Welcome to the Izzy Newton and the S.M.A.R.T. Squad Blog Tour!
To celebrate the release of Izzy Newton and the S.M.A.R.T. Squad: Absolute Hero by Valerie Tripp (author of the American Girl book series) on September 8th, blogs across the web are featuring exclusive, original content from Valerie, plus 5 chances to win a SIGNED copy of Izzy Newton!
D.I.Y. STEM Experiments
By Valerie Tripp
The S.M.A.R.T. Squad girls, Izzy, Charlie, Allie, Gina, and Marie love to experiment. You probably do, too! So here are some D.I.Y. S.T.E.M. experiments you can try.
Marie’s “Do You Dare? Hair-dye Solution”
Want a winning streak in your hair? S.M.A.R.T. Squad’s chemist, Marie, has concocted the perfect solution. Use Kool Aid! Your new color won’t be permanent, and the dye will be easy to apply.
First, put on rubber gloves so that your fingers won’t be dyed and slip on an old tee shirt to protect your good clothes. It’s a good idea to have a small, clean paintbrush on hand to use, too.
1. Next, mix warm water, your favorite hair conditioner, and unsweetened Kool Aid in a disposable cup. Experiment with different colors (flavors) and amounts of Kool Aid until you’ve made the color of your choice.
2. Make a gooey paste.
3. Use the paintbrush to apply the paste all over your head if you want to dye all of your hair. Or paint the dye on in streaks to achieve the look that Marie is sporting.
4.Let dry, and let fly!
Here are two other ways to dye your hair temporarily, too:
Food coloring https://www.leaf.tv/articles/how-to-color-hair-using-food-coloring/
Jello https://www.wikihow.com/Dye-Hair-With-Jell-O
Physicist Izzy’s fine with slime! Want to glom on?
Then try . . .
Izzy’s “Ready for Slime Time” Recipe
First, cover your good clothes with an old tee shirt or an apron. Then follow these steps:
1. Put 1/2 cup of any old shampoo in a throwaway bowl. Add 1/4 cup of cornstarch. Mix well.
2. Add 3 drops of food coloring. (You don’t have to, but it’s more fun if you do!)
3. Add 1 tablespoon of water and stir. Slowly add 5 more tablespoons of water, stirring well after each one.
4. Knead the slime for around 5 minutes.
5. Have a fine time with your slime!
Here are two other slime recipes you might want to try:
https://www.naturalbeachliving.com/liquid-starch-slime-recipe/
https://www.homesciencetools.com/article/how-to-make-slime/
Math-loving Allie’s nickname is “Allie Oops,” because sometimes her projects just don’t add up. Once she mistakenly dyed all her clothes blue. But maybe you’re dying to try dyeing. So here’s . . .Allie’s “Do-or-Die Tee Tie-Dye (This time, on purpose!)”
It’s best to do this outside, wearing one old tee shirt while you’re tie-dying another tee shirt that is clean, white, and cotton. Wear rubber gloves if you don’t want to dye your hands.
1. Put your tee shirt in a large plastic bowl. Pour ½ cup white vinegar
and ½ cup of warm water on the shirt and let the shirt soak for half an hour or so.
2. Wring the tee shirt so it’s just damp, not soaking wet. Roll it into the shape of a tube and slip three or four rubber bands around it, spaced out. Or, if you prefer, tie knots in the tee shirt.
3. Put ½ cup cold water in an old squeeze bottle and drop in about eight drops of food coloring. Screw the cap back onto the bottle securely, and shake it to mix the water and dye together thoroughly.
4. Squirt the food coloring and water mixture onto your tee shirt. Do all sides.
5. Mix up other food coloring colors with water and squirt those colors onto your tee shirt in different areas for each color.
6. Put your tee shirt in a plastic bag, seal it up, and let it sit overnight.
7. The next day, be sure you’re wearing that old tee shirt again. Take the wet tee shirt out of the plastic bag, take off the rubber bands, and plunge the tee shirt into a bowl that has ½ cup water and ½ cup salt in it to set the dye. Then wring the shirt out.
