ACADEMIC TOOLBOX NEWSLETTER APRIL 2008

 

Hello again,

 

Welcome to spring!  I just heard that the temperature this week is going to run at least 10 degrees below average.  This global warming is making me want to move south.  Is it me or have we had the worst weather since all this warming talk started?

 

FREQUENT SHOPPER CARD DRAWING

And the winner is Mary Graves of Wenatchee!   She wins $25 to spend in the store.  Remember to remind us to mark your card each time you visit and make a purchase.

 

DID YOU KNOW?

A “jiffy” is an actual unit of time for 1/100^th of a second.

 

PERSONAL STUFF

Not a whole lot going on.  Had all four of the grandkids visit but not at the same time.  It is fun but tiring on us old folk.  Cody, who you may know from here at the store, turned 18 during spring break.  He is my go-to person when I have computer problems and is going to study that in college.

 

NEW MERCHANDISE

We have a new supplier out of Canada that sells logic and strategy games not only from Canada but some from other countries.  Our initial order included ‘Abalone’ a French game that involves marbles trying to shove others off of the playing board.  It is a two player “sumo match” that was the “game of the decade” according to the International Games Festival.  Age 7 plus.  

One other game we got from them is called ‘Bilder Labyrinth’ which is a German game that has various pictures on a grid.  The object is to cover up all the pictures except a single pre-selected one using various geometric shaped pieces.  There are two levels of difficulty.  Designed for Kindergarten and up. 

We received a total of seven games on this order but have samples of several others if you are looking for a particular challenge.

 

REMINDER

Sharon and I will be going to an educational toy show the end of the month that is running concurrently with the hobby show and just found out that the GAMA people are doing there game exposition at the same time down the strip.  If you have any special needs or interests that you would like us to search for you, give us a call.  We leave on Monday the 21^st.

 

LAST MONTH’S MATH PUZZLER AND ANSWER

You have an unlimited supply of little cubes, each with 1 cm length sides.  What is the smallest number of cubes that make a big cube that also, when you flatten the cubes out by putting them all in the same plane, make a square?

 

Answer:  Obviously one cube makes a square.  But the next cube, 2x2x2=8, does not, nor does 3x3x3=27.  But since 4x4x4=64 is 8 squared, a 4x4x4 cube flattens out to a 8x8 square.  The correct answer is 64.

 

April Question:

There are ten bags of gold, each with one ounce coins. In nine of the bags, the coins all weigh one ounce. But in one of the bags, the coins all weigh one-tenth of an ounce more or they all weigh one-tenth of an ounce less, although you can't tell by looking; all the coins in all the bags look alike. You have a scale that you are allowed to use once. How do you identify which bag has the bad coins and whether or not they weigh more or less than they should?

Answer next month.  These puzzlers are courtesy of www.shillermath.com

 

BIG WEBKINZ NEWS

Your child has probably told you this already; we are having a WEBKINZ EXTRAVAGANZA here on April 24, 25, and 26.  Details are on the Webkinz site but we will be having games and prizes.  3-6 on Friday, 10-5 on Saturday, and 1-4 on Sunday.  This is to celebrate Webkinz 3^rd anniversary.

 

Remember our children are our hope for the future, but we are their only hope for their present and their future.

 

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