THE SOLUTION TO Weekly Challenge 3: What Can You Do With a Humongous Piece of Xerox Paper?
Posted by DrJeff on June 23rd, 2009
Filed under 1.1. Dr. Jeff's Weekly Challenge, 1.2. Solutions to Weekly Challenges, 1.5. Dr. Jeff's Jeffisms, 3. Science Education, 4. The Earth, 5. Space Science, 5.1. Our Solar System, 5.1.1. The Sun, 5.1.2. The Moon, 5.4. Milky Way Galaxy, 5.5. Other Galaxies, 5.6. The Universe
Copyright 2009 | About this blog
Read Original Challenge HERE.
This post is a Dr. Jeff’s Weekly Challenge and a Dr. Jeff’s Jeffism.
Last week on BotU, your challenge was to take an imaginary, truly humongous piece of xerox paper—but with normal xerox paper thickness—and figure out how many times you’d need to fold it in half so the folded thickness is the height of you, the Statue of Liberty, the Empire State Building, and Mount Everest. For those that really wanted to challenge themselves, I invited you to keep folding so it would be thick enough to reach the Moon, the Sun, the nearest star, and beyond.
How’d you do?
BUT WAIT! If you haven’t yet read Weekly Challenge 3, DON’T LOOK AT THE SOLUTION HERE JUST YET! First read Weekly Challenge 3, or I’ll take back my paper.
First, a word from our sponsor—
You Want Me To Do What With a Bathroom Scale?
Weekly Challenge 4 to be posted Monday, June 29, 2009
Other Posts coming soon:
A Voyage in Corpus Christi
Twinkle Twinkle Little Star, History Tells How Far You Are
Lessons of Earth
MESSENGER: Target Mercury
And now the answers—
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Weekly Challenge 3: What Can You Do With a Humongous Piece of Xerox Paper?
Posted by DrJeff on June 15th, 2009
Filed under 1.1. Dr. Jeff's Weekly Challenge, 1.5. Dr. Jeff's Jeffisms, 3. Science Education, 4. The Earth, 5. Space Science, 5.1. Our Solar System, 5.1.1. The Sun, 5.1.2. The Moon, 5.4. Milky Way Galaxy, 5.5. Other Galaxies, 5.6. The Universe
Copyright 2009 | About this blog
This post is a Dr. Jeff’s Weekly Challenge and a Dr. Jeff’s Jeffism.
Math is the language of nature. If you yearn to know
how she operates, you must speak her language.
Before getting to the awesome challenge this week, I need to get something off my chest. It’s something very relevant to the challenge, but you might not think so at first—
My first language is English. I have very strong beliefs about how English should be taught in schools. I guess I’m a traditionalist. I also think that my views apply to how any language should be taught in schools around the world.
I think English belongs in English class. Period. You want to speak and read and write English, well do it in an English class. It doesn’t belong in a history class, or a science class, or for that matter a class on economics, art, sociology, psychology, or the law. Let’s keep English where it belongs. It’s just a language. So no English in those other classes. Just sit there and learn the concepts, nuances, big ideas, and emotional content of those subjects through …. osmosis. Think your thoughts toward other members of the class and share brain waves. And please, please … when you do this—DO NOT THINK YOUR THOUGHTS IN ENGLISH!
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Our Earth in Space – the Nature of Our Existence
Posted by DrJeff on May 28th, 2009
Filed under 0. Site News, 2. Nature of Exploration, 3. Science Education, 4. The Earth, 4.1. Environment and Climate Change, 4.2. General Biosphere, 5. Space Science, 5.1. Our Solar System, 5.1.1. The Sun, 5.1.3. Planets, 5.2. Other Solar Systems, 5.3. Stars, 5.4. Milky Way Galaxy, 5.5. Other Galaxies, 5.6. The Universe
Copyright 2009 | About this blog
I started this blog to share exciting stories of exploration with those that teach the next generation—parents and teachers. I hope it can help you inspire our children. More generally, these stories are for anyone who gets joy from learning, and aspires to know.
If you really want to get a sense of where I”m coming from, read my Resource Page The Nature of Our Existence. I hope it moves you. And if it does, share it by leaving a comment on the bottom of the page.
It’s a story—a philosophy—reflecting programs developed and delivered over 19 years at the Smithsonian’s National Air and Space Museum, and across the nation—to families, teachers, and the public.
I’d like to see this blog continue for quite a long time. I’ve got lots to share. But that requires us to build an audience. So please let parents, teachers, and friends know about this blog so we can make a difference together. Send out a tweet or some emails!
You might also like to read other Resource Pages in the section called Dr. Jeff on Stuff (see the column at right.) And subscribe for e-mail notification to stay up-to-date with new Posts.
To all those teachers finishing their year and feeling exhausted, you could probably use a reaffirmation right now about why you went into teaching! I think reading The Nature of Our Existence might help. It’s a good way to start your summer!
—Dr. Jeff
