The Three Blind Men and the Elephant

I'm preparing a Christmas Science Lecture and came across the following traditional Indian tale:-

Three blind men were asked to describe an elephant.
"It is a big, fat snake" said the first.
"It is four thick pillars, like tree trunks," said the second.
"It is long and thin, like a piece of string," said the third.
Which one was right? 

I have this tale an an illustrated book:-

Holding image - still can't find the book

and as a song by the wonderful Natalie Merchant. She used the poem by John Godfrey Saxe, The Blindmen and the Elephant, based on this Indian parable.

Nonesuch records (2010)

I'd like to have incorporated the story and a subsequent discussion into my lecture but time constraints prevent it. Maybe you could use one or all of these resources.

Art & Numbers

I came across a book called  "I Spy : Numbers in Art".*

I think a good card game could be made from it by taking the 20 (or just the first 10) pictures and giving them to the children to sort into number order 1 to 20 (10). Children would not be told which objects formed the basis of the 1 -20 (10) although some clues or keywords should be provided. They would need to examine works of art, count objects in the paintings and keep or reject some of their choices. The task would need perseverance.

Stanley Spencer - St Francis and the Birds

Pablo Picasso - The New Year

Later children can actually discuss their feelings/opinions of the works of art. They could explore more paintings and create their own games based on paintings.

I have come across two other I Spy art books " I Spy : Animals in Art" and "I Spy : Transport in Art" which might be useful.
Other children's art books that I would recommend are:-
     Art for Baby (2008) Templar Publishing ISBN 978-1-84011-99-2
     Looking at paintings : Flowers by Peggy Roalf (1994) Belitha
            ISBN 1 85561 315 8
     The Art Book for Children (2005) Phaidon Press ISBN 0 7148 4511 6
     Great Painters by P. Ventura (1984) Kingfisher Books
            ISBN 0-86272-123-7
and the Dorling Kindersley artist monographs.

* I Spy : Numbers in Art. (1993) Devised & selected by Lucy Mickelthwait. Collins ISBN 0-00-664298-5
   I Spy : Transport in Art. (1996) Devised & selected by Lucy Mickelthwait. Collins ISBN 0-00-664580-1
   I Spy : Animals in Art. (1994) Devised & selected by Lucy Mickelthwait. Collins ISBN 0-00-664407-4

Charlie Higson - "of" and "have"

I've just finished reading Charlie Higson's latest zombie book "The Sacrifice". Enjoyed it immensely but at least twice something wrangled. 

"He's got so much stuff in there, Jordan. You should of seen it"

Puffin 2012 ISBN 978-0-14133612-1

http://www.charliehigson.co.uk/

It reminded me of that famous "illusion" I use to annoy people. Put this phrase on the board for 30 seconds and ask the audience to count the "f"s. Keep reading it out. 

Finished files are the result of years of scientific study combined with the experience of years.

After the 30 seconds, remove the phrase from sight and ask the audience "How many "f"s are in the phrase?".
Most people answer 3. The answer if 6. We pronounce "of" as "ov" and so, as it doesn't sound like an "f", we ignore it. Try it. It does work.

I'd recommend the other books in Higson's series - The Enemy, The Dead and The Fear. I haven't read his "Young Bond" books yet but they're sitting invitingly on my book shelf. 

Shave The Whales

When I was doing classification, I'd bring up this cartoon. Pupils would laugh politely but how many could explain what made it clever and funny?

ISBN 0-7522-0849-7 (1995)

I'll have to sort out more cartoons and some cringe-worthy jokes e.g. 
   Q. Where do astronauts park their spaceships?
   A. At parking meteors. 

Barbie : a material girl

Alligator Books (2001)  ISBN 1-84239-134-8

What am I doing with Barbie? Well, I bought a magnetic Barbie book determined to use it for teaching Science. This is the result.

Before using the magnetic pieces

Magnetic pieces added

Barbie is a material girl. Material in it's wider sense. She has possessions beyond clothing. So I arranged the magnetic objects on the pages and scanned them. Then I put them together in Comic Life and added speech bubbles and text - just like I'd want the pupils to. 
Where are the made and natural materials? 
Where do we get steel, plastic, wool, silk, leather etc from?
Here's the front page of the comic. It's not that good as it's rushed but the idea was interesting, I thought.

I'm sure I've got more magnetic books somewhere - probably in the shed at the bottom of the garden.

Adaptation : Boa constrictor

This is the first of an intermittent series of resource blogs that might prove useful to someone.

Adaptation : The boa constrictor (and other constrictor snakes such as the anaconda and python)

Madagascar tree boa 

Powerful body muscles which hold the prey, gradually contracting and causing suffocation. A dislocatable jaw to get the food into the gut. 

