If you are looking for something fun to do with your children during the holiday break, you might want to consider stopping by the Maine Discovery Museum.
Next week the museum will be holding a week-long series of day program for kids. Kids can come by any day or be signed up for the entire week.
Here are a list of the programs being offered:
A painting, drawing and sculpting class where kids can design art and learn new ways to express their creativity.
Tuesday --- December 27: Underwater Adventures
Meet the creatures under the deep blue sea! Peek inside a shark and feel his fearsome teeth. Find out why filter feeders are important, who lives in a coral reef and why the ocean is blue. Kids can create their own underwater diorama to take home.
Bamboozle and razzle-dazzle your family with slick tricks and amazing illusions. Discover the science behind such crowd pleasers as the disappearing thumb, the comeback can and scared pepper. Kids can make a wand, hat and plenty of magic props to put on their own show.
The Science of Sweets! Candy and chemistry come together as the museum explores sugar crystal formation, pull taffy, glue together sugar cube castles and watch honeycomb caramel crackle up. Museum staff will examine the good, bad and in-between sides of all things sugar and cook up some sensible treats to take home.
Design and build things that stand tall, carry loads and span space! Plan and construct a dazzling marble maze racetrack to bring home. Use wood, stone, cardboard and your ingenuity to engineer the impossible and practical as you learn about the secret of the Roam arch and earthquake proof skyscrapers. Kids can solve challenging, fun engineering problems with the tools of the trade.
2011年12月19日星期一
2011年10月9日星期日
Program tries to give kids a leg up on tech
Jamaica schools seventh-grader Rylan Tate always liked math, particularly geometry. Still, he didn't know why it's important to understand things like lines, angles and shapes, other than to do well on tests.
He does now, thanks to the Gateway to Technology pre-engineering program, which Vermilion Advantage brought to his school this year.
"You can use math to design things and build things and make things better," Rylan said, as he and his classmates drew three-dimensional cubes on computers in their science class Tuesday. "It's fun."
Part of the national Project Lead the Way program, the Gateway to Technology curriculum introduces junior high and middle school students to engineering principles and technology. Students engage in hands-on, real-world activities that call on their critical-thinking, problem-solving, teamwork and communication skills.
"The goal is to get students excited about STEM (science, technology, engineering and mathematics) careers," said Kim Kuchenbrod, Vermilion Advantage's workforce development consultant. "We want to plant that interest now, so that they'll take more advanced math and science classes in high school and go on to pursue careers in engineering, technology or health care. Hopefully, they'll come back and fill those types of jobs here in Vermilion County."
The program currently is available in 18 middle schools and junior high schools in Illinois, including North Ridge and South View middle schools in Danville. However, it's been difficult to establish in-house programs in rural school districts because of software, technology and training costs.
About a year ago, Vermilion Advantage officials began thinking of a way to deliver the program to rural schools and came up with their mobile engineering lab. It was funded by an Alcoa Foundation grant and other resources and is supported by the Vermilion Advantage Workforce Clusters.
Vermilion Advantage is piloting the nine-week program for more than 200 seventh-graders at three schools this year, first Jamaica and later Westville and Oakwood. Next year, officials want to expand it to include other schools, as well as eighth-graders.
"Our ultimate goal is to have a lab for the north county schools and one for the south county schools," Kuchenbrod said. "And we're hoping, based on the results, that the program could be used by other counties to reach students in the rural districts."
A few weeks ago, instructor Debbie Clow, a former Oakwood High School chemistry and physics teacher, introduced a unit on design and modeling to science teacher Miranda Simmon's seventh-graders. Plans call for introducing other units — automation and robotics, energy and environments, flight and space, the magic of electrons and the science of technology — which can be taught independently or in conjunction with each other.
So far, students have designed and built air racers out of heavy paper and furniture for Cabbage Patch dolls out of cardboard. They are learning to sketch two-dimensional and three-dimensional shapes on paper and on their laptops, and will soon create three-dimensional pegboards on the computer and different-shaped pegs that must fit into the right holes.
"They're learning math and science, just in a different way," Clow said, adding the hands-on projects show students the relevancy of what they're learning.
The program also includes guest speakers, local engineers and other professionals, and field trips.
