Back in the Saddle

SPACEWALKERS AND ROCKET LAUNCH: We have been ultra super busy at MPA, and I'm way behind in documenting our duties. Let's see what I can remember. ...

I do remember we started last Friday with a spacewalk! 

Well, we didn't do the walking, but a pair of NASA astronauts did. Above, the photo shows 
Expedition 51 Flight Engineer Jack Fischer of NASA. His spacewalk on Friday was his first. Accompanying him was astronaut Peggy Whitson. It was her ninth spacewalk. All totaled, it was the 200th spacewalk for the International Space Station's assembly and maintenance. 

Monday afternoon, there was a SpaceX launch that went perfectly.

The mission was Inmarsat-5 Flight 4, taking place at the historic Launch Complex 39A (LC-39A) at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida. 

Due to mission requirements, SpaceX did not attempt to land Falcon 9’s first stage after launch. 
Speaking of space stuff, recently we learned about a partnership between NASA and Texas Instruments to create a fun new contest to highlight the STEM and coding skills used to explore space every day. Called STEMnauts, it involves deciphering puzzles and brainteasers using the coding and STEM* problem-solving strategies NASA uses to make human life in space possible.


I wish we'd heard about it sooner

RUNAWAY: On Thursday afternoon, Annabelle ran the equivalent of a 5k, which was 12 laps around a track on Queen Anne hill. She's been participating in a "Girls on the Run" program for several weeks. This coming weekend, she'll do an official 5k run.

Go Annabelle!

LEWIS & CLARK & CO,: CJ and Annabelle participate in a social studies club. Last week, the kids each did reports related to the Corps of Discovery. 

CJ focused on Dismal Nitch, an unpleasant stop on their journey. As part of his report, he shared this National Parks Service video about it. It's pretty interesting.


Annabelle shared info about the one and only dog who went on the journey, Seaman.
You can see her presentation here: https://prezi.com/ndcakmmx-wrs/seaman/

No Problem

PUT TO THE TEST: Our routine this week has been unusual. The kids don't have any of their regular classes Monday - Thursday. Instead, they have been taking Washington State's standardized test.  Called "Smarter Balanced," it's actually four tests; two language arts, two math.

To help boost their brains before the test, the kids have been ingesting a small shot of caffeine in the form of Mountain Dew. Specifically, some crazy concoction called  Dew.S.A, a new flavor of Mountain Dew.

PROBLEMATIC: As we've been cramming on math this week to review concepts and and new to the kids, there have been some frustrations and protestations - and one BIG light bulb moment. 

Around our kitchen table, we try to approach math as a conversation - we see a "problem," and before we even put pen to paper, we talk about what question is being posed. What are the units of measurement involved, if any? What is a reasonable estimate of what the answer will be? Those types of things. 

All the while, I try to keep reminding the kids that math is a process and a puzzle, and that it's fun to figure out or solve! 

While doing so, a couple of afternoons ago, I had an "Ah ha!" moment: It occurred to me that from the youngest age we're taught that math is a PROBLEM. 

How many times in your life have you been instructed to solve the math PROBLEM? Probably too many to count. 

Now think about this for a moment ...

Merriam-Websters defines problem, in part, as "a source of perplexity, distress, or vexation."

Google tells me problem is "a matter or situation regarded as unwelcome or harmful and needing to be dealt with and overcome."

So let's do a little math ... 

Problem = Distress + Harm + Vexation
Math = Problem
Math = Distress + Harm + Vexation

See how that adds up?

And when do you ever want to have "a problem"?

Um, never!

Given all this, I think it's time to change how we talk about math. I propose that the word 'problem' not be used in association with math any more. Ever.

There are options. For instance, it could be solved by simply swapping in the word "puzzle," or "exercise "or "challenge" or even just "question."

A powerful tool to solve everything from calculating the cost of a banana to understanding the mysteries of life, the universe and everything, math is cause for celebration, not dread. 

Math is not the problem. The way it's talked about and taught IS all-too-often the problem. 

The good news is, there's a solution and it can start with something as simple as swapping out one problematic word.


