Day 7

[contributed by Elena, with some added quotations by Prof MAP]

Today was yet another great day at the magic school. We made a lot of decisions and got a good look at all the great ideas everyone came up with in the past week or so.

This morning we started our day in the computer room. We all listened to Josh's gospel CD that contained the ever famous "Joshua fought the battle of Jericho" song.

After we left the computer lab, we returned to the home room to have another acting class. During this particular class, we were broken up into two groups, the listeners/actors, and the story tellers. The story tellers had to tell the actors a story about something they did this summer, while the listeners observed their body action and the way they talked, then went to the front of the room and tried to tell the story the exact way it was told to them.

Then we worked on character development where each person thought of a character and then got in front of the class and acted as if they were that character and introduced themselves. Everyone enjoyed Crissy's "random bursts of energy", Gabe's story about "burning monkeys", Josh's deep dark voice, Tom's crazy crossed-eyed face, Christina's love of the moonlight, Andrew's silly falling and tripping, Jasmine's shiny gold dress, Pete's outrageous costume, Ben's hearing disorder, and Mike's "shadowy" personality (editor’s note: Elena left herself out here – is this fair?).

After that we made a decision about the sorting ceremony. We decided to use the invisible ink to reveal a symbol, and that will tell the child what house he or she is in.

We then went over to Tolentine, split up into groups and discussed how we were going to incorporate what we learned into the classes. Then we all went to a presentation room and presented the class with what our group thought up. Everyone had great ideas!

Finally it was time for lunch! Tacos again and chicken marsala (: mmm mmm good. We talked about different ways to go about eh sorting ceremony. It was entertaining to watch Gabe pile a huge mound of food onto his plate, and then realizing he only had four minutes to eat it all!

After lunch we took a trip to the library and went into a room where the students aren't allowed to go. It was a giant room with all kinds of old books and journals. Some people took an extremely old elevator down to the lower level, but some of us, like myself decided to take the good old stairs instead of trusting the rickety elevator.

When we got back from the library some of us went to the chem. lab and others decided to visit the physics room to test out all our ideas. In the chem lab everyone was having a good time making goo, popping bubbles filled with steam, changing the color of a penny, and looking at the colors of the universal indicator, it was great!
And then we came to the end of the day, now we are all in the computer lab reflecting on the events of today!

Some people did not like the way we voted for the ideas to include in our magic lessons. Here are some comments from the message board:

“I'm don't like the voting system. i think we should first decide what the classes will be, then fit the ideas to the classes.”

“FIGHT THE POWER!!!!”

The “POWER” are taking these comments into consideration. On the other hand, some felt that:

“:D:):D d@y'$ cl@$$ w@$ @w3$om3 I :) wh3n w3 g3t to g3t up @n do thing$. I did :) th3 lib. but not @$ much I :) th3 cl@$$ @ndr3w @nd Kim $how3d u$. :):D:)”

… so, go figure! A few more comments