"It's just a wonderful, top-notch program," Principal Mollie Pletch said, adding it enhances the school's curriculum with "hands-on, problem-solving challenges. Watching them work together, talk things through, share ideas, accept compromise and seeing their critical-thinking skills and creativity at work ... is great to see. We're so thankful to Vermilion Advantages and the area business and industry for making this opportunity possible."
Students said they like using computers and other technology that is second nature to them. They also like the project-based learning concept, which requires less lecturing by the teacher and more problem-solving by them.
"If something doesn't work right, you have to figure out why and fix it," Haven Richards said, adding students have to work as a team to do that.
"I think it's pretty awesome," Aleah Carder said, adding the program has opened up career possibilities. "I always thought I wanted to be a teacher. Now I'm considering becoming an engineer."
He does now, thanks to the Gateway to Technology pre-engineering program, which Vermilion Advantage brought to his school this year.
"You can use math to design things and build things and make things better," Rylan said, as he and his classmates drew three-dimensional cubes on computers in their science class Tuesday. "It's fun."
Part of the national Project Lead the Way program, the Gateway to Technology curriculum introduces junior high and middle school students to engineering principles and technology. Students engage in hands-on, real-world activities that call on their critical-thinking, problem-solving, teamwork and communication skills.
"The goal is to get students excited about STEM (science, technology, engineering and mathematics) careers," said Kim Kuchenbrod, Vermilion Advantage's workforce development consultant. "We want to plant that interest now, so that they'll take more advanced math and science classes in high school and go on to pursue careers in engineering, technology or health care. Hopefully, they'll come back and fill those types of jobs here in Vermilion County."
The program currently is available in 18 middle schools and junior high schools in Illinois, including North Ridge and South View middle schools in Danville. However, it's been difficult to establish in-house programs in rural school districts because of software, technology and training costs.
About a year ago, Vermilion Advantage officials began thinking of a way to deliver the program to rural schools and came up with their mobile engineering lab. It was funded by an Alcoa Foundation grant and other resources and is supported by the Vermilion Advantage Workforce Clusters.
Vermilion Advantage is piloting the nine-week program for more than 200 seventh-graders at three schools this year, first Jamaica and later Westville and Oakwood. Next year, officials want to expand it to include other schools, as well as eighth-graders.
"Our ultimate goal is to have a lab for the north county schools and one for the south county schools," Kuchenbrod said. "And we're hoping, based on the results, that the program could be used by other counties to reach students in the rural districts."
A few weeks ago, instructor Debbie Clow, a former Oakwood High School chemistry and physics teacher, introduced a unit on design and modeling to science teacher Miranda Simmon's seventh-graders. Plans call for introducing other units — automation and robotics, energy and environments, flight and space, the magic of electrons and the science of technology — which can be taught independently or in conjunction with each other.
So far, students have designed and built air racers out of heavy paper and furniture for Cabbage Patch dolls out of cardboard. They are learning to sketch two-dimensional and three-dimensional shapes on paper and on their laptops, and will soon create three-dimensional pegboards on the computer and different-shaped pegs that must fit into the right holes.
"They're learning math and science, just in a different way," Clow said, adding the hands-on projects show students the relevancy of what they're learning.
The program also includes guest speakers, local engineers and other professionals, and field trips.
"It's just a wonderful, top-notch program," Principal Mollie Pletch said, adding it enhances the school's curriculum with "hands-on, problem-solving challenges. Watching them work together, talk things through, share ideas, accept compromise and seeing their critical-thinking skills and creativity at work ... is great to see. We're so thankful to Vermilion Advantages and the area business and industry for making this opportunity possible."
Students said they like using computers and other technology that is second nature to them. They also like the project-based learning concept, which requires less lecturing by the teacher and more problem-solving by them.
"If something doesn't work right, you have to figure out why and fix it," Haven Richards said, adding students have to work as a team to do that.
"I think it's pretty awesome," Aleah Carder said, adding the program has opened up career possibilities. "I always thought I wanted to be a teacher. Now I'm considering becoming an engineer."
2011年8月10日星期三
My Corner of the Canyon: Despite Reality, Hope Springs Eternal
The exotic sits on the table. It is surrounded by decidedly un-exotic things: a parking ticket, a brochure from Gelson’s, the remote control and a stuffed, carnival-prize banana with a cartoon smiling face (Okay, that’s somewhat exotic).
