It's a bird! It's a cat! Test your visual skills

This National Geographic interactive puzzle times how long it takes you to arrange shapes (such as triangles and squares) to cover a picture (such as a cat design).

Fun in black and white - test of observation skills

What do you see (or what do you think you see) after clicking here?

Winter fun – a puzzle

By mid-December, my husband Bill and I plan a cross-country skiing vacation around New Year's Day. We live in California, so we often ski in the Sierra Nevada.
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Here we are east of Yosemite National Park:
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We look for animal tracks such as these:

The wooden stick is one inch long.

Can you guess whose tracks they are?

Click here for a clue and for the answer.

Holiday fun – a test of observation skills

The day after Thanksgiving, my thoughts turn to an ongoing Christmas project.
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It all began several years ago, when I saw small Christmas stockings in a store. I liked how they were decorated in detail, but not the color (pale blue) or the price (several dollars each). Besides, most of the time, seeing something I like makes me itch to craft it myself.
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So I couldn't wait to get home to design and make my own, smaller stockings:
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They are 1-1/4 inch wide. The bright blue and black ones, in my husband's favorite color pair, are for us. The gray and dusty blue ones are for my big brother's family, in colors I've seen them wear.
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The following year, I made six mittens. The year after that, hats. Then scarves, and now shoulder bags:
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Here's the puzzle to test your observations skills: the black and bright blue ornaments follow a pattern, but there are four departures (deviations, details that don't follow the pattern). Can you spot them?

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Click here for clues and the answer.

Be a science detective - test of observation skills #7 (part 1 of 2)

If you’re afraid of anything in nature, then skip this one—or at least ask someone who’s not afraid of anything natural to check it out and make sure you can enjoy it too.

Ready?

Are you sure?

Here we go.

In July 2010 while hiking in the Mount Baldy area near Los Angeles,


I walked up this slope to go sit in the shade for a snack.

The rocks ahead looked inviting. But something arrested me. Can you see it below?

Click here for a closer look.

So you think you're a science detective - test of observation skills #6

What do you see (or what do you think you see) after clicking here?

Be a science detective - test of observation skills #5

This video activity is amazing, BUT ONLY IF you ask someone else to give you a hand.

Why? Because clicking on the link below reveals the answer... before it asks the question.

So it spoils the fun, unless you close your eyes and someone else clicks on the link for you, then clicks to start the video for you.

First, turn on the sound on your computer.

Then find a helper willing to

1. wait for you to close your eyes

2. click on the link below

3. REMAIN SILENT

4. see a YouTube video ready to start

5. click on the arrow to start the video

6. tell you to open your eyes

Ready?

CLOSE YOUR EYES before you ask your helper to click on "amazing test of observation skills."

Be a science detective - test of observation skills #4

I like the following mystery photo from Odyssey Magazine, a science magazine for young readers, because if you really exercise your observation skills and imagination, you have a good chance of figuring out what it is.

Click here to try it.

Be a science detective – Test of observation skills #3 (Part 1 of 3)

Where on earth is this?










Click here for the answer.

Be a science detective – Test of observation skills #2 (Part 1 of 4)

One of my favorite hobbies is backpacking. After Labor Day in 2008, my husband and I enjoyed walking by ourselves in Kings Canyon National Park in California, near Bullfrog Lake in the Eastern Sierra Nevada.



The mountains are mostly granite, gray rocks with gray specks, all different shades.

In the next photo, you can see four small rocks on a big rock, and to show the scale, a pair of pine needles (one inch long).



In the next photo, what do you see?


Click there for the answer.

Be a science detective. Test of observation skills #1 (Part 1 of 3)

Sometimes, scientists make discoveries because they spotted something unusual. Therefore, it’s good to practice the ability to recognize both what is familiar and what is unfamiliar.

Try it.

This is the thief who ate my granola bar. Can you name what kind of critter he is?









Click here for the answer.