Cork out of a bottle

You will be the envy of all your friends if you can pull this off.

Otters holding hands

This is so cute it makes my heart hurt.

Beard Championships

Yes, there is such a thing as beard champion.

Net Neutrality

Read up about one of today's hottest topics, net neutrality. We'll discuss tomorrow in advisory.

A Justification

Benson and Gerony asked me today why I posted a picture of squirrels in a light saber fight. (By the way, it's nice to read comments from students on these posts.) One, it's silly -- and, as you all know, I love all things silly. But, as I pontificated some more, I realized that there was another (and actually legitimate) reason this Photoshopped picture rocks.

Compare the Squirrel Fight to one of the most famous paintings of the twentieth century, "The Dance" by Henri Matisse. This painting is one of the signature pieces at the Museum of Modern Art (MoMA), and I have always admired it for its evocation of synergy with the physical world.

According to Artchive, "The Dance is one of the few wholly convincing images of physical ecstasy made in the twentieth century." I think I found a photo that might rival the effect of the the work by the old French master. And they're leaping squirrels, for crying out loud!

"A Dream" by Common

Calvin and Hobbes

Along with The Far Side, my favorite comic strip of all time. Check it out if you get the chance.

Fold School

This is a spoiler for 6th grade SEM. Hopefully, we'll get a chance to construct our own children's furniture out of cardboard origami. Granted, the little girl in the rocking chair is a bit lame, but the rest of it looks pretty cool. I'm not guaranteeing we're going to be doing this though -- I haven't tried it out yet, and it seems a bit difficult. In the meantime, keep on working on those paper cranes! Consider it good training for paper craft!

Lies by Mandy

This is teen non-fiction I found in the March issue of Teen Ink:

Lies
by Mandy, CT

I wake up at seven o’clock and get ready for school. Mom asks if I did my homework and I say yes. One down, many to go. As I go out the door she asks if I have my cell phone and I tell her I do. That’s two in less than a minute. When my friend Cassie and I meet up in the school’s parking lot, she asks if she looks okay. I tell her she looks beautiful, and that’s one more before eight o’clock. In class the teacher asks if I went to class yesterday. Of course I didn’t, and if I did, I wouldn’t tell her. I was home sick in bed.

Lunch arrives and I sit with Jackie and Lauren. As Jackie gets her lunch, Lauren asks if she looks like she gained weight. She looks obese, but I tell her I thought she’d lost 10 pounds. I’m doing well, I’ve stayed below six before noon. When Jackie returns, she tells me someone called her a whore. I know she is but I console her by saying that of course she isn’t. That’s number six and the clock just struck noon.

At the end of last period, Shannon asks if I could give her a ride home. I say I don’t mind at all, and that makes seven. She gives me a hug and tells me I’m the best as I drop her off. No, I have to be humble and not allow her to praise me when she should be kissing the ground I walk on. That’s eight. Barely in my door, my boss calls and asks me to come in at four. I can’t because I have to go to my niece’s birthday party. There’s nine. I’m really on a roll today.

At dinner I don’t touch my food. Mom asks if I feel okay and I just smile weakly and tell her I’m not hungry. She asks if her cooking is okay and I say I love it. That’s two in the same sentence. Dad asks how school was and I tell him it was good, and that’s one more at the dinner table.

Mom and Dad go into the family room as they do every night. As usual, I go to the loft and play a computer game. An hour later Mom asks if I’m doing homework and I tell her I’m almost finished with English and moving on to history. I don’t even take history. Satisfied with my answer, she returns to her movie. Later, she asks if I want some ice cream. I can’t afford the calories and tell her I’m still feeling ill. I’m practically starving but I let it go.

At long last, I go to bed for my last “lie” of the night.

Squirrel Fight

I think I figured out why my students seem to have an irrational fear of squirrels......And I no longer blame you. Wouldn't want to get caught in the middle of a squirrel light saber battle either.

I wish I were Terence Tao...

Not because he's a better looking version of me. But because he's incredibly smart. Read the New York Times article about Mr. Tao here.

