I am trying this for the first time using the tag “garden” from my Flickr photos. Lets see how it works!
My Garden Presentation
It seems like a pretty cool way for kids to upload photos, tag them, then display them as a group or slide show.
Blogged with Flock
Who would have thought a set of magnetic shapes would open the door for so much learning. For me and Spencer, we walked through the door together and learned about each other too!
He is interested in building functional structures. In this case, he wanted a garage for his Lamborghini Murcielago. A two level structure was important to store multiple vehicles, but the most prized possession goes on the second floor. In this case, security is extremely important, so a drawbridge sort of ramp was created that rises to prevent entrance from below.
He discovered that the drawbridge would not completely close because the magnets on the structure were pushing it away. “I wonder why?” turned into “Wouldn’t that be cool if a real garage could have that?” as we talked about North and South magnetic fields…opposites attract, likes repel, the conversation deepened. “The force is really strong.” brought us to talk about an exciting real-world use of strong magnetic fields: Maglevs (Magnetic Levitation Trains). We discovered that a Maglev hovers 10mm above the concrete path. We went to a website to convert 10 mm to .393 inches (I swear they told us in 5th grade that the English measurement system was being replaced!)
“Ah! Maybe this magnetic field could also be used as security against attacks?” moved us further into another discussion about “What if soldiers could wear magnetic fields instead of bullet-proof vests?” that led to a discovery that not all metals would be stopped.
I pointed out the difference between the hinge-joint and the ball-and-socket type joint in different areas of his structure. Then I pointed out a ball and socket joint in the shoulder. “Where else do we have these types of joints?” became a mini lesson in why people sometimes need surgery such as hip replacement or rotator cuff repair.
To his dismay, he was short on square pieces to finish a few details. Stability in architecture became evident as the walls wanted to collapse inward as he tried to remove the divider floor. He did notice the triangle shaped pieces sitting in front of him. “I wonder how many triangles it takes to make a square?” he asks. All he had were equilateral triangles that connected at the points….so this question was actually more difficult as it appeared.
Once the door were on and he was satisfied with security he declares, :This is as secure as Fort Knox!” , an expression with which he was familiar, however he didn’t know what Fort Knox was! We looked that up too. Which brought us to the discussion about how money is backed by gold. (and the fact that there is a Fort Knox in Maine that is different than the Ft. Knox in Kentucky!)
Through it all, his level of “knowing” deepened. We explored anatomy, economics, history, science, math. We had a great time Skyping each other links from our discover research. What fun!
Where is he now? In his “office” with his laptop. We are no longer in the same room. His search for Fort Knox has led him on an adventure through wikipedia where he is exploring his real love…Apache Helicopters. The skype links keep coming…for those who question if technology replaces “real human connection”…I am more connected to my son at this very moment than I could ever have imagined possible. Our minds are working in tandem and the energy is very high.
Learning through play is not a new concept. This was just another confirmation of the value of discovery learning, relevancy,
timing, connection of ideas…cued off the learner’s energy that was
sustained during the course of 2 days for a total of 6+ hours. His last
question before my post? “Can we go to Walmart to get more magnets?”.
Of all the ways I gather information, my home landline is last on my list. In fact, my home phone is about to join the list which also contains: VCR, Cassette Tapes, Tin-Can-with-String and Smoke Signals. The sound of my landline ringing is as close to “nails on a chalkboard” as it gets (hmmm….I should add that to the list as well). Snow-days are just another reminder of the digital divide. Come to find out, there are actually people who complain if they don’t get that 5:30 am wakeup call. Being an akimbo branch, rather than a leaf, I actually get two or three calls. However, the leaves on the ends of my branch detest the phone even more than myself. The only thing worse that receiving that 5:30 am call is being the caller. So Skype me, text me, email me, push me an RSS feed, post a message on your website for me to read, broadcast it on the TV or radio…but please…please cut down the phone tree!
If you have any sort of home entertainment setup like at my house, you understand the irritation of having multiple remote controls. We have 5 to deal with. Rather, we had 5 until this past weekend. As I painted the bathroom the house was eerily quiet. Of course, as any parent would, I wondered what my 9-year old was up to. It wasn’t long before I heard a scream, and the thumping sound of SuperW44 running up the stairs: “Victory!!!!” he shouted as he ran closer.
“Mom, I did it! I did it!”
“Did what?” I asked, in an somewhat anxious voice. One never knows what he might have done. Once he *invented* an automatic plant waterer consisting of a hose running through a cardboard box with a slit cut in one side. I look at that little “victory” as a great science learning in the properties of cardboard (solid, liquid and mush) and capillary action (of a mop).
“I programmed all the remotes into the Time Warner Cable remote!” he squealed.
“Really?! How?”
He proceded to explain it to me in detail. I was impressed. The amount of skill, perseverance and resourcefulness it took for him to work through the solution reminds me of his great potential. But he went even farther. He posted his steps on his blog. Why post it? Because our local Circuit City uses his blog site (actually, his Flickr photos fed to his blog site) to sell large wall mounted plasma televisions. He photo documented our home improvement project last fall. People always ask “Can I mount it over a fireplace?”. The sales associates bring up the photos on his site and, voila, chi-ching, another sale.
Anyway, he posted his steps to help the sales people answer another commonly asked question “How do I make everything work from one remote?”
He spent at least 45 minutes on the blog post. He was motivated and excited. Pubilishing is like magic!
MySpace to offer spyware for parents by ZDNet‘s Steve O’Hear — Following continuing pressure from politicians (and parts of the media), MySpace is planning to offer parents the chance to download software which will monitor aspects of their children’s activities on the social networking site.
Honestly…do we really think teens are stupid? If they want to hide
something from their parents…they will do it under a secret
account…and give their parents counter-intelligence. The only way to
be sure what your kids are doing online is to sit with them and
watch…talk do them….frequently. Be invloved…and be a user
yourself. This way you can truly understand their world. A relationship
of trust is not rooted in spying. Why not hire a PI to follow your kid
around at the mall? Better yet…secret camaras at the mall with a web
address that parents can log into to watch every move. How about an
Inspector Gadget button-camara that records every movement…while you
are at it…put that GPS tracker on the car.
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