MUSIC MAKERS: On Monday morning, CJ and Annabelle had the opportunity to take a field trip to the Apple store in the University District. There, they attended a neat-o workshop about how to use "GarageBand," a computer software program, to produce music.

I'll let CJ tell you a little more about it.

Monday, my sister and I got up before 8 A.M. to go to the Apple Store in the University District, located a couple miles from our house. We went for a workshop hosted at the store, where we would play with GarageBand, a popular IOS app used to create music.

Though I had heard about the workshop for multiple weeks prior, I had no idea what GarageBand was actually like until we went to the workshop. GarageBand allows you to take multiple audio tracks (that you can create with "Smart Instruments"), put them together, and thus get a song as a result. No knowledge of actual instruments is needed to make a song.

The song I made, titled "GarageBand Composition", is available at SoundCloud and Google Drive.

And here is a link to Annabelle's composition: https://soundcloud.com/user-853274603/sets/garageband

The kids got some nice swag from the class - a cool Apple T-shirt (they have them on in the photos at the top of this post) and a USB bracelet. Sweet!

Art and Airplanes

NIGHT AT THE MUSEUM: Friday evening, we headed downtown to the Seattle Art Museum. It was a special occasion as it was Annabelle's first time having her art hanging in a museum.

She, along with many other Seattle Public Schools students had art in the annual show.

Just inside the doorway, she checked in at the artists' table. She received a sticker identifying her as an artist, a nice certificate, and an event program.

 We found her artwork near the rear of the exhibition. 

I'll let her tell you a bit more about the experience.

WINGING IT: Saturday morning, we were up at 6:30 to make sure we could have Annabelle down to The Museum of Flight by 7:15. The occasion: A special meeting of Amelia's Club and a chance to visit the Alaska Airlines facility at SeaTac.

It looks like part of her day included a slide show about everything from how to fly a plane to how to become a pilot.

 I like the sense of humor in the slide below. 

 The visitors were definitely asked to take their opportunity seriously.

I'll let Annabelle tell you a bit more about her day. ...

Alaska Airlines Aviation Day was an event I went to as part of my Amelia’s Aero Club, a club for middle-high school girls that are interested in aviation. When I arrived at the Museum of Flight, I joined my group and we got on the bus to Alaska Airlines. The first thing we did when we reached the building was watch a few presentations by pilots and employees of Alaska Airlines. They talked about how planes fly, why they fly for Alaska, and how we could become pilots, too. After watching the presentations, my group came together and took turns in the flight simulator used by real pilots! The simulator had a large, curved screen in front of it so it actually looked like you were pulling in to the airport. Me and my friend, Isabell, took turns and successfully landed the plane twice!

                  (the photo below is a small model of the flight simulator)

Our next stop around the offices was a room where flight attendants showed us the self-defense they learn and how they evacuate planes in an emergency. There was a training dummy (named Bob) that they used to show how to use parts of your body like thumbs, to poke at an attacker’s eyes; your elbow, to deliver fast and tough jabs to the abdomen; and your feet to stomp in their way and kick them. After the small training on self-defense, my group worked our way into the model plane, where the flight attendants briefed us on what was going to happen. A (recorded) safety briefing began to play, before it was interrupted by the attendants telling everyone loudly to get our heads down and grab our ankles in a bracing position. After the plane “landed” they told everyone to get up and out of the way (so they could check the damage) and the two in the front directed everyone to fold their arms and step off onto the slide. The attendants said the rules state they need to be able to evacuate everyone in 90 seconds or less.

Before I knew it, we went for lunch in the plane hangar and sat right next to a plane. Once everyone was finished eating, we walked to a few small planes and learned a bit about US customs and what they prevent. Our group went back to the flight attendant’s room to kill some time, and then we left. It was a fun day, and I love learning more about aeronautics!

She certainly got an up close view of some pretty planes!

 Below is a photo of some of the things that didn't make it through U.S. Customs checkpoints.

CJ enjoyed his moment in the sun at the Museum of Flight. Earlier in the day, he purchased his first two domain names. Look for more information about those in posts to come.

