Hope everyone had a great fortieth anniversary weekend. My highlights included an epic anti-gravity mirror battle against Marcus (the undisputed champion of that event), a child asking me what might happen if someone coughed on a brain, and having a really interesting conversation with some visitors about the motorcycle that (nearly) cut a block of ice in half. It was way fun being on the floor with the high school explainers on a busy weekend day. Oh and I also enjoyed taking over VJ duties in the webcast studio and broadcasting the owl song, the einstein rap, and the sun painting dance. If I would have known about it I would have played this video starring Bill Nye, Niel deGrasse Tyson, Richard Feynman, and Carl Sagan with their voices changed by autotune. Can we do this for one of Paul D.’s trainings? Maybe the sound box has this kind of power. Anyways, enjoy the song.

Hey Explainers,

I just invited you (over email) to the Pilots Hub, an online international Explainer community. It’s like a facebook for Explainers. Whether you decide to join or not, it’s a cool place to check out- there are discussions on demos, photos, and videos from Explainers all over the world (mostly Europe right now).  If you want to, you can make your own profile and you can blog there.

http://pilots-hub.ning.com/

As the Exploratorium prepares to celebrate our 40th anniversary this weekend, I recently discovered (through a google headline made of big bird’s legs) that we are in elite company as Sesame Street also turns the big four-oh the same weekend. I know that the show was one of my first educational experiences and if you don’t remember how great it was, take a trip down memory lane with these classic clips.

Check out this Prezi-like graphic that Alicia sent in an e-mail that explores size and scale.

While nano days flashcards are pretty fundus, this is super cool.

Check our the article that was in the New York Times today about the differences between the Exploratorium and the Cal Academy of Sciences. It’s nice to hear some of our values articluated in a way that contrasts with more traditional museums and science institutions. Edward Roststein writes

“Oppenheimer created a palace of experiments, a conceptual playground in which it is impossible not to be engaged, amazed, frustrated or amused. You learn principles but are not told how you must use them. You are given a sense of interconnected phenomena, but are not directed to behave in a certain way. You are forced to think in the middle of play.”

Read the whole article here – Paths of Discovery

I miss you all!

Magic Tricks on Daily Show Yesterday

…and other beautiful decorations adorned the marble machines that we created last week in training. In case any one is wondering, that’s a homage to Amisha and her signature yellow pants.

Click this link to Luigi’s Learning Studio Blog for some more great pictures and a video of all the twists, turns, bumps, and swings.

Marble Machines Explainer Training 2009

In the process of researching activities to do with the students who come on field trips, we found a book called More New Games by my favorite hippie game creator of all time, the legendary Andrew Fluegelman.  The games that he created can be best described as things you might play in a giant field right after you dropped acid while time tripping in 1972 and still have the greatest time of your life. The book is filled with descriptions of cosmic truths and pictures like this…

I highly recommend checking out a copy of the book from the learning commons and checking out all the treasures that it holds (I’d say buy it on Amazon but there’s only one used copy and it goes for $214.95!!!!).

So not to back down from a challenge, the explainers tested out one of Fluegelman’s games in Friday meeting. The game seemed simple. All one needed to do was find a partner, hold up a hand, close their eyes, connect with the partner’s aura, spin three times, then try to reconnection with the spiritual life force of their partner. Easy right?  Since we did so well, I suggest we try the above pictured ‘people pass’ for the next meeting. We just may want to take our shoes off first.

Today was the first day of Field Trip Explainer Training for the 2009 semester.  We spent some time discussing our hopes for students who will take field trips here and share the museum with us this year.  Some common themes included hoping that we’d help these kids- especially those who struggle in school- to spark their curiosities, pique their interests, make connections, and have fun!
Here’s what everyone came up with:

I hope that the students leave the museum with a thousand questions that they never had thought about before.

I hope that a kid coming here on a field trip feels excited about science and art and sees everyday things in a new way after leaving.

I hope the kids will have a special connection with an exhibit or phenomenon that they will remember when they’re all grown up.

I hope that the youth that visit our museum would gain a new love of science and learning.  Make it feel fun.  I especially hope to reach students that struggle in traditional classes.

I hope kids will leave with an interest to keep exploring further than they did before they got here.

I hope that the students realize how much fun it can be to learn and discover/remember the joy of taking time to play with things and figure new things out.

I hope kids dare to question what is usually taken for granted.

I hope kids coming on field trips to the explo have an experience that is fun and gets them excited about learning.

I hope students become more excited to learn about the world around them.  I hope when they leave, the leave inspired to try and learn more.

I hope kids have fun, and take facts and info from an exhibit with them.

I want students to learn that science is more than just numbers and equations; it’s asking questions and having fun!

I hope students understand the process and methodology of science.  Basically, I want them to know how to ask questions about science.

I hope the kids leave the explo with their curiosity sparked and some fun memories.

I hope kids feel like they were successful at trying the exhibits, asking a good question, or figuring something out.

If there are two things that explainers can’t seem to get enough of it’s food and coffee. With the new school year starting next week we are going to be filling our bodies with the energy needed to dissect cows eyes, make up songs, and perform magic tricks.

I’ve been seeing this graph around lately and it’s a fun way to check out the relative levels of calories and caffeine for various comestibles. I like what they decided to put on the list – pain killers,a blueberry muffin and a mocha frappucino (i.e.. the breakfast of champions). Riiight…

Click on the picture to see a big version!