Meeting 9 • 05 February 2013 • Tuesday
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picture of the week
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thought-bite of the week: "In this paradise of American jungles, as everywhere else, a long , sad experience has taught all living beings that gentleness is rarely linked to might."(Humboldt, "Personal Narrative", from Jaguars and Electric Eels, ed. & trans. Wilson, p. 66) |
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mini-text of the week (start): "In Calabozo, in the middle of the llanos, we found an electric machine with great discs, electrophori, batteries and electrometers…"Humboldt, "Personal Narrative", from Jaguars and Electric Eels, ed. & trans. Wilson, pp. 57-8, 62 (read more) |
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(5') Thought-bite of last week and last Saturday's folk holiday: ground hogs, marsupials, and the difference between Old World and New World creatures - including the philosophical & theological implications. This week's thought-bite: "Nature red in tooth and claw"; relation between human beings and Nature; what are the many meanings and applications (scientific or otherwise) of "change", "evolve", "evolution"? |
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(20') Billions of burgers, zettabytes of data, specialization of knowledge, and critical thinking/ reckoning Partner activity: How many burgers can we get from 100,000 beeves? Followed by obituary of Fred Turner and article about explosion of quantity of available data (and how to store it). SINQing the Humboldt canoe (wrapup, literally [learn how to use this word correctly]): 1) as material for discussion of curriculum: for math: age-appropriate activities; "spiral" syllabus; calculus?! AP?! Which other subject areas did we address / could be addressed? 2) food for thought: How do you know where you learned X? How do you know that what you learned is really true? How/When did you learn how to learn? We never answered the question, So what could that boat hold? Followup about the question one of you (2012W group) asked: "So did Humboldt actually calculate that all out when we was loading his canoe?" An example: "Alexander, Wie berechnest du die Größe von deinen Kanus? Alexandre, Le bateau ici - est-ce-que tu sais exactement s'il est assez grand?" And how did they figure out how much wood they needed for those boats and crates? They planned and calculated carefully; we have the expedition mission orders and packing lists of Cook and Lewis & Clark. importance of DATA (for Humboldt, for us; about Humboldt); example: how many position measurements did H make in a day? How many other measurements? Sources of errors in collecting and using data. Example: detecting non-solar planets Some data-rich docs we can't spend much time on (but could be the subject of projects): the full narrative; econ of Mexico; later views of AvH: was he too data-driven to see the Big Picture. |
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(05') Earlier words for "science" and "scientist", since "scientist" wasn't used in its modern sense until the mid-19th Century. Check question: when did astronomy and astrology become pursuits that were distinct from each other? |
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(10') presentation (continuation) about educational standards and their parts in the course: 1) evaluating own education; 2) helping others to learn - how standards are used to develop curriculum (curricula?) and learning activities. Example of source of lesson plans; article (H0152) "School Gardens Blooming Teach Lessons On Nutrition, Environment, Science, Teamwork". This is preparation for assignments about species description and group projects |
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(20') Followup of last Thursday and segué to book reports: caloric needs of explorers and nursing mothers: How is nutritional research conducted - how do we get, so to speak, a window into the stomach? see book review candidate Catching Fire: How Cooking Made Us Human So now they're / we're / you're on board. We're just getting into the systematic discussion of sustainable environmentalism. We're finishing the basic reading (have you?), and now need to branch out for more reading. Choosing and signing out books for book review assignment; tell your partner a little about the book you're reading. Recommendations for some special topics: women in Humboldt's time; religion and science; books on the list that I don't have copies of (use library, etc.); examples of book reviews. If by the end of today's meeting you don't have a book, it's your responsibility to read the list of choices of available books and email me with your choice(s) - probably best to have 2 or even 3. |
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(10') knowledge, skills, interests reported by the people in this group (or gathered from PSU transcripts). Groups to be formed in workshop meetings. Ideas for group projects. |
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(5') Announcements, Checkups & Previews: 1) midterm (outside class) will be activated Thursday; 2) what it's like to read Darwin; 3) Humboldt-named species; forming teams and scoping out projects; 4) the iconic graphic of Chimborazo; 5) apps Humboldt would have liked; 6) what shall we do with (to??) the people who haven't revealed their interests and strengths and don't get "on |