Oh, and a big shout out to the 6th grader in Mr. Levy's class who was able to memorize the first 80 (!) digits of pi in one class period. She may not be Daniel Tammet, but that's still mighty impressive!

Asthma in the South Bronx

Recently, I learned that Harlem & the South Bronx have one of the highest rates of asthma in the nation. The illness particularly affects kids: in the U.S., asthma is the number one cause of school absences each year.

Why do so many kids in our area have asthma? Experts aren't sure, but many attribute it to pollution.

Here's an excerpt taken from an article written by Natalie Olivero in the Gotham Gazette:

Communities like East Harlem are burdened with polluting facilities, like a multi-storied diesel bus depot operated by the New York City Transit Authority, a sanitation truck depot, and a sewage treatment plant on Ward’s Island,” said Yolande Cadore, organizing director of the environmental justice group West Harlem Environmental Action, Inc. ( WE ACT), in an email. “These communities bear the burden of high asthmas rates, lung and heart disease, obesity and diabetes.

Why does pollution end up in the South Bronx? According to Yolande Cadore, it's because there's not enough people fighting to keep pollution of their neighborhood.

WE ACT takes a broader approach to alleviating asthma: They fight to keep pollution out of poor neighborhoods. Cadore says that city planners often build sewage treatment plants and bus depots in poor neighborhoods of color because they assume the community will not protest as much as a rich, white community might. Cadore said this is because historically minority communities have been less politically active, less likely to vote, and have had less money to sue.

One of our mottos at MH3 is to help students become community leaders. Perhaps this is what that motto means...To inform you of the issues affecting your community, and perhaps spur some into action. Folks, what can you do to make a difference?

Image take from S. Bronx Environmental Health and Policy Study

Writing Odes

What are Odes?
The Greek poet Pindar invented odes over 2,500 years ago. Back then, odes were serious and dignified poems performed to celebrate victories. In the twentieth century, Pablo Neruda put his own spin on the classic form. He abandoned dignified topics, discarded the conventions of stanzas and meter, and sang the praises of everyday things (i.e., “An Ode to My Sock”).


Why are We Writing Odes in Science?
Writing an ode is an opportunity to sing the praises of important but overlooked things in everyday life. All of the living things found in our ecosystem play a vital role in the circle of life. Without producers making food, consumers eating food and controlling population sizes, and decomposers breaking down waste, none of us would be here today. With that in mind, we chose an organism as our muse, identified its energy role in the ecosystem, and exalted its magnificence with a pen, a piece of paper, and our ever-expanding minds.

Here are a few poems my students wrote. Enjoy!

Ode to Producer
You are mother
and we are your children.
You feed us and give us life
like a proud mother would.
Without you we all would
perish and die
and fall away from grace
without your love.
You get your energy from the sun
And turn it into something we all use.
This is to you producers.

-- Cynthia O


Ode to Decomposers
You are called disgusting.
You are called horrific.
You are called disease-causing, ugly, and bleak.

You devour the greatest beasts,
the most vibrant of flowers.
The simplest of organisms are a feast fit only for you.

You dine on the creatures
killed by life.
Every last bone
sucked dry by you.

You share your new found wealth
throughout the circle of life.
Once you’ve had your fill
you give bountiful gifts
to humble Mother Nature.

Without your voracious appetite
death would stain the globe.
Carcasses would overwhelm us
leaving no room to grow.

Perhaps you remain unswayed
By this humble poem.
Please, just hear this:
”Don’t judge ’em ’till you know ’em.”

-- Benson B.


Ode to Decomposers
Oh silent, slick decomposers,
you slowly creep upon your victims,
and slowly take it away.

With pride and honor
you eat your victims,
and return the favor,
by supplying the minerals
for its young.

You return the minerals it took in,
and you give freely.
You devour upon those who died
to leave space to those yet to be born.

You are fungus,
bacteria,
a double-handed foe,
a two-faced champion,
who eat the dead
and feed the life.

-- David D.

Bravo, young bards, bravo.

How does it know?

How do gas pumps 'know' when a car's tank is full? The first student to find and post the answer before I find the answer myself earns up to 10 extra credit points on his/her science grade.