A sweet post.

This is what 37,000 tons of raw sugar looks like.
The Raw Sugar Shed at Redpath Sugar is 27m high,  155m long, and 43 m wide.  It’s a big space!

a man is leaning on a temporary metal barricade in front of a very large pile of raw sugar in a large warehouse.

Raw sugar is brought to the Redpath Sugar facility by ship.  When it is off-loaded from the ship it is brought into the warehouse by conveyor belts that run down the middle of the ceiling.

below: There isn’t a ship in the harbour at the moment so the green crane waits.

a little girl in the foreground, standing beside a squared opening in the harbour for ships to come in, beside the Redpath Sugar refinery building on the waterfront with its green cranes and greenish blue building

below:  You can see a holes in the foreground of the next photo.  This is one of many holes in the floor of the Raw Sugar Shed.  The raw sugar is pushed through these holes to another series of conveyor belts below.

a large yellow front end loaded is parked inside a warehouse. A large pile of raw sugar is in the background.

three warning signs on the outside of a door of the Redpath Sugar shed, a warehouse for storing raw sugar. One says "Beware of Heavy Equipment", the second says "Sound horn before entering" and the third says "Canadian Government Customs Bonded Warehouse no. 60"

below: Photo taken from the entrance to the Raw Sugar Shed, taken at Doors Open.  Raw sugar is taken by conveyor belt (upper far right) to the processing plant next door.

sugar processing area of Redpath Sugar refinery, some white tents and metal barricades for crowd control as it is Doors Open day.

close up of the white Redpath Sugar processing plant, grey metal covers on conveyor belt tunnels and vents

below: A lingering remnant, railway crossing signs from when a railway ran here.
A guard sits by the entrance to Redpath Sugar.

a wire fence with barbed wire across the top, behind the fence is round yellow railway crossing sign as well as a large blue metal pole and a small shrub. There is also an old warning sign for a railway that once ran past here.

The railway serviced the industries that were built along the Toronto waterfront,  The LBCO, Loblaws, the ‘Toronto Star’ newspaper, Molson Breweries, Dominion Malting and others, relied on the railways.   Completed in 1959, the Redpath refinery was the last industry built along the waterfront.  You can just see the railway tracks in the photo below, running between Queens Quay East and the Redpath building where they dead end.  Since the tracks only dead ended there in 1985, that helps date the picture.   Rail service ended in 2008.

aerial view of the East Wharf portion of the Toronto wateterfront, vintage photo from the 1970's or 1980's

photo credit: Originally from City of Toronto Archives but found online at Old Time Trains.

Today, Redpath Sugar is one of the last industries operating on the waterfront; The area around it is rapidly being redeveloped, including the space right next door that is aptly called Sugar Beach.

people sitting on white chairs under pale pink umbrellas at Sugar Beach. sand, water and blue sky, beside Lake Ontario

a man sits on a chair between a blue shipping containter and a building,

redevelopment

Posted: May 27, 2016 in general Toronto

Hi!

I haven’t blogged much this week because I have been busy redesigning my website, As I Walk Toronto.  It is now online.  I still have photos to add to it, but I think this version of the site provides a better foundation on which to grow.

All feedback is welcome!  If you find any links that don’t work, please let me know.

Thanks

 

Well, this May 2 4 weekend has been splendidly sunny and fabulously warm!  I hope you’ve had the chance to take advantage of it, whether sitting on a patio with a cold drink and friends, or out enjoying the the greenness that has bloomed all around us.   It’s been a great few days to get up close and take a good look at nature.

looking down at a piece of concrete at water's edge, in the concrete is a cut off hollow pole, there are pebble and water in the hole.

below: Old moss covered metal seems to reach out of Lake Ontario like claws.

old bent metal embedded in concrete but partially inderwater. Moss is growing over it and making it look green

below: Reflections in the Yellow Creek, Beltline trail.

reflections of trees and blue sky in a creek, blue water, dark brown tree trunks and mottled greens of the leaves, in a ravine, in the city

below: Wet pebbles with the beginnings of green moss growing on them shine in the morning sun.

pebbles in greys and browns in the water near the shoreline of Lake Ontario. The pebbles closest to the shore are bright green with the beginnings of moss growth

below: Greater celandine, a yellow flowering plant, blooms along the railing of Milkmans Lane.

yellow flowers in bloom in the ravine, against a railing post, with shadows cast on the wood, large green leaves

below: New growth unfolds in the sunshine.