A poem by Shel Silverstein

“Oh, I'm being eaten

By a boa constrictor,

A boa constrictor,

A boa constrictor,

I'm being eaten by a boa constrictor,

And I don't like it--one bit.

Well, what do you know?

It's nibblin' my toe.

Oh, gee,

It's up to my knee.

Oh my,

It's up to my thigh.

Oh, fiddle,

It's up to my middle.

Oh, heck,

It's up to my neck.

Oh, dread,

It's upmmmmmmmmmmffffffffff . . .”

The poem has become a song e.g. Peter, Paul and Mary on the CD "Peter, Paul & Mommy" (1969) Warner Bros. (the album also contains Puff (The magic Dragon) and Going to the Zoo)

and by Johnny Cash
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xd0cX1dogtk

Primaries & Programming

At the end of the last academic year I observed a discussion about IT in school between a head and an IT coordinator. Looking for opportunities to help schools, I then spent time thinking about IT in schools. I found a cheap copy of Achieving QTS : Primary ICT (eds Allen et al 2007 edition ; Learning Matters ISBN978 1 8445 094 7). I downloaded and practised Scratch from MIT. I bought Lego Mindstorms, not from the excellent Lego League point-of-view, but from the learning programming one. I tried to talk to colleagues who are currently involved, with both practitioners and children, in teaching & IT. I downloaded Bee-Bot and Turtle apps to my iPad. I joined the Computers in Schools community. I felt that I was at the forefront, ready for the new term, ready to help children and teachers. What a joke! Nobody seems to have the time to be interested. Even the "experts" don't want to move forward as the government can't clarify what they want.

A Picoboard will work with Lego

Sorry, I'm being unkind. The Computing at Schools community seems to want to progress IT. A trainee teacher I met had heard of and was interested in learning about Scratch. I'm sure there are lots of others but the scene seems fragmented.

Raspberry Pi

Do I feel resentful at spending time and money and getting nowhere? No. My choice and my problem.

Computers at School sends a weekly email update of activity on their site. Looking through at the new Scratch resources and references to other things such as Python, miniBasic and Raspberry Pi reminded me of Alice and other programmes. Then I remembered that I had downloaded Logo TNX (the next generation) and had a go. My heart sank. I couldn't get into Logo! But it's so simple and basic. Maybe when I was in primary school and rattling through books and books of Maths I would have coped and loved it but that was in the 1960's. I bottled out.
Really, I think I can learn it but I need someone (a teacher) to get me started, give me confidence and a reason to succeed. The reason to succeed is in-built, I'm a teacher and I want to teach relevant topics. I can do Science. I've lived Science. I can do IT (and programming). I live with IT. Where are the teachers to give confidence and build success?

Scratch Logo

We should be starting in primary. Why? The basic thinking skills are best learned young.
Just as with Science's basic principles of observation, questioning, investigating, measuring, fair-testing, concluding, the best time to provide the THINKING SKILLS is in young children.

BTW (which I've just learned means" by the way") with regard to CLEAR THINKING whenever I try to get a group of teachers to talk about putting Evolution and Dawkins into the primary curriculum they run a mile. Dawkin's letter to his daughter is, in my opinion, so important that it deserves to be read (and understood) by every child.

Lego Mindstorms

Got this far? Thank you.

Dia de los Muertos

Want a change from Halloween? Then why not focus on the Mexican festival Dia de los Muertos (The Day of the Dead)?

My interest grew out of studying the Aztecs with a group of children. Seeing how a conquered nation integrated its long-held traditions with those of its Spanish conquerors (Catholicism). The resulting amalgam is fascinating and well-documented in Carmichael, E. & C. Sayer (1991) The Skeleton at the Feast. British Museum. ISBN 0-7141-2503-2

My wife bought me a couple of pieces of art based on the festival which are figured below. I'd love to try some sugared skulls. It seems that a "trick-or-treat" aspect has crept in recently from the USA, unfortunately.

iPad photo

iPad photo

If you are getting embroiled in the Hell-o-ween then you might want to look out the Steve Spangler video of the exploding pumpkin. Steve Spangler is probably best know for his "Coke & Mentos" demonstrations on American TV which led to a rash of videos and modifications. His website is well worth a visit.

http://www.stevespanglerscience.com/science-video/exploding-pumpkins

Presentations

I have always loved PowerPoint and championed it. I know there are a lot of people with an opposite view and understand the "death by PowerPoint" lobby. However, in the hands of creative individuals, it can be a very powerful tool for teaching children. In the hands of children, a powerful tool for them to show their knowledge and understanding in a fun way. With the advent of the iPod, iPad and Android devices, several presentation apps are available to display .ppt files but none that I've encountered have the complete functionality and therefore lose these dynamic aspects.

I'm working on two presentations at the moment:-
      The Big Question - a Christmas Science lecture
      Teaching & IT - a personal view for trainee teachers.

