Yep, the annual winter solstice news--the tinge of sadness I felt late June now reflects back as a tige of joy. The sun is dead. Long live the sun. 12:30 A.M. tonight the sun will stand still for an instant, shift its mass*, and head back north. 6 months ago, when we sat on the opposite side of the sun, I celebrated the summer solstice, a joy ...

I work hard to make my classroom ''unscientifical.'' I discovered not so long ago that some students learn just enough scientifical vocabulary to throw me off their scent. We are raising a generation of liturgists. I ask specific questions no one truly understands, I get back scientifical nonsense no one understands, and everyone pretends ...

NJ World Class Standard: 8.2 Technology Education, Engineering, and Design All students will develop an understanding of the nature and impact of technology, engineering, technological design, and the designed world, as they relate to the individual, global society, and the environment. On this day not so long ago, Edison switched on a reasonably ...

I mucked around my classroom long after my lambs had left. One tank needed cleaning, another could use a few beakers of water. A third I stared at for a bit just because, and found a few squiggly things that looked suspiciously like mosquito larvae. I think maybe the spontaneous generationalists had it right. Civil twilight lasted until almost ...

No, nothing metaphorical. The real thing. I cleared out some space from one of our hallway exhibits to make room for our horseshoe crab art exhibit--a wonderful art teacher is integrating art and science, and the results have been lovely. I took out an old microscope, a shark jaw (and the log-dead critter drew blood yet one more time), and a ...