small maple tree with lots of new red leaves that have just come out. Grey rocks blurry in the background

below: The dark pink blossoms were at their peak this week.

 many pink blossoms on the branch of a tree

below: Green and brown mosses sway with the water currents along the shore of Lake Ontario.

looking in the water beside some rocks. There is moss and algae in green, yellow, rust and brown swirling in the water of Lake Ontario

the end of a shovel is in the ground, behind a chainlink fence. The sun is shining and making reflections. The reflection of the chainlink fence is on the shovel.

below: The snow fences have been bundled up and put away for the summer.

rolls of wood slat snow fences bundled away for the summer in large rolls. 4 rolls viewed from the end.

‘Cutlines’, an exhibit of old photographs from the Globe & Mail,
part of the CONTACT Photography Festival

people standing in a large room, the old Press Hall at the Globe and Mail newspaper, looking at an exhibit of old photos. Some photos are being projected onto a wall

below: A small sample of the 175 vintage black and white photos from the vast collection held by the Globe and Mail newspaper on display.

old photographs, black and white, of small towns, in a display case, as part of an exhibit called Cutlines, old photos from the Globe and Mail collection

below:  The exhibit is being held at the Press Hall on Wellington Street (near Spadina).  This old building is slated for demolition in the near future as the Globe and Mail is in the midst of moving to a new home.  Prints were in cabinets in the center of the room while other images were projected high on the walls.

people standing in a large room, the old Press Hall at the Globe and Mail newspaper, looking at an exhibit of old photos. Some photos are being projected onto a wall

The Globe & Mail has amassed a collection of about 750,000 photographs.  As they transition from print to digital images, they are ‘cleaning house’ with respect to their photo archives.  About 100,000 of the prints are going to be digitized and a portion of those donated to the new Canadian Photography Institute at the National Gallery of Canada in Ottawa.

below: Some of the pictures were covered with red, with what is known as a rubylith mask.  When the images were printed, the portions covered in red remained as they were while the rest of the picture could be changed to suit the needs of the story of the day.

silhouette of a woman standing in front of a lit display case of old photographs

people standing in a large room, the old Press Hall at the Globe and Mail newspaper, looking at an exhibit of old photos. Some photos are being projected onto a wall

people standing in a large room, the old Press Hall at the Globe and Mail newspaper, looking at an exhibit of old photos. Some photos are being projected onto a wall

people standing in a large room, the old Press Hall at the Globe and Mail newspaper, looking at an exhibit of old photos. Some photos are being projected onto a wall

below: The woman with the two trophies, bottom left, is Marilyn Bell who swam across Lake Ontario.  I know that the man beside her is from a story about a cowboy championship of some sort in Calgary and my apologies for not remembering more of the details.

old photographs, black and white, of people with trophies, in a display case, as part of an exhibit called Cutlines, old photos from the Globe and Mail collection

silhouette of two men standing in front of a lit display case of old photographs

On view at 425 Wellington St. West until 26 June 2016

#CONTACT16

Spring is in the air. 

the word love is written in lights in capital letters in a window of a store. Reflected in the window is a group of older people sitting on benches across from the window

A young man is lying on a bench in the Toronto peace garden, the words of which are written beside him, metal inlay in the stone on the ground.

people sitting and standing in an alley, one man is on his cellphone, tall buildings on either side of the lane as well as at the end of the lane

A woman in black high heel shoes is sitting on a low stone wall outside. You can only see her from the thigh down. He legs are crossed at the ankle.

three people sitting outside, two men who are talking together and a woman who is sitting on her own, they are in a square and are surrounded by tall glass buildings, half in shadow and half in light

a young man is lying in the the O of the Toronto 3D sign. The O is orange, you can't see the man's face but you can see one red shoe and his light coloured pant leg.

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people sitting on benches amongst the tulips and birch trees of the peace garden at Nathan Phillips Square

Two people sitting at the base of Henry Moore's 'Archer' sculpture at Nathan Phillips Square. One man is eating and the other is reading.

I’ll be lazing on a sunny
lazing on a sunny
lazing on a sunny afternoon.
(with apologies to Queen)

Canstruction is a non-profit competition where teams create sculptures of canned and packaged food that is then donated to food banks.  The event is held in many cities around the world including Toronto.  Since its inception in 1992, Canstruction has contributed more than 17.5 million pounds of food to food programs globally.