I had come up with some criteria for my presentations and so was pleased to see a free pdf entitled The Secrets of Compelling Presentation Design from SlideRocket. (They make apps). 

http://www.sliderocket.com/blog/

It is a useful document if you are just starting off. (I'm sure there are others but it was this one that precipitated this blog).
A point made in the document is the need to be organised and the author recommends mind-mapping. For me, this is a brilliant technique and, whilst I think that coloured pencils and paper are best for this, I'm not averse to using commercial software (Openmind or Inspiration) or free apps (SimpleMind+) on my iPad.

I have taught aspects of PowerPoint to many primary age pupils with the intention of getting them to show me their knowledge and understanding of a topic whilst developing their IT and design/presentation skills. Indeed, I hope this will be the thrust of my lecture on Teaching & IT. 

I'll just mention two ideas that I've used with children. The first involved making a one-slide presentation to explain the water cycle (animated gifs, custom animations, timing). The second asked children to produce a virtual museum where exhibits in rooms were hyperlinked to detailed information and additional images.

Evaporation & more - Lanzarote 3

Lanzarote was warm - 25-30oC. This meant that the rock pools high up on the shore were often full of salt crystals. A salt-extraction industry exists on the island and the product highly prized and priced. We take for granted having salt at hand but investigating its role in history is fascinating. Anyone know a definite book? 

iPad Salt in rock pool

I also spent a lot of time picking up small green olivine crystals that had eroded out of the volcanic rocks. Simple pleasures.

Two other science things popped into my head on holiday. Firstly, my wife bought some Minstrels which "melt in the mouth but not in the hand". This led to my usual rant about helping children to understand the difference between melting and dissolving. 
The second involved my wife's preference for tea over coffee, and often "funny" teas. There used to be an advert which said "watch the flavour flood out". Sorry, with some of her teas you'd not expect much flavour as the liquid is almost colourless but you'd be surprised. Colour is not a taste. 
We're into senses now and as I'm still struggling over my Christmas Lecture on the Senses and getting the delivery right.
Have you got some favourite adverts that don't stand up to scrutiny?

Spikey Inspiration - Lanzarote Part 2

Following on from the last blog, whilst on Lanzarote we visited the Jardin de Cactus. Initially it looked disappointing for the entry fee but when we started to explore (after a drink and eats) we were both impressed with the design of the gardens but mostly with the specimens. 
I won't bore you with the discussion about what is a "true" cactus and the similar adaptations of a range of much more familiar plant groups, not to mention succulents!
Wow! Their specimens were brilliant and photography can't do them justice.
(Note to self - how can anyone judge the scale of these!? Scientist?)

iPad image

iPad image

iPad image

iPad image

Thinking about their "spikey" adaptations got me pondering on all the other species that have developed spikes for protection from plant-sucking bugs to stonefish to lizards.

But spikes can be offensive! Canines are spikey teeth.

Of course, human ingenuity has led to technological innovations from simple piercing swords and arrows to barbed fishing hooks, grappling irons and anchors to Velcro.
Sorry, started to ramble instead of crystallising my thoughts but then a blog is not a finished article but a series of musings.

Volcanoes & lava fields - Lanzarote

iPad The crater we stood in the centre of

I hope you still have fond memories of your last holiday and high expectations of the one to come. Being self-employed allows me to take holidays whenever it's convenient for my wife (and when funds allow). We've just been to Lanzarote and, whilst looking forward to the warmth, I wasn't really expecting anything - possibly the best frame of mind to be in. What an awakener! Closest I'll ever be to standing in an alien landscape, even the presence of lichen didn't rid me of the "sterile" nature of the lava fields. 

iPod Alien landscape

iPod pavement of columnar basalt

iPod Solidified lava

I've been to Mount Etna and Vesuvius and seen volcanic craters in Bali (not far from Krakotoa) but this was as good. Standing at the bottom of a crater was awesome.
Elsewhere on the island, we were able to have lunch in a lava tube at the Jameos del Aqua and to walk through the lava bubbles in the former home of Cesar Manrique. I had never heard of Manrique but he was a really talented artist and visionary.

Manrique sculpture in lava bubble

Thank you - Sunderland & the ASE

A personal thank you to everyone from Sunderland University who either helped or attended the ASE Cheese & Wine Meeting yesterday. Special thanks to the reception staff who looked after me so well when I turned up early, the IT technician who made sure my presentation went as well as I could have wanted and the students I spoke to who were open, enthusiastic and devoid of cynicism. Everything this jade old man needed to keep him going for the next few weeks. Thank you.

Mummies and Corpses

I've been wanting to recommend The Phoenix Comic for a while. It's produced by David Fickling and arose out of the ashes of the DFC, another very good comic.

