Stick Around Awhile

Did you know a million Earths could fit in our sun? Did you know that, since atoms are mostly space, if a cathedral-sized model was made of an atom, the nucleus would be a fly in the middle? I’m sure I learned either these or similar facts as a junior high school student, but I didn’t really take note of the information until lately when I spent the semester working with a student in Physical Science. This school year we’ve been watching an astrophysics series produced by NOVA. With stellar (no pun intended) production value and fascinating Generation Tech-friendly graphics, it has been riveting. For me. Today’s jaded eight-grader basically embraces one guiding principle: If I can’t text to it or with it, why do I care? So, we all sat having the universe passionately explained to us while the only person in the room listening was the nerdy old lady. Every day I would come home with some new tidbit captivating or astounding me. And the one that most knocked my socks off was the theory that 99% of all species ever having existed on Earth are now extinct. Ninety-nine percent. Obviously, that means everything in the world now--plants, animals, insects, humans--comprises only 1% of the sum total of everything that ever was. Mind-boggling. Maybe Bill Martin Jr. and Eric Carle wrote Panda Bear, Panda Bear, What Do You See? about a child dreaming of endangered animals because they are NOVA fans. Or maybe they are just not-going-extinct fans.

P.S. Happy Birth Day, Posey Emmaline! Welcome!

http://www.amazon.com/Panda-Bear-What-You-See/dp/0805017585

http://www2.scholastic.com/browse/collection.jsp?id=387

http://www.carolhurst.com/newsletters/24dnewsletters.html