Planning for the 17th annual Toronto Canstruction began in January.  The “build night” where the teams come together to build the sculptures was held on the 16th of May at the Toronto Dominion Centre.  The sculptures are now in the many lobbies of the TD Centre buildings and they will remain on view until the 21st of May.  At that time they will be “decanstructed”.

A sample of this year’s entries:

below: A winning emoji, ‘EmojiCAN’ built by GM BluePlan Engineering Ltd.  Emojis, the little symbols popularized by social media, understood by everyone no matter what language they speak.

made of canned food, a large yellow circle meant to look like an emoji, winking with it's tongue out. It's about 5 feet high.

below: ‘Let’s End Hunger by All Measures’ by Walsh Canada. “Food Banks Canada estimates that in 2015 852,137 Canadians turned to food banks each month for food. The need for food banks spiked in 2009 and has hovered at record levels ever since.”

a large measuring tape (round and yellow) made of tin cans full of food to be donated.

below: A lovebot made of cans by Cecconi Simone Ltd.

A large 3D lovebot, about 6 feet tall, made of canned food stands in the lobby of the TD centre, it's an entry in the Canstruction event. Two men in suits are looking at it.

below: A close up of part of ‘Hungerbling’ by Hatch.  It features Drake and comes with lyrics.

You used to call me on my cell phone
Late night when you need my food
Call me on my cell phone
Late night when you need my food
And I know when that hunger bling
That can only mean one thing
I know when that hunger bling
That can only mean one thing”

 

made of cans, part of an entry for Canstruction 2016, pinkish cans of Heinz Disney , with a paper cut of a man's face. Simple body made of wrapped food.

below: ‘CANadian MAyPoLE’ by Candevcon Limited.  “We often dance around the issue of hunger, but this time the children have the formula to fight it.”

models of children made with packaged food. A girl is made with orange enfamil containers, bowl of noodles for head, tubes with orange packaging as a skirt, and cyclindrical packages of cookies as arms

blog_canstruction_canadian_maypole

below: Close up of ‘Perspectives on Hunger and Heroes’ by ARUP.  A tribute to the late David Bowie since “hunger has many faces”.

part of a large 3D design made of canned food in white, blue and pink with a few black details.

This blog post is about a flock of birdos, meaning that I found a lot of alley garages decorated with paintings by street artist birdo.  Or maybe ‘a menagerie of birdos’ would be a more accurate description as most of the pictures were of different animals such as elephant, cat, dog, coyote, and mouse along with a number of different birds.

These photographs were are all taken in alleys behind the south part of Dovercourt Road (between Queen and Sudbury streets).  The majority of the paintings that I saw were result of birdo’s work but there were examples of  and I have included them in this post too.

 below: Two birdo birds with eggs, with a slice of mushroom and pepperoni pizza by Shalak.

Three garages in an alley, with trees growing between them. The first two have garage doors with birdo murals on them and the third has a pizza street art painting by Shalak

street art mural on a garage door in an alley by birdo - a large bird with blue head and orange beak sitting in a nest looking down at a large white egg

street art mural on a garage door in an alley by birdo - a parrot holding a large blue egg

An old wood garage in an alley that is painted by Shalak, a slice of pizza with pepperoni pieces flying off it (or onto it!)

a person is sitting on a kerb in an alley, beside a wall with a large mural by birdo of an elephant and a mouse

street art mural on a wall in an alley by birdo - an elephant with a green head

below: Howling at the moon, with a cactus and a scorpion too.

street art mural on a garage door in an alley by birdo - a coyote howling at the moon in the desert with a large cactus in the picture as well as a scorpion. words: birdo homes spud

below: Blue dog, pink lava lamp

street art mural on a garage door in an alley by birdo - a blue dog beside a pink lava lamp on a table. words: birdo dmc, phil pans tense

street art mural on a garage door in an alley by birdo - a four legged animal looks to be growling at something

street art mural on a garage door in an alley by birdo - a large multicoloured cat. words: tense phil pans

below:  A rooted turtle and cool owl with sparkly shades

street art mural on a garage door in an alley by birdo - a lavendar turtle and an owl with blue eyes and orange beak

street art mural on a garage door in an alley by birdo - a creature with a green and purple body and head that looks like a parrot

street art mural on a wall in an alley, a girls face, two little brown pigtails, 2 hearts and a turtle head

an old mattress leans against an old brick wall that has two pieces of graffiti on it. One is a blue and yellow egg shape with a blue arm and hand sticking out of a crack in it. The words "It's alive" are written beside it. The other is a small blue creature like shape

On a gararge door in a laneway, painted like the Canadian flag except there is a pineapple in the middle instead of a maple leaf. On the right hand side red stripe are the words "have a nice day"

A mural by bruno smoky on the side of a white container. It is a purple faced creature with blue tag like shapes around it.

below: “Just a robot that doesn’t like technology”

a lovebot on a silver garage door with the words "Just a robot that doesn't like technology, I'd rather be free"- signed Tasha

number 66 in a lane, garage door, door and walls covered with circles and triangles in different colours.

