georgia senior launches m.i.t. acceptance letter into space

[Originally posted 2.7.12]


Erin King recently received her admission letter from MIT. Then she sent it into space.

The story (originally posted on BoingBoing) is below the video.




"My name is Chris Peterson. I run web communications for MIT Admissions and have been a loyal BB reader for years. For the last several years we have been sending our admitted students their acceptance letters in cardboard tubes. First because we sent a poster, but now it's its own thing. 2012 is the anniversary of an old MIT balloon hack, so we put a letter in all of the Early Action admit tubes telling them we wanted them to hack the tubes somehow, and set up http://hackthetubes.mitadmissions.org to collect responses. Lots of them are great, but this one, from Erin King (MIT '16) in Georgia, is the best."

february 13

JOURNAL TOPIC: ["Join Together" by The Who; "Come Together" by The Beatles; "With a Little Help From My Friends" by The Beatles]

Today the focus is on collaboration.  As you think about the direction your masterpiece is headed, what additional skills/talents/resources would help you?  What skills/talents/resources do you have that might help someone else?

AGENDA:
1. Journal
2. Interdependence
3. MGOTM: help & get help; resources/vocab

HW:
1. Post WITH A LITTLE HELP FROM MY FRIENDS
2. Resource/vocab
3. Reminder: Literature Analysis #2 due 2.28

12 year-old launches hello kitty into space

Cory Doctorow posted this story over at boingboing:

february 12

JOURNAL TOPIC: [today's tunes: "(What A) Wonderful World" by Sam Cooke; "The Seeker" by The Who; "Redemption Song" by Bob Marley & The Wailers]

Think of any object or event in your life.  Now imagine all the academic subjects that might have something to say about it.  Driving a car becomes a study in physics, computer programming, psychology, energy... Falling in love becomes a meditation on poetry/song, (more) psychology, probability, biology... Describe something in your life that can be enriched by a deeper awareness of the leading edges of human understanding. 

AGENDA:
1. Journal
2. Interdisciplinarity (continued)
3. MGOTM

HW:
1. Revisit your WELCOME TO THE INTERDISCIPLINARITY post
2. Resource + vocab (Note: this is a short week, so plan ahead and make sure you have 20 vocab words to post/define/use by COB Friday)

february 11

JOURNAL TOPIC: [today's tunes: "There Was an Old Lady" Nursery Rhyme by British Council

There was an old lady/who swallowed a fly/I don't know why/she swallowed a fly/I guess she'll die.  How does this qualify as a nursery rhyme worth passing down from generation to generation?  Seriously?  I've been wondering about this my whole life.

AGENDA:
1. Journal
2. Launch party/blog audit
3. Vocabulary quizzes
4. Singularity v. Interdisciplinarity

HW:
1. Find a resource (and five vocab words)
2. If you know someone who hasn't launched please help him/her off the ground
3. Brainstorm the disciplines included in your chosen field/s and post to your blog (title: WELCOME TO THE INTERDISCIPLINARITY)

strategy guide for life

Check out Oliver Emberton's strategy guide for life.

please watch this

A former student of mine just sent this to me. Watching it was eerily familiar & super inspiring, and I'm going to see if Chase has a few moments to talk with us. In the meantime, in the best traditions of critical thinking/"don't take my word for it"/"If you meet the Buddha in the road..." etc., please have a look this weekend. If your time is limited don't miss 17:00-24:00.


Chase Jarvis from Chris Guillebeau on Vimeo.