I don’t know if you caught this but it took me by surprise. China recently launched a piece of a future space station into orbit. Coming as it does on the heals of the end of our Space Shuttle program it kind of rocked me back on my heels a little.
With all the hoopla and attention centering on our new Stronger Than a Bully program this Fall, we have somewhat neglected another of our new school assemblies, The Invisible Wonder (All About Air!). That certainly needs to be corrected!
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!
Well, I didn’t know this existed, but apparently today is a special day! Today, May 17, is apparently Museum Memory Day when we are supposed to share a great memory of a visit to a museum. Look here:
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!
Something fun here. With all the flooding in and around the Mississippi of late I guess that dams and levies are on our minds. I just received these pictures from Italy. They show the Diga del Cingino Dam in the north of Italy near Piedmont. Do you see the small spots on the dam.
