Ecuador

We took a trip to Ecuador in March. I finally had a chance to sort through all the photos and upload them to my photo gallery. There are a ton of pictures so I made an Ecuador Highlights Folder for those with limited time. I also have some travel notes here.

One highlight of the trip was visiting the equator at noon on the Vernal Equinox, March 21. There were no shadows and eggs stood on their ends. Many have told me that the egg part is a myth, but I saw it with my own eyes.  Were the eggs standing because it was on the equator or because it was the Equinox?

We of course had to take the obligatory kissing across the equator pic.

Design Squad

PBSKids has a new reality show called Design Squad that is set in the Boston area. Its goal is to get viewers excited about engineering. Eight high school contestants tackle engineering challenges for actual clients — and the person with the most points gets a $10,000 college scholarship from the Intel Foundation.

I caught part of an episode where they had to construct a bike for SCUL (Subversive Choppers Urban Legion) using 3 bikes obtained from an organization called Bikes Not Bombs. I have been meaning to donate my old mountain bike to that organization for a while. It is a non-profit working for alternative transportation, community development, environmental education, meaningful employment, and safe sustainable communities in Roxbury, MA and abroad. I also noticed that in addition to bicycles they are accepting donations of the plastic containers with lids that Kitty Litter comes in for shipping parts and storage.

The Great Turtle Race

The Great Turtle Race is a fun site that shows the progress of some tagged Leatherback Sea Turtles travelling from Costa Rica to the Galapagos Islands.  Right now they are 7 days into their 14 day journey.  After the race ends on April 30 you can follow the turtles at TOPP (tagging of Pacific Predators).

Earth Day

I’m thinking of heading over to Home Depot today to get some free CFL light bulbs.  In honor of Earth Day they are giving a million away, which will result in over 12 million dollars of energy savings for the country.  I was happy to see that they have a special Eco Options section of the Home Depot website now.

Infinite Heat

Here is a sketch that I did of our Frigidaire Flair for my new CafePress Store.  I plan to add some EasterKiwi items soon.

Frigidaire Flair Auction

In her Holy Flaire, Batman! post, Annie’s Vox reports that a brand new Frigidaire Flair went for $4,300 on ebay. Whoah! It was brand new and in the box for 40 something years. She also reports on her adventures using her own Frigidaire Flair in this post.

Girls and Computers

The School Computing Wiki now has a strand about Girls and Computers. Apparently girls are five times less likely than boys to consider a technology related career path. There are many links and articles about getting girls more interested in technology.

Easter Kiwis 2007!

Charles Darwin Kiwi

Originally uploaded by jjzach.

It was the biggest day of the year for my family yesterday. Not only did Easter and Greek Easter fall on the same day, but it was time to whip out the craft supplies to decorate some kiwis. Check out our kiwis of the year. There were also some Kiwis of the North proving that this trend is sweeping the nation.

Edutechie

I added a new work related category called edutechie. Originally I tried to keep a separate blog for technology/education items, but I didn’t have the time to keep up two blogs.

Pictured above is a kid using a SMARTBoard. We have many of these interactive whiteboards at school. Internet4Classrooms has a list of good SmartBoard resources.

Stitch N’ Pitch

I entered the Craft Magazine Stitch N’ Pitch Contest today. I entered the Mets Apron that I made a while back. The deadline isn’t until the end of May so I might just have to whip up a Red Sox item too.