Contact Victor Williamson with your questions about simulator based experiential education programs for your school.
SpaceCampUtah@gmail.com

Monday, August 26, 2013

A New Troubadour Feature. Dave Wall Marries! New Simulator at Lakeview. Technology Destroys Lives. Star Trek Cookies. The Imaginarium.

Hello Troops,
     I'm sitting at my desk in the London Room at Renaissance Academy (which also doubles as the Farpoint's world headquarters.  Doesn't that sound impressive?).   A new, perhaps interesting feature has been added to The Troubadour.  Look at the top of the right side bar.  The Troubadour is the place where my 23 students go to remind them of their due assignments and projects.  It will be your small window into the operations of an above normal Utah 6th grade class in an above average Utah charter school located on a wind swept northern bench of Utah County.
     Think of what you get by reading The Troubadour:  news from the different space education centers, space and science news, the Imaginarium and now posts highlighting the day to day story of an over the hill, nearly ready for pasture sixth grade teacher and his class of patient and smart 11 and 12 year olds.  Could live online get any better?  I think not.
   
Today's Motivational Thoughts
A teacher's way of motivating his students to do their work and pay attention in class.


Historically, many individuals have been afraid to pursue careers in the sciences because they fear that they will not be able to keep up—that they lack the mathematical skills necessary for pursuing a career in physics, astronomy, or similar fields. And to many people, the fear of not excelling, of not being a leader in their field, of not earning a substantial income…it is akin to death. But fear should not stand in your way. Generally speaking, a monotonous life that makes you miserable is not much of a life. So reach for the stars--literally.  Watch a Youtube video on this subject. 

Dave Wall Marries?  Pigs are Flying and Snow is Falling in the Nether-regions  


     Congratulations to Dave Wall, the designer and builder of the Space Center's original Odyssey Simulator, on the occasion of his wedding to Amber Boehm this last weekend.  The Space Center's oldest veterans remember Dave fondly and join us here at The Troubadour in wishing Dave and Amber the very best as they journey through life together.
     The wedding was awesome.  Amber's wedding march started with the Imperial Theme from Star Wars before transitioning into something more appropriate.  Amber is as big a sci-fi, fantasy fan as Dave.  They make the perfect couple.  Dave and Amber will make their home in Draper at the top of the mountain overlooking both Utah and Salt Lake Counties.    

Dave and Amber

The First Pictures of Lakeview Charter School's New Simulator at Saratoga Shores

Space Center fans are excited to see progress on Lakeview Charter School's new simulator, the USS Leo.  Casey Voeks is seen in the photo below looking like he's helping with the construction.  Those of us who know Casey know that the photo was most likely staged.  The same thing happened at the Discovery Space Center.  A picture was being taken of the ships under construction.  Casey took a hammer and jumped into one picture, thus giving the viewer the illusion he was right there the whole time, mucking in with the rest.

Congratulations to Lakeview Charter School and to the Discovery Space Center on this major accomplishment.  


"Make sure you get the hammer in my hand."

A Very Sad Testimony to our Modern Age.
This super-short video will make you depressed about how much time you spend checking your phone.



What do you do about it?



Space, Science and Engineering News

Check out the incredible Maersk Triple-E. It's the largest ship in the world. It can carry 182 million iPads or 36,000 cars on a voyage from China to Europe.




Snowball Earth





During vast ice ages millions of years ago, sheets of glaciers stretched from the poles almost to the equator, covering the Earth in a frozen skin. Conditions on the "snowball Earth," as scientists refer to it, made the planet a completely different place.
"We're essentially talking about another world," said Linda Sohl of the NASA Goddard Institute for Space Studies in New York.
In May, Sohl spoke with a small group at a lunchtime seminar, later posted online, about the evolution of the understanding of the snowball Earth and how it has changed as technology  has improved.
Read More

How to Make Star Trek Cookies 
http://www.sweetsugarbelle.com/2013/05/simple-star-trek-cookies/



The Imaginarium
Turing the ordinary, into the extraordinary








Proof that things can get worse

Kevin gets an A for imagination


The Forever Alone Bench

The purpose for that thing on his head alludes him





The Yellow Submarine Car




A little more creativity wouldn't go amiss
I wonder if he had to take off his shoes?







A new kind of watermelon is created

The world's worst road in Russia


The Keyboard Throne


Maybe not the best Halloween decoration for a retirement home

And people still pass them on the right



1 comment:

Anonymous said...

Where will we be in 15 years? Well, I'm excited, personally. Within a few years, developers will be able to make a game as realistic as they want with less manhours needed, allowing for more time to be spent adding detail, polishing gameplay, etc.

I'm very excited about the rise of storytelling in video games. Nearly 80% of modern games have decent (or flat out amazing) storylines, and I hope that percentage increases.