Middle and High School … from a Montessori Point of View
OK. For someone like me this map is just ridiculously addictive. Produced by Revolver Maps, it shows the locations of everyone who’s visited the Muddle since March 5th (2011). If you click on the map it will take you to their page where you can find out more about the locations of all those dots. … Continue reading “Geography of data”
We were working on plate tectonics last week, and the conversation went from earthquakes to heartbeats. I think it started with the question of, “How do we know what the inside of the Earth is like if no one’s been down to see it?” I agreed that we’ve not even been down to the bottom … Continue reading “Seismic vibrations of the heart”
There’s a nice article in the New York Times on the fact that oil, petroleum, did not come form dead dinosaurs, but rather from the microscopic plankton that died and fell to the ocean floor. The idea that oil came from the terrible lizards that children love to learn about endured for many decades. The … Continue reading “Oil does not come from dinosaurs.”
Current events often generate the teachable moments we’re always seeking in order to strike students’ imagination. The eruption of Eyjafjallajökull is a prime example. I’ve already used it to point out the intersection of geothermal energy and plate tectonics, but there is so much more. Eyjafjallajökull has been a wonderful subject for the art of … Continue reading “Integrating Eyjafjallajökull”
There are a lot of Earth Science applications that deal with waves. Seismic waves from earthquakes are a major one that is particularly pertinent after the recent Haitian earthquake. There are quite a number of lesson plans dealing with seismic waves at Larry Braile’s website. Most of the lessons are as practical demonstrations pdf’s and … Continue reading “Waves and earthquakes”
Rain falls. Some runs off, Some seeps into the ground. It trickles through soil. Leaching acids, organic, Out of the leaf litter, But even without these, It’s already, every so slightly, corrosive, From just the carbon dioxide in the air. Gravity driven, The seeping water seeks the bedrock, Where it might find, In the Ozark … Continue reading “Cave Formation in the Ozarks”
People are made of flesh and blood and a miracle fibre called courage. — Mignon McLaughlin, The Neurotic’s Notebook, 1960 (quote via The Quote Garden.) The character of an individual, and even of a people, is best identified in periods of adversity. That was one of the things that came up when my students discussed … Continue reading “Character Amid the Ruins”
The Shinmoedake Volcano erupted on January 19th after being dormant for two years, however, two days after the big Japanese earthquake, it began spewing ash once again. The two are not necessarily connected. Volcanos and convergent margins go together. Typically, the plate being subducted melts as it is pushed deeper into the Earth and temperatures … Continue reading “Volcanic eruption in Japan: Shinmodake”