Version:
2/16/12

picture of the week

thought-bite of the week:

uakari monkey, based on a sketch by Humboldt

Humboldt's map of the Casiquiare Canal/ Channel
click on image to see full-size graphic

"Rivers have only a slight, often imperceptible fall.… We stopped by the mouth of the Caño de la Triguera… to measure the speed of the current, which was 2.56 feet an hour."
(Humboldt, "Personal Narrative", from Jaguars and Electric Eels, ed. & trans. Wilson, p. 49, 67)

mini-text of the week (start):

"In this interior of a new continent you get used to seeing man as not essential to the natural order…"

Humboldt, "Personal Narrative", from Jaguars and Electric Eels, ed. & trans. Wilson, pp. 99 (read more)

(X') = anticipated time in minutes (total=75)

(0001) etc.=item in Humboldt Project document collection

Key to notes added AFTER the class meets:

√ = topic / activity that was adequately dealt with during the class

+ = topic that was started but needs more attention & will be resumed at next / subsequent meeting(s)

- = a topic / activity that was proposed though not begun, but will be taken up later

Struckthrough text like this = a topic / activity that was proposed but not included is not going to be taken up after all

Italic bold green text like this = comments after the meeting

√

(5') This week's thought-bite: the constant measuring and the tiny gradations; Lewis & Clark and the Willamette; science shows that Kansas is as flat as a pancake

Followup about words for "science", "scientist", and the specific sciences: "physico-mathematicall experimentall" (Bryson, book about Royal Society).

+

(5') NEW ON WEBSITE: "Related Events" (linked from TOC) and "PSU Sustainability Calendar"• Wednesday, February 22, 5-6:30 pm "Payment for Ecosystem Services in the Ecuadorian Andes,"Kathleen Farley, San Diego State University

PSU Institute for Sustainable Solutions

job opportunities through the ISS - this course adds to your competitive advantage (if you're doing OK in it)

+

(15') What happens when you read Darwin? Data, amazing powers of observation, structure of argument, presentation of argument ("rhetoric") - appeals to common sense, shared experience, admission of uncertainty; God and Creation in The Origin of Species. Similar reading experiences: Geneva Convention, Federalist Papers, maybe Hobbes/Locke/ Smith, probably not Newton. So what can the educated citizen read while we wait to see what today's classics will be? (periodical press; local, quotidien; long-term knowledge). How do educated citizens become capable writers? Small groups: Where do you get your citizen information, and how do you check it out?

√

(20') Hands-on activity: Getting a sense of topographical mapping by plotting our heights onto a grid and drawing the lines that connect equal (iso-) heights. This was also the basis for H's path-breaking documentation of climate and life-form zones. More about that ("Chimborazo" - see Helferich, Chapter 9) next meeting.

+

(20') Exploring group projects:

a) trial organization of groups by categories (majors? definite ideas already for projects? math people? foodies? outdoor interests? making things? travel background? hobbies?)

b) re-grouping according to suggested projects: OMIS Planet under Pressure; PSU Earth Day; Earth Day with Alex at a Humboldt-named school; designing a Humboldt-related learning garden or specimen collection; planning initial contact with Humboldt-named schools; researching Humboldt-named schools; re-branding a Humboldt-named school (colors, totem animal /plant, mascot & costume, rally/same implement, cheer, events); familiarizing stakeholders with Humboldt; planning the model "Humboldt Box"; adaption of lesson plans for Humboldt-related content (organized according to subject area, or according to age level); grant research and draft proposal.

NOTE: There is no plan to sell anything to the schools. They have no money for that. They can be attracted to the Project in only two ways: a) Free resources ready to use right out of the box. b) The prospect of grant money that somebody gets for them.

Here is Enchanted Learning - but one of many sources of learning activities, especially for younger learners. Here's their "Explorers" page about Humboldt. Here's their section about "astronomy:Earth", with activities that could be inspiration for learning activities for Humboldt-named schools. here is "ThirteenEd Online", about lesson plans (example: math)

√

(5') Preview of writing about Humboldt-related species: Go to the Humboldt Project link to Humboldt-related species (or use some other resource), choose your species, read up on it, and think about which age level of learner / public you will write for: elementary, middle school, high school (including AP), general-public sign at zoo / botanical center. Details to come at next meeting.

√

(5') Checkups & Previews: Reminder about "My Education" writing assignment, with followup: holding government to eduational standards. See "schedule and assignments" page (week 4) for directions about getting smart phone apps for the course. (WWHD?) What shall we do with/to the people who haven't gotten on board the SINQing Humboldt Canoe - haven't come forward with information about their interests and skills? Maybe we can find an idea in Walls's description of loading the canoe.:-)

Upcoming: presentation about society back then (and any time before 1800 or so), to help understand how H related to people of other classes / races (teaser: When was it that someone's ears first popped with a change in altitude?)

Focus of "interpreting the past" to