A door covered with a very abstract face painting and another graffiti face beside the door.

Get your head wrapped!

Considering the cold temperatures, not to mention the rain, snow and hail, there was a great turn out for Turban Up! at Yonge Dundas square today.  The event was organized by the Sikh Youth Federation to help raise awareness about Sikh religion and culture.  There were martial arts demonstrations, food, an art exhibit, and other examples of Sikh culture, but the main event was the turban wrapping.  Numerous eager and friendly volunteers were available to wrap a turban for you in your choice of colour.  A few people sported black and dark blue turbans but bright colours were very popular – colours like turquoise,  bright greens and blues, as well as pink, orange and red.  A veritable rainbow of turbans.

blog_turbans_yonge_dundas_square

People having their heads wrapped in a turban, many different colours, at an event at Yonge Dundas square run by the Sikh Youth Federation. Sikh volunteers are making the turbans using stacks of fabric laid out on 5 long tables. Choosing magenta fabric

a man is wrapping a seated woman's head with a blue turban

People having their heads wrapped in a turban, many different colours, at an event at Yonge Dundas square run by the Sikh Youth Federation. Sikh volunteers are making the turbans using stacks of fabric laid out on 5 long tables. A toddler gets a pink turban while her mother holds her

tables with piles of colourful fabric outside at Yonge Dundas square with the signs and billboards of the Eaton Centre behind. Many people are in the square.

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People having their heads wrapped in a turban, many different colours, at an event at Yonge Dundas square run by the Sikh Youth Federation. Sikh volunteers are making the turbans using stacks of fabric laid out on 5 long tables. An Asian woman smiles while she gets a pink turban

People having their heads wrapped in a turban, many different colours, at an event at Yonge Dundas square run by the Sikh Youth Federation. Sikh volunteers are making the turbans using stacks of fabric laid out on 5 long tables. A father and son with matching light blue turbans

blog_smiling_yellow_turban

a man is having his head wrapped in a yellow turban

People having their heads wrapped in a turban, many different colours, at an event at Yonge Dundas square run by the Sikh Youth Federation. Sikh volunteers are making the turbans using stacks of fabric laid out on 5 long tables. A man gets a green turban

People having their heads wrapped in a turban, many different colours, at an event at Yonge Dundas square run by the Sikh Youth Federation. Sikh volunteers are making the turbans using stacks of fabric laid out on 5 long tables. A boy with a black turban and his face painted with a black beard and mustache watches others get turbans

blog_sikh_youth_federation_turbanup

People having their heads wrapped in a turban, many different colours, at an event at Yonge Dundas square run by the Sikh Youth Federation. Sikh volunteers are making the turbans using stacks of fabric laid out on 5 long tables. Three people pose to have their picture taken after getting turbans

People having their heads wrapped in a turban, many different colours, at an event at Yonge Dundas square run by the Sikh Youth Federation. Sikh volunteers are making the turbans using stacks of fabric laid out on 5 long tables.

blog_turban_up_pink_turban

A young girl gets her head wrapped in an emerald green turban

People having their heads wrapped in a turban, many different colours, at an event at Yonge Dundas square run by the Sikh Youth Federation. Sikh volunteers are making the turbans using stacks of fabric laid out on 5 long tables. A woman gets a red turban while her son looks on

below:  He’s out of focus but I like his gumption.  Thanks for the smile!

a man in a green turban is close in the foreground and is out of focus. He is wearing sunglasses and is giving the peace sign with both hands
#sikhyouthfederation | #turbanup | #ydsquare

On Friday morning, my original goal was to find ‘Residents of the Esplanade’, a CONTACT Photography Festival outdoor exhibit at David Crombie Park but it was such a beautiful morning that I didn’t stop there. I found more than just the ‘Residents’.

