Version:
2/22/12

picture of the week

thought-bite of the week:

Mt. Chimborazo
click on image to see full-size graphic

"…often during astronomic observations I almost dropped my instruments when I realized my face and hands were covered with these hairy bees. Our guides assured us that these bees only attacked when you annoyed them by picking them up by their legs. I did not try."
(Humboldt, "Personal Narrative", from Jaguars and Electric Eels, ed. & trans. Wilson, p. 17)

mini-text of the week (start):

"…the general phenomena of plant distribution…"

Humboldt, "Personal Narrative", from Jaguars and Electric Eels, ed. & trans. Wilson, pp. 14-16 (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

√

(3') This week's thought-bite and mini-text: expensive instruments, extreme conditions, and great insights about geography, climate, and species distribution

√

(2') NEW ON WEBSITE (review from meeting #11, due to recalcitrant technology): "Related Events" (linked from TOC) and "PSU Sustainability Calendar"• TOMORROW!: 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). Projects like (maybe) yours recently won financial support from PSU.

√

(30') Humboldt's pioneering work in plant (and animal) geography: the 99% perspiration and data are combined with 1% inspiration and insight to produce the monumental, iconic "Chimborazo" graphic. That was the best they had "back then" about sustainable environmentalism: the data, the thought, the presentation in words and pictures. There was NO "Big Science": no government-sponsored science (until late in 19thC in US - Powell's fights), no corporate-financed R&D.Well, there was a little, especially for military purposes (mapping, weapons). But most science was "amateur" (gentleman and a few others), because science then was not regarded as important. Producing that engraving involved huge effort and expense, even after the data was collected.

This is one of the very most important knowledge points of the course. If necessary, read and re-read Helferich, pp. 223-233 to glimpse both the heroic nature of the physical accomplishment and the immense importance of the yield to science in general and sustainable environmentalism in particular. That will give you some essential facts and concepts. But the rest of the reading and discussion in the course is necessary to add at least some the depth and breadth that are necessary to relate Humboldt and Chimborazo to the larger context.

Some other "iconic" images related to science (whether as concepts or as means to deliver data effectively).

Today we'll rotate some important graphics resources among small groups so that people can look closely at them: the full-size Chimborazo engraving (with the English translation of its data columns); several centuries of maps of the Pacific Northwest; a study of effective graphic representation of quantitative data (Tufte, The Visual Representation of Quantitative Information); a study of how the familiar "time-line" graphic tool was developed over thousands of years (Rosenberg & Grafton, Cartographies of Time).

Special points (more about importance of data and how it is obtained): natural history collections; rarity of travel; topographic mapping (Wikipedia; Geosciences, Idaho State U)

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(30') Exploring group projects (continuation of previous meetings):

First, let's encourage "inclusion" by group-thinking some examples of projects that could call on the interests and expertise of: business/econ majors; architecture majors; PE/sports majors / athletes.

Now some general specifications (review of several earlier discussions):

a) Projects must be Humboldt-related, but that can be "stretchy" (example: start with Humboldt, then expand to other explorers)

b) Projects can be aimed at Humboldt-named schools, but can also target just about anything that is related to sustainable environmentalism: OMSI Planet under Pressure; PSU Earth Day;

c) Examples of projects aimed at Humboldt-named schools: Earth Day with Alex; 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.

d) Your part in a project does NOT have to be based on your academic subjects. You may have a serious personal interest that can help (pets, dance, sewing), or an area of "non-academic" interest, experience and talent (organizational skills)

e) The projects are Big IDEAS. They do NOT have to be Giant Finished Products. The Humboldt Project has been going on for more than five years, and already includes some student-begun projects that have been handed on to you. Your projects will be handed on to other teams.

f) Start RIGHT AWAY (or even sooner) to document your contribution to your group project so that it can be known (and graded) individually.

Now the next step(s): Group membership and goals - discuss, decide, report

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). There are countless lesson plans for climbing walls + math, ••. LessonPlanet has reviews of climbing wall lesson plans, including activities that simulate the climbing done by Lewis & Clark, or climbing up Kilimanjaro to learn about ecological zones. And here's an event that could serve as the structure for a project about art and Humboldt: The Endangered Species Day Youth Art Contest (follow link to "Teacher Resource Center" for case study and lesson plan).

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(5') Start of writing assignment #4: Research and describe a Humboldt-related species for a specific audience. Will be activated next meeting and due Thursday, 1 March.

(5') Checkups & Previews: updated directions about getting smart phone apps for the course. (WWHD?)

More about trust and sources of info: Small groups: Where do you get your own information, opinions, conclusions, solutions, and how do you check it out. If time: So what can the educated citizen read while we wait to see what today's classics will be in the eyes of tomorrow's inhabitants? (periodical press; local, quotidien; long-term knowledge). How do educated citizens become capable writers?

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?)

Next two weeks: Humboldt's influence on the development of systems of land and water measurement and management in the US.