Did you know that ?

Bet you didn’t know !!!

DR SEUSS started on a bet

from newsletter@indiaretailnews.com

The Weird Strategy Dr. Seuss Used to Create His Greatest Work

In 1960, two men made a bet.There was only $50 on the line, but millions of people would feel the impact of this little wager.

The first man, Bennett Cerf, was the founder of the publishing firm, Random House. The second man was named Theo Geisel, but you probably know him as Dr. Seuss. Cerf proposed the bet and challenged that Dr. Seuss would not be able to write an entertaining children’s book using only 50 different words.

Dr. Seuss took the bet and won. The result was a little book called Green Eggs and Ham. Since publication, Green Eggs and Ham has sold more than 200 million copies, making it the most popular of Seuss’s works and one of the best-selling children’s books in history.

Rethinking history teaching

Have you heard of Big History? It’s a rethink of how we look at history, merging domain knowledge across disciplines to inform.
According to this website, in Big History there are 8 threshold moments:
  • The Big Bang:  a massive explosion of energy in which the solar system was formed, where from nothing everything was created
  • The Stars Light Up:  after the Big Bang,  galaxies and nebulae started to form. After that, the introduction of stars.
  • New Chemical Elements:  the first stars that happened were produced by many elements that come from the periodic table
  • Earth and the Solar System:  the emergence of our solar system, this will explain to us how our solar system is the way it is today. (includes: gravity, meteors, planets, moons, etc.)
  • Life: single celled organisms that can reproduce, metabolize and adapt (there will be 6 “mini-thresholds” included)
  • Collective Learning: mainly focuses on us and how humans were introduced to Earth
  • Agriculture: Farming, including the soil for the growing of crops and the raising  of animals to provide food, wool, and other products.
  • Modern Revolution: The modern revolution is the increase in global exchange and commerce.

If you’re a bit shaky on your history knowledge, here’s a website to help reignite your interest and learning.

Thanks to Graham Silverthorne for introducing us to this.

Where do pine nuts come from?

As I was waxing lyrical about the wonderfulness that is a pine nut, it occurred to me … how are they harvested.
Did you know there are many different types of trees that grow pine nuts?

Go here to find out more – and you’ll never again complain about the cost of a packet of pine nuts!

And remember – building and feeding curiosity can start with the stomach!

NASA serious about experiential professional learning

Did you know that NASA is looking for volunteers right now who will be paid to live in a spacecraft for eight months.

Go here to find out more – but alas, it is only open to you if you’re a US citizen, speak Russian or hold a PhD … all in preparation for the next trip to Mars

Just 3 words

Did you know some clever entrepreneurs in the UK have designed a programme that assigns each 3m square in the world a unique 3 word address that will never change. So by saying your unique 3 word combination, you can be located easily (think lost whilst bushwalking).

Go on – find out the the 3 words to describe your location

Slurs.Gone.Crest

 

 

 

 

 

Alan Stein Jr., Performance Coach and author of Raise Your Game

Inspiration comes in many forms – if you had a learning experience over the break, let us know. I recently listened to a podcast with performance coach Alan Stein Jnr, author of Raise Your Game. Incorporating lessons from basketball, he reminds us that focusing on improving one aspect of our ‘game’ takes approximately 66 days to become part of our game skillset.

Even if he’s wrong, sustained intentional practice and reflection can never be a bad thing.