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Posts Tagged ‘Science’

There is so much to be learned in life, sometimes I find myself overwhelmed with all that I do not know. I’ve heard it said, however, that the smartest people are the ones that know that they do not know much. I like that. I like it because I am acutely aware that there is so much that I have yet to discover and understand. I am committed, however, to the process of constantly learning more. My latest subject of fascination has been wondering and learning about earth science.

I haven’t honestly thought that much about earth science since I took a class in it in junior high school. At that time I hated everything to do with science and so I didn’t give much thought one way or another to earth science. I dreadfully made it through that class learning only the basics enough to get by (not the least of which I can remember now).

I’m not quite sure what inspired me to attempt to discover facts about earth science. I guess I began to become more interested in earth science as I had children and they grew up asking question after question. I could barely take them on walks at night without them asking me questions about the ground, the soil, the trees or the sun. I would fumble through answers and try to change the subject quickly as I admitted to myself that I really did not know much. So on my next trip to the library I picked up a few general books on earth science and began learning with my kids.

I have found that learning with my kids has become one of the best ways to grow in knowledge. I utilize their curiosity and take every chance I can at learning with them. It has been a great way for me to learn more about earth science and other things. I never knew how much motherhood would affect me, but I certainly didn’t know how much I would learn because of my children’s hunger for knowledge.

I have learned many things about earth science since our studies have begun. One of the biggest things I have learned is a deeper sense of appreciation for the world I live in. I have grown in amazement and wonder about the way the world works and about my small and insignificant place. I simply am astounded by the intricacies and details of our earth. Earth science has made me even more curious about the world around me.

Who ever said that you couldn’t combine business with pleasure was a total idiot. Why is that so? It is so because being serious, at the same time having fun, is possible. Science is always thought to be a highly serious subject, but still, your children can enjoy while exploring those scientific discoveries and innovations.

Children nowadays seem to have a dam around them when it comes to telling them to do their homework or to study. Oftentimes you just can’t persuade them to concentrate on their studies because they are just too busy playing with their toys. To save you from further frustration, educational science toys were invented. This way, your children not only learn from the things that are taught, but they also do so with big smiles on their faces due to utter enjoyment and pleasure.

Crime Lab Investigation is an example of an educational science toy for it lets your child enjoy the job of a crime investigator. The mental capacity of your child will be enhanced, for this toy lets your kid examine evidence by using forensic science to be able to solve certain cases.

Another educational science toy is the Weather Center Science Fair Project. With this educational science toy, your child can get to learn all about the various kinds of weather conditions, with regards to temperature, wind speed, wind direction, total rainfall, and many more. This complete weather tower storage system is self-contained so that you can mount it outdoors on any sort of pedestal. Your kid will definitely have fun while exploring the science of weather.

Let’s Get Gross is another toy, which is, mind you, the grossest set of them all. This educational toy set gives enough of the ingredients or materials needed in creating lots of odorous and really disgusting body parts. You can get to make slimy brains, fake eyeballs, rotten egg smells, fake snot, and fake cuts and wounds. All these parts have been molded in various body part shapes to make your children realize that the body is not all good, and that it can get really ugly and smelly if not taken cared of.

Our Amazing Avalanches and Mudslides helps your children learn more about avalanches and mudslides while they create their own. This educational science toy can be deemed as very advantageous in learning most especially to those who live in areas where such happen most often. With this set, you and your kid can paint and display the base of your mountain, create snow, watch those trees topple down, and also learn about the different factors that cause an avalanche or a mudslide.

Our Amazing Earthquakes brings you and your kid the science and art of simulating your self-made earthquakes. This set is inclusive of quite a number of different related activities and facts about this extremely powerful and earth-moving phenomenon.

Another educational science toy, and also the most used and most popular, is the Our Amazing Volcanoes Science Fair Project. This set will give your child a chance to safely explore the most destructive force of nature on Earth. You are allowed endless experiments and variations due to the number of seven volcanoes that are available, together with the dual-chamber volcano bottle. You can make the lava of your artificial volcano thicker or foamier, and also change the level of eruption from a puny trickle down the sides to a whopping six-foot roaring fountain.

You can also explore the science and art of building bridges with Our Amazing Bridges Science Fair Project. You can create different sorts of bridges from ones that just cross narrow ravines and rivers using logs or just rocks, to the extremely huge mile-long suspension bridges of today’s time. You start, first, with spanning a realistic landscape of a river using a modern truss bridge out of steel by just using a few bits of gussets and plastic I-beams. After that, you can start making a graceful and lean yard-long suspesion bridge from materials that weigh as light as a feather.

As a project lead for a software development company my primary role is to facilitate the implementation of our software products with new customers in a healthcare niche market. Implementation projects are complex and often filled with unspoken expectations, assumptions and demands from customers who do not understand (or accept) the process used by our organization.

Experienced project managers are probably either smiling as they read this, or wondering “what’s the big deal?” The big deal is this – unless I can, as a project manager, find the “key” to the customers and people that work on this team, projects I am responsible for will undoubtedly falter and could even fail.

Even as I write this article, I am faced with a new challenge with a particular customer that has me, admittedly, a bit stumped. This particular customer has not responded to all the “usual” tactics, approaches, instructions, or even accepted our help and assistance to collaboratively manage the implementation project. In fact, for the most part, I believe that this customer truly believes that because they have purchased our product that they literally, and wholly, own those of us assigned to the tasks. Sound familiar? I have spent a good deal of time thinking about this project and trying to identify methods and tools to use to bridge the gap with this customer. It is this quest that prompted me to return to some of my reference materials and books where I found something that I wanted to share with you. I hope you find this information as valuable as I.

One of my favorite books, and role models, is Eleanor Roosevelt. Her book, You Learn by Living, is literally packed with words of wisdom, common sense, and caring for the people in her family and public spotlight. In her day, Mrs. Roosevelt was an incredibly dynamic woman who had a profound impact on many people. She wrote about how to get the best out of people. I find these words very applicable for project managers and teams.

“If such a search is to be successful, however, you will need two qualities which you can develop by practice. One is the ability to be a good listener. The other is the imaginative ability to put yourself in the other person’s place; to try to discover what he (she) is thinking and feeling; to understand as far as you can the background from which he came, the soil out of which his roots have grown, the customs and beliefs and ideas which have shaped his (or her) thinking.” (page 136)

This very simple paragraph made me sit back and take notice! Have I been a good listener to my customer and their needs? Did I truly hear them, or did I passively listen? And, have I done everything I can to put myself into their situation and try to learn and understand what their basic needs and expectations are? Do I really understand how their operations and goals have affected this project? Am I supporting the customer in their need to transition to a new system and to effect positive change and improvements to their business?

After spending some time in introspective review I find that I have probably not been as diligent as I should have been with this customer. The good news is that all is not lost and I can immediately apply these principles (and questions) to my communication and work with the customer. Realistically it is going to be harder and more complicated to “fix” any damage that has been done because of my lapse in active listening. Is it worth it to try now, when the project is almost done? Absolutely!