Clif’s Notes

Happy Leap Day

It’s February 29th. Happy Leap Day everyone!!! Here are 15 activities to help you celebrate. You can also learn a bit more information about this date here.

On this date in…

• 1972 - Hank Aaron becomes the first player in the history of Major League Baseball to sign a $200,000 contract.
• 1956 - U.S. President Dwight D. Eisenhower announces to the nation that he is running for a second term.

7 Engineering Wonders of the Modern World

Wow! I’ve seen these engineering feats many times but I still find them impressive. Each has set world records in size, engineering, etc. “From Venice to Boston, Egypt to England, here are seven amazing engineering wonders of the modern world.”

How do you think students would respond to these images, stories, video, and information?

6.3 Earthquake in Nevada

An earthquake with a preliminary magnitude of 6.3 shook Northeastern Nevada this morning at 6:16 AM. The quake was reported to have been felt in California, Nevada and Utah. Full details are available here.

Consider integrating this current event into your class. Off the top of my head there are good math, science, research, writing and service activities related to this event.

Classroom Resources

• U. S. Geological Survey’s educational resources
• Disaster News Network reports about disasters AND recovery efforts.
• Center for Earthquake Research and Information
• PBS’ Savage Earth
• TeacherTube videos

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Space Shuttle Lands Safely

Atlantis landed safely a short while ago. Congratulations to everyone involved on another successful mission! I realize that shuttle flights no longer grab the front page headlines but the contributions of these missions and the associated research to education are incalculable. I encourage teachers everywhere to keep up with future missions in your classrooms. Not only are there strong ways to connect these space missions with math and science, but there are also strong language arts (journaling, reading, communication, etc.) and social studies (current events, timelines, etc.) connections. And you never know just how inspirational your students will find this.

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Total Lunar Eclipse Tonight

All you early birds might want to stay up a little bit later this evening to witness the total lunar eclipse. It will be the last we’ll see until December 2010, so take advantage of this opportunity. This eclipse is expected to last over 3 hours and the Moon will be in totality for about 50 minutes of that time. During that time the moon will change from its usual grayish appearance to an orange/deep red color.

The following illustration of a lunar eclipse is from Weather.com.

The Weather Channel via kwout

More information (including a good video) about lunar eclipses is available here.

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Space Shuttle Atlantis: Day 3 Highlight

Video clip highlighting the day’s activities including the first space walk of this mission and the first preparations for the Columbia module for the International Space Station.

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Math and Science Classes Please Take Note

LIVE! I’m sitting in front of the TV watching the live launch of U.S. Space Shuttle Atlantis. Lift off was exactly 7 minutes and 9 seconds ago, and the shuttle has reached a speed of 23,000 feet per second (more than 14,000 mph). I watched the very first launch of Columbia on April 12, 1981, and I’ve seen many of the 121 launches to date. It’s no less impressive an event today than it was 26 years ago. Take a look for yourself.

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Free 3D Software for Interactive Whiteboards

It’s always exciting to run across cutting edge technology that has true educational implications. “Edusim is a free opensource 3D virtual world” designed to be used with interactive whiteboards. Did you hear that? It’s FREE and OPENSOURCE!!! “Edusim is an extremely powerful way to engage your students by bringing a 3D virtual environment that allows the direct manipulation of the 3D virtual learning objects directly from the interactive whiteboard surface.” You can also use the software to connect multiple interactive whiteboards allowing teachers and students to collaborate with others around the world.

Now, don’t misread my enthusiasm. The graphics, interface, etc. all have room for improvement, but that’s true with all new innovations. That will all get better with time, resources, and more innovation. And, yes, educators will need to look for effective ways to integrate this with teaching and learning and refrain from using another bell or whistle. I just find it intriguing to think about the door of possibilities that this opens. Aw, the fun we’d have with this in my math and science classes. We could potentially use this kind of technology when studying the parts of a cell, the layers of the Earth, fractions, ratios, proportions, measurement, metric vs. British measurement, conversion of measurement, and so much more. I’d love to be part of its future development!!! Wouldn’t that be a blast?How could/will you use this kind of technology in your instruction?

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