Did You See That Coming?

As we move into summer's final month, you are no doubt deep into writing your Extended Essays.  I have always found writing an illuminating form of investigation, no matter how certain I am of my subject at the outset.  Share with us, please, a moment of discovery, of redefinition, of shifting perspective, of surprising connection, from your writing and thinking and learning process.  Give us a bit of context (your topic, your final research question, and how this moment fits into the work as a whole), explain the moment, and then offer a Knowledge Question that incorporates a way of knowing.  Please post before you eat dinner on Sunday.  I will write to you next from the shores of Lake Huron.

Taste this Ringtone

Why do I love wasabi?  Why does my wife hate water chestnuts?  Why does the sound of chewing bother me when nails on a chalk board doesn't?  As I regularly do, this morning I opened up the new xkcd and found this (when you read it, mouse over the panel and read the annotation, too).   This reminded me of an article I read this weekend.  Please read and reflect on both these texts, relate them to some other moment in your world, and connect them via a KQ, specifying a way of knowing along the way.  Please post by lunch time on Saturday.  Then find something tasty for lunch.

All the News that Fits

Where are you now?  Take a look at the world around you and share what catches your eye.  Select a relatively local news story and share a link to it as the beginning of your post for this week.  Think and write a bit about the perspectives and assumptions that the article contains and finish things off with a KQ related to perspective and ways of knowing in the article.  Please post these by Sunday local dinner time.

I Once Was Blind But Now Can Click and Drag

Every few months, a different friend of mine posts a link to this sliding scale of the universe, which you've seen before (and will surely enjoy again)--the most recent just this week.  This latest resharing led me to wonder anew about the site's appeal, and reminded me of this incredible journey.  As the title suggests, click and drag on the last, largest frame of the comic.  Make sure you have some free time before you begin.  For Saturday, please patiently explore these wells of perspective.  Find and note moments of cross-over (perhaps open both, each in its own window...).  Describe what you find, how your shifting and expanding perspective develops your understanding of the whole (as you know it), and, you guessed it, extract a knowledge question.  Please post by local noon on Saturday 6 June.