on a paper plate and microwave for 1 minute. Watch the ivory soap through the microwave window.

As the soap molecules begin to heat up, the air bubbles move quickly away from each other, or expand. This is called If you roast a marshmallow, the same thing happens.

Science Experiment Idea

Choose different kinds of soap to see what will happen when they are heated up for one minute in the microwave. Heat each bar of soap up on the same kind of plate. Heat each bar for the same amount of time. The variable in this experiment is the soap, everything else has to be the same. Do the bars of soap each react the same way when they are heated up in the microwave? Why do you think so? For one soap, choose a brand that has air bubbles whipped into it, like Ivory soap. To test a bar of soap to see if it has air bubbles in it, float it in a bowl of water. A bar of soap will float if it has air bubble whipped into it.

Websites, Activities & Printables

You can also ask a math and science expert for homework help by calling the Ask Rose Homework Hotline. They provide FREE math and science homework help to Indiana students in grades 6-12.

e-Books and Audiobooks

Use your indyPL Library Card to check out books about Science Experiments at any of our locations, or check out science experiment e-books and audiobooks from OverDrive Kids right to your device! If you have never used OverDrive before, you can learn how to use e-books and learn how to use audiobooks.

Solids, Liquids and Gases – When Matter Feels the Heat!

What turns ice cubes into water? What makes the steam rise from a pot of boiling water? What exactly IS matter – and how can something be all three – a solid, liquid, or gas? Here some experiments to try at home to answer these questions and the science that explains what you see.

Title - Exploring Matter & Physical Changes

Title - The Solid Truth About States of Matter With Max Axiom, Super Scientist

Title - Solids, Liquids, Gases, and Plasma

Tags Homework Help, Science Experiments

A molecule is a group of atoms bonded together. Density is how close together the molecules of a substance are or how much mass a substance has in a given space. Buoyancy and density are related. Density affects how much an object might float, or be buoyant, or sink.

For example, if you have one cup of jelly beans and one cup of marshmallows, the jelly beans have more mass because there is more “stuff” compacted into the cup. The marshmallows have less mass because the molecules of marshmallows are NOT close together. Marshmallows are mostly air.

If you put each of those cups in a microwave to melt the jelly beans and the marshmallows, the sugar and water molecules that make up the jelly beans would almost fill the cup to the top. The sugar and water molecules that makes up the marshmallows would only fill the cup a little bit because marshmallows have less mass, they are mostly made of air. Materials with more density weigh more. A cup of jelly beans weighs more than a cup of marshmallows.

For an object to be buoyant, or float, it must have less density that what it is floating in, or, it has to have something attached to it that helps it float – like you with a life jacket on. You can make some interesting observations about density and buoyancy.

What You Need

Drinking Glass
Clear Soda
Water
Ten Raisins

Instructions

Fill one clear glass up with water and drop in five raisins. Fill another clear glass up with clear soda like sprite or 7up. Drop in five raisins. What happens when you drop the raisins in? What a few minutes – now what is happening to the raisins in each glass? Can you guess why the raisins are behaving differently?

Raisins are heavier than the water in the drinking glass. The raisins are also heavier than the soda in the drinking glass. At first, both sets of raisins sink to the bottom of the glass, they don’t float.

But the soda has little air bubbles in it – the carbonation. When there are enough of these little carbonated balloons (the bubbles) stuck to the raisins the bubbles lift the raisins to the surface making the raisin float. The bubbles are like little temporary life jackets! When the bubbles pop and the gas inside them escapes into the air…the raisins don’t have anything to help them float anymore and they sink to the bottom of the glass again.

Science Experiment Idea

Try putting other small objects in soda to see if the bubbles will attach to them and help them float to the surface of the soda. Try a penny, a toothpick, a peanut, or a skittle. Can you find something that the bubbles will float to the surface like the raisin?

Websites, Activities & Printables

You can also ask a math and science expert for homework help by calling the Ask Rose Homework Hotline. They provide FREE math and science homework help to Indiana students in grades 6-12.

e-Books & Audiobooks

The Science Magic of Floating – Buoyancy Explained

Books to help kids understand the science concept of density and how we see it at play when things float – both in the air and in water. Get ideas for science projects and information for the reports that are often required to go with them.

Tags Homework Help, Science Experiments

Have you ever put a coin in one of those wishing wells that is shaped like a giant funnel? The coin rolls around and around the sides of the funnel in smaller and smaller circles until it goes down the hole in the middle of the well. That coin is demonstrating centripetal force. Centripetal force is the force that pulls a thing toward the center of rotation….like the little whirlpool that forms when you drain the bathtub or like the Zinga Water Slide at Holiday World! Why IS that water slide called Zinga? Because in Swahili Zinga means “to move in a circular motion”. Lots of amusement park rides work because of the laws of physics. You can do the activity hex nut balloon to demonstrate centripetal force.

What You Need

Balloon
Hex Nut

Blow up a large balloon. Before you close the balloon, put a hex nut in it and then tie the end of the balloon closed. Hold the balloon between your hands and move it in a circular motion until the hex nut starts to roll around the inside of the balloon. Now stop moving the balloon and watch what happens to the hex nut. What you are seeing is centripetal force. The hex nut is on a circular path inside the balloon. Things that are moving in a curved or circular motion will slowly move toward the center of the circle, in this case, the bottom of the balloon. What sound does the hex nut make? How about a penny? A marble? Try them all and see how they behave the same or differently.

Websites, Activities & Printables

You can also ask a math and science expert for homework help by calling the Ask Rose Homework Hotline. They provide FREE math and science homework help to Indiana students in grades 6-12.

e-Books and Audiobooks

Move It! How Things Roll, Slide & Fly – the Science of Forces and Motion

Learn about the physics basics that explain how forces move things on earth. Speed, acceleration, push, pull, inertia, and friction are just some of the concepts covered. Find out the basics that explain how your bicycle works as well as the creative use of these same physics principles that result in the thrill of roller coasters.

Title - Super Cool Forces and Motion Activities With Max Axiom

Title - A Crash Course in Forces and Motion With Max Axiom, Super Scientist

Tags Homework Help, Science Experiments

If you mix one substance with another substance you get a mixture. Lemonade would be an example. Or cookie dough! Pen ink is also a mixture. It has more than one substance in it. In this experiment you will see that it is possible to UNmix a mixture too. This is called chromatography. Chromatography is separating the parts of a mixture so that you can see each one by itself. Try this activity to observe black ink chromatography.

Watch the video below to see a demonstration of chromatography using some simple items you can find at home. Then try it yourself with paper towels and markers. In this experiment you will find out something surprising about what mixes together to make black ink!

