Jessica won the first checkpoint.

The country you are going to now is written about in the Old Testament. http://www.sis.gov.eg/Ar/Default.htm If you go to this website what country are you now in?

“The history of this country is a fundamental part of the history of human civilization.” Where can you find this quote on the website?
Name the Prime Minister (not the president).
The Pharaonic Era is divided into three divisions. What are they called? Who conquered Egypt in 323 BC?
“Land And People” The Suez Canal-How long is the Suez Canal? True or false the Suez Canal is the longest canal in the world with no locks? How deep is the canal?

You are now in Cairo find photos of Egyptian landmarks – the Sphinx, a pyramid, hieroglyphics. What will you eat while you are here? Mark Egypt on your map and trace your journey like Joseph going from Canaan to Egypt.

Here is your next checkpoint. Make sure you’ve got everything you need to proceed with the race. Wait here until you receive your next instructions.

interactive learning, fun geography, Egypt

I’ve developed this race for the kids. I act as the race judge. This is the first email I sent to them:

This is the beginning of The Amazing Race. There are no teams in this race, you are on your own. Instructions and clues will be emailed to you throughout the race so you will need to check your emails regularly. At a checkpoint you will have to provide proof of completing each race stage through your diary, map, photos, emails, printouts and answering questions.

Keep a diary of where you have been throughout the race, keep note of the websites you visit and print out or photocopy a map of the world. Mark the places you visit and the route you took to get there.
You start the race with $20,000. You must fly to your first stop, Israel. Try and get the cheapest possible flight you can to save your money for later in the race. Any cheating will result in penalties being given or disqualification. Penalties can be starting a stage of the race again or waiting for 2 hours at a checkpoint.

Checkpoints are places where your stage results will be checked. If you haven’t completed a stage correctly you won’t be able to pass that checkpoint. Prizes are also given at checkpoints.

Enjoy the Amazing Race and don’t be left behind!

The race began on Monday 14 August. We are all enjoying doing it! I’m learning lots because I’m doing the research on a country sending it out to the kids and then checking their answers when they send them back to me.

amazing race, amazing race, interactive learning

Anyone remember lemon juice invisible ink? What started it was Jessica got an invisible ink pen in a cereal packet and started writing secret messages on everything. Then I remembered the old lemon juice trick which we used to do when I was a kid. I looked up some websites on lemon juice invisible ink and secret codes.

We tried writing with lemon juice, apple juice and vinegar. The lemon juice turned out to be the best because it browned quicly when held near a candle. My apple juice message caught on fire because I held it too close to the candle for too long waiting for it to brown. 🙂

We also looked at different types of codes – written and spoken codes, alphabetical and symbols. It was a lot of fun and good learning too. As well as talking about secret messages we went on to computer encryption.

invisible ink, encryption, secret codes

Since The West Wing stopped being shown in Australia I haven’t kept up with it. I’ve just started watching it again now that the ABC are showing new episodes. I went looking at some websites. First I found out that the character Leo McGarry, is running for vice president has a heart attack and dies. Then I find out that the actor, John Spencer, who plays Leo has died in December last year. Sad, very sad.

John was a great actor, not just in The West Wing. I also liked him in LA Law. Wikipedia has a page about him. He died in hospital in Los Angeles. Stockard Channing was with him when he died.

I didn’t want to find out what’s coming up in later episodes. And I especially didn’t want to know that John had died.

John Spencer, The West Wing, tv show spoilers

“My mother first diagnosed me with NADD. It was the late 80s and she was bringing me dinner in my bedroom (nerd). I was merrily typing away to friends in some primitive chat room on my IBM XT (super nerd), listening to some music (probably Flock of Seagulls — nerd++), and watching Back to the Future with the sound off (neeeeerrrrrrrd). She commented, “How can you focus on anything with all this stuff going on?” I responded, “Mom, I can’t focus without all this noise.””

I laughed when I read this blog post. I don’t know that I have N.A.D.D. but I think I’m not far off, maybe later developing than others’.

“Stop reading right now and take a look at your desktop. How many things are you doing right now in addition to reading this column? Me, I’ve got a terminal session open to a chat room, I’m listening to music, I’ve got Safari open with three tabs open where I’m watching Blogshares, tinkering with a web site, and looking at weekend movie returns. Not done yet. I’ve got iChat open, ESPN.COM is downloading sports new trailers in the background, and I’ve got two notepads open where I’m capturing random thoughts for later integration into various to do lists. Oh yeah, I’m writing this column, as well.”

I looked at my desktop and I was reading this blog message, posting to my own blog, reading email, using Liferea for reading other blogs, looking at Technorati, researching stuff via Google and (not on the computer) watching/listening to TV.

What things are you doing? Do you think you might suffer with N.A.D.D.? 🙂

The rest of the blog is here:
www.randsinrepose.com

attention deficit, computer use, nerds

Linux may be struggling to gain a foothold in the primary and secondary education market but one Sydney school is setting itself higher grades – all without Microsoft.

At the Lorien Novalis School in the suburb of Glenhaven, 350 students from kindergarten through to year 12 and 38 staff have been learning with the penguin for the past four years.
Read the rest of the story here:
www.computerworld.com.au

linux, school, teaching linux