May the Fourth Merriment

FORCE-FULL: Thursday was May the Fourth, and for our family, that's akin to a holiday, because it's Star Wars Day! For those who don't know, the 'holiday' happens because May the Fourth sounds like "May the Force ... " of Star Wars fame.)

It just so happened that on that day we were helping host a teacher and staff appreciation luncheon. Naturally, we used a Star Wars theme for that ...

Darth Tater, Frylo Ren and the Spud Trooper stood guard at the start of the baked potato bar.

There were liquid refreshments. ... 

 We had a few fun signs around the room. ...

 And some spaceships, as well!

 The table was set with Star-Warsy items.

And light sabers lined the white board.

We had to have a few cookies, of course.

And vintage Star Wars Thermoses served as flower vases.

Meanwhile, down the hallway, CJ and Annabelle led a Star Wars singalong.

They played Weird Al's "The Saga Begins."

Later that afternoon, the young Rebels caught a transport, and headed to the Safeco Field spaceport.

Sign and stuffie on hand, they hung out in the bullpen for awhile

And then they made their way around the concourse, running into some old friends ... and enemies. 

They made sure to make time to watch the "Hat Trick" puzzle.

 And they even watched some baseball.

All in all, it was an epic day.

Space, Spies and Baseball

SPREADING THE WORD:  This afternoon, I had an opportunity to talk about one of my favorite topics - NASA! - with a group of homeschooling parents. I prepared a quick PowerPoint showing just a few of the many, many ways to access NASA's vast resources.

I started by suggesting signing up for NASA's Education Express weekly email, as it's always a wealth of what's hot and now at NASA, with lots of educational opportunities and suggestions. 

I also suggested people sign up for NASA Science WOW!, another weekly email with a ton of resources delivered right to your inbox.

I also shared NASA's Educator and Student Current Opportunity pages on NASA's website:

Educators http://www.nasa.gov/audience/foreducators/current-opps-index.html

Students http://www.nasa.gov/audience/forstudents/current-opps-index.html

And, of course, I suggested people sign up to receive Jet Propulsion Laboratory's email. They often have programming and announcements of interest. We utilize JPL resources all of the time here at MPA. JPL: https://www.jpl.nasa.gov/signup/

I also suggested NASA Kids Club (https://www.nasa.gov/kidsclub/index.html) as a 'safe' place to park your student if they want some screen time. There are games, videos, quizzes, and more about earth and space science.

NASA TV (https://www.nasa.gov/multimedia/nasatv/#public) is another great resource. I noted that they do a good job of tying programming in with current events, be it Black History month or Women's month, and so on. 

I also pointed people to NASA's launch schedule ( https://www.nasa.gov/launchschedule/), because what's cooler than watching a rocket launch?! I reminded the group that LOTS of other people are launching rockets these days, too.

Of course, I had to let people know about how to spot the International Space Station from your own yard or wherever. It's as simple as visiting https://spotthestation.nasa.gov/, and checking the schedule or signing up for email or text notifications.

While NASA is known for space exploration and programs, I noted that they are a preeminent agency when it comes to earth sciences, as well. A good portal for that kind of info is: https://www.nasa.gov/content/nasa-earth-science-news

And last but not least, I shared NASA's fabulous Eyes on the Solar System website:  https://eyes.nasa.gov/, which lets any of us be space explorers!

SPYBALL:  A couple nights back, we watched a couple of short documentaries which were part of ESPN's super popular 30 for 30 series. The first was titled "Spyball." It was about a former Major League Baseball player, Moe Berg.

He was a Princeton graduate who spoke 12 languages, He was a wonderful defensive catcher with a great arm, and a not so great bat. But what he's most famous for from a historical perspective was that Berg was no ordinary ballplayer. After he hung up his cleats, he served as a spy during World War II, serving on  spy with a top-secret mission and a license to kill

I'd definitely suggest you check it out!

Busy Weekend

EMPOWERED: On Saturday, from 9 to 4:30 p.m., CJ and Annabelle had the opportunity to participate in Seattle Youth Empowerment Day. It was hosted by the Museum of History and Industry, in South Lake Union. When I saw a promo for it, I didn't hesitate to sign them up. 

