Middle and High School … from a Montessori Point of View
The American Natural History Museum has a YouTube channel with some interesting science-related videos. The one above, “shows the known universe as mapped through astronomical observations.”
Every satellite, moon, planet, star and galaxy is represented to scale and in its correct, measured location according to the best scientific research to-date.
Referred to me by a reliable source (thanks Moriah) as the answer to the question “What is a poetry slam?”, this is Anis Mojgani performing “Shake the Dust”. A great example of poetry as it should be spoken, this video is an excellent example for students learning how to read a poem out loud.
Although we eschew warfare as a means resolving differences, this video, which “is an abridged history of American-centric war, from World War II to present day, told through the foods of the countries in conflict”, provides a fascinating perspective on the world. It comes from the Food Fight website.
The key to the different food characters will probably be useful for those less familiar with American history. Watching it without the key might also be useful if you’re interested in discussing metaphors, which should become extremely obvious when you get to the World Trade Centers.
I’m really curious too see how the mini-demographic groups respond to this video. I can predict that some of the more video game (FPS) infatuated students will love this. But how will my more food oriented students react?
World Builder from BranitVFX on Vimeo.
Google’s SketchUp software is a great way to work on, and test, higher level geometry skills. This video is a well made, poignant introduction to what software like SketchUp could one day become. It has excellent story development, and has produced a great response from my students.
The website http://www.freedocumentaries.org/ has a large number of political documentaries available for free download. Although they seem to be mostly from the perspective of the left (and some seem to come from quite far to the left), there are a number of interesting titles dealing with human rights and the media. A few titles pop out (that I’ve heard are good but have not yet seen myself):
You can also find more free documentaries at:
An interesting way to look at the rise and decline of the western European empires (British, Spanish, Portuguese and French) from 1800-2009.
Montessori thought it was important that the works be beautiful to capture the interest and imagination of the child. Volkswagen, interestingly enough, has an initiative (http://www.thefuntheory.com/) to test how beautiful and interesting things can change social behavior in adults.