Forty years ago, May 1976, the site plan for The Esplanade neighbourhood was approved. Since then, it has become home to a very diverse group of people. And it is those people that this installation celebrates on the 40th anniversary of the founding of the neighbourhood.

Crombie Park runs along the south side of The Esplanade between Berkeley street and Lower Jarvis.  The installation consists of a number of small white rectangular pillars with the picture and story of person on either side.

A photo from the CONTACT photography festival, installation called 'Residents of The Esplanade' - story of Mysha from Pakistan

A photo from the CONTACT photography festival, installation called 'Residents of The Esplanade' - photo of Solomon from on top of a basketball hoop

A photo from the CONTACT photography festival, installation called 'Residents of The Esplanade' - photo of Alan working at a desk, tulips and a woman sitting in the park are in the background

People were out enjoying the morning; school kids were playing basketball at recess.

kids playing basketball on an outdoor court. The wall behind the basketball hoop has been painted with a mural of hands making a heart shape with the fingers, by Bruno Smokey and Shalak Attack.

Flowers were blooming.

close up photo of red tulips in full bloom on a sunny day

tulips in a garden in a park, orange and yellow tulips, with some greenery. Grassy area with trees behind, and people walking on a sidewalk in the background.

below: Looking towards Lower Jarvis Street and downtown Toronto.

at the corner of The Esplanade and George Street, looking west towards downtown and St. Lawrence market. Playground on the left with children playing.

below:  One street beyond Lower Jarvis is Market Street.  It dead ends at the railway tracks.  The long structure on the right is a parking garage.

looking west towards the CN Tower, with the railway tracks to the left (but they are elevated and behind maintenance buildings so you can't see the tracks). Parking structure to the right, with city buildings behind it.

below: After a small backtrack up Market Street, I went through Conger Coal Lane to Church Street.  I don’t think I have walked this way before.  The lane was named in commemoration of the Conger Coal Company whose yard and wharf was nearby.   It was one of the many companies that provided Toronto with coal back in the day when coal fueled the city.  It was started in 1870 by Mr. P.D. Conger.   In 1913, Sterling Coal company bought Conger and the name was changed to Conger Lehigh Coal Co.

a downtown Toronto lane, very clean, no graffiti, taller, newer buildings on either side of the lane. CN tower in the distance,

below: A very old photo of the Conger Coal Company dock at the foot of Church Street, back when Church street ended at Lake Ontario

historical picture of the old COnger COal Co wharf at the bottom of Church street.

below: Tucked into a corner on Church street immediately south of Front Street, is an art installation by Paul Raff called ‘Shoreline Commemorative’.  A topography of limestone forms the base of the work.  A glass ball representing the line between sky and water sits on top of a tripod that tries to evoke a land surveyor’s tripod.  The words on the wall say “For 10,000 years this was the location of Lake Ontario’s shoreline.  This brick wall stands where water and land met, with a vista horizon”

Shoreline Commemorative by Paul Raff, an art installation on Church St., south of King, that marks where the shoreline of Lake Ontario used to be. It involves words on a brick wall and a model of the shoreline of Toronto showing the different elevations of the land.

below: Continuing the lake theme, a little fish out of water, jumping over the entrance to a condo.

bas relief sculpture of a fish, square stone on a brick wall above the entrance way to a condo building.

below: From the lake theme to another common theme in the city, construction. Spring is the beginning of construction season and here Berczy Park is being upgraded. In the background a new condo is being built but as we all know condo construction ‘season’ never ends. In fact, the challenge might be to find a place in this city where there isn’t a condo being built.

workmen redoing a park, Berczy Park in Toronto, with a digger and another piece of equipment, cityscape behind with a tall condo building under construction. A red and white crane is on top.

below: I walked past the never ending Front Street construction.  Construction in front of Union station seems to be finished, but this stretch of Front Street just west of the station is still being worked on.   There have been fences here so long that I can’t remember a time when they weren’t here.

Front street constrcution, behind a greenwire fence is a rd truck and piles of construction materials. Between the fence and a stone building is the sidewalk on which some people are walking.

a shirtless man in sitting on a stool at the corner of Front and Union streets. He has four signs (behind, above, in front, and beside him) asking for spare change or for you to buy his novel that is well rated on both Amazon and Goodreads.

A man is selling Black History newspaper to another man in front of the TTC subwayentrance at Union station.

