Rocket Lab

A New Zealand Rocket Lab aerospace company company can build and launch a ten ton rocket at a fraction of the cost of current rockets for smaller satellite payloads. See http://www.stuff.co.nz/technology/gadgets/60372738/kiwi-rocket-company-ready-to-blast-off

Front-end Loader

See the front-end loader my grandson Jakob made when he was 8 years old at

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCrNQaioE97zxe7L7VN34EmQ

The story behind this 'toy', pictures and plans (pp 13-16) Taylor's Pneumatic Toys. Also check out my "Brakes" video on YouTube.

can be found in my book,

Canadian Author Stan Taylor’s New Book

Ontario Association of Physics Teachers Conference

Book Reviews

“New book inspires young people to build scientific toys.”  Randy Attwood, Senior Editor   SpaceRef Canada Interactive Inc.

“I highly recommend this book to any parent that would like to spend some quality and creative time with their child.” David Anderson, Ph.D. Retired Physicist

“Stan Taylor has written a delightful little book that ought to be a standard classroom reference for every middle school Design & Tech teacher.” Tim Langford, Newsletter Editor, Ontario Association of Physics Teachers

Carly Reed, Steve Spangler's Manager states: “Steve Spangler’s book review team all agree that Stanley R Taylor did a great job on his book, Taylor’s Pneumatic Toys.”

 “Mr. Taylor has produced an interesting, well-illustrated, book which describes nine simplified models of miniature, pneumatic robotic items. Their parts can be ( and have been ) assembled by elementary school students. These are indeed 'educational' toys but they are also entertaining and thus will trigger many variations by the students themselves. (Well done Stan ! )”

Bruce Aikenhead, Designer of Canadarm

Stan with his pneumatically controlled Canadarm

Stan resides in Leaskdale, ON with his family

My Pneumatically Controlled Canadarm

I am a retired educator from the Toronto Catholic District School Board. I sit on the editorial board of the Science Teachers Association of Ontario for our two e-journals, Elements and Crucible. I also do hands-on science workshops with Scientists in School.

My book, Taylor’s Pneumatic Toys, features toys elementary and secondary students can build using wood. My book can supplement the Grade 6 “Space,” Grade 8 “Fluids” and Grade 9 “Earth and Space” science” curricula. I have drawings and pictures of each toy with instructions on how to build them. Children have the opportunity to learn the joy of working with wood to the construction of an end product. My signature toy, the pneumatic Canadarm, has been a hit with children and educators alike. Four weeks ago, I taught Ray Bielecki’s AstroNut Kids how to make my Canadarm. Children ranged in age from 8 to 14 (picture top right). Last May I taught secondary educators how to build my Canadarm at the Ontario Association of Physics Teachers annual conference at the University of Ontario Institute of Technology.

I have also taught educators how to build my Canadarm at

· Space Exploration Educators Conference (SEEC) at John Space Center (NASA) in Houston, February, 2013 and 2014 and

· The Science Teachers Association of Ontario (STAO) annual conference in Toronto, November, 2012 and 2013 and I will be teaching it again in November of this year.

The first toy in my book is on the “Multiplication of Power” and can be found in the Nov/Dec 2013 edition of Canadian Teacher, pp 16-17.

Taylor’s Pneumatic Toys (ISBN 978-0-9918098-0-6) can be purchased online at Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Chapters/Indego, STAO Store, or directly from me at Stanley R Taylor Communications, PO Box 137, Leaskdale, ON L0C 1C0 for $25.00, which includes HST and shipping.

Please see the previous four posts of book reviews.

I am available to do workshops on my pneumatically controlled Canadarm within a 250 km radius of downtown Toronto with up to 30 Grades 6, 8 and 9 educators on a mutually agreeable date. I charge $25.00 per person (minimum of 10 educators) plus mileage at 40 cents/km over 100 km, one way.