What You Need

What You Need:

Paper Towel or Coffee Filter
Bowl
Water
Several different kinds of black markers

Instructions

Cut strips from the paper towel about 1 inch wide – one for each type of marker. Scribble across the bottom of one of the paper towel strips with each kind of marker. Scribble about one inch from one end of the paper towel strip. Tape the OTHER end of the strip to the maker you used to scribble on that strip. That will help you remember which marker goes with each paper towel strip.

Now hang the paper towel strips above the bowl of water so that only a little bit of the scribble end is in the water. Do not submerge the pen scribbles! Check on the paper towels in an hour. What has happened to the pen marks?

What you see happening on the paper towel strips is chromatography. The color of the ink in markers is made by mixing different pigments together. A pigment is a substance that makes color, like ink or dye. To make black, several pigments are mixed together. When the end of the paper towel strip is submerged in water the water soaks up through the paper towel. When the water passes through the black ink it takes the pigment colors with it. Some pigments dissolve in water easier and are pulled with the water farther up the paper. This is called chromatography – separating the parts of a mixture so that you can see them one at a time. Black ink actually looks like a rainbow!

Try a Black Ink Chromatography Science Experiment

Now set up an experiment using different kinds of paper to see what happens. Try a paper towel, a tissue, a square of toilet paper, and a piece of printer paper. Cut them all the same size. How does the ink act the same? What do you see that is different?

Or, set up an experiment with equally sized pieces of paper towels again, but test different colors of markers. Try black, purple, blue, green, and red. Can you predict what colors make up purple ink?

Websites, Activities & Printables

You can also ask a math and science expert for homework help by calling the Ask Rose Homework Hotline. They provide FREE math and science homework help to Indiana students in grades 6-12.

e-Books & Audiobooks

Books for Kids for a Stress-less Science Fair

Here are books to help you pick a science fair experiment that (1) follows the scientific method, (2) uses stuff you can find around the house, and (3) is great fun to do! The books will also help you understand what you are seeing by explaining the science concepts behind the dramatic results.

Title - Stay Curious and Keep Exploring: Next Level

Title - The Simple Science Activity Book

Title - Dinosaurs and Other Prehistoric Creatures Activity Lab

Title - The 101 Coolest Simple Science Experiments

Tags Homework Help, Science Experiments

In today’s experiment you will be able to watch a chemical reaction. In this experiment vinegar (a substance) and baking soda (a substance) will mix together. When mixed together the molecules of the two substances will re-arrange, or change, to make new substances. Read on to find out how this chemical reaction results in an exploding ziploc!

Vinegar has acetic acid in it. The chemical name for baking soda is sodium bicarbonate. When you mix the two together you get sodium acetate and water. You also get carbon dioxide, which is a gas. The bag puffs up because carbon dioxide is a gas and takes up a lot of space. Eventually the bag isn’t big enough to hold all that carbon dioxide gas so it becomes an exploding ziploc!

You Will Need

Try it at Home! You Will Need:

Measuring Cups and Spoons
Baking soda
Vinegar
Snack size ziploc bag
Quart size ziploc bag

Measure one tablespoon of baking soda into a quart size ziploc bag. Measure 1/2 cup of vinegar into the snack size ziploc bag and zip the bag closed. Put the snack size ziploc bag full of vinegar into the quart size ziploc bag with the baking soda in it. Get as much air as possible out of the quart size bag before zipping it closed. Go outside! Stand in the middle of your yard. Grip the snack size ziploc bag from the outside of the quart size bag and pull it open. As soon as the vinegar starts to mix with the baking soda drop the bags into the grass and watch what happens.

If your bag inflates, but does not explode, try increasing the amount of baking soda and vinegar. If you do this, be sure to drop the bag quickly and take several steps away after you mix the two substances together – when the bag explodes it splashes vinegar everywhere…which does not feel good in your eyes. See the dog’s nose and eyes? Too close! And…it goes without saying to do this OUTSIDE. To investigate chemical reactions further – try some more experiments at home!

Websites, Activities & Printables

You can also ask a math and science expert for homework help by calling the Ask Rose Homework Hotline. They provide FREE math and science homework help to Indiana students in grades 6-12.

e-Books & Audiobooks

Use your indyPL Library Card to check out books about chemistry at any of our locations, or check out chemistry e-books and audiobooks from OverDrive Kids right to your device! If you have never used OverDrive before, you can learn how to use e-books and learn how to use audiobooks.

Chemistry for Kids: Projects to Makes Things Sizzle, Pop, and Explode!

Chemistry is nature’s magic. With it you can learn to do amazing things, like make erupting volcanoes and and fizzy exploding ziplocs. These books will show you how to do these things and also explain the science behind why these things are happening. You can explore chemical reactions by experimenting with things you find around the house in your kitchen, bathroom or garage.

Tags Homework Help, Science Experiments

Sir Isaac Newton was an English scientist. He was born in 1642 and died in 1727. This was around the time of the early colonization of North America. He lived just before the American Revolution. Newton is best known for three important principles of physics that describe how things move. Consequently, the principles are referred to today by his name – Newton’s First, Second and Third Law of Motion. Newton’s Second Law of Motion says that acceleration (gaining speed) happens when a force acts on a mass (object).

Riding your bicycle is a good example of this law of motion at work. Your bicycle is the mass. Your leg muscles pushing pushing on the pedals of your bicycle is the force. When you push on the pedals, your bicycle accelerates. You are increasing the speed of the bicycle by applying force to the pedals.

Newton’s Second Law also says that the greater the mass of the object being accelerated, the greater the amount of force needed to accelerate the object. Say you have two identical bicycles that each have a basket. One bicycle has an empty basket. One bicycle has a basket full of bricks. If you try to ride each bicycle and you push on the pedals with the exact same strength, you will be able to accelerate the bike with the empty basket MORE than the bike with the basket full of bricks. The bricks add mass to the second bicycle. With bricks in the basket, you would have to apply more force to the pedals to make the bicycle with bricks in the basket move.

Experiments:

Websites, Activities & Printables:

You can ask a math and science expert for homework help by calling the Ask Rose Homework Hotline. They provide FREE math and science homework help to Indiana students in grades 6-12.

e-Books and Audiobooks

Use your indyPL Library Card to check out books about Sir Isaac Newton at any of our locations, or check out Sir Isaac Newton e-books and audiobooks from OverDrive Kids right to your device! If you have never used OverDrive before, you can learn how to use e-books and learn how to use audiobooks.

Newton’s Laws of Motion: The Science Behind How Things Move

Newton’s Laws of Motion explain force and motion, or why things move the way they do. They are great concepts to explore by doing a science experiment. These are especially good science project ideas for kids who like to move! The concepts can often be explained using sports equipment or by understanding how amusement park rides work. These books offer ideas for physics experiments that demonstrate force and motion and the laws that govern them. Some of them provide the background information needed for the report that is often required to go with projects for the science fair.

