Taking Flight

AWAY IN A MANGER: Today we finally made it out to Swanson's Nursery. In Crown Hill (just north of Seattle's Ballard neighborhood), it's a Christmastime must, for there they have creatures you don't usually see 'round these parts.

Above you see Curly the camel along with his miniature donkey pal. They weren't interested in us at all today, as we arrived right after feeding time.

We also got to see a couple of reindeer, but we didn't catch their names. (If I had to guess, I'd say Donner and Blitzen.) Whomever they were, they were sawing logs when we came to visit. Can't blame them. They've got a tall order ahead. ... At Swanson's the kids also revisited the scene of one of our favorite holiday photos. Here's the 2010 version ... And here's a (heavily Photoshopped) version of them in that same sleigh from 2007. ...
DRAMADEY: The kids had a fantastic field trip to the Seattle Children's Theater today. They were there to see "Lyle, Crocodile." Big brother Rick took them.

"Lyle" is about a charming (though speechless) crocodile living in NYC who wins over the favor of the (aptly named) Mr. Grumps. It's a physical comedy with some engaging dance numbers. It got six thumbs up from the three I picked up after it was over. (A taste of the super fun looking show is available in their YouTube clip.) CJ liked this production a LOT more than he liked "The Nutcracker" a week ago. Guess that means it was better than "mediocre." ;)

WINGING IT: Today, I asked the kids to count to twelve. Slowly. One. Two. Three. Four. Five. Six. Seven. Eight. Nine. Ten. Eleven. Twelve.

After they were done, I said, "That didn't take long, did it?"

They both agreed 12 seconds went quickly.

Then I said, "Would you believe in 12 short seconds, you could change history? ... In 12 short seconds you could do something so amazing, that people are still talking about it more than 100 years later?"

I had their attention. Excellent. :)

And so we began our discussion of Orville and Wilbur Wright and how 107 years ago today, the brothers made history by piloting a gas powered biplane in Kitty Hawk, North Carolina. Their first flight (with Orville piloting) was 12 seconds and 120 yards long. Image: Courtesy NASA. In March 1999, a full-scale replica of the 1903 Wright Flyer was mounted in NASA Ames Research Center's 40-foot by 80-foot wind tunnel for tests to build a historically accurate aerodynamic database of the Flyer.

We learned that the Wright Bros. of Ohio didn't attend college. Their mechanical and design skills were honed in the bicycle company they owned. We learned they started with gliders and after more than 1000 trial and error flights, on Dec. 17, 1903, their motor-driven biplane went airborne four times.

Today we learned they chose Kitty Hawk because of its winds and sand dunes which provided camouflage (they were experimenting in secret) and a relatively soft landing. We learned the Wrights had no quit in them - their first glider, tested in 1900, performed poorly, but a new design, tested in 1901, was more successful. Later that year, they built a wind tunnel where they tested nearly 200 wings and airframes of different shapes and designs.

I pointed out to the kids that in science class on Wednesday, they tried maybe 20 different ways to balance their pencil on the Popsicle stick and reminded them how long it seemed to take and how frustrating it was. "Imagine trying that over 200 times," I told them.

We learned that although they were first, others stole the claim to fame for years and years. Poor Wilbur Wright died of typhoid fever in 1912. His brother Orville lived until 1948.

CAMEO APPEARANCE: MPA put in a "guest appearance" of sorts on a blog about Philadelphia schools. It came about in a round about way. The blog's main author used a photo of mine from Morguefile to help illustrate a blog post of his. He was kind enough to send me a link to the post. When I followed it and learned that it was a blog about finding the right school for your student, I couldn't help but write him and tell him how that was a subject near and dear to my heart. I also felt compelled to share with him a YouTube video I'd found (and posted here already) about the changing education paradigms.

Here's a link to the blog post MPA inspired: http://phillyschoolsearch.com/2010/12/15/changing-education-paradigms-video/