Talking about Learning today!
Big news for our client schools on the East Coast! Crime Scene Science, our fabulous forensic science school assembly, at long last will be visiting the East Coast in 2011-2012!
It is July 8, 2011 and as I write this it is a little before 9 AM Eastern Standard Time. In a few hours the space shuttle Atlantis is scheduled to lift off on it’s final mission, and what will be the last mission of the thirty year old space shuttle program.
As things stand, bad weather may delay the launch. There is currently a 70% chance of a delay. Weather is crucial as the conditions must be right not only at Cape Canaveral where the launch is to occur, but also at all of the possible landing sites around the globe. It is a logistically difficult arrangement.
Regardless of whether the launch occurs today or not, it will occur at some point and when Atlantis subsequently returns to earth the entire shuttle program will be over.
In some ways this is a sad moment in our history. Though the shuttle program was created with the express purpose of enabling the construction of the International Space Station, and though this task is now complete, to many of us this seems to signal the end of the era of United States space exploration.
With a poor economy and tightening government budgets the entire NASA program is being examined and some believe we can no longer afford the luxury of venturing into space with humans.
Personally, I hope they are outvoted and that human colonization of space continues, for a multitude of reasons, too lengthy for this article.
But in another way, I worry about the future of American dominance in science and technology. Every year our colleges and universities churn out thousands of scientists and engineers, but many and possibly most are of foreign origin and many of these return to countries such as China, India and Japan upon completing their studies. There they contribute to the rising power of their own nations in Science and technology. While in the meantime our own young people find less and less interest in these crucial fields preferring sports or entertainment as possible careers. Science is not “cool”.
Good news for Texas schools! This Fall Texan schools will have a chance to enjoy a brand new science program steeped in exciting demonstrations of physical science, and performed by one of our best school assembly performers.
Toma the Mime is well known across the country for his stellar Young Authors Day school assemblies which have been dazzling audiences for twenty years and continue to encourage kids to write creatively. Additionally, for the past year or so, Toma, also a talented actor, has been visiting schools in the guise of Mr. Thomas Edison, and bringing to life the great inventor for countless delighted school audiences.
This year Toma adds a new program to his repertoire, taking on the performer duties for our newest science assembly The Invisible Wonder! This awesome new school show explores the physical properties of air, atmosphere, vacuums and a host of other scientific phenomena through super cool demonstrations including air cannons, vacuum spheres and a working hovercraft for kids to ride on!
Toma will be returning to the Lone Star State in October with all three of these great programs. So Texas schools will have some hard choices to make! Do they want a fantastic new science program, a mesmerizing historical recreation of the life of a famous American inventor, or do they want an amazing day of creative writing their kids will never forget?
Then again, why choose? Since Toma does not visit Texas often, why not schedule him for two days and enjoy all that he has to offer? A cross curriculum whirlwind in a brace of days might be just the ticket to wake up your kids this Fall.
I can see it now... scores of young Texan children all dressed as mimes for Halloween!
I just listened to an amazing piece and I want to share it with you. Our kids today are so much more internet savvy than I am. Of course, when I was that age we did not have the internet. When I was a kid we were still writing with quill pens!
Great piece on NPR this morning... new research using old technology leading to advances that may drastically improve life for many people.
Most of you are probably too young to remember but there was a time before television, and even before movies. Yes, really! Back in those days adults routinely attended the theatre not only to view plays, operas, ballets and other high art, but also to view “low brow” entertainment in what were called vaudeville houses. An evening of vaudeville involved a running slate of different “acts” doing short on stage stints in succession and typically included a variety of entertainment from song and dance teams to comedy acts, jugglers, magicians and ventriloquists. Going to see a “show” was a hugely popular entertainment evening for generations.
Kids love animals! No escaping that one. A visit to the zoo is a beloved experience for all kids. And it's a great part of their education, too.
Nature is a very cool thing! This was forwarded to me this morning and I thought I would share it.
Out in California in a Zoo a mother tiger gave birth to a rare set of triplet tiger cubs.
Sadly, due to difficulties in the pregnancy, the cubs were born prematurely and, being tiny, they died shortly after birth. But after recovering from the delivery, the mother cat suddenly began to decline in health. Physically she was fine, but the veterinarians felt that the loss of her litter had caused the tigress to fall into a depression.
The vets then embarked on a scientific experiment. They hypothesized that if given a new litter to nurse the mother might improve. To test the validity of this they began a search trying to locate a suitable litter. Unfortunately, tiger cubs are rare and there were none to be found. So the staff at the zoo determined to try something radical.
Sometimes a mother of one species will take on the care of a different species. The doctors located a litter of newly born baby pigs, wrapped the piglets in tiger skin and placed the babies around the mother tiger. Quite a lot to ask of the piglets in the name of science. Brave little piggies! They might have become dinner, right?
Wrong! Take a look:
We have written before about the importance of science in the education of our children in order for the United States to remain a world leader in the future. We have also referenced before the interest and enthusiasm of President Obama for encouraging an interest in science among our youth. Yesterday, the President took time off from a busy schedule in New York to pay a visit to a New York City science fair.
