the kinder, who are spring chickens, check out the other spring chickens
and the other spring chickens check out the kinder.
—
“the sun’s not yellow, it’s chicken!”
-bob dylan
May10
Tag Archives: science
Mar23
nests.
robin’s nests created by the kinder using natural materials
clay, twigs, pinecones, clippings
any robin would be happy to raise her babies in one of these beautiful homes
—
“wildness we might consider as the root of the authentic spontaneities of any being. it is that wellspring of creativity whence comes the instinctive activities that enable all living beings to obtain their food, to find shelter, to bring forth their young; to sing and dance and fly through the air and swim through the depths of the sea. this is the same inner tendency that evokes the insight of the poet, the skill of the artist, and the power of the shaman.”- thomas berry
Mar8
follow your eyes.
we went to see the dinos
and along the way
we peeked inside of a magical drawer
filled with beautiful eggs and nests
what wonderful surprise
there’s always something
you don’t expect to discover
when you go to a museum.
—
“don’t go to a museum with a destination. museums are wormholes to other worlds. they are ecstasy machines. follow your eyes to wherever they lead you…and the world should begin to change for you.”
– jerry saltz
Jan23
rock out.
when you’re little
walking around the museum
see a big old bumpy boring rock
walk around to the front of it
find an amazing, amazing surprise
that is inside of it
you just have to touch it
there are no words.
—
“sometimes the most shocking surprises are the most beautiful surprises.”
-lori wilhite
Dec21
essence of life.
picture from a past solstice celebration
—
every year
one of my favorite things to teach and share with my class
is the story and traditions of the winter solstice
i get to play the sun
the children play the tilting earth and the seasons
who spin and dance and throw snow
as the season changes
the sun stays in the middle
offering extra light
to the other side of the earth now tilting toward it
knowing it will always return to them
even as our days grow shorter
they quietly rest on the ground
waiting, waiting
only to emerge
when the time is right
happy to dance once more
in the light of the warm spring sun.
—
*notes: here is my recipe for the winter solstice, and many thanks to all for your low-tech special effects support of this performance: torn paper snowflakes made by the children, many smiles, a bit of dizziness, a sun doing an interpretive dance, a person to turn off and on the classroom lights at just the right moment, a flashlight, a yellow paper sun, a dj to play the music (‘carol of the bells’ by george winston, and ‘here comes the sun’ by the beatles) at just the right time, and a class full of kinder/whirling twirling planets throwing snow, lying down, and awakening as emerging new life in the spring when the sun returns. somehow it all falls into place, each year a bit differently, as is the way of the world.
—
“spiritually, life is a festival, a celebration. joy is the essence of life.”
-agnivesh
Oct15
words of wisdom.
kinder do hands-on research
writing their observations and making conclusions in their notes
“words of wisdom are spoken by children at least as often as scientists.”
-james newman
Sep23
steggy.
when you mix a scientist who loves dinos along with little people who also love dinos
you get bursts of curiosity, awe, and excitement on both sides
especially when one the of the kinder mentioned
it was ‘from the jurrasic period’ and another asked if it was ‘an omnivore.’
perfect match.
—
“did you know that the stegosaurus lived further away from the t-rex than we are from the t-rex in time?”
-johan peretti
Sep6
just be the best penguin you can be.
Penguins Accidentally Took Selfie After They Found a Cam In Antarctica
(Everyone has the one friend who LOVES to take selfies)
Expeditions to Antarctica are constantly filled with surprises. Australian Eddie Gault went on an expedition there along with his cam to take photos of penguin colonies. Out of the fascinating photos he took, he also ended up having a photo of penguins taking a selfie.
While there, Gault visited Auster Rookery to record a group of Emperor penguins, leaving his camera near them to record their daily lives. After he left it, the penguins came close to the cam, one knocked it over and accidentally took a selfie along with other penguins.
Emperor penguins are the biggest penguin types on the planet, have an average height of 45 inches and can live to be 20 years old. Emperor penguins live in colonies and their breeding period is in Winter, when female penguins lay their eggs and leave them in the care of the male penguins.
“a penguin cannot become a giraffe, so just be the best penguin you can be.”
– gary vaynerchuk
—
credits: Australian Antarctic Program, Auster Rookery, The Guardian
Jul12
way out.
“We’re looking back more than 13 billion years,” he said. “That light that you are seeing has been traveling for over 13 billion years, and by the way, we’re going back farther. This is just the first image. They’re going back about thirteen-and-a-half billion years. And since we know the universe is 13.8 billion years old, we’re going back almost to the beginning.”
NASA plans to release additional “first light” images Tuesday, photos designed to showcase Webb’s ability to chart the details of stellar evolution, from starbirth to death by supernova, to study how galaxies form, merge and evolve and to probe the chemical composition of atmospheres around planets orbiting other stars.
This initial Webb deep field released Monday promises to rewrite the astronomy books yet again, providing the data needed to fill in many of the major gaps in the history of the universe, perhaps even providing the framework to determine when — and how — the first massive stars formed, exploded and seeded the cosmos with the heavy elements that make life possible.
—
“the size and age of the cosmos are beyond ordinary human understanding.
lost somewhere between immensity and eternity is our tiny planetary home.”
-carl sagan, cosmos
—
source credit: nasa
Apr3
spend your hours wisely.
“a museum is a place where one should lose one’s head.”
-renzo piano
—
photo credit: university of michigan museum of natural history
I didn't have my glasses on.... 