Cover art by Dave Clark
Put on your thinking caps and get ready for a brainstorm! This inventive issue of SPIDER is filled with all kinds of clever creations! Meet budding inventor Ada who uses her inventing skills every day without even realizing it, then get to know real-life kid inventors. Believe it or not, some brilliant inventions were created by accident! Test your knowledge and see if you can guess how silly putty, TNT, and other popular items first started out. In fact, there’s a lot that scientists can learn from dropping things. From a penny tossed from the Empire State Building to impact-testing toys, see how accidents are part of good science!
In Michele L. Rich’s story, “Blushing Blake,” Blake is an aspiring scientist who dreams of presenting an experiment in the school science fair. The only problem? He can’t stop embarrassing himself—and blushing bright red—whenever he tries to present to the class. Can there be an advantage to his incurable blushing?
Have you ever wondered what it would be like to live on Mars? Aerospace engineer Barbara Braun doesn’t need to wonder. For two weeks, she spent every moment of every day behaving as if she were on living on Mars. Find out about her experience in an exclusive interview!
Plus, in this issue’s regular features, help the kids at Nestor’s Dock come up with solutions to fix a wobbly swingset, create your own loony balloon inflator and tin can buddy, read amazing stories from SPIDER readers, and make a tool picker in the takeout pages. This issue of SPIDER is engineered to make reading fun!
Enjoy features including:
- “Someday” by Liz Huyck
- “Great! But What Is It?” by Nancy Kangas
- “Safety by Accident” by Tracy Vonder Brink
- “Blushing Blake” by Michele L. Rich
- “Young Inventors” by Kathie MacIsaac
- “The Latest Thing” by Robert Schechter
- “A Cure for the Hiccups” by Naomi Kinsman Downing
- “Oops!” by Trip Smart
- “Loony Balloon Inflator” by Phillip Swift
- “Life on Mars” by Francine Galko
- “The Time Loop” by Jesse Decker
- “The Three Treasures” by Jennie Woodring
- “Answers to Great! But What Is It?” by Nancy Kangas
Regular features of SPIDER Magazine include Nestor’s Dock, Nosy News, Spider’s Mailbox, The Fun Zone, Marvin and Friends, Spider’s Corner, Ophelia’s Last Word, Spider and the Gang, and Buggy Bulletin.
