Meeting 6 • 24 January 2013 • Thursday
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pictures of the week
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thought-bite of the week: "[I]n these countries nobody would dream of going out to look for alpine plants, or to study rock strata, or take barometers up to high altitudes. They are used to a dull domestic life; [apparently] they live not to enjoy life but to prolong it."(Humboldt, "Personal Narrative", from Jaguars and Electric Eels, ed. & trans. Wilson, p. 12) |
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mini-text of the week (start): "The farm we lodged at was a fine sugar-cane plantation.… The owner's house is situated on a hillock surrounded by huts for the negroes.…"Humboldt, "Personal Narrative", from Jaguars and Electric Eels, ed. & trans. Wilson, p. 22 (read more) |
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(10') Mini-text of the week: 1) What sorts of people did Humboldt encounter in Venezuela? (=an informal quiz on the Jaguars and Electric Eels reading). 2) What do we know about prices in the past (food, housing, wages, etc.), and how much can we compare them to the present (= yet another dimensions of "interpreting the past"). Examples: Budget of the Lewis & Clark Expedition; daily wage at Ford factory in early 20th C; home price in southern Oregon in 1954; minimum wage in 1960 3) The tricky topic of slavery. How long and where has it existed (not; "did it use to exist")? What is the origin of the word in English and related languages, what words are used for it in other languages, and what does this tell us about slavery over history? See the mini-text of the week for Humboldt's quantitative discussion of slavery, and how that discussion can get teachers into trouble. |
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(5') Review of the quantitative activities at the past two meetings. Inventory of quantitative problem-solving skills, ready knowledge, and anxiety / confidence. A moment of thanks for Archimedes & Euclid, the triangle & pi, the "Arabic" number system, the concept and symbol of zero, and the ancient Egyptians who built the Pyramids and did so much to invent surveying and irrigation. Not to mention the Greeks (geometry) and the Romans (engineering). |
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(30') SINQing the Humboldt canoe, so that we can then load it and travel safely in it. 1) "Brute force" solution: actually sinking a similar canoe - will try to arrange it; 2) "Semi-Brute Force Solution: "dry dock" simulation using Laura Dassow Well's description of Humboldt's canoe and its cargo of people, equipment, and various critters- we'll do that right in the classroom; 3) "Smart Person Solution": saving time and sweat by (e-)pencil-and-paper calculation of volume and "ball park" estimation of weight and displacement. Maybe: Worksheet about volume, weight, and displacement |
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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; 3) introduction of writing assignment #3. |
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(10') about writing skills - the "Leaving Home" assignment, part II of comments |
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(5') Writing assignment 3: Your education and how it compares to standards. |
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(5') Checkups & Previews: Does everyone have the main texts and know where to find assignments and deadlines? Has everyone read the Wikipedia article about AvH? Gotten well into Helferich and Eels/Jaguars? Has everyone done the several questionnaires? (Intake experiences • Skills inventory I • Academic background & interests) |