I have never had an orchid plant before. This one was a gift as a thank-you for my work with a local Topanga home-school group. I had been invited to share creation stories and Greek myths with the students and direct them in acting out the tales. We all had a pretty good time, as young teens tempted by a serpent and the pursuit of knowledge were banished from the garden and moved on east of Eden.
In later classes they transformed into Gods and Goddesses rising from the mortal world to the rare heights of Mt. Olympus, decreeing who will live and who will die while draped in shiny fabric sheets, heads adorned with wreaths and plastic crowns.
I named the plant Pandora, which means gift of the Gods. Unfortunately I, as with the original Pandora, had no practical knowledge of how to care for my gift. It seemed easy at first, the plant just sat there looking pretty and elegant on those tapering, tropical stems, and sometimes I was even inspired to clear the cluttered debris from the dining table as a tribute to her delicate beauty. I was advised to water her with an ice cube about once a week, which somehow always made me covet a martini. Then one day a flower fell.
In an attempt at horticulture, I have gone on line to research my charge and discovered I have in my care a Phalaenopsis. To be exact I have a Phalaenopsis Aphrodite or Moon Orchid. It has petals of cloud white, soft, looking like powder with a pale yellow center and etched, deep within, rather spidery looking pink streaks. As I looked closely, some of the stems from which the flowers bloom are turning brown and I fear soon all will fall, silently and softly, dropping like Pandora’s tears for having unleashed all those sorrows on our world.
A book I found at the library, The Orchid Thief, written by Susan Orlean, contains more facts and history about orchids than one would reasonably want to know and it became a national bestseller. Evidently, there is quite an orchid cult and there is danger of the unsuspecting or weak of mind to become enthralled with the plant to the point of obsession. Some plants sell for thousands of dollars and from time to time greenhouses are pillaged and accusations fly. Murders have been committed. Devotees dream of orchids, scheme to create new hybrids and long to one day see the elusive and mythical black orchid.
Not everyone likes orchids. Tennessee Williams, as a young man, compared his glimpse of a prostitute’s genitalia to that of a dying orchid, the shock of which he claimed to have never gotten over and hence remained rather frightened of the flower throughout his life. I don’t know how he got himself into such a situation, where he had no business being in the first place, for we know that Mr. Williams was not predisposed to vaginal admiration, but I like to think he must have been in an especially dark poet’s mood that day or came at it from the wrong angle. However, I see his point. Vividly.
I myself am not much of a delicate exotic. I’m more of a pumpkin, sort of round, jolly and bright. I attempt from year to year to grow the fruit in my own hardscrabble, fallen garden. Planting in the spring yielded nothing. Not one pumpkin seedling sprouted and I suspected gophers had enjoyed my efforts, as I noted little piles of dirt all over the place. Not much on persistence, I let it go. Then something came over me about two weeks ago, an obsession of sorts. Some inner voice sounded and through all the clatter and strum of daily life, I heard it clearly, “Plant pumpkins, plant pumpkins now!”
I made a special trip to find seeds. One pack left. I did the germination math and figured it would take 110 days. If I planted, right now, this very day, I could have a pumpkin for Halloween. Surveying the yard, I planned to spread out, plant everywhere; if gophers ate the seeds in one part of the yard perhaps they would leave the other part alone, (just a theory). In the fading sun, on a Topanga afternoon with tropical clouds turning color, I planted. Five sections were sown with seed. Five possible pumpkin patches. I was hopeful; I saw the future. And indeed, in just a few days little sprouts burst through that dry earth, some inner power telling them to raise their green leaves toward the sun and grow.
There are three possible culprits: gopher, snail and rabbit. Suddenly the sprouts were gone like bad magic, disappeared back into the ground, called down by the God of the Underworld to grace his halls, not mine. I guess he, Hades, makes a fourth suspect and formidable, but to a large part I think it is snails. I saw some of the leaves chewed and noticed those phosphorescent silver trails around the ravaged plant. In an imaginative attempt at preservation, I took to covering the remaining plants with plastic cups at night. I had cut out the bottom and placed them over the sprout to allow for light and growth and for a while it seemed to work until I saw the cups tipped over and the plant, eaten or gone. Perhaps all my garden pests were working in tandem and sharing the spoils; bunny knocking over cup and nibbling, snail slithering in and slurping, gopher munching from below, Dark God laughing.