A regular feature of The Phoenix is Corpse Talk where the corpses of historical figures are invited to sit and chat with the host. The list of guests includes Winston Churchill, Julius Caesar, Henry VIII, Abraham Lincoln, Jane Austen, Blackbeard, Albert Einstein etc., etc. 

What penetrating questions would your children ask these figures from history? 

We used Kar2ouche in the past in a similar manner to interview Henry VIII about his wives and I remember William Shakespeare being interviewed as part of a Tudors green-screen video made at the CLC. These are fun ways to engage the children with "thinking" about historical characters and events.
Cleopatra is included in the Corpse Talk list and she leads me nicely into mummies. There is a lot of information about Egyptian mummies and the mummification process always fascinates children. The Egyptian mummies are artificially preserved whereas, if you want to extend their mummy knowledge, those found in the Andes of Peru have mummified naturally in the cold, dry conditions. There are other South American mummies deserving of research and also those of western China. In her book, The Mummies of Urumchi, Elizabeth Barber describes the 4,000 year old "chinese" mummies with their remarkable Caucasian features and the wonderfully preserved woollen cloth (of Celtic origin) so reminiscent of Scottish tartans.

Original woollen cloth

Reconstruction

Of course, preserving human bodies is only a short step from preserving food, another fascinating science topic.
How many ways are there to do this? 
How many were available in past times?

Flipbook & PowerPoint animation

I remember drawing figures in the corners of annuals as a child in order to make flipbook-style animation. I think they were mostly about aliens attacking Earth and cowboys and indians. Flip books are still going strong, as a web search will show, and they are useful tools to show short term changes e.g. volcanoes exploding, solar flares, different types of exercise, seeds developing, etc.

From Wikipedia

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flip_book

There is an online flipbook maker at:-

http://www.benettonplay.com/toys/flipbookdeluxe/

I "borrowed" some flipbook sheets from the web and used them to make very effective PowerPoint animations. As with "scanmation", I removed the background in Photoshop and made .gif images. I imported these on to separate slides, lined them up and set up the slide show. On setting the slide show up, remember you want it to "loop until ESC pressed" and each slide must be on timed for 0.01s. I find this fine for my purposes. I feel that this form of animation, coupled with the use of custom animation and animated gifs, could be a source of rich creativity in many subject areas. Anyone want to have a competition and I'll find a prize?

This is a screenshot from an "Autumn" PowerPoint animation with animated figure,  falling leaves and opening conkers.

PS If you want really good and diverse resources to get into the spirit of autumn with go to the Nature Detectives website:-
http://www.naturedetectives.org.uk/

Your Paintings

You might not know about the "Your Paintings" initiative. The idea is to photograph and show onine all paintings owned by the nation - you. Brilliant. Two hundred thousand paintings and here's the first page of the Artists A to Z.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/arts/yourpaintings/

You need a BBC ID if you really want to use the collection properly. I logged in and began to make "My Collection" of paintings of the seaside in the local area. I was a bit rushed for time but came across some interesting stuff. My only problem was the speed of download of the images.

Seaton Carew

Seaton Carew

I did search for World War 2 and War Artists but these returned no results. I need to look at the site in less of a rush.

Scanimation

The post about animation seemed to get a few more hits than normal so I thought I'd mention "scanimation".




Good link:-

http://www.instantfundas.com/2009/12/scanimation-creating-software-impress.html

Rufus Butler Seder has produced a number of "scanimation" picture books and  a recent posting on Planet Science provided a link to a free download of resources from an author. Apologies, I am still trying to find the link but a quick internet search should find other examples or email me for the images.

Master sheet

These resources are meant to be printed on to acetate sheets and when the master sheet is dragged over the examples, they become animated. However, as I want to show a class of pupils this effect, I've made a working PowerPoint presentation. In order to do this, I removed the white background colour in Photoshop and made each image into a .gif. I then imported the example images onto separate slides in PowerPoint. The master sheet was then added to each slide. By adding custom animation "lines" to the master sheet, I produce the same effect as with two acetate sheets. The animation settings need to be set to slow or very slow and to auto-reverse. (Contact me for help).

Example 2 - Cat moving gif

Example 2 - Cat moving jpg

ARKive & Switch Zoo

ARKive is one of my favourite websites and it has just had a makeover with they say "a snazzy new design, faster loading times, clearer navigation, more species and more fun".

Not only does it have an unrivalled collection of photos and videos on a vast array of wildlife, it has Kids and Education zones.  The links with Google Earth will prove especially useful when studying global habitats. Seeing the images of wildlife reminded me of a website we used a lot at the CLC when talking about adaptation and habitats - Switcheroo Zoo. It's now called Switch Zoo but still has the fun online activities that the pupils loved. http://www.switchzoo.com/

Here's my attempt at a new animal.