Unfold the Universe July 13, 2022

Wow- just wow. TODAY the first images from the James Webb telescope were revealed. Talk about the wonder of science. Check out my childhood crush, Carl Sagan narrating this trailer from beyond the grave to explain the most powerful telescope, a real life time machine that will show us the most crisp images of galaxies not even dreamed of in Star Trek. The origami telescope which folds up to open its cameras was launched into space serving as the Christmas star for the universe. (The telescope was launched Dec 25, 2021). Nasa uses infrared cameras that can penetrate the wavelengths of light and see through the gases of these galaxies that have traveled 300 million light years away.

“That was always out there,”

Jane Rigby, NASA NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center OPERATIONAL MANAGER

Image Credits: NASA, ESA, CSA, STScI, NIRCam

“It’s our world”

Neil degrasse tyson

The Great Marshmallow Launch November 29, 2014

Getting caught on blogging on Thanksgiving break.. have been a little busy so I am posting some of the highlights of my life long learning and getting paid to do it.  🙂

Last month, my sixth grade students students learned about the six simple machines.  On a walking field trip just around the school yard and the neighborhood, it became crystal clear that everyday objects were powered by the simple machines.

The lever became a point of discussion as we saw them everywhere so we decided to build one of the most famous of all medieval catapults but with a middle school twist.  Students learn about catapults, including the science and math concepts behind them, as they prepare for the associated activity in which they design, build and test their own catapults. They learn about force, accuracy, precision and angles.  Using only a few household items and limited building time, a competition  ensued on who could hurl a giant marshmallow the furthest.

In this “LESSON”  students analyze data to determine if a design solution works as intended to change the speed or direction of an object with a push or a pull.

Plan and conduct an investigation to compare the effects of different strengths or different directions of pushes and pulls on the motion of an object but most importantly

They had fun and they got to eat marshmallows.

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Dyslexia – the most common learning disability! August 26, 2012

The Brain is a wonderful and mysterious place.  The brain is more complicated and powerful than the most awesome super computer and in the past 40 years, the field of neuroscience has given us a greater understanding of how the brain works and the amazing way it can renew and repair.  The brain is the most important organ in our body (not that we are having a competition). You need the heart and lungs of course but the brain actually controls everything from motor skills to language to vision, etc etc and of course READING.  Scientist have been able to pinpoint the fact that a child with dyslexia’s brain does not function in the same way of a typical reader though high resolution MRI scans.

Just by looking at these images,  you can imagine that a student with Dyslexia has to work ten times as hard to do the same type of work as a typical child.  Children with dyslexia often complain of headaches and just plain hate reading.  I know first hand, my middle school son has dyslexia.  BUT don’t dispair, this brain is very valuable.   We need this brain.  Usually reading can be very frustrating and needs to be taught very explicitly but the other areas that seem to be more advanced than a typical person include GREAT visual spatial abilities and theoretical thinking.    Famous Dyslexics include Albert Einstein, Alexander Graham Bell, Thomas Edison, Richard Branson (the founder of Virgin Airlines), Cher, Whoopi Goldberg, Tom Cruise, Leonardo Da Vinci, and even Bill Gates.  Not bad company.

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Dyslexia is a processing issue in the brain.  Often called developmental reading disorder, it a reading disability that occurs when the brain does not properly recognize and process certain symbols, namely letters, sometimes numbers too.  Dyslexia occurs between 10-20% of the world’s population, it occurs in all languages, although Engligh being one the most complicated languages in terms of irregularities, dyslexia can be especially pronounced.

 

Gus, the Superhero