 

 

I am still trying to get caught up with the photos that I took at Science Rendezvous last weekend.  There was so much happening!  Lots of people were involved and engaged in the various activities that were available both at Yonge Dundas Square and on St. George street.

below: On the stage at Yonge Dundas square:  Start with three identical piles of building blocks and three teams, put ten minutes on the clock and see what towers result.   The challenge was to
build the strongest, tallest, or most awesome tower.

competition to build the highest, strongest tower out of hard styrofoam blocks, children and adults working together.

below: Teamwork!

competition to build the highest, strongest tower out of hard styrofoam blocks, children and adults working together.

competition to build the highest, strongest tower out of hard styrofoam blocks, children and adults working together.

below: How do you test the strength of a tower?
By giving one exuberant girl a big orange ball of course!

A young girl throws a large orange ball at a tower of polysyrene blocks in an attempt to knock it over, an activity at Science Rendezvous on the stage at Dundas Square.

below: At the end of the competition, all three teams came together to build the tallest tower that they could.  It didn’t quite reach the stage roof, but it was close!

competition to build the highest, strongest tower out of hard styrofoam blocks, children and adults working together to see how tall they can make the tower


… more great activities…..

below: Question: How long does it take the light from the Sun to travel to the Earth?
Answer: sunlight travels at the speed of light (rounded to 300,000 km/s) and it has to cover a distance of 150 million km on average to reach Earth.  With a bit of math, the answer is 500 seconds, or 8 minutes and 18 seconds.

A sign stands in the street with information about the sun on it. Behind it is a second sign, this time with information about Mercury. Behind that are people at Science Rendezvous on St. George street

below: making paper

a young girl is making paper. she is sponging the paper dry over a piece of mesh in a frame

below: robots

A group of students is sitting on a sidewalk. One of them has a laptop and he is controlling a robot machine with wheels that is moving around on the street.

below: How unique are you? Test yourself for various phenotypes (the product of your genes)… Can you curl your tongue? Can you smell freesias? Is your thumb bent?  From answers to these and five other questions you can determine if you are 1/10 (you share similarities to many people) or 1/1000 (you are more unique)… or something in between.  Apparently I’m 1/45 and if you’re curious, my thumb is straight, I can’t curl my tongue and I can smell freesias.

Two students are conducting a genetic phenotype test on a couple of volunteers. They are looking to see if they can smell fresias or taste coriander.

below: St. George street.

looking up St. George street on the downtown University of Toronto campus. A white tent is set up on the street and under the tent are students running science demonstrations.

below: A demonstration using acids, bases, and pH indicators.  Technically, pH is a measure of the concentration of hydrogen ions.  In practice, it indicates how acidic or basic a substance is.  Water, with a pH of 7 is neutral.  Acids have a pH less than 7 while bases have a pH greater than 7.  A pH indicator is a chemical that changes colour depending on the pH.

Three students behind a table doing a demonstration about acids and bases in chemistry. One of the women is adding a strong acid to a solution that is a strong base. The pH indicator is changing from yellolw to purple

below: How much energy is a gummi bear? Find out by heating a little bit of of potassium chlorate in a test tube.  Once it is liquid, add a gummi bear.  Smoke and flames ensue.  When the potassium chlorate is heated, it produces oxygen gas which ignites if there is combustible material, such as sugar, available.

A student is doing a chemistry experiment to show how much energy is in gummi bear candy. He has lit one on fire and burned it to show the release of energy. It was done in a test tube.

below: Design and construction with K’nex

Two young Asian boys are building small structures with the building toy k'nex.

below:  Tetris players

Three young man are playing a tetris game on a large computer board.

below: programmable Lego vehicles

Two kids are playing with a programmable Lego car.

below:  Watch out!  Scientists on the loose!

Two young kids have been dressed up as mad scientists and their father is taking their picture. They had rubber gloves on, eye protection and a lab coat. They both have pipettes.

below:  The little boxes used in this activity have a marble inside them.  When placed on an inclined surface, the boxes tumble to the bottom.  Sandpaper prevents the boxes from slipping.

A woman and a girl are racing objects that they made. Inside small rectangular boxes are marbles that make the boxes tumble down an incline.

 

below: Corn starch and water makes a wonderful substance.  It’s not liquid and it’s not solid.  If you are fast enough you run on top of it but if you stop moving, you sink into it!

A boy is running barefoot along a course that is filled with corn starch and water. Onlookers are cheering him on.

A girl is running barefoot along a course that is filled with corn starch and water. Onlookers are cheering him on.

An older man is running through corn starch and water with his arms held up