Mexico, India, Sweden and the United States...

Mexico, India, Sweden and the United States are just a few of the countries that have long had a special day for trickery and fun. Whether it’s sending someone out to find a copy of “The History of Adam’s Grandfather” or telling someone to let Prince Albert out of a can, taking time for laughter is not only fun, but good for you. Jokes can exercise your intellect as well as your funny bones, and scientist have even proven the health benefits of laughter. So have a little April Fool’s Day fun this Wednesday by using the direct links on the Times Launchpoint Web site: http//www.latimes.com/launchpoint/

Explorer’s Quest

The answer to this Internet quiz can be found in the sites at right.

Ice Cream who?

Clue: See Knock! Knock!, check under Food.

*

Find What You Need to Know: Have a project on California history? Need help getting a math problem done? Launch Point now covers nearly 40 topics for getting your schoolwork done. Go to http//www.latimes.com/launchpont/ for the full list of subjects and direct links to the best Internet sites.

*

Answer to last week’s question: Alligators differ from crocodiles by the arrangement and pattern of their teeth. When alligators close their mouths, only the upper and lower teeth are visible.

*

April Fool’s Day Fun

School kids take learning to a new level in the Internet site called The World According to Student Bloopers. Some offerings: King David fought the Philatelists; Bach was the world’s most famous composer and so was Handel; and Adam and Eve were created from an apple tree.

*

Here are the best sites for getting your schoolwork done or for just having fun.

*

Level One

Aaron’s Jokes: Can a joke a day keep the blues away? Find out by checking out this site, which features new jokes every week.

http//www.concentric.net/Bbickel/jokes.html

*

Tongue Twister Database: Are you tongue-tied or truly talented? Try 20 treacherous, tricky tongue twisters.

https://www.geocities.com/Athens/8136/tonguetwisters.html

*

Knock! Knock! Who’s there? Juno. Juno who? Juno you can find out who if you go to this site?

http//www.pbs.org/kids/knock/

*

Level Two

Knock Knock by JJ Jam: Some more knock-knocks for you to answer-answer.

http//www.marlo.com/knockjj.htm

*

Strange But True True or False? Was Thomas Edison, the inventor of the lightbulb, afraid of the dark? Find out the answer to this and other questions at this wacky fact site.

http//sbt.bhmedia.com/

*

Stories for Scouts: A wealth of bad puns. Learn the answers to some of life’s most puzzling questions, such as how can gardeners avoid hating yardwork? “Walk on, walk on, with rope in your cart, and you’ll never knock a lawn.”

http//www.macscouter.com/Stories/ShaggyShorts.html

*

Level Three

The World According to Student Bloopers: Some history facts you never knew you didn’t know, like “If you smell an odorless gas, it’s probably carbon monoxide.” and “The French Revolution was accomplished before it happened.”

http//www.intrepidsoftware.com/bloopers.html

*

Bamdad’s Math Comics: is a pi in the face funny? Decide for yourself if mathematics is amusing by perusing this set of cartoons.

http//www.csun.edu/hcmth014/comicfiles/allcomics.html

*

April Fool’s Day: An Unsolved History: Need some help fooling your favorite fool? Get some great ideas here and read some theories about why we have a day set aside for pranks and merriment.

http//aprlfools.infospace.com/afhow.htm

*

Launch Point is produced by the UC Irvine department of education, which reviews each site for appropriateness and quality. Even so, parents should supervise their children’s use of the Internet. This week’s Launch Point was designed by Anna Manring and Stan Woo-Sam.

*

Jump on the Internet at http//www.latimes.com/launchpoint/