Google This!

by ryan

One of the funniest information that comes in on the “blog stats” page in the wordpress toolbar, is a list of search engine terms that led unsuspecting browsers to the exploratorium explainer’s blog. Our blog delves into a wide variety of topics, but you’d be amazed to see what actually attracts visitors to this page.
The most consistently popular search theme has to do with the chicken embryo. Almost every day someone is searching for “photos of five day chicken embyro” or “chicken embryo facts”. I wonder if these are people who see the exhibit or if they just have great curiousity about chicken development. If that’s the case, do other animals generate the same interest. Say we made a post about rhinocerous embryos. Or maybe people are just freaked out when they happen to buy unfertilized eggs and turn to google for answers.
Naturally a lot of hits just come from people who type in things like “exploratorium” or “explainers blog”. Although one person searched for “the great explainers” and was directed to the appropriate site. Good thing he didn’t search for “the terrible explainers” – their blog sucks!
Many times the exploratorium explainers blog can serve as a valuable reference authority for those in need of answers. Some recent hits to the page resulted from people trying to find, “astonishing photos of neptune”, “the nauhatl word for cool” and “how to make watermelon vodka”. While at the time none of these answers could be found on the blog, I’d like to help out those poor chaps here, here, and here.
Of course people always look for photos on the internet. Unfortunately all we can offer to those searching for “bay-to-breakers photos” is a mildly entertaining story about how we got stuck in the traffic of the event on the way to makers faire. Yet for those less picky folks who simply search for “disgusting photos”, we’re more than happy to oblige.

Picture Parade – Last Day pics, and Dawn-a-thon’s pics

by akikoakiko

Sorry so late in the posting these, but here are pics from our lovely last Explainer Day.  Then, at the end, are pictures of pictures, taken by Dawn, then me! 

**Because I have no idea how to put smaller pictures up, I’ve put the links to the files – My pictures come up as full files and they are HUGEO.  Any solutions?  

Yummy potato
Kristin eats death
Marella Potato
Group Hug
Dawn’s Group Hug Part 1
Dawn’s Group Hug Part 2
Akiko + Sylvia
potato prep
Andre + potato
Marcus + potato
Sylvia + potato
Akiko + potato
Group picture 1
Group picture 2

Ryan’s fave exhibit
Sarah is totally grossed out by the brain
a beautiful day . . . to SACK!
Ryan + Shonky
Akiko + May

Demo
Dissection

Filling those lazy days

by ryan

Asian Art Museum of San Francisco

For anyone who needs some inspiration for what to do during the break between field trips and Summer camp. I suggest breaking out your “lost” ID cards and heading down the the Asian Art Museum for a really cool exhibition on the god of Manga, Tezuka. While I previously knew nothing about the Japanese comic book phenomenon, the visiting collection of storyboards, cover art, and comic strips provided a few hours of bargain entertainment.

The Manga exhibition goes through September 9th, so there’s plenty of time to head down to the civic center and check out the stuff. It’s also interesting to see how they converted a whole room of the museum into a “typical manga-obsessed teenager’s bedroom” inviting visitors to peruse the extensive collection of comic books on comfy bean bag chairs. On July 7th there will be a huge event called “Blast Off” with talks, demonstrations , and apparently Dance Dance Revolution. Plus they have a blog all about the exhibition. All of these are nice examples of a more traditional museum branching out and becoming a more interactive experience. Plus the comics are pretty insane.

summer musings

by Anne

Hey Explainers (past and present),

If someone asked you to name your work, what would you say? Can you sum it up in just one or two words? Are you an  educator, science educator, interdisciplinary educator, creative communicator, teacher-learner, professional explorer, curiosity counselor, mystery mediator, something else…? What does it mean to be an educator of science, art, and human perception? Is there a word for that? (Sure, it’s “Explainer”, but that could mean so many things to other people.)

Anne

Are you or do you know these people?

by ryan

Today was last day of the explainer field trip year. Some of us are continuing on to work at the Exploratorium summer camp, others are moving to different departments in the museum and a few of us are hanging up the orange vest for good.

One of the main goals of our explainer blog has been to create a record of our thoughts, observations, and lame jokes for future generations. This space can also be a place for previous crews of explainers to share some of their own memories of exhibits, stories about Paul D, or great albums that they’ve been diggin lately.

We’d like to offer this specific post as a place for “explainers of the past”  to comment and let us know what you have been up to since leaving the job. Whether you have become professional hackey sack players, hot dog eating champions, or third grade teachers, we’re interested in hearing back from everyone. And after you’ve spilled your guts on the comment section of this blog post, browse around the past entires on our site, check back often, comment on other posts, and keep the dialogue going.

Book Club

by tribekat

The end approacheth. Some of us have been talking about getting together over the summer to make more beer, possibly go on some hikes, and read some books.

