"Pixar: 25 Years of Animation" at the Oakland Museum and online...

Education Fun,

Okay, it is officially the Holiday Season...so if you are lucky enough to live around the San Francisco Bay Area, or are planning a visit there, go see "Pixar: 25 Years of Animation" at the Oakland Museum...on display through January 9, 2011.

Or if you don't live around the San Francisco Bay Area and will not be visiting this Holiday Season, visit the Exhibit online at hundreds of websites and youtube videos etc...
just type "Pixar" in Google search...

As you already know, Pixar is for Children of All Ages...

I checked out Pixar University online, a fascinating in-house University at their Emeryville, California Headquarters and found out amazing educational offerings for ALL their employees...and watched an Edutopia video lecture by one of their Chief Directors/University Dean: Randy Nelson emphasize "character study and development" and "mastery of a skill" and "resillency from failure to be able to achieve innovation"... (sound familiar...? :-)

I checked out www.pixar.com and read a wonderfully charming personal history of one of their animators, at their "Artists Corner"
http://www.pixar.com/artistscorner/ricky/interview.html
which reveals how a real professional artist's career path in (digital) animation can begin from very different backgrounds and interests, including "pre-med" college studies... :-)

anyways...

Pixar changed the world for all of us: creating new heroes and instilling new hopes in our hearts...
"In dreams begin responsibilities..."
so this Holiday Season, at Edutopia: let's dream together...
and make it happen...

Doodler with a pencil,
Allen
phineas8888

How Big is the Universe? a brief visual exploration through space and time

Education Fun,

To complement the previous post about Night Sky Maps and Night Sky viewing, here is a wonderful kid-friendly visual extravaganza and brief informative excerpts about the history of astronomy and important scientists and discoveries... it is only 20 pages long but funpacked with mid-boggling photographs of our great big universe.

This introduction to astronomy is produced by NASA-SAO Education Forum on the Structure and Evolution of the Universe copyright 2009 by the Smithsonian Institution. The Smithsonian Institution continues to be one of the world's best museums to visit in real-life in Washington, DC, and online on the internet.

Here is the wonderful journey link to beginning your understanding and asking questions about our Universe... The Biggest Big we know about and continue to find more puzzles and answers to our questions about Who we are and where did we come from and where are we going...in the Big View of things in Time and Space...our Universe...

http://www.cfa.harvard.edu/seuforum/howfar/HowBigUniverse.pdf

enjoy the journey...

phineas8888

The Evening Sky Map (Northern Hemisphere)

Education Fun,

Here is a link to a very useful astronomy website that lets you download for free
The Evening Sky Map (for the Northern Hemisphere) each month for you to explore,
learn, and enjoy viewing the night sky: the moon, the planets, the constellations of stars,
and deep space star clusters, galaxies, etc.

http://skymaps.com/

Find a natural safe dark place (perhaps your backyard or public park etc.) to view the night sky
with family and friends (often a local astronomy club has car-pools to drive to a safe "dark sky area" nearby your home...) with binoculars or shared telescope etc.

The Sky Map you can print for free is very helpful for locating constellations and other celestial objects to view and learn about... just remember that if you are looking at a star, you are looking at something much bigger than our sun and much much farther away: distances in outer space are measured in "light years"...

A light year is the distance light travels in one earth year (365 days)...
and light travels the fastest of most anything in the universe...
186,000 miles per second.
(There is a debate among scientists about the theoretical questions of the ultimate fastest possible speed in the universe... you would have to do a Google search to learn more about this... :-)

To give you an idea of a large distance you are familiar with,  the sun is about 93 million miles away from the earth, so that means that the light from the sun that warms your face and enters your eyes enabling you to see everyday objects and people around you etc.
...takes about 8 minutes to reach your eyes... !!!
   (8 minutes = 8 x 60 seconds = 480 seconds)


When you look up at the sky, especially at night, you are looking at VAST distances in/through/across our universe...
and that also means you are looking back in/through/across VAST time in/through/across our universe : millions of years ago...

So your view of our world, called the planet Earth, is all of a sudden ... E...X...P...A...N...D...E...D...
to something Bigger than BIG...  :-)

The sky that you take-for-granted everyday is actually the biggest "thing" in the universe...
because it is 'connected' or 'part of' the the Entire Universe...

Years ago I came to understand that:  The sky is the biggest "Yes" there is...  :-)

Astronomically... your friend,

phineas8888

Analysis of a Whole and its Parts: Cool Stuff

Education Fun,

There are two cool picture books I got from the library about understanding how everyday things work
by illustrating their various engineered parts. The books are called: Cool Stuff and Cool Stuff 2.0

The graphix are way cool and the description text is way brief and very informative.
Check them out; here's some pix:

These two books have lots of Cool Stuff and Cool Stuff to learn

about what Engineers do and how they make / (wo-man-ufacture :-) 

the everyday things that we use.

So enjoy your journey and start looking care-fully at some of the Stuff / Things you use everyday

and think about how it was made...

I would also suggest for starters, that you look "close-up" at the products you use everyday,

to find the small print that says what Country it was made in...

Does it say:  Made in USA

                     Made in China

                     Made in Pakistan

                     Made in Mexico

                     ... or somewhere else...???

