Mark Dunk’s Blog

Just updating my reading list. I forgot to put “blink” on the list.

 

 

 

Four student teams earned national titles in the U.S. Army’s eCYBERMISSION program July 2, 2009 in a ceremony that showcased the students’ science, math and technology skills while earning those on the winning teams $5,000 in Savings Bonds. eCYBERMISSION is a free, web-based, science, math and technology competition managed from the Research, Development and Engineering Command on Aberdeen Proving Ground, Md. The program awarded a total of $1.2 million to 6th through 9th grade students on 96 teams that won at some level of the competition. National winners for eCYBERMISSION won $5,000 in U.S. EE Savings Bonds, in addition to the $3,000 in U.S. EE Savings Bonds they won for being among the 16 regional first-place winners. Members of the other 12 finalist teams received $3,500 in U.S. EE Savings Bonds for competing at the eCYBERMISSION National Judging and Educational Event, which is a free series of educational enrichment activities and events for national finalists held in Washington, D.C. For more information visit the eCYBERMISSION web site, https://ecybermission.apgea.army.mil/.

 

Universe Today provides an awesome collection of pictures from the Space Shuttle Endeavor’s STS 127 mission. I take special interest in this mission since I was fortunate enough to view the launch at Mission Control in Houston. Full collection here.

I got back from Barnes and Noble a little while ago with two books, Malcolm Gladwell’s “blink” and David Baldacci’s “Simple Genius.”
I’ve seen people use Google Documents to conduct polls, so I decided to use this opportunity to learn how to do polls with google docs and decide which new book to read first.  The poll is here: http://is.gd/1PnSd but it may already be closed since I’m anxious to start reading something.

CNN’s John Zarrella put together this video discussion on the options for NASA after the retirement of the space shuttle in 2010.

We had an amazing storm the other night, and I was able to capture this picture.

I’m embarrassed to admit that I hadn’t known much about Malcolm Gladwell or his previous books, “The Tipping Point” and “Blink” until I attended NECC09 and heard Mr. Gladwell present the opening keynote speech.  I will most likely pick up these books now that I’ve finished “Outliers” (and I have some Barnes and Noble gift cards burning a hole in my pocket).

I’ve always been a fan of books that talk about being in the right place at the right time.  I believe there is no such thing as a coincidence and that things happen for a reason.  It is up to us to discern the reason and capitalize on the situation.  For me, this is much easier said than done.

Mr. Gladwell does a great job chronicling excellent examples that support his “outliers” concept. I was especially impressed with his own personal story.  As a classroom teacher, having read this book will give me an additional tool to use to motivate and encourage my students.

A very creative project by Malta to help celebrate IYA2009, the International Year of Astronomy.

The 6th attempt was the charm for Endeavor. Thanks to the father of one of my students, I was invited to watch the launch from NASA’s Johnson Space Center Mission Control in Houston! For a space fan like me, this was the opportunity of a lifetime!