Tim Hunkin’s Experiments

Tim Hunkin’s Experiments is a web site filled with fantastic cartoons of even more fantastic experiments which range from food experiments to sound experiments to clothing experiments. Hunkin is an engineer turned cartoonist, and these cartoons originally appeared in the Observer newspaper between 1973 and 1987. There are lots of them, and they are wonderful!

Let your kids in on THE SECRET

I recommend in the highest possible terms that you watch this movie with your children: The Secret, directed by Drew Heriot. The only thing I wish this movie added about invoking The Secret is the advice to always add “if it serves the Highest Good.”

Self-teaching at computer kiosks in India

My daughter was home from school sick for three days this week. I marvelled at how much learning she did on her own, mostly at the computer though she did read a little and do puzzles. I am totally on-board when I read that Sugata Mitra believes “Education improves when there are fewer teachers.” He set up computer kiosks in Madangir, a slum on the edge of New Delhi, complete with web cams. The cameras allowed researchers to observe children’s curiosity about and subsequent use of the computers. Even children who could not read quickly began navigating the web! Aside from teaching themselves skills their parents typically don’t have, the children have to learn to cooperate and share these public computers. See more at his website.

Source:

Veldhoen, Lex. (2007, January/February). “Pulling themselves up by their keyboards.” Ode: 38-41

The Most Excellent Alphabet Web Site Ever

Bembo’s Zoo. Drop everything and go there now.

Wintersmith by Terry Pratchett

Terry Pratchett’s Wintersmith is the rollicking third book in a series that follows the adventure of the young witch, Tiffany Aching, and a tribe of miniature blue men who are sworn to protect her.

In Wintersmith, 13-year old Tiffany attracts the unwanted attention of a boy… well, a God actually – the Wintersmith himself – and that’s when things really get chilly.

Whether or not you’ve read the first two (The Wee Free Men, A Hat Full of Sky), you’ll have a smile frozen on your face throughout this one, and I’ll venture that you’ll want to don your fleece coat and heavy boots and brave the elements in search of the first two.

Seymour Papert recuperating

If you read Learning.Now last week you already know that the world’s greatest living math (and technology) educator, Seymour Papert, is recovering from a serious accident. Today he takes a 20-hour flight in a Swiss ambulance plane from Hanoi to Boston. All well-wishers are invited to submit pictures of flowers to this website.

In addition to boosting Professor Papert’s spirits, there is appropriately a great deal one could learn from participating. Young readers could compare the French and English versions of the site to hone language skills. Non-natives in the digital world might enjoy learning about flickr. French-reading teachers might enjoy using the related SCOOP! lesson plans for small-group activities to help their students learn about Seymour Papert and his work on getting computers into classrooms (another multilingual website).

For a great example of Papert’s thinking, read Mindstorms: Children, Computers, and Powerful Ideas.

Online math games

Math Playground has several math games in various categories, where correct solutions yield such virtual rewards as shooting hoops or musical congratulations. You can even face down any tendency to second-guess yourself at multiple choices with Math Millionaire.

Listen to Nature

This part of the British Library Sound Archive is subtitled Listen to Nature, and it’s one of my most favorite discoveries on the web. Go to the “Explore Wildlife Sounds” area where you can browse “over 150,000 sounds of every animal group and habitat from all over the world. “

You can search their online catalogue of field recordings or browse by location, animal group, or habitat. You can seriously get lost in all these animal sounds – it’s just way cool! I just listened to the Namib Sand Gecko 🙂

Aargh! Avast ye mateys!

Pirates are cool and fun to read about in Pirateology, purportedly the recovered sea journal of Captain William Lubber, an 18th century pirate hunter who was hired to capture the dread pirate, Arabella Drummond.

What makes this book great?

• Nice illustrations.
• A working compass built into the cover.
• Pop-up and fold out features – maps, illustrations, glossary…
• It’s educational!

Finally, you can actually learn what “Avast ye mateys” actually means!

Make online animations

Learn about and make online animations at the website of Oregon Museum of Science and Industry. Try Keyboard Cartoons; Make a Flipbook; Squash and Stretch. You’ll need Flash 7 and your own fun ideas.