I'll let the kid tell you a bit more about the experience. Annabelle is up first. 

Youth Empowerment Day at MOHAI was an event for middle and high schoolers about lots of different social topics. The first event featured the final 2 poets in the Seattle Grand Slam poetry slam. They each performed the 3 poems that lead them to representing Seattle in the San Francisco poetry slam! The first three (perform by a man named Mercury) were about how people with Autism are treated like objects and are taught to smile and not oppose anyone. The second poet was a black woman who had a poem about how she’d like to see marvel make a female black superhero called “Afro-woman” and how she’d handle herself and not need a man or a sidekick. She talked about how at the end of the movie, she’d want to see Afro-woman stand with an army of other black women behind her, so that they’d never be forgotten again.

Other events included presentations by organizations like Seattle Foundation, Give Big, Storytellers for Change, and the American Cancer Society’s Relay for Life. They talked about volunteering and how to get the word out about issues you care about. During lunch, there was an activity fair where a few charities and organizations like Teen Feed, which provides food and shelter for homeless teens; Redeeming Soles, which takes donations of new shoes to give to less fortunate people; and Days for Girls, which provides reusable feminine hygiene products to girls who can’t access them in stores. The activity fair was basically just walking around and collecting stamps for a “passport”. The last workshop was about our table groups coming up with our own community projects. The winner was a group who was going to make a women’s self-defense course called “G-fence”. They even won 1,000 dollars to make their plan a reality! The Youth Empowerment Day was fun and educational, too!

And here's what CJ had to say. ...

On Saturday, my sister & I attended the annual Seattle Youth Empowerment Day, an event held at the Museum of History & Industry (MOHAI) since 2015. As described on the official webpage for the event, "During this day-long event, teens will learn strategies for making an impact on issues that matter to them through engaging workshops, hands-on activities, inspiring guest speakers, and will even have the chance to win $1,000 in startup capital to launch their own non-profit organization!"

At the event, of of the first things we did with the other teens was participate in a strange sort of icebreaker. We would each write some info about us on a sheet of paper (our names, preferred pronouns, favorite color, favorite animal, and grade), crumple the sheet of paper into a ball, and then throw the paper into a circle that we had formed. We would then pick up the piece paper that was nearest to us, and find which student it matched.

In the icebreaker, a pink-haired boy named Michael got my piece of paper and traced it back to me. I ended up with a piece of paper that belonged to "Louise" (or some other name along the lines of that), a girl who was slightly older than me.
One of the first actual events at the Youth Empowerment Day was a presentation by Youth Speaks, an organization dedicated to poetry written by youths. The first person from Youth Speaks to present was Mercury Sutherland, an autistic transman and poet. In his poem, Sutherland drew awareness to the large amount of hate crimes directed towards transgender people, as well as decried "Tumblr self-diagnosis" (most likely referring to the large amount of Tumblr users who self-diagnose with mental illness).

Seattle Youth Empowerment Day 2017 was a very informative and interesting event. 

And the kids each came home with a nice swag bag.:) 

MIX IT UP: This week is Teacher Appreciation week where CJ and Annabelle take some classes. To show our appreciation, we helped set up a trail mix bar in a small office there.

We had an outdoors/trail hiking theme, and decorated the doorway with boughs cut down from our cedar tree yesterday. The kids helped make signs for the event and helped set up, as well.

We had over 20 items people could choose from to make their own trail mix. Everything from peanuts and pretzels to dried fruit, popcorn, Goldfish, granola, Whoppers, M&Ms, coconut ... 

 It was a really big hit, and the recipients felt very appreciated. :)

COLORFUL: Today's random share is from over a week ago. We were at a restaurant and Annabelle found several black and white coloring sheets. She proceeded to make several versions of Pikachu, of the game Pokemon. 

First up was unicorn Pikachu.

 Next, we have classical pianist Pikachu!

 And last but not least, was "Smokemon," because the date she was doing the drawings was 4/20, and that is a 'holiday' in the marijuana smoking 'community.'

 She also made a Minion into Mario, of Nintendo Bros. fame.