An unusual exhibit is now open at the Children’s Museum in Coralville that’s designed to teach young people about the physics of skateboarding.

The hands-on exhibit uses evolving skateboard design to teach about such scientific principles as gravity, friction, energy, time and distance. John Dunkhase, a professor emeritus in the University of Iowa School of Education, says from what he’s seen, the kids are learning.

Dunkhase says, “Not only were they having fun, but they were purposely trying to measure how fast different kinds of skateboards went down there, and they were putting different weights on them to see which one went farthest and fastest and those kinds of things.” The technology of skateboards has come a long way since the 1960s when rollerskate wheels were simply hammered onto boards, as shown in the now-permanent exhibit called “Notion of Motion: Science of Skateboarding.” Dunkhase, who served as a consultant on the exhibit, says researchers will want to see how children interact with it.

“How often and how long kids stay at the different stations of the exhibit and see what they do,” he says, “how long they stay there, how engaged they are, how they manipulate things, what they come up with.” The exhibit was made possible through a grant of nearly one-point-three-million-dollars from the National Science Foundation.

(Thanks to Rob Dillard, Iowa Public Radio)

A former contestant on the TV show, “America’s Next Top Model,” has written a children’s book that urges adults to compliment something other than a child’s appearance.

Author Corinne Hatch will be visiting Iowa this week to promote her book, “Beyond Pretty.” Hatch says she grew up in a world where the focus of praise given to little girls always centered around beauty.

“‘Beyond Pretty’ is an alphabet book that highlights many of the examples that we should be telling little girls, outside of just focusing on their physical beauty, how they are amazing for having different personality traits,” Hatch says, “things like ambitious and brave, caring, daring, magnanimous.”

The book goes through each letter in the alphabet pairing pretty with empowering words for girls. “A is for pretty Ambitious; Girls who work hard to succeed. B is for pretty Brave; girls who don’t back down, even when they’re afraid…”

Hatch is the mother of a 20-month-old daughter and says the book is ideal to read to toddlers and for early readers. She says as friends and family would visit and see her girl, they’d constantly remark that she’s so pretty. While it’s nice to hear, she says that’s only part of the equation.

“It’s important to integrate other complements into our vocabulary when we’re speaking to young children,” Hatch says. “That’s the foundation for how they develop their personalities and how they develop the things they hold to be true about themselves and where they’re going to put their focus and what they’re going to try to cultivate in their personalities.” When working as a model, Hatch says she was discouraged to learn how shocked people were that she could carry on an intellectual conversation.

Hatch says society tends to believe beauty and intelligence are often times viewed as mutually exclusive attributes. “Many of the models I know have been traveling the world since they were 14 and they’re cultured and brilliant and they’ve experienced all of these different amazing things that have made them into that,” Hatch says. “I don’t think appearance has anything to do with your intellect but unfortunately, oftentimes we associate the two in a negative way.”

Hatch says she’s on a mission to encourage little girls to know they are capable of being strong and intelligent — as well as beautiful –individuals. In her only Iowa appearance, Hatch will appear at Beaverdale Books in Des Moines at 2 P-M on Saturday.

Audio: Matt Kelley interview with Hatch. 5:20.

The High Trestle Trail at night.

Two of central Iowa’s most popular bicycle trails are another step closer to being joined into what one backer calls a “mega-trail.”

A $15,000 grant was landed this week from a federal trails group that will help extend the High Trestle Trail from Woodward to connect with the Raccoon River Valley Trail in Perry. Mike Wallace, executive director at the Dallas County Conservation Board, says they’re working with some two-dozen landowners.

“That gap that we’re trying to make the connection on is a nine-mile segment,” Wallace says. “We’re utilizing former railroad right-of-way and road right-of-way and some land parcels that we’ve been able to acquire, all to make that nine-mile connection.”

The Raccoon River Valley Trail runs a total of 89 miles while the High Trestle Trail is 25 miles long — and it links to other trails extending into Des Moines and well beyond. Closing that nine-mile gap is part of a five-million dollar project, Wallace says, and the timeline is still fluid.

“We need to raise another $2-million, so when that happens, I can’t really tell you,” Wallace says. “We apply for state grants, federal grants, private grants, foundations, all those types of things. It’s a slow process.”

The High Trestle Trail has won international acclaim, in large part thanks to the 130-foot-tall bridge and its 43 diamond-shapped ribs, which are illuminated by cool blue lights at night. The trail goes through towns like Woodward, Madrid, Slater, Sheldahl and Ankeny. A recent Iowa State University study found each rider spends between $6 and $20 per visit.

“It’s a real shot in the arm especially to smaller communities,” Wallace says. “All of the sudden, thousands of people are coming to their community, whereas before they’d be driving right through and not stopping at all. It really does make a significant difference for all communities, whether it’s small or large.”

The north loop of the Raccoon River Valley Trail connects 15 communities and four counties in what’s believed to be the longest paved loop trail in the country at 72 miles.