Science Guys

The past three weeks have been all about investigation, discovery and analysis. No, we're not ridding our home of pests (although that process would surely fall under scientific study). Rather, we've been hard at work putting together our first Science Fair project - How Does Mass Affect Distance of a Catapulted Object? Honestly, second-grade science has taught me a thing or two: mass in grams is not the same as weight in pounds (and it's extremely hard to find a proper scale to weigh something less than 1 gram); no matter what the object is being catapulted, you need a very long, flat surface to calculate your results or the object will vanish into cracks and crevasses we'd rather not retrieve from; and as much as we would have liked to use those big 3 and 4 inch foil balls, they don't fit into a film canister lid glued to a jumbo stick at a 20° angle. All and all, a fun process for my son and myself. He worked really hard and stuck it out until the very end (staying up late was probably his favorite part). And now that he's brought home a blue ribbon, we couldn't be prouder. Onward to districts and hopefully metro (did I just say that?) UPDATE 3.12.09: District Blue Ribbon Winner!

Ten Things

I'm preparing yet another presentation for the AIGA Student Conference here next week. Ten Things I've Learned From My Second-Grader compares the trials and tribulations of growing up in a creative household to those of eager students waiting to embark on a very important life journey. This snippet is a work-in-progress of the opening title sequence and intro segment for lesson no.10 - collaboration - and the need to surround yourself with positive influencers, thought leaders and those you'd like to learn from. Now on to the other nine.

Mr. President

My son, Clark, who'll be 6 in April, wrote a letter to President Obama. "He's running for the White House, dad, and won." Very observant young democrat.