Happy hunting and learning about Engineering and How Stuff Works...

phineas8888

A List of a Whole and its Parts: 61 "Compare and Contrast" Examples

[DRAFT:  61 items]        Nova-Ember: Star & Fire: 6, 2010

   A List of a Whole & its Parts:

   including “Compare and Contrast” examples

   by Allen Berg

1.  pencil v, pen  
2. flashlight v. desk lamp
3. paper clip v. stapler
4. ladder v. staircase
5. nail clipper v Swiss army knife
6. child's bike v. multi-gear bike
7. landline /home phone v. cell phone
8. 12” ruler  v.  12’ tape measure (eg. Lufkin Hi-Viz product)

9. scotch tape roll and dispenser  v.  duct tape roll and dispenser

10. 3-ring binder and paper  v.  spiral-bound notebook

11. scissors  v.  knife

12. wallet v. purse

13. dollar bill v. coin
14. dictionary  v.  yellow pages business directory

15.  hand tool  v. another one

16.  musical instrument  v.  another one

17.  shoe  v. another one

18.  lunch box  v. knapsack

19.  warm jacket  v. another type

20.  hand  v. foot

21.  wall clock  v.  clock radio

22.  calendar (USA)  v. calendar (other country etc.)

23.  flower  v. another one

24.  sandwich  v.  another type (or burrito etc.)

25.  door key and lock  v.  combination lock

26.  a bicycle bell v. a horn

27.  the human eye  v.  eyeglasses

28.  sports equipment  v. another type

29.  skateboard  v.  in-line skates

30.  school chair  v.  home chair

31.  food container  v.  another one

32.  comic strip  v.  comic book (or graphic novel)

33. crossword puzzle v. picture puzzle
34.  board game  v.  outdoor game

35.  a toy  v.  another one

36.  model construction kit  v.  another one

37.  phone bill  v.  tax return

38.  apartment  v.  house

39.  store  v.  another one

40.  newspaper  v.  magazine

41.  school  v.  another (elem-jhs-hs, or public v. private, etc.)

42.  snail mail  v.  email

43.  sports team v. another

44.  book report v. movie review

45.  puppet: hand, rod, marionette

46.  school day v. weekend day

47.  party or celebration v. another

48.  garden v. patio

49.  school map v. road map

50.  music band v. orchestra

51.  library v. gymnasium

52.  website v. another

53.  incandescent light bulb v. fluorescent light bulb

54.  breakfast v. dinner

55.  candy bar v. another

56.  hair style v. another

57.  clothes style v. another

58.  umbrella v. tent

59.  sentence v. paragraph v. essay

60.  textbook v. novel

61.  microscope v. telescope

Et cetera…

phineas8888

Engineering of Everyday Things -- A Lesson Plan

Engineering of Everyday Things -- A Lesson Plan by Allen Berg

************************************************************************

howdy Engineers and Imagineers
This is the 3rd page is my series about Engineering Curriculum Resources

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The Engineering of Everyday Things: Structure and Function
---The Analysis of a Whole and its Parts.
Lesson Plan by Allen Berg

[Photograph of a ball point pen disassembled: the clear plastic tube of ink, the small inner spring, and the 2 parts of the outer casing with their molded screw connection. ]

I am not incurious;
I like to look at things, care-fully
and understand how they work.
Observation and then description
are important tools of Science.

As you can see from the picture of the pen above,
Things have parts that make up the whole.
In this lesson, you will choose an object
and analyze its structure and function.

1. Name and define the object. (You can check a dictionary.)
The definition of an object is often its purpose.

2. Draw a picture of the object as a whole and as its separate parts.
2a. Take digital photographs of the object as a whole and of its various parts.
2b. Advanced students can use free 3-D software to produce computer-generated 3-Dimensional images. (Google’s “Sketch-Up” etc.)

3. Label each part.
Describe the material each part is made of.

4. Explain the function of each part and how it is related to the
whole object.

5. Look close-up and carefully at the object to find the name of the
country where it is made.

6. Evaluate the object:
a. Does it do the job it is supposed to do?
Rate its performance: poor__ ok__ good__ excellent__ etc.
b. What is the object’s durability?
How long does it last? Can you repair or replace the parts
or do you just throw it away?
c. What is its cost? Is this a “fair value”?
d. Would you recommend using this object? Why or why not?
e. Can you suggest improvements in its design?
List and explain your suggestions.
Provide a visual image(s) of your improved design.

7. Conclusion:
How does this object compare to similar objects, for use?
[Example of an “improved design”: the addition of a soft rubbery fingers grip… Photograph of the “improved” pen]

8. Share your Analysis with other students, family, and friends…
Be proud that you are a Beginning Engineer…

Allen (phineas8888)

National Geographic Magaine STEM (continued)

National Geographic Magazine Online STEM (continued)

Hi Don and other colleagues:

as promised here is the second link to a fantastic Engineering website:
"Design for the Other 90%" sponsored by the aforementioned Smithsonian
Cooper-Hewitt National Design Museum:
http://other90.cooperhewitt.org/

Coincidentally, the Museum just concluded a second in this series of exhibitions: "Design for the Other 90%" (it ended in September, 2010...) but I could not find any online links to their collection...
I guess that is still a work-in-progress...

ps: if you go to the National Geographic current link for Big Ideas -
Little Packages and read carefully the one paragraph about the "Infant Warmer", you will find a website link called:
embraceglobal.org
Which I higly recommend because they have a fantastic diagrammatic
explanation of the "Analysis of the Whole and its Parts" of their product... including a new fabric technology (called something like a "Phase Sensor Textile" )

Sincerely yours,
Allen Berg

ps 2: and the "Asthma Device" in the article is made from
"folded paper" !!! at 1/20th the cost of conventional Asthma Devices:
one dollar from paper vs twenty dollars for the other conventional product...

Allen (phineas8888)