Stanley R Taylor

http://ca.linkedin.com/pub/stan-taylor/1b/807/2a0

http://twitter.com/#!/startraveller

 

 

Johnson Space Center, Houston

February 5-9, 2014 was full of adventure and excitement. It was my second year presenting at Johnson Space Center in Houston, Texas. Although the weather was cool (40s F) it was certainly warmer than the below freezing double digit temperatures that I left in Canada. My presenbtation went well after a rocky start. The PA system wasn't working properly. The video of Canadarm i and II prepared for me by Steve Lang of the Canadian Space Resource Center in Toronto projected clearly on the large screen behind me, but the audi feed wasn't working. I cancelled the video and jumped right into teaching the 19 educators present how to build my pneumatically controlled Canadarm. The workshop went very well as I observed broad smiles on the faces of the participants as they made their booms go up and down and watched their end effectors rotate. The participants dep[arted as I cleaned up the tables and my demstration area. I grabbed my onme remaining box of 4 and headed out to catch my bus. A woman coming in to do a presentation informed me that the bus had left. I had a sick feeling in my gut. I had to get back to mthe space center museum building to catch another bus to take me on the Mission Control Tour. A bus arrived an hour later. Missed the tour. Sigh. Later that day I went on another tour at Rocket Park and saw an Atlas 5 rocket in a huge building. I guessed it was four stories high on its side. Walking the length of this rocket seemed like a city block and then some. It was huge. I learned that the propellant came out of each stage via tiny holes on the inside of the erxhaust system. Beside these little jets were smaller jets that emitted liquid hydrogen so that the metal exhaust sections wouldn't melt under the extreme heat caused by the thrust. Stage 1 held one million gallons of fuel which it exhausted in 2 minutes. The sond Stage held half a million gallons and the third stage just under a quarter of a million gallons. All this fuel just to launch into outer space. To be continued...

An Astronaut's Guide to Life on Earth Book Review

Chris Hadfield, An Astronaut’s Guide to Life on Earth, Book Review by Stan Taylor, author of Taylor’s Pneumatic Toys Chris Hadfield is the consummate story-teller. From his well-placed metaphors and similies in his opening paragraph to the plain language of the concluding paragraph, Chris has drawn you into his world and into his life. The sounds he experienced and the sensations he felt as the spacecraft leaves the launch pad resounded in my head as I read his account. It was as if I was sitting in the seat beside him, feeling what he felt and hearing the sounds he was hearing. His writing style is mesmerizing. He’s telling a story of a folk hero. I experienced the hootnanies of the 60s and the folk music of the 70s. Chris was speaking my language. Yet, as I learned later in the book, Chris never thought of himself as a hero. His folk songs aren`t about him: They`re about us. The middle of the book is concerned with the Sims; simulated training scenarios of anything and everything that could possibly go wrong from leaving the launch pad to his mission aboard the ISS. He made me realize the seriousness of doing the sims over and over, never looking at each as the ‘same old’ but with a refreshing new perspective. He was trained so thoroughly that should an emergency arise, and knowing he had only seconds to react, he would react with a calm reserve and determination. Chris states, “The life of an astronaut is one of simulating, practicing and anticipating, trying to build the necessary skills and create the correct mind-set.” (p. 172). It is this ‘mind-set’ that served him well in his training, spending two years in Russia to learn the language, and to making the most of his final mission to the ISS. Chris Hadfield is an ordinary man who has accomplished extraordinary feats. Upon reading his book, I felt privileged to be sharing his training and raw determination from his first mission to his last. An Astronaut`s Guide to Life on Earth is a subtle guide for us all and should be in everyone`s home.

Videos about Taylor's Pneumatic Toys

I took a workshop from Rich Helms, a 30 year seasoned software developer (http://richhelms.com/rich/), on "How To Make a Book Trailer." It was 6 hours well spent. I decided to make a series of trailers highlighting each of the 9 toys in my book, Taylor's Pneumatic Toys. Another toy in my book is a Front End Loader. In the video, my grandson Jake, now 15 years of age, is sitting in a front end loader on our property. He made the wooden front end loader (later frame) toy when he was 8. See the video on YouTube: Printer Friendly Taylor’s Pneumatic Toys – Stan Taylor By RichHelms | December 1, 2013 0 Comment Brakes are 1 of 9 ‘TOYS’ in Taylor’s Pneumatic Toys children from 8-18 can build using pneumatic (air) power. http://youtu.be/VjrPzKepQh8 0:22 Front End Loader http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YXgg69xUnoI 0:40