2012 updates-to-date

Holy cow! Where did the year go? It's already mid-March in a brand new year.

Been busy, happy to say, working on things are coming forward in the future. Here's a sneak peek:

The Swim/SCUBA foot

• In January, we went to Bonaire, off the coast of Venezuela to do some filming in the clear blue water. The full display of foot features will come soon, but I want to share some raw footage that show the flexibility and ease of use of the foot.

Walk to swim (and back again)

Jump in and swim away

And now with SCUBA gear...

And this just in... beach-to-swim and back again


Lasers in the classroom curriculum

• In partnership with LASER Classroom, I wrote a sample of curriculum using LASER Blox, stackable lasers that can be toggled for experiments in the classroom. We are starting with high school (since that's where light and physics are normally taught), but I know elementary and middle school teachers could see ways to modify them for their classrooms! The full volume 1 will be completed in Fall of this year, but you can preview the sample now -- and for free. The activities are specially designed to engage those students who normally don't have an interest in physics by hooking them with other areas of interest like art, civics, life science, and mathematics. LASER Classroom will also give coupons to those who give feedback.... Take a peek: http://www.laserclassroom.com/stem-integrated-curriculum.html

ME Robots: Mechanical Engineering Robots training workshops (in MN)

• Those in the Twin Cities area might be interested in the training workshops that St. Kate's will be holding in May, Jun, and August. This is based on curriculum I helped St. Kate's and the Girl Scouts develop since 2003; it's been been well-tested (and received)! My colleagues in education run the workshops, and the curriculum will be available for purchase from St. Catherine University's National Center for STEM Elementary Education website ( stem.stkate.edu ) soon.
• Here's a peek at the curriculum: http://stem.stkate.edu/elementary/me_robots_materials.php
• And here's how you register for the workshops: http://stkaterobots.eventbrite.com/

 Next on the Docket: 10 ways to get kids excited about engineering

• I will be presenting at The Works for one of their events, 10 ways to get kids excited about engineering. I hope it will be highly interactive so real, meaningful ideas and advice pertinent to your child(ren) can be shared. 
• For information and registration: http://www.theworks.org/fb/visit/special_events.html

 ... always so much to do and learn!

I promise to write sooner in the future!