Month: February 2010

Passing along a Job Opportunity

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I’m not usually in a position to help pass such things along, but a friend asked me to share this one, and it does sound pretty darn cool.  Plus, the folks I met from ECHO at last year’s NEMA conference were awesome.

ECHO Lake Aquarium and Science Center, located at the Leahy Center for Lake Champlain on Burlington’s waterfront, seeks a creative, upbeat individual to serve as its Public Education Coordinator. The Public Education Coordinator has primary responsibility for designing and
coordinating the delivery of exceptional daily experiences and programs to ECHO’s family and public audiences.
The position includes performing regularly for large public audiences, training and supervising volunteer, intern and staff educational interpreters, and managing systems and materials  related to public programming. The public education coordinator is required to work regular weekend and holiday shifts as part of a 40-hour/week schedule.
The ideal candidate will have strong stage presence, experience using technology to enhance educational programming, and experience supervising educational interpreters. The successful candidate must have a bachelor’s degree in ecology, biology, science education or a related field, minimum 3 years experience designing and implementing educational programs and strong public speaking and communication skills.
To apply, e-mail a cover letter and resume to: jobs@echovermont.org with Public Education Coordinator in the subject field. You also can apply via “snail” mail at ECHO – Public Education Coordinator Job Search, One College St., Burlington, VT 05401. For a detailed job description, visit our website at http://www.echovermont.org/visitors/jobs.html. The deadline for applications is March 8, 2010.

Sliding, Rolling, and Gliding

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Downhill skiing is fast.  Ice skating’s got those nifty blades.  Bobsleds are faster and those runners are longer, and they make that awesome ‘whooshing’ sound.  What’s not to love?  (Okay, so I was maybe influenced a little a lot by Cool Runnings as a kid.  I’m not the only one.)

Bobsleigh Homepage at Olympic.org — full of fun stuff!  Current photos and videos from the ongoing games, equipment and history, techniques, etc.

Physics of Bobsledding at Howstuffworks

Team USA’s Bobsled page

Want to try building a bobsled course at home?

There was a tree at the base of the best side of the house for sledding when I was a kid.  A really big pine tree that you didn’t want to hit, if at all possible.  So my brother and I, assisted by our parents, got pretty decent at packing up snowbanks so that we would curve around the tree, around the corner of the house, and out into the backyard.  It worked enough of the time to be worth it.

However, there are safer, smaller ways to build a bobsled course that don’t involve pine needles down your jacket collar.  My favorite is the paper-towel-tube bobsled run.  The simplest of indoor Olympic sports, all you need are paper towel tubes (wrapping paper tubes, mailing tubes, toilet paper rolls, you get the picture), marbles or toy cars (I’m more of a marbles fan, myself.  Run 4 at a time for a four-man sled!), masking tape, and a whole lot of books, furniture, and boxes to form your ‘hill.’  Cut, tape, and go wild!

(To make ‘curved’ sections, I recommend cutting out triangular pieces from the paper towel rolls [which end up looking like diamonds once you’ve made the two angled cuts] and bending and taping them together.  This takes some practice to get a reasonable variety of angles that aren’t going to make your marbles stick in the turns!)

For other examples, check out some of these snazzy runs for ideas!

Patriotic Marble Run

Courtesy of Marie at MakeandTakes.com

Winter Olympics Games for Kids from MakeandTakes.com (for very young children)

A 3 floor marble run and you want more?

For the truly Olympic oriented educator, Kathi Mitchell’s impressive Olympics for Kids round-up page, with lesson plans, interactives, and assorted links galore.

Warming up for the Winter Olympics

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Vancouver Olympics 2010

I love the Olympics–talk about an interdisciplinary event!  Theatrics, costumes, sport, science, art, international themes, history…a brain popcorn extravaganza if ever I saw one.

To get you in shape for the Vancouver 2010 Olympic celebrations and competitions, here are links to gear up your brain!

Official Websites of the Vancouver 2010 Olympics

Official Site of the Vancouver Olympics, including a fun interdisciplinary nod to native legends and local ecology with the three kid-friendly mascots, Quatchi, Miga, and Sumi.  Have to admit that Miga is my favorite — how can you not love a ‘sea bear?’  Part orca, part endangered Kermode ‘spirit bear’, and relentlessly adorable.

US Olympic Team Official Site

NBC Coverage of the Olympic Games

Olympic History

70 Years of Olympic History, from the Washington Post’s coverage of the ’98 Nagano Games

Science of Sport

Winter Olympics Sport and Science from Montana State University

Science of Hockey, part of the Sport Science feature on the Exploratorium website (gotta love those guys!)

Ice is Nice

ice photography

Images above: This collage shows four of Dr. Wasilewski's art compositions. Credit: Dr. Peter Wasilewski

Olympic Ice is Different in a Frozen Light from NASA.  Very cool photography in this one.

##Current News!## Scientists Keep Water Liquid Far Below Zero Degrees from NPR, reported Feb. 5

Clever snow conservation going on in Vancouver these weeks running up to the games… Spinning Straw into Snow from CNET

Do Try this at Home*

For those who find it too cold to climb trees this season, try some House Gymnastics.   Or at least enjoy the pictures of people hanging precariously in their stairways.

*maybe.  Some of these activities are a little dubious on the safety-meter.  Clamber over furniture, etc. at your own risk!

Coming up next…

Having fun with bobsled/bobsleigh and other things with runners — links and activities!

Plum Blossoms, Bamboo, and Pine Sprigs

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Welcome in Lunar New Year with the spirit of friendship (as represented by the flower arrangement above) and with an arrangement of my own suggestions for cool resources and activities.

Lunar New Year

Lunar New Year Parade, Chinatown, New York City 2009, photo by ho_hokus

History and Culture

A brief but interesting collection of information on the New Year as celebrated in China, from the University of Victoria

A nice resizeable map of China, with or without more detailed information, from National Geographic

Asia-Art.Net, a collection of really beautiful examples from several cultures, organized by medium or by culture.

Science

Why is it Lunar New Year?  Observing the Moon, from Science NetLinks

Arts and Crafts

Disney’s family activities offer up some fun and easy decorations for the holiday: a festive ribbon dragon, a beautiful lacy banner, and a good-luck goldfish.

The Smithsonian strikes again!  (I love these guys as much as I love National Geographic!) The Sackler and Freer Museums are home to the Smithsonian’s Asian collections, and they have both Chinese centric and Across Asia teacher resources as part of their larger set of Online Guides.

Theater and Music

Two fabulous resources from the Kennedy Center’s Artsedge:

Puppets on the Move: China and the Silk Road and

The Sounds of China Pod Page, with music to listen to and connected information and activities.

Literature

Also from the Kennedy Center, Chinese Calligraphy and Ink Painting

And finally, from Read-Write-Think, which is run by the National Council of Teachers of English, a very cool Fairy Tale Autobiographies lesson plan, which uses Chinese tales but could be adapted for pretty much any culture.

Not enough?  Then come celebrate with the Peabody Essex Museum, on Saturday February 27! (Chances are very good you’ll find me making paper lanterns in East India Marine Hall…)