8. Dump out the salt water, fill the bowl with clean, cold water, and rinse your tee shirt over and over again until the water is clear. Wring out the tee shirt one last time and hang it up to dry.
9. Wear your tie-dye shirt and look cool. Remember: The first three or four times you wash your shirt, wash it separately in cold water or you will end up with unintended dyed clothes—just like Allie did!
Here are two other ways of tie-dying a tee shirt:
https://www.onehourtees.com/blog/how-to-tie-dye-a-t-shirt/
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=abjpy72Sf6U
Naturalist Charlie eats all natural foods, naturally! Chomp on . . .
Charlie’s Chewy Chickpea Chow
1. Sprinkle as much feta cheese as you want over a big handful of raw spinach. Drain a can of chickpeas and toss them on the spinach, too.
2. In a separate small bowl, mix 3 teaspoons of honey with 4 tablespoons of olive oil, ½ tablespoon of lemon juice, and a small handful of raisins. Add a teaspoon of cumin, a pinch of salt, and ½ teaspoon chili flakes. Mix it all up really well.
3. Toss both parts of the salad together in a nice big bowl and chow down!
Here are more ideas for very varied vegetarian lunches:
https://www.momables.com/8-vegetarian-school-lunch-ideas/
https://www.brit.co/vegetarian-protein-lunch-recipes/
Gina, the S.M.A.R.T. Squad’s engineer, likes to aim high. If you like to send things flying, too, try building . . .
Genius Gina’s Gee-Whiz Catapult
1. Stack 9 popsicle sticks one on top of the other and use a rubber band to hold the stack together at one end.
2. Slide a 10th popsicle stick through the stack under the top four popsicle sticks and wrap another rubber band around the other end of the stick.
3. Attach a plastic spoon to one end of the vertical stick with a rubber band.
4. Put a mini-marshmallow in the spoon, tap the spoon, and send the mini-marshmallow soaring across the room!
Here are more ways to make a catapult from popsicle sticks:
https://www.shelterness.com/3-easy-diy-popsicle-stick-catapults/
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Blog Tour Schedule:
September 28th – Multicultural Children’s Book Day Blog
September 29th – Pragmatic Mom
September 30th – Novel Novice
October 1st – Bookhounds
October 2nd – Here Wee Read
Reader Guide | Educator Guide
When middle school mishaps happen, five friends form the S.M.A.R.T. Squad and use their collective skills and the power of science to bring order to their school.
Science reigns supreme with this squad of young brainiacs. Join Izzy Newton and her friends in the first adventure of this fun new middle-grade fiction series from National Geographic Kids.
A crowded new school and a crazy class schedule is enough to make Izzy feel dizzy. It may be the first day of middle school, but as long as her best friends Allie Einstein and Charlie Darwin are by her side, Izzy knows it’ll all be okay. However, first-day jitters take an icy turn when Izzy’s old pal Marie Curie comes back to town. Instead of a warm welcome, Marie gives her former pal the cold shoulder. The problems pile up when the school’s air-conditioning goes on the fritz and the temperature suddenly drops to near freezing. The adults don’t seem to have a clue how to thaw out the school. Cold temperatures and a frigid friendship? Izzy has had enough of feeling like an absolute zero. She rallies the girls to use their brainpower and science smarts to tackle the school’s chilly mystery … and hopefully to fix a certain frozen friendship along the way. Will the girls succeed and become the heroes of Atom Middle School?
About the Author: Part of the creative team behind the American Girl series, Valerie Tripp has written many of the American Girl books about Felicity, Josefina, Samantha, Kit, Molly, and Maryellen. She also wrote American Girl’s Welliewisher and Hopscotch Hill School books. Tripp has also written numerous levled readers, songs, stories, skills book pages, poems, and plays for educational publishers and is the editorial director of the Boys Camp series. She is a frequent speaker at schools and libraries.
GIVEAWAY
- One (1) winner will receive a finished copy of Izzy Newton and the S.M.A.R.T. Squad: Absolute Hero SIGNED by Valerie Tripp
- Check out the other four stops for more chances to win
- US/Can only
- Ends 10/11 at 11:59pm ET
I would want to meet Dian Fossey.
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