One of our all time favorite children’s stories has been made into a movie -
“Where The Wild Things Are” – October 2009
Archive for March, 2009
Water made safe by Children’s Safe Drinking Water video by GOOD Magazine
What is Pecha Kucha Night?
“Pecha Kucha Night, devised by Astrid Klein and Mark Dytham (Klein Dytham architecture), was conceived in 2003 as a place for young designers to meet, network, and show their work in public.
But as we all know, give a mike to a designer (especially an architect) and you’ll be trapped for hours. The key to Pecha Kucha Night is its patented system for avoiding this fate. Each presenter is allowed 20 images, each shown for 20 seconds each – giving 6 minutes 40 seconds of fame before the next presenter is up. This keeps presentations concise, the interest level up, and gives more people the chance to show.
Pecha Kucha (which is Japanese for the sound of conversation) has tapped into a demand for a forum in which creative work can be easily and informally shown, without having to rent a gallery or chat up a magazine editor. This is a† demand that seems to be global – as Pecha Kucha Night, without any pushing, has spread virally to over 100 cities across the world. Find a location and join the conversation.
Thoroughly enjoyable!
“This year, Earth Hour has been transformed into the world’s first global election, between Earth and global warming.
For the first time in history, people of all ages, nationalities, race and background have the opportunity to use their light switch as their vote – Switching off your lights is a vote for Earth, or leaving them on is a vote for global warming. WWF are urging the world to VOTE EARTH and reach the target of 1 billion votes, which will be presented to world leaders at the Global Climate Change Conference in Copenhagen 2009.
This meeting will determine official government policies to take action against global warming, which will replace the Kyoto Protocol. It is the chance for the people of the world to make their voice heard.
Earth Hour began in Sydney in 2007, when 2.2 million homes and businesses switched off their lights for one hour. In 2008 the message had grown into a global sustainability movement, with 50 million people switching off their lights. Global landmarks such as the Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco, Rome’s Colosseum, the Sydney Opera House and the Coca Cola billboard in Times Square all stood in darkness.
In 2009, Earth Hour is being taken to the next level, with the goal of 1 billion people switching off their lights as part of a global vote. Unlike any election in history, it is not about what country you’re from, but instead, what planet you’re from. VOTE EARTH is a global call to action for every individual, every business, and every community. A call to stand up and take control over the future of our planet. Over 74 countries and territories have pledged their support to VOTE EARTH during Earth Hour 2009, and this number is growing everyday.”
“Smart by Nature: Schooling for Sustainability
June 22-24, 2009: Berkeley, California
A three-day Center for Ecoliteracy seminar for educators and others committed to schooling for sustainability.
A Short Course: Systems Thinking, Education, and the State of the World
August 13-15, 2009: Berkeley, California
A rare opportunity to study with Fritjof Capra, one of the world’s leading systems theorists, and learn how our major global problems are interconnected and how the challenge of building sustainable communities will require both systems thinking and an ecological conception of life. Capra will be joined by David W. Orr, one of the nation’s leading environmental educators, and Carolie Sly, education program director for the Center for Ecoliteracy.
Climate Change and the Connections that Bind Us
August 14, 2009: Berkeley, California
David W. Orr, one of the nation’s leading environmental educators, will discuss his forthcoming book, Down to the Wire: Confronting Climate Collapse in a special evening reading and talk benefiting the Center for Ecoliteracy’s initiative, Smart by Nature: Schooling for Sustainability.”
For more details, visit the Center for Ecoliteracy’s website.
Open-Ended Learning: Design Responses to K-12 Education Today
“The explosion in school construction in recent years to meet the demands of a post-9/11 baby boomlet has forced a fundamental shift in how we approach K–12 schools. For architects, this new thinking—with its call for project-based learning, an increased role for technology, and more sustainable and socially responsible institutions—has resulted in more flexible spatial configurations, integrated break-out and project rooms, and better connections between the indoors and out. For example, the Nueva School, in Hillsborough, California, designed by Leddy Maytum Stacy Architects, with some curriculum developed by IDEO and the Stanford D. School, has students growing food and learning from the building itself, extending the school’s role into the wider community. We asked eight leading design firms to submit a recent K–12 school project that featured an innovative approach, application, or idea. Their responses—wind turbines, green roofs, using a building as a teaching tool, and something the architects call “ad hoc urbanism”—illustrate how changes in education are affecting the design of schools today, providing a new blueprint for the classroom of the 21st century.”
Continue with metropolismag.com…
Currently reading:
A book by Richard Louv
“Last Child in the Woods is the first book to bring together a new and growing body of research indicating that direct exposure to nature is essential for healthy childhood development and for the physical and emotional health of children and adults. More than just raising an alarm, Louv offers practical solutions and simple ways to heal the broken bond—and many are right in our own backyard.
* 100 actions you can take to create change in your community, school, and family.
* 35 discussion points to inspire people of all ages to talk about the importance of nature in their lives.
* A new progress report by the author about the growing Leave No Child Inside movement.
* New and updated research confirming that direct exposure to nature is essential for the physical and emotional health of children and adults.”
Be sure to check out Richard Louv blog childrenandnature
GM’s Education “website offers teachers and students resources and activities that highlight energy, environment and sustainability topics.”
“The Kindergarten Taka-Tuka-Land was originally built as a temporary solution and is now to become an important and permanent social institution through its forthcoming architectonic transformation. The children together with their nursery school teachers made collages and models of Taka-Tuka-Land as they imagined it with melodic bridges, little huts, a merry-go-round of blossoms and a throne of shells for Pippi’s father. Their ideas triggered off the Baupiloten’s design, as the students sat in with the children for several days, they studied their schedules, their movements and methods of communication. These observations became part of a design which will enable the children to identify wholeheartedly with their kindergarten.”