Title - Isaac Newton and the Laws of Motion

Title - Awesome Physics Experiments for Kids

Tags Homework Help, Science Experiments

The Skeletal System is made up of the 206 bones that hold the body up. It is amazing that the body can direct muscles to move all those parts around. It is one thing to raise an arm up and down…but then think about what a soccer player does or a ballet dancer or someone climbing a cell tower to repair damage from a storm. Really, the human body is so amazing!

The books and websites listed below will help you learn a lot more about the skeletal system.

Websites, Activities & Printables:

Learn about other body systems:

e-Books & Audiobooks

Use your indyPL Library Card to check out books about the skeletal system at any of our locations, or check out skeletal system e-books and audiobooks from OverDrive Kids right to your device! If you have never used OverDrive before, you can learn how to use e-books and learn how to use audiobooks.

Human Body Facts and Functions Revealed in Diagrams, Infographics, and Photographs

Books for kids that explore the digestive, circulatory, nervous, excretory, muscular, and respiratory systems. Learn the names of each body part and all the details about how they function together to keep us breathing, dancing, jumping and running. #indyplkids

Tags Homework Help

The Circulatory System moves nutrients to the cells of the body to feed them and help them fight disease. The main parts of this system are the heart, blood and blood vessels. Arteries carry blood and the oxygen in it from the lungs to all of the other cells of the body. Once the oxygen is used, veins carry the blood back to the heart. Inside the heart are four chambers. Each chamber is a little pump that pushes the blood through the body. It takes 1-2 minutes for blood to circulate all around your body.

Websites, Activities & Printables

Learn about other body systems:

e-Books & Audiobooks

Use your indyPL Library Card to check out books about the circulatory system at any of our locations, or check out circulatory system e-books and audiobooks from OverDrive Kids right to your device! If you have never used OverDrive before, you can learn how to use e-books and learn how to use audiobooks.

Human Body Facts and Functions Revealed in Diagrams, Infographics, and Photographs

Tags Homework Help

Crystals are made when a substance has atoms or molecules that form in a very organized, repeating, 3D pattern. Usually when we think of crystals we think of some well-known gemstones like diamonds or rubies, but there are some very common crystals too. Sugar, ice, snowflakes, salt…all of these are crystals. You can make your own baking soda crystals grow!

What You Need

2 Glasses or Jars
1 Plate
1 Spoon
2 Paper Clips
Hot Tap Water
Piece of Yarn or Cotton String, about 6 inches long
Baking Soda

Instructions

Fill each glass with water. Add 2 tablespoons of baking soda to each glass. Stir the mixture. If all of the baking soda dissolves, add a little more baking soda and stir. Add baking soda until the water can’t dissolve it anymore, the mixture is saturated. That means the water is holding as much of the baking soda as it can. You can add a few drops of food coloring to each glass to make the crystals colorful. Tie a paper clip to each end of the piece of yarn or string. Drop one paperclip into each glass letting the string dangle in a smile shape in between the glasses but not touching the plate. Watch the string over the next few days to see the crystals form along the string.

The picture on the right shows you what the baking soda crystals will look like after a few days. As the days go by and the water in the baking soda solution evaporates, the level of the water will go down. Make sure the end of the string with the paper clip on it stays submerged in the baking soda water in the glass.

Science Experiment Idea

Grow more than one kind of crystal. Use salt, sugar, and baking soda. Keep a chart as you observe how the crystals grow over the next few weeks. Which one do you think will grow the biggest? Which one will form the fastest?

Try to grow crystals another way: Borax Crystals – Supersaturation

Websites, Activities & Printables

You can also ask a math and science expert for homework help by calling the Ask Rose Homework Hotline. They provide FREE math and science homework help to Indiana students in grades 6-12.

e-Books & Audiobooks

Explore the Science of Crystals from Minerals to Gems to Snowflakes

Tags Homework Help, Science Experiments

Sir Isaac Newton is famous for figuring out certain rules that apply to things on earth. One of his rules is that matter can take three forms: solid, liquid and gas. Liquids flow and take the shape of the container they are in. You can see that happen when you pour a glass of water. This activity using borax and cornstarch goo will show you something interesting.

Usually matter turns into a liquid when it is heated. When liquid is heated it “gets runnier.” How easily a liquid flows is called viscosity. Water has a low viscosity and flows fast. Honey has a high viscosity and flows slowly. If you heat honey or lava…it flows faster. That is one of Sir Isaac’s rules too…that the viscosity of liquids goes up as the liquid is heated. Mix up this borax or corn starch goo and see how it behaves. Is it a liquid or is it a solid?

What You Need

Cornstarch Goo:

Cornstarch
Water
Bowl
Measuring Cup
Cookie Sheet or Tray – with sides!
Gallon Size Ziploc Bag (optional – for storage)

Borax Goo:

White Glue
Borax (in the laundry detergent aisle)
Water
Bowl
Ziploc Bag
Measuring Cups
Spoon
Cookie Sheet
Food Coloring (Optional)

Put 1 cup of cornstarch or borax in a mixing bowl. Add water slowly – about 1/2 cup. Mix the goo with your hands until it starts to feel like a sticky glue. Try to pick up a handful of the goo. Squeeze your hand around the goo to make a fist around it. What happens? Now relax your hand. What happens now? Pour the goo onto a cookie sheet or tray. Make sure the sheet or tray has sides! Lay your hand on top of the goo and leave it there for a few seconds. Pull your hand straight up and watch what happens.

Cornstarch or borax goo is an anomaly – that means it’s weird! It doesn’t act like it should. The goo seems like a liquid because it flows off your fingers and it takes the shape of the container you put it in. But when you squeeze the goo…it turns into a solid. So which is it? A liquid or a solid? These goos are called a non-Newtonian fluids because they don’t behave by Sir Isaac Newton’s rules.

Polymers

Cornstarch and borax goo are also a polymer. That means their molecules are arranged in a long chain. When the chain of molecules stretches…like the goo flowing off the fingers in this photo, the goo behaves like a liquid and flows. As soon as the goo has pressure applied to it – like when you squeeze it in your fist or when you rest your hand on it in the tray, it behaves like a solid and feels stiff and strong. With goo, the viscosity changes when you put pressure on it instead of when you heat it. Weird again!

Science Project Idea

Get three bowls and measure 1 cup of a powdered substance into each bowl. 1 cup of cornstarch in bowl #1, 1 cup of baking soda in bowl #2 and 1 cup of flour in bowl #3. If you step back and look at the bowls they will all look pretty much the same – a bowl with white powder in it. Now pour 1/2 cup of water into each bowl and mix each bowl with your fingers. Do the mixtures behave the same? How do they behave differently? How would you describe each mixture? A solid or a liquid? You could also try baking soda and powdered sugar.

Websites, Activities & Printables

You can also ask a math and science expert for homework help by calling the Ask Rose Homework Hotline. They provide FREE math and science homework help to Indiana students in grades 6-12.

e-Books & Audiobooks

Satisfying DIY Recipe Books to Experience and Explain Polymers & the Science of Slime

Between them, these ten books provide 100+ different ways to explore slime, science that is stretchy, squishie and satisfying to mix up and ooze through your fingers! You experiment, these books will help you explain why slime behaves the way it does. Slime is fun. It’s also the science of polymers and chemistry.

Title - Make your Own Super Squishies, Slime and Putty

Tags Homework Help, Science Experiments

Naming the letters of the alphabet and knowing the sounds each letter makes is a critical pre-reading skill. Did you know that singing the alphabet song and books that say things like “a is for apple” are only the beginning? There are several picture books that make practicing the alphabet fun! One of them is R is for Rocket, by Tad Hills. Listen along with Tad as Rocket the dog, Bella the squirrel, Owl, and other friends read about alphabet letters and the sounds they make. From acorns to angry alligators, it’s alphabet storytime online, you can listen along right now!

Talk!

After listening to the story, talk about some of the things that happened in it.

What are the names of some of Rocket’s friends?
What is your favorite letter of the alphabet? Think of a word that starts with that letter and draw a picture of it.
R is for Rocket. Make a list of all the words you can think of that begin with the letter “R.”

Read!

Use your indyPL Library Card to check out books about the alphabet at any of our locations, or check out alphabet e-books and audiobooks from OverDrive Kids right to your device! If you have never used OverDrive before, you can learn how to use e-books and learn how to use audiobooks.

Click on the book covers below to listen to more alphabet video read aloud stories right now! It’s alphabet storytime online! Did you like these? You can find more stories at Free Video Read Alouds and enjoy even more themed reading and activity fun at IndyPL’s DIY Online Storytimes at Home.

Extraordinary Alphabet Stories to Check Out with your IndyPL Library Card

List Cover Images - Extraordinary Alphabet Stories These are not your average alphabet books. Behold the best picture books to spin entire stories out of the ABCs. Check out the charming and clever narratives! Marvel at the magnificent manifestations of metafiction! There’s fun for kids of all ages in these pages.

Sing!

Sing the ABC’s with Little i and all of his friends!

Write!

Find some crayons or markers to color a picture, practice writing the letters, or see if you can follow your way through a maze without getting stuck.

R is for Rocket Printable Activity Kit
Chicka Chicka Boom Boom Printable Coloring Sheet
Jan Brett Printable ABC Tracers
Printable: Random House Children’s Books Letter Tracers A, B, C, D, E, F, G, H, I, J, , L, M, N, O, P, Q, R, S, T, U, V, W, X, Y, Z

Play!

Take a walk and read a story as you go! We invite you to visit StoryWalk® in Ruckle Street Park at 3025 Ruckle Street. Stroll through the park and read a book displayed in mounted frames. Or Skip. Or gallop!

Dance along to Usher’s ABC Song. This alphabet song will have you on your feet and moving your body!

Join Us for In-Person Storytime!

Event: Storytime at Glendale – Babies
Date & Time: Tuesday, October 08, 10:30am
Location: Glendale Branch
Description: Babies up to 24 months and an adult are invited for stories, songs, fingerplays, and fun! Each session is followed by playtime with special toys designed just for babies.
No Registration Required.

Event: Storytime at Franklin Road – Babies
Date & Time: Tuesday, October 08, 10:30am
Location: Franklin Road Branch
Description: Babies from birth to 18 months are invited for stories, lab bounces, songs, and other early literacy activities!
No Registration Required.

Need Help?

Ask a Library staff member at any of our locations or call, text, or email Ask-a-Librarian. The Tinker Station helpline at (317) 275-4500 is also available. It is staffed by device experts who can answer questions about how to read, watch and listen on a PC, tablet or phone.

Tags Storytime Online

The digestive system breaks down food into smaller pieces so it can be absorbed into the blood stream and carried to the body’s cells which use it to make energy. This energy helps you run and think and play. Organs in this system system include the esophagus, stomach, pancreas & small intestine. Listed below are books and activities to help you learn more about this amazing body system. Have you every wondered exactly how food is digested? Watch this video to solve the mystery and then try out some of the online activities to explore the steps in the digestion process.

Digestive System Websites, Activities & Printables

More Body Systems

Add more to your knowledge about how the body works by exploring each of the major systems that make up human body processes like circulation, breathing, and movement.

Human Body Facts and Functions Revealed in Diagrams, Infographics, and Photographs

Need help? Ask a Library staff member at any of our locations or call, text or email Ask-a-Librarian.

Tags Homework Help

While building sand castles, there is a certain kind of wet sand that is perfect for it. When there is too much water in your bucket the mixture is too soupy. When there is too little water in your bucket the sand won’t hold a shape and just crumbles. How does the perfect mixture of sand and water work? Surface tension is the attraction that happens between water molecules. Water molecules are attracted to each other. The surface of water has an elastic quality because the molecules are hugging close together. This is why some insects can walk on water.

Water is made up of two kinds of atoms, hydrogen and oxygen. The name for the water molecule is H20, it has 2 hydrogen atoms and 1 oxygen atom. Water molecules are attracted to each other because hydrogen atoms and oxygen atoms are attracted to each other and hug close together really tight. This is called cohesion. The molecules hug so close together they don’t want to touch other molecules around them. That’s why a bubble or a drop of water is round and only rests a small part of itself on a surface when it lands.

When you add sand to water, the surface tension of the water forms little elastic bridges between the grains of sand. When the ratio of sand to water is just right these bridges are the perfect strength for building sand castles. In today’s experiment you will be able to watch these bridge at work and figure out the best recipe for building sand castles.

What You Need

12 Dixie Cups
Sand
Water
25 Pennies
4 Large Plates
Large Bowl
Measuring Cups (1/4, 1/3, 1/2, 1)

Instructions

You are going to test what ratio of sand to water is the best one for building a strong sand castle. Label each plate – label the first one 1/4 cup, the second one 1/3 cup, the third one 1/2 cup and the last one 1 cup. For each trial you are going to use 1 cup of sand. The variable in this experiment is going to be the amount of water you add to the sand. For the first trial mix 1 cup sand and 1/4 cup water in the bowl.

Fill three dixie cups with this mixture and turn them over to make small sand castles in the plate labelled 1/4 cup. Do the castles flatten or stay formed like the dixie cup? If any of them stay formed, stack pennies on top of the little castle one at a time until the little castle collapses. Write down how many pennies each little castle could hold. Repeat this test using 1 cup sand and 1/3 cup water, 1 cup sand and 1/2 cup water and 1 cup sand and 1 cup water. Keep track of your results on a chart like this:

Amount of Water	#pennies trial #1	#pennies trial #2	#pennies trial #3
1/4 Cup
1/3 Cup
1/2 Cup
1 Cup

One cup of sand to 1/3 cup water is what worked for us!

It turns out that water molecules attract to each other and they ALSO attract to sand. If you have a good balance of sand to water…nice and sticky…then you get a strong sand castle. When there is too much sand the mixture is too dry and the castle crumbles. If there is too much water the mixture is too wet and oozes all over the place.

Websites, Activites & Printables

You can also ask a math and science expert for homework help by calling the Ask Rose Homework Hotline. They provide FREE math and science homework help to Indiana students in grades 6-12.

e-Books and Audiobooks

Surface Tension Projects from Bubbles to Sand Castles

What do bubbles and sand castles have in common? Surface tension! Learn about the amazing science of water and how it makes both bubbles and sand castles “stick” by checking out one of these books. e-Books are also available!

Tags Homework Help, Science Experiments

Person looking at a fake news article on a tablet.

It has always been true that the passing of information can go wrong, like the game “telephone,” in which a piece of information distorts the more times it passes from one person to the next. But sometimes information is false to begin with, or is purposely distorted to mislead an audience. Rising social and political upheaval make the importance of finding accurate news information with thorough, and timely information more vital than ever – in some cases, it can be literally life or death.

Since the rise of social media and the ease with which messages, photos, and videos can spread, it is more crucial than ever to develop skills for finding accurate information as well as spotting inaccurate information. There are some simple tools available to help you give what you see and hear an accuracy check. These skills are for all information consuming people from kids to adults. You can begin honing your information skills in three easy steps.

3 Steps to Improve Information Literacy Skills

1. Learn the Vocabulary

News stories and social media posts can fall in different places on a scale from “true but misleading” to” completely false.” Inaccuracies can be honest mistakes or deliberate attempts to spread false information. It is good to know the words that describe these differences. Knowing them helps us name the problem we see when we read something that doesn’t quite add up.

Some news stories are purposely written to mislead:

fake news: news stories that are untrue and never happened
disinformation: false information that is purposely made up and spread to hide the truth or spread a lie to make it seem like the truth
ommission: purposely misleading by leaving out important details

Some news stories mistakenly report false information:

misinformation: inaccurate information that is mistakenly reported and spread due to an error or mistake; there was no intention to mislead the audience
correction or retraction: when a news source admits an error and publishes an admission of that error, or a correction, if they have learned more accurate information

This video from Cyberwise.org’s Fake News Learning Hub is a great introduction to the concept of fake news.

2. Learn How to Spot Bad Information

Now that you know the different types of information mis-steps from honest mistakes to deceptions, now it’s time to learn how to tell the difference as you read and hear news stories. This infographic from the International Federation of Library Associations and Institutions (IFLA) is a great checklist of 8 things to consider when deciding if a piece of information is reliable.

You can use this checklist to analyze a news story, facebook post, or youtube video yourself. Another way to verify a news story is to enter a search in one of these sites that specialize in tracking down source information to identify fake news, misinformation, and bias for information consumers. Each one specializes in certain types of information or information channels.

snopes.com A reference source for researching urban legends, folklore, myths, rumors, and misinformation.
politifact.org A website that specializes in fact-checking journalism.
truthorfiction.com Get information about eRumors, fake news, disinformation, warnings, offers, requests for help, myths, hoaxes, virus warnings, and humorous or inspirational stories circulated by email.

3. Learn About Your Own Go-to News Sources

Another very helpful resource is the Interactive Media Bias Chart. You can look up most major newspapers, magazines, or television news channels and see how each rate for both bias and accuracy. You can also look up particular stories to see how individual stories rate.

The chart also helps you see how these news channels compare to each other. Really good advice is to get your news from a variety of sources. In order to get a well rounded understanding from more than one point of view, a good rule of thumb is to pick news sources that don’t sit right next to each other on the chart.

Finding Accurate Information – Dig a Little Deeper

The articles listed below are from libraries, universities, and other organizations who have published in-depth discussions about the challenges associated with being an informed listener and reader.

Center for Media Literacy (CML) works to help people develop critical thinking for the 21st century media culture. Their goal is to empower wise information choices.
Media Literacy Now An organization that wants to ensure all K-12 students receive media literacy education and skills.
National Association for Media Literacy Education (NAMLE) A non-profit organization dedicated to advancing media literacy education.
The News Literacy Project (NLP) Provides programs and resources for educators and the public to teach, learn and share the abilities needed to be smart, active consumers of news and information and equal and engaged participants in a democracy.
The Poynter Institute Promotes honest information in the marketplace of ideas.

To level up your skills finding accurate news sources even more, read one of these more comprehensive guides and handbooks:

International Center for Journalists: A Short Guide to the History of ‘Fake News’ and Disinformation. (Also Available in Spanish or Czech.)

UNESCO (United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization): Journalism, ‘Fake News’ and Disinformation: A Handbook for Journalism Education and Training (This handbooks is available in English full color or print friendly, Spanish, French, Arabic, and many more. Just scroll down on the page to see the full list of languages.)

Tags Adult Skills

Take a backstage tour.

Learning about puppets is a great first step to get the skills you need to make your own puppets. You can get an inside look at puppets by taking a video tour of Peewinkle’s Puppet Studio in Indianapolis. For even more behind-the-scenes inspiration watch this video to learn how the Sesame Street puppeteers bring Elmo, Big Bird, Mr. Snuffleupagus, Abby Cadabby, and Rudy to life!

Watch a puppet show.

Tune in to the Edmonton Public Library on Youtube to see these puppet shows:

Make your own puppets and put on a show!

There are several workshops available online from puppet theatres all over the country. A wonderful one comes from Fort Wayne, Indiana. Watch Fort Wayne Youtheatre’s video and use their puppet workshop guide to learn how to create your own shadow puppet theatre and shadow puppets.

Also try New Victory Theatre’s Arts Break at Home Puppetry Week.

Still looking for puppet activities? The Jim Henson Foundation is providing links to online performances and workshops provided by grantees from their Foundation.

Are you ready to create yet? Here are some printable patterns and templates to get you started!

PBS Video: How to Make Animal Finger Puppets
PBS Kids Craft: Make a Puppy Marionette
PBS Video: How to Make Shadow Puppets – Make your own shadow theater with just a few household items! Mya shows your how to make some shadow puppets and tells the story of the dinosaurs in her own play.
PBS Kids Video How-to: Put on a Puppet Show Includes directions and printables for a Peg + Cat Shoe Box Puppet Theatre and Peg + Cat Stick Puppets.
Palmer Public Library – Author/illustrator David Hyde Costello shares the process of making a table-top puppet show. Part 1 and Part 2
Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County: Dinosaur Shadow Puppet Directions and Printable Template
Printable: Curious George Finger Puppets
Printable: Crayola Dragon Puppet
Printable: Story Place Monkey Paper Bag Puppet
Printable: Story Place Gorilla Stick Puppet
Printable: Story Place Puppy Stick Puppet

Puppet Project Ideas from Old Socks to Paper to Clay!

Upcycle items from your craft bin or trash can, add your creative storytelling, and put on a puppet play!

Title - Puppets Unlimited With Everyday Materials

Title - Nick and Nack Put on A Puppet Show

Title - The Strange Case of Origami Yoda

Title - The Surprise Attack of Jabba the Puppett

Title - How To Create And Animate A Clay Puppet With Stop Motion Pro

Tags Arts & Crafts

In 2021, the Library began an engraving project at Central Library. The project’s architectural history dates back to 1917. Considered one of the most outstanding buildings in the U.S, Central Library opening on October 8, 1917. It became a landmark on the National Register of Historic Places in 1975. A six-story glass and steel-framed addition opened in 2007. Both the original building and the 2007 addition included a unique architectural feature, the names of iconic authors and literary figures carved into the building’s litmestone walls. Of the 80+ names memorialized in this fashion, the original project included just five women and no authors of color. In 2021, due to major support from Michael & Adelpha Twyman, the Dr. Michael R. Twyman Endowment Fund, and Lilly Endowment Inc., The Library added ten names to improve representation of the world’s historical, literary, and artistic development.

Engraving Project Vision

In 2021, Dr. Michael Twyman set out to develop a plan to include names on the walls of Central Library. “As a longtime Indianapolis Public Library patron, I brought to Library officials’ attention the omission of persons of color represented in the names engraved at Central Library. I’m excited to be working with them to address this,” said Twyman.

Community Input

To begin the engraving project, The Library invited the community to suggest names via an online form and ballot boxes at Library locations. From the community suggestions, a committee selected names ten names representative of the world’s historical, literary, and artistic development.

Engraving Project Unveiling

A public unveiling on April, 2022, celebrated Dr. Twyman’s vision. “The Name Engraving Project allows IndyPL to use our public spaces to promote diversity, equity, and inclusion, starting with the addition of Black authors outside of the Center for Black Literature & Culture,” said Nichelle M. Hayes, IndyPL’s interim CEO. “By creating a space that celebrates the work of authors from the African Diaspora, we’ll reflect an authentic historical narrative of the world’s literary development.”

Further Support

The Library aims to add additional names of authors of color in the years to come. To provide further support for this project, go to “Give” at The Indianapolis Public Library Foundation to make an online donation. Please select “Central Library” when asked how to apply your gift. Put “ENGRAVING” in the notes box at the end of the form.

Learn more about the ten authors added this year by browsing the authors’ biographies. We have also provided book lists for easy checkout of their work.

Engraving Project Selected Authors

Phillis Wheatley (1753-1784)

Phillis Wheatley was the first African American author to publish a book of poetry in America. She was a slave at the time. Seized in Senegal/Gambia, West Africa, she was about seven years old when purchased on the Boston docks by Susanna and John Wheatley in August of 1761. Described in a contemporaneous account as being nearly naked, with “no other covering than a quantity of dirty carpet around her.” They named her after the slave ship that transported her.

A domestic slave, Wheatley learned to read and write (including the Bible, British literature, Greek and Latin.) At 13 she published her first poem. By 1771 her work had brought her international acclaim. At 18, she gathered a collection of 28 poems but could not get a publisher in America due to her being African. A publisher released Poems on Various Subjects, Religious and Moral in England in 1773. A group of Boston luminaries, including John Hancock and Thomas Hutchinson, the governor of Massachusetts, examined her and signed an attestation that concluded that she had written the poems.

Elegies comprise one-third of her canon. The poems that best demonstrate her abilities employ classical and neoclassical themes and techniques. Two great influences were the Bible and 18^th century evangelical Christianity. The remainder of her themes can be classified as celebrations of America

Wheatley was manumitted in 1774, married John Peters a free Black, and bore three children who died. She continued to write and publish but was never able to publish her second volume possibly due to the Revolutionary War and the poor economy which were particularly harsh for free blacks. She fell into deep poverty. Sick and destitute she died at the age of 31. Wheatley Peters wrote perhaps 145 poems, but this artistic heritage is now lost.

Early 20^th century critics of Black American literature judged her poetry for the absence of a sense of identity as a Black enslaved person. Until recently, her critics did not consider her use of biblical allusion nor its symbolic application as a statement against slavery. Recent scholarship has uncovered her association with 18^th century Black abolitionists and her use of art to undermine the institution of slavery. See our Phillis Wheatley book list.

Information quoted from an essay by Sondra A. O’Neale, Emory University, on the Poetry Foundation website.

Frederick Douglass (1817-1895)

Frederick Douglass (1817-1895) was an extraordinary leader and abolitionist. He escaped slavery to become one of the greatest orators in modern history and was instrumental in the emancipation of slaves in the United States. His youth in slavery was particularly horrific, yet he managed to steal away time to learn to read. Douglass also managed to snatch what education he could, and share it with his fellow slaves, despite the threat of severe punishment. After his escape at the age of 21, he had a difficult time finding work until he was unexpectedly asked to speak at an abolitionist gathering. His harrowing story and captivating presentation garnered the attention of the Massachusetts Anti-Slavery Society. The Society hired him to go on a lecture tour of the northern United States. In 1845 he published his first autobiography, Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, an American Slave, Written by Himself.

Douglass published a newspaper, the North Star in Rochester, New York. Its office served as a stop on the Underground Railroad. He campaigned for Abraham Lincoln and when Civil War broke out he encouraged Black Americans to become soldiers. He believed war was the only way slavery would be abolished. After the war he established a new newspaper in Washington D.C. and was appointed to different public service positions. Douglass advocated for the underdog literally until the day he died of a heart attack in 1895 – the same evening he delivered a speech to suffragists at a meeting of the National Council of Women. See our Frederick Douglass book list.

W.E.B. DuBois (1868-1963)

W.E.B. DuBois (1868-1963) was a civil rights activist and scholar who believed in and fought for the intellectual, economic, and legal equality of Black people around the world. His passion and vigor that lasted into his 90s. He was the first Black American to get a doctorate from Harvard University, and his book The Souls of Black Folk transformed the civil rights movement in the United States.

DuBois challenged the work and ideas of other Black leaders, such as Booker T. Washington and Frederick Douglass. He advocated for Black Americans to embrace their African heritage rather than working to assimilate. DuBois was a founding member of the NAACP and is considered one of the architects of the Black protest movement in the United States. He is widely considered to be the most influential Black thinker of the first half of the 20^th century. See our W.E.B. DuBois book list.

Paul Laurence Dunbar (1872-1906)

Paul Laurence Dunbar (1872-1906) was a prolific poet, short story writer, lyricist, and novelist. He is perhaps best remembered for writing the line that inspired Maya Angelou’s memoir title I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings, in his poem Sympathy. Born to two emancipated slaves, he went on to create an immense body of work that has confounded critics and delighted readers for generations.

Though he died young of tuberculosis at 33, he was one of the first Black Americans to gain an international following and to make his living solely by writing. During his lifetime he was loved especially for his poems that celebrate the complexities of the Black dialect of the time. His contributions to literature go far beyond those works. Though some critics feel his work romanticized plantation life, others feel he gave a voice to those that had not been heard before and opened doors for future Black creators.

Dunbar started his professional writing career during his high school years in Dayton, Ohio. Despite the challenge of being the only Black student at his high school, he was well-liked by his peers and academically gifted from a young age. He had several poems published in the local paper, wrote the class song, and was class president. His first foray into professional writing after high school was creating a newspaper for the Black community with the help of his close friend, Orville Wright. The newspaper was not able to make ends meet however, and with no money for college Dunbar had to find work elsewhere, as an elevator operator.

Working blue collar jobs never kept him from writing. He was well-known for crafting poems in his spare moments and was influenced by the dialect work of poets such as James Whitcomb Riley and James Russell Lowell. His first book, Oak and Ivy, he published with his own money but quickly sold enough to cover what he spent. This allowed him to start touring the country and meeting other poets, writers, and critics. His second book, Majors and Minors, gained critical attention and he soon became a near celebrity. Black and white audiences alike loved his work and he was the first Black American poet to gain an international audience – spending six months in England on a reading tour.

On his return he went to work at the Library of Congress in Washington DC, but soon left to write full-time and to take care of his deteriorating health. He married fellow writer Alice Ruth Moore, and changed his focus from poetry to short stories, novels, and plays. In 1899 he was diagnosed with tuberculosis. On advice from a doctor he medicated with whiskey, and his relationship with Moore suffered greatly. They separated in 1902, and he moved in with his mother in Ohio until his death in 1906. See our Paul Laurence Dunbar book list.

Zora Neale Hurston (1891-1960)

Zora Neale Hurston was a novelist, folklorist, playwright, and anthropologist. She was born in 1891 and grew up in the small town of Eatonville, Florida. Eatonville was the first incorporated and self-governing all-Black city in the United States. Hurston’s passion for folklore began while hanging out by the town general store listening to stories told by local townsfolk. Her life in Eatonville inspired a lot of her work.

Hurston’s love of writing began at Howard University where she published her first short story. Soon after, she moved to New York and began her writing career. She became close friends with Langston Hughes, with whom she would later collaborate on a play. Her essays, stories, and novels were celebrated as part of the Harlem Renaissance, especially her literary masterpiece “Their Eyes Were Watching God.”

While in New York, Hurston became the first Black student to attend Barnard College at Columbia University. She began studying anthropology with a focus on African American folklore. Hurston traveled through the American South, including to her hometown of Eatonville, collecting folklore. She was instrumental in saving these folktales and songs from disappearing over time. Hurston also traveled to New Orleans and Haiti to study West African Vodun, widely recognized as voodoo, and eventually became initiated in the religion. She published several books and essays about the folklore she collected, including the book “Mules and Men.” She also published the book “Tell My Horse” about her experience with voodoo in Haiti. See our Zora Neale Hurston book list.

Langston Hughes (1901-1967)

Born James Mercer Langston Hughes February 1, 1901, previously believed to be 1902, died May 22, 1967, from prostate cancer.

Langston Hughes was a pioneer of modern black literature and a major voice of the Harlem Renaissance. His work reflected the life and struggles of Black America of the time and captured the dialect and rhythms of the people. He was a poet, novelist, journalist, and mentor to young writers.

Born in Joplin Missouri, he eventually moved to Cleveland, Ohio. It was there that he began writing for his school magazine. After leaving school, Hughes worked odd jobs as an assistant cook, busboy, and launderer, while observing life in Harlem and working on his poetry. He had a brief job as a steward on a freighter that took him to Africa and Spain.

Hughes’ first book of poetry, The Weary Blues, was published in 1926 to mixed reviews, but it was enough to earn him royalties and a sponsorship to finally attend Lincoln University to study poetry. His first novel, Not Without Laughter, was published four years later and won the Harmon gold medal for literature. He went on to write more poems, novels, plays, and his autobiography, The Big Sea. Through it all, his work continued to explore themes of the urban, working-class Black Americans of the time.

On May 22, 1967, Hughes died from complications of prostate cancer. A tribute to his poetry, his funeral contained little in the way of spoken eulogy but was filled with jazz and blues music. His ashes were interred beneath the entrance of the Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture in Harlem. The inscription marking the spot features a line from Hughes’ poem “The Negro Speaks of Rivers.” It reads: “My soul has grown deep like the rivers.” See our Langston Hughes book list.

Richard Wright (1908-1960)

Richard Wright was a novelist, poet, journalist, and champion of social and racial justice. He is best known for his works chronicling the struggles of African Americans in the Southern United States. Wright spent his childhood moving frequently, first from Mississippi, where he was born, to Memphis, Tennessee, where his father abandoned the family. Escaping poverty and hunger, his mother took Wright and his brother to live with her sister in Arkansas. Over the next few years, Wright travelled back and forth between Arkansas and Jackson, Mississippi, where his grandmother lived. Despite the many interruptions to his education, Wright showed academic promise. From 1920-1925, he lived with his grandmother in Jackson, where he attended two schools. He published his first story at age 15 in the local Black newspaper, the Southern Register. And at his junior high school in Jackson, Wright graduated as the class valedictorian.

In 1925, when Wright was 17, he returned to Memphis for two years. While there, he developed a passion for reading books and other publications, including the Atlantic Monthly and Harper’s magazine. In 1927, Wright moved to Chicago, where he would spend the next decade. While living in Chicago, he worked as a postal clerk and attended meetings at a Communist literary organization, the Chicago John Reed Club. During this time, Wright wrote poems for New Masses and other left-leaning publications. He also completed his first novel, founded the South Side Writers’ Group, and worked with the National Negro Congress.

In 1937, Wright moved to New York and became the editor of the Daily Worker in Harlem. He wrote more than 200 articles in his first year there. In 1946, he visited Paris, France, and in 1948, he decided to move there permanently. While living in Paris, Wright became a local celebrity, befriended existentialist philosophers, and joined the Pan-African organization Presence Africaine. He traveled throughout Europe giving lectures and appeared on television and radio programs. Wright continued working on various literary projects in Paris until his death, in 1960. Wright left behind a body of work that included fiction and nonfiction, numerous articles and essays, and thousands of poems. See our Richard Wright book list.

James Baldwin (1924-1987)

James Baldwin’s early origins as a writer revolve around aspects of life including using his local public library. He once described his usage of The New York Public Library’s 135th Street Branch stating, “I went to the 135th Street library at least three or four times a week, and I read everything there. I mean, every single book in that library. In some blind and instinctive way, I knew that what was happening in those books was also happening all around me. And I was trying to make a connection between the books and the life I saw and the life I lived.”

Making connections between books and the life he saw and lived is a good and reflective way to describe aspects of his writing. The people he knew, religion and the church, the discrimination he faced, the love he shared with men, the schools he attended, and his creativity all helped make Baldwin an important writer and observer of the U.S. Civil Rights Movement, sexual freedom, and society.

Baldwin started his life in Harlem, New York City in 1924. He took care of his family by working jobs to support them after his stepfather passed away in 1943. In the mid-1940s, he spent some time living in New York City’s Greenwich Village. He continued to develop as a writer with the help of mentors and fellowships. He wrote many of his works while living abroad over the course of multiple decades.

Baldwin still spent time living in the U.S. writing and speaking about matters related to the U.S. Civil Rights Movement and racism as a whole. He had some work published in the 1980s before his death. He continued writing up until his death due to stomach cancer in 1987. Those who paid tribute to him at the time of his passing noted that he experienced success writing fiction, nonfiction, and for the theater. See our James Baldwin book list.

Maya Angelou (1928-2014)

Maya Angelou was an American poet, author, and actor best known for her collection of memoirs. Born in St. Louis, Missouri on April 4^th, 1928 as Marguerite Johnson, Angelou spent much of her childhood bouncing between her mother’s home in Missouri and her paternal grandmother’s home in Stamps, Arkansas.

Following a traumatic event in her childhood, Angelou chose to stop speaking for several years, fearing that her voice had the power to kill a person. By her own account, she used literature and poetry to help cope with the trauma and eventually began speaking again. At the age of 16, Angelou gave birth to her son, Guy Johnson, and became the first Black female streetcar driver in San Francisco.

She spent the next 15 years working a wide variety of jobs to support herself and Guy. At times she worked as a fry cook, auto-body worker, dancer, magazine editor, and sex worker. She adopted the name Maya Angelou during a stint as a Calypso singer. ‘Maya’ after a nickname her brother had given her and ‘Angelou’ from the last name of her husband at the time, Angelos.

In 1959, Angelou moved to New York to pursue her writing career. She joined the Harlem Writers Guild and published her first work and became active in the Civil Rights Movement working to organize fundraisers for the Southern Christian Leadership Conference. She also attempted to co-found a civil rights organization with Malcom X.

Interested in becoming a poet and playwright, she began writing her autobiography in 1968 after her editor, Robert Loomis, challenged her to do so. She published the first volume, I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings, in 1969 and it soon gained national acclaim. She would go on to publish six more autobiographical volumes, in addition to several collections of poetry and a couple of cookbooks. Bolstered by her success, Angelou was invited to speak at Bill Clinton’s inauguration. She was a frequent fixture on The Oprah Winfrey Show, and was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 2011. Angelou passed away on May 28^th, 2014 in Winston-Salem, North Carolina where she had lived since 1981. See our Maya Angelou book list.

Toni Morrison (1931-2019)

Toni Morrison is one of the most important writers of the Twentieth Century and is an American treasure. She chronicled the African American experience in her novels asking questions about race and identity. There is a lyricism to her writing detailing heart-breaking subject matter. Morrison’s writing received the highest honors for literature including the National Book Critics Circle Award, the National Book Foundation’s Medal, and the Pulitzer Prize for fiction. In 1993 she became the first African American woman to win the Nobel Prize in Literature.

She was born Chloe Anthony Wofford in Lorain, Ohio on February 18, 1931. Her parents who had escaped sharecropping and racial violence in the South for opportunities in the North. They settled in a steel town on the shores of Lake Erie. Her family instilled in her a love of reading. Morrison recounts that her grandfather learned to read at a time when it was illegal for him to do so. Teaching African Americans how to read was forbidden. Morrison rightly surmises, “reading is a revolutionary act.” Being an avid reader, Morrison spent her childhood at the Public Library, eventually getting a job shelving books. Morrison admits she spent too much time reading the books instead of shelving them, and eventually moved to the cataloging department.

After high school, she enrolled at Howard University, majoring in English and earning her degree in 1953. She continued her studies at Cornell University, earning an MA in 1955. She went on to teach English at Texas Southern University and then returned to Howard University. There she married, had two sons, and divorced. As a single mother, she moved to New York to become a textbook editor at Random House and became interested in developing a canon of Black work, helping to publish Toni Cade Bambara, Lucille Clifton, Angela Davis, and Muhammad Ali. In those days, Morrison recalls that she was not marching in the streets. Instead, she would do what she could from where she was, helping to publish voices and ideas of Black Americans, creating a record that would last.

During her time at Random House, Morrison began writing her first novel, The Bluest Eye. Published in 1970, she explored the standards of beauty and childhood trauma, specifically asking the question, how does a child learn self-loathing? While working full-time as an editor, Morrison continued writing novels publishing Sula, Song of Solomon, and Tar Baby. In 1988, Morrison published her masterpiece, Beloved, which attained both critical and commercial success. It was eventually translated to film, starring Oprah Winfrey. Beloved won the Pulitzer Prize in 1988 and has been hailed the best work of American fiction.

In her lifetime, Morrison wrote 11 novels, as well as essays, plays, and operas. She also collaborated with her son, Slade Morrison, on several children’s books. Morrison joined the faculty of Princeton University, becoming the first African American woman to hold a named chair at an Ivy League institution. In 2012, she was awarded the highest civilian honor, the Presidential Medal of Freedom by President Barack Obama. Morrison passed away August 5, 2019 in New York. Morrison famously said, “If there’s a book you want to read, but it hasn’t been written yet, then you must write it.” See our Toni Morrison book list and our Toni Morrison book list for kids.

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The Nervous System coordinates the voluntary and involuntary movements of the body. Without it you couldn’t move, speak, or breath. It includes the spinal chord and the nerves. It also includes the brain, which helps you think and understand. All of those body parts have to work together to make your body move. Listed below are books and online activities to help you learn about this amazing body system!

Websites, Activities & Printables:

Learn about other body systems:

e-Books & Audiobooks

Use your indyPL Library Card to check out books about the nervous system at any of our locations, or check out nervous system e-books and audiobooks from OverDrive Kids right to your device! If you have never used OverDrive before, you can learn how to use e-books and learn how to use audiobooks.

Human Body Facts and Functions Revealed in Diagrams, Infographics, and Photographs

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