I have never had an orchid plant before. This one was a gift as a thank-you for my work with a local Topanga home-school group. I had been invited to share creation stories and Greek myths with the students and direct them in acting out the tales. We all had a pretty good time, as young teens tempted by a serpent and the pursuit of knowledge were banished from the garden and moved on east of Eden.
In later classes they transformed into Gods and Goddesses rising from the mortal world to the rare heights of Mt. Olympus, decreeing who will live and who will die while draped in shiny fabric sheets, heads adorned with wreaths and plastic crowns.
I named the plant Pandora, which means gift of the Gods. Unfortunately I, as with the original Pandora, had no practical knowledge of how to care for my gift. It seemed easy at first, the plant just sat there looking pretty and elegant on those tapering, tropical stems, and sometimes I was even inspired to clear the cluttered debris from the dining table as a tribute to her delicate beauty. I was advised to water her with an ice cube about once a week, which somehow always made me covet a martini. Then one day a flower fell.
In an attempt at horticulture, I have gone on line to research my charge and discovered I have in my care a Phalaenopsis. To be exact I have a Phalaenopsis Aphrodite or Moon Orchid. It has petals of cloud white, soft, looking like powder with a pale yellow center and etched, deep within, rather spidery looking pink streaks. As I looked closely, some of the stems from which the flowers bloom are turning brown and I fear soon all will fall, silently and softly, dropping like Pandora’s tears for having unleashed all those sorrows on our world.
A book I found at the library, The Orchid Thief, written by Susan Orlean, contains more facts and history about orchids than one would reasonably want to know and it became a national bestseller. Evidently, there is quite an orchid cult and there is danger of the unsuspecting or weak of mind to become enthralled with the plant to the point of obsession. Some plants sell for thousands of dollars and from time to time greenhouses are pillaged and accusations fly. Murders have been committed. Devotees dream of orchids, scheme to create new hybrids and long to one day see the elusive and mythical black orchid.
Not everyone likes orchids. Tennessee Williams, as a young man, compared his glimpse of a prostitute’s genitalia to that of a dying orchid, the shock of which he claimed to have never gotten over and hence remained rather frightened of the flower throughout his life. I don’t know how he got himself into such a situation, where he had no business being in the first place, for we know that Mr. Williams was not predisposed to vaginal admiration, but I like to think he must have been in an especially dark poet’s mood that day or came at it from the wrong angle. However, I see his point. Vividly.
I myself am not much of a delicate exotic. I’m more of a pumpkin, sort of round, jolly and bright. I attempt from year to year to grow the fruit in my own hardscrabble, fallen garden. Planting in the spring yielded nothing. Not one pumpkin seedling sprouted and I suspected gophers had enjoyed my efforts, as I noted little piles of dirt all over the place. Not much on persistence, I let it go. Then something came over me about two weeks ago, an obsession of sorts. Some inner voice sounded and through all the clatter and strum of daily life, I heard it clearly, “Plant pumpkins, plant pumpkins now!”
I made a special trip to find seeds. One pack left. I did the germination math and figured it would take 110 days. If I planted, right now, this very day, I could have a pumpkin for Halloween. Surveying the yard, I planned to spread out, plant everywhere; if gophers ate the seeds in one part of the yard perhaps they would leave the other part alone, (just a theory). In the fading sun, on a Topanga afternoon with tropical clouds turning color, I planted. Five sections were sown with seed. Five possible pumpkin patches. I was hopeful; I saw the future. And indeed, in just a few days little sprouts burst through that dry earth, some inner power telling them to raise their green leaves toward the sun and grow.
There are three possible culprits: gopher, snail and rabbit. Suddenly the sprouts were gone like bad magic, disappeared back into the ground, called down by the God of the Underworld to grace his halls, not mine. I guess he, Hades, makes a fourth suspect and formidable, but to a large part I think it is snails. I saw some of the leaves chewed and noticed those phosphorescent silver trails around the ravaged plant. In an imaginative attempt at preservation, I took to covering the remaining plants with plastic cups at night. I had cut out the bottom and placed them over the sprout to allow for light and growth and for a while it seemed to work until I saw the cups tipped over and the plant, eaten or gone. Perhaps all my garden pests were working in tandem and sharing the spoils; bunny knocking over cup and nibbling, snail slithering in and slurping, gopher munching from below, Dark God laughing.
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