If we do start a book club, I suggest we begin with Endurance by Alfred Lansing. It’s the story of Ernest Shackleton and his crew on their effort to make the first on-foot crossing of the Antarctic. They got stuck in the ice, survived on drifting ice packs, escaped in a lifeboat, set out for southern Chile but had to reroute to South Georgia over 800 miles away… and everyone survived. It’s been called one of the greatest adventure stories ever told. And Paul D recommended it.

But first, I’ll have to learn how to read.

Abby Normal

by ryan

For the past two morning trainings, Luigi has shared his extensive knowledge of the brain with us, as we are exploring the possibility of adding a sheep’s brain demonstration to the popular cow eye, flower, and DNA presentations. It’s really exciting to be thinking about the best ways to present this dissection to the public in a way that both passes along information and invites kids to share stories and relate the demo to their everyday lives. It’s important to think of issues of space, having a script versus ad-libbing, and how hands on we think it can be. As we found out, just having the brain in front of us stimulated a whole bunch of comments and questions from the group. Luckily we had an expert to teach us about the parts and share stories with us.

Some of the most interesting examples that Luigi shared with us had to do with the connection between the different parts of the brain, and what can happen when certain sections get damaged. For example, Phineas Gage, a railroad worker, and by all accounts an upstanding citizen, had a beam go through the front part of the brain and completely change his presonality. Since the frontal lobe can control impulses, Gage became angry, abusive, and mean. Good thing there were no railroad spikes lying around outside the day I fell off that pole.

A phenomenon that I found really amazing to learn about was called blindsight. If the visual cortex is damaged a person will be blind, yet if the superior colliculus another part of the brain that prosesses relexes can react to visual stimuli. So for example, if a person suffering from this condition had a chair pushed into their path (although this seems really mean), they would move out of the way even though they wouldn’t be able to see what object they were avoiding. Let’s just say we imagined the amazing hackey sack possibilities.

Cutting up the brain also led to discussions of different medical procedures that doctors can perform. Luigi told us about how doctors can remove half of the cerebral cortex in certain situations, especially in young patients. In the early years the brain can more easily re-wire itself and the remaining half of the brain will take over the function of the removed half.

These were only a few of the cool facts that I remembered. Maybe others can share the tid-bits that made a lasting impression on them during the training. It’s challenging to think about all the factors involved in the thought processes leading up to the creation of new on-the-floor activities. But it’s exciting to be pushing boundaries and learning from each other as we ponder the best ways to move forward as a group.

Just replace “scientist” with “Explainer”

by akikoakiko

 **from one of my favorite comics — www.xkcd.com

Land of the Departed

by peee

So as I sit here in front of the computer at Boys & Girls Club in between graduations it starts to sink in. I’m no longer an Explainer. Never again will I be able to put on that orange vest and tell students to walk in the museum or to check out the cool demos, or to try an explain what the purpose of Lariat Chain is. (Anyone know?)

I can still remember my first day as an Explainer, we all sat in a circle in the skylight area of the museum and talked about why we wanted to work at the ExpOratorium. We were people from all walks of life. Teachers, artists, musicians, youth developers, science nerds, tech geeks. We all had different reasons as to why we were at the ExplOratorium, but we all believed that the “science” of hands on learning was important. I can’t believe that was 3 years ago.

In the Field Trip Explainer program, after 3 years of service, you “graduate”. Yesterday I graduated from the Explainer program. Today as I make my rounds to the different schools to see young people that I work with graduate from their respective schools, it makes me think about what I learned during my tenure at the ExplOratorium. 3 years ago, I wouldn’t have been able to tell you why we have different color eyes, or why water spins as it goes down a drain rather than just straight down, or how The Drawing Board works. (actually i still don’t know what the deal with the drawing board is) I’ve learned a lot about science. But just like I tell the students, “don’t overwhlem yourself with the science; just think about things in simple terms and it will be easier to understand.” Simply what I’ve learned at the ExplOratorium is that learning doesn’t have to just happen in a classroom, teaching doesn’t have to just happen in a classroom. It can happen anywhere. Be it a classroom, a museum, an after school program, on a bus. I’ve been blessed to have had the opportunity to be an Explainer. And although my time is up, the chances to teach and to learn and impact a young person’s views on science and learning is not over.

Crying Our Eyes Out

by ryan

Thursday was Phanna‘s last day at the exploratorium. He has been an explainer for the past three years. Phanna has a natural gift for interacting with kids and always placed a focus on the ones who might not be excited about school, science, or the ExplOratorium. We all learned a lot from him.

To commemorate his long dedicated service, Kristin baked chocolate brownies with printed portraits of Phanna and we all sat around in a circle and said nice things about him. Although, even after extolling all his virtues, I don’t know if it makes up for him going on vacation 6 days early. There wasn’t a dry eye in the lounge as we flipped his picture upside-down, the standard tradition for departing explainer.

On a semi-unrelated note, I found this amazing video about a maker of artificial eyes. I even got a little misty during the last part of the video. Maybe I’m just especially emotional these days.