27 JUL 2018 by ideonexus
The Magic Circle
The term magic circle is appropriate because there is in fact something genuinely magical that happens when a game begins. A fancy Backgammon set sitting all alone might be a pretty decoration on the coffee table. If this is the function that the game is serving-decoration-it doesn't really matter how the game pieces are arranged, if some of them are out of place, or even missing. However, once you sit down with a friend to play a game of Backgammon, the arrangement of the pieces suddenly bec...Folksonomies: gameplay
Folksonomies: gameplay
1 
notes
notes10 MAR 2017 by ideonexus
Gamification Auction Mechanic
On a previous assessment, Mrs. Tabor asked her students three different questions to assess their science-centered critical thinking. Based on the answers, she gives each student a chip with a different color and value (much like the suns in Ra). Students who demonstrated an “average” level of critical-thinking skills get chips worth 3 or 4; students who demonstrated greater critical-thinking skills get chips worth slightly less (2 or 3); and students who struggled a bit get chips worth m...Folksonomies: education gamification
Folksonomies: education gamification
1 notes
notes24 MAR 2016 by ideonexus
Benefits of Reading Aloud to Children
Every time you read aloud to students, you are modeling good reading skills. From fluency to voice inflection, it is important for students to hear good reading so that they can imitate it in their own reading. Specifically, reading aloud to students:
Provides motivation for reading and learning. By listening to a strong reader model the enjoyment of reading, students will become more motivated for their own reading and learning.
Helps build background knowledge. One of the things that stru...
1 24 MAR 2016 by ideonexus
Tips for Parents to Encourage Reading
Read to your child. Try to read to your child every day. Read from a wide variety of materials and books.
Encourage writing. Encourage your child to scribble and pretend write if they are young. Encourage older children to write stories and letters and share them with the family. Have writing materials readily available.
Have reading material at home. Have a wide variety of books, children's magazines, and newspapers available for children to read or look at.
Get your child a libr...08 NOV 2013 by ideonexus
The Mechanic's Wisdom
The Mechanic's Wisdom.
Probably the most characteristic attitude of the mechanic toward the forces and materials with which he deals is unquestioning acceptance of the fact that he cannot change or anywise modify the laws of nature or the qualities of materials.
The mechanic, like the rest of us, wants to accomplish a multitude of purposes. Having determined upon the object of his desires, be it a machine to do something, or a change in the location of physical things, he proceeds upon th... 1 notes
notesAn insightful and empirical perspective of our place in the Universe and our potential.
29 MAY 2012 by ideonexus
Nature Uses the Same Materials and Forms in Life
We know that nature invariably uses the same materials in its operations. Its ingeniousness is displayed only in the variation of form. Indeed, as if nature had voluntarily confined itself to using only a few basic units, we observe that it generally causes the same elements to reappear, in the same number, in the same circumstances, and in the same relationships to one another. If an organ happens to grow in an unusual manner, it exerts a considerable influence on adjacent parts, which as a ... 1 notes
notesA brilliant early observation, crucial to understanding evolution.
26 APR 2012 by ideonexus
"Peculiar Difficulties" of Geology
Geology has its peculiar difficulties, from which all other sciences are exempt. Questions in chemistry may be settled in the laboratory by experiment. Mathematical and philosophical questions may be discussed, while the materials for discussion are ready furnished by our own intellectual reflections. Plants, animals and minerals, may be arranged in the museum, and all questions relating to their intrinsic principles may be discussed with facility. But the relative positions, the shades of di...Folksonomies: geology
Folksonomies: geology
1 notes
notesOther sciences have clear demarcations and methods of experimentation, while Geology is more muddled. I think the author overestimates the certainty of species classification.
01 FEB 2012 by ideonexus
To Spend 20 Years on an Epic Poem
I should not think of devoting less than 20 years to an Epic Poem. Ten to collect materials and warm my mind with universal science. I would be a tolerable Mathematician, I would thoroughly know Mechanics, Hydrostatics, Optics, and Astronomy, Botany, Metallurgy, Fossilism, Chemistry, Geology, Anatomy, Medicine—then the mind of man—then the minds of men—in all Travels, Voyages and Histories. So I would spend ten years—the next five to the composition of the poem—and the five last to ...Folksonomies: research
Folksonomies: research
1 notes
notesColeridge's described process sounds like scientific research, which is equally intense and epic.
19 MAY 2011 by ideonexus
Animals Can't Be Perfect in all Characteristics
We can expect bodies to be well equipped to
survive, but this does not mean they should be perfect with respect to any one dimension. An
antelope might run faster, and be more likely to escape a leopard, if its legs were a little longer. But
a rival antelope with longer legs, although it might be better equipped to outsprint a predator, has to
pay for its long legs in some other department of the body's economy. The materials needed to
make the extra bone and muscle in the longer legs have to... 1 notes
notesEnergy and materials put into one characteristic means less for another; therefore, species must find balance.
01 JAN 2010 by ideonexus
How Medium Constraints Can Enforce Good Design
Construction of a drawing with Sketchpad is itself a model of the design process. The locations of the points and lines of the drawing model the variables of a design, and the geometric constraints applied to the points and lines of the drawing model the design constraints which limit the values of design variables. The ability of Sketchpad to satisfy the geometric constraints applied to the parts of a drawing models the ability of a good designer to satisfy all the design conditions imposed ... 1 notes
notesBecause Sketchpad forces designers to build small components first, it forces them to adhere to good design practices.
