Orbit: Science for kids on the move!

This week, we’re bringing an episode from our friends at “But Why?” from Vermont Public!  Find “But Why?” On your favorite podcast platform or visiting butwhykids.org 
We'll be back next week to learn all about Wood Turtles 🐢 together on Orbit! See you soon!

Ever wonder how a fluffy baby bald eagle grows into the majestic bald eagles that soar through the sky!? Or why bald eagles build giant nests that can weigh as a pickup truck!?
We're continuing the Wild Critters series to learn all about bald eagles with eagle biologist Ulgonda Dunlevy from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service! Along the way, learn why bald eagles almost disappeared in the 1960s, and how people worked together to help their population recover!
➡️ Part of the Wild Critters series, created with PBS Nature and the National Wildlife Federation 
➡️ Learn more about endangered species with Ranger Rick Magazine: https://rangerrick.org/ 
➡️ Learn more about the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service: https://www.fws.gov/ 
💬 Submit your kids' questions! https://www.cumbrekids.org/questions 
💛 Support this podcast by joining The Curious Club: https://www.cumbrekids.org/curious-club 
Orbit Family Conversation Starters!
Why do you think bald eagles are used as a symbol for the whole United States?
What do you think it would feel like to be a fledgling learning to fly for the very first time?
Why do you think it's important for people to help protect animals like the bald eagle?
Continue learning as a family!
See how many details you can spot on something four feet away versus twenty feet away, like an eagle would!
Look at a map and find Alaska, then talk about how it's different from where you live!
Read more about endangered species and see if you can learn about an endangered species that lives close to your family! 
🎧 Cumbre Kids: https://www.cumbremedia.com
👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 A message for parents about our values: https://www.cumbrekids.org/our-values

Did you know a giant, dried-out pile of mammoth poop can survive for over 20,000 years!? And still hold the seeds, pollen, and even parasite eggs trapped inside it! Scientists call it "mummified," and it might be the ultimate Ice Age time capsule! 
This week, we travel to Waco Mammoth National Monument in Texas with Justin Tweet, paleontologist with the U.S. National Park Service! 
➡️ Part of the Wild Critters USA series, created with PBS Nature and the National Wildlife Federation 
➡️ Learn more about Waco Mammoth National Monument: https://www.nps.gov/waco/index.htm 
➡️ Ranger Rick magazine from the National Wildlife Federation: https://rangerrick.org 
🖍️ Free Wild Critters and Orbit coloring pages: https://www.cumbrekids.org/color-along 
💬 Submit your kids' questions! https://www.cumbrekids.org/questions
💛 Support this podcast by joining The Curious Club: https://www.cumbrekids.org/curious-club 
Orbit Family Conversation Starters!
If you found footprints, bones, hair, and poop in a cave, which one would you want to investigate first, and why?
What do you think scientists can learn about an animal just by studying its poop?
 Why do you think it's important to leave fossils where you find them and tell a park ranger instead of taking them home?
Continue Learning as a Family!
Play "junior paleontologist" at home: take turns asking each other which discovery you'd want to find first in a cave: footprints, bones, hair, or poop, and why!
Look up what kind of Ice Age animals once lived in your own area or country! Many places around the world had their own giant mammoths, sloths, or saber-toothed cats.
Explore an Ice Age fossil site like Waco Mammoth National Monument in Texas or Tule Springs Fossil Beds National Monument in Nevada: https://www.nps.gov/subjects/fossils/fossil-parks-list.htm

🎧 More podcasts by Cumbre Kids in English and Spanish: https://linktr.ee/orbitkids
A message for parents about our values: ⁠https://www.cumbrekids.org/our-values⁠⁠

Did you know the welding arc can get even hotter than the surface of the Sun? 🔥 
This week, we meet Rudy Rodriguez, a welding instructor at Weimar High School in Weimar, Texas. Together, we discover how welders use heat to join metal together, why they wear special helmets, what causes those bright sparks, and how welding helps build everything from playgrounds and roller coasters to bridges, airplanes, and even rockets!
➡️ Part of the Cool Jobs for Curious Kids series, made possible by Level Up Texas and the Texas A&M Office for Youth Engagement ⁠⁠https://tx.ag/cooljobs⁠⁠
💬 Submit your kids' questions! ⁠⁠https://www.cumbrekids.org/questions⁠⁠
🖍️ Coloring pages for each episode! ⁠⁠https://www.cumbrekids.org/color-along⁠⁠
💛 Support this podcast by joining The Curious Club: ⁠⁠https://www.cumbrekids.org/curious-club⁠⁠
Orbit Family Conversation Starters!
If you could build anything out of metal, what would you create?
Would you rather work on roller coasters, rockets, race cars, metal artwork, or giant skyscrapers? Why?
What is something in your home or neighborhood that was probably welded together?
Continue learning as a family!
Look for welded objects around your home, school, or playground. Can you spot where pieces of metal were joined together?
Visit a construction site from a safe distance and see what materials are being used to build.
Talk about a time you learned a skill that seemed difficult at first but became easier with practice.

🎧 More podcasts by Cumbre Kids in English and Spanish: ⁠⁠https://www.cumbrekids.org⁠⁠
👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 A message for parents about our values: ⁠⁠https://www.cumbrekids.org/our-values⁠⁠

Who cleans a river? It turns out some of the hardest workers are animals you may have never heard of: freshwater mussels. 
Join Tyler Hern from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service as we discover how these amazing animals help keep rivers healthy, how baby mussels hitch rides on fish, and why scientists are working hard to protect them.
➡️ Part of the Wild Critters USA series, created with PBS Nature and the National Wildlife Federation
➡️ Learn more about freshwater ecosystems with Ranger Rick Magazine: https://rangerrick.org/
➡️ Learn more about the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service: https://www.fws.gov/
➡️ Free Wild Critters USA coloring pages: https://www.cumbrekids.org/color-along
💬 Submit your kids' questions! https://www.cumbrekids.org/questions
💛 Support this podcast by joining The Curious Club: https://www.cumbrekids.org/curious-club
Orbit Family Conversation Starters! 
Why do you think freshwater mussels are so important if most people never notice them? 
If you were a baby mussel, what do you think it would be like to hitch a ride on a fish? 
What are some ways our family can help keep rivers, streams, and lakes clean? 
Continue Learning as a Family! 
Visit a local stream, pond, or river and look for signs of wildlife that depend on clean water! 
Join a community cleanup or challenge your family to pick up one piece of litter each day. 
Explore a National Fish Hatchery or wildlife refuge near you: https://www.fws.gov/program/national-fish-hatchery-system
A cool video from PBS showing mussel mimicry and glochidia: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m7p_w4zE3s4
🎧 More podcasts by Cumbre Kids in English and Spanish: https://linktr.ee/orbitkids
👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 A message for parents about our values: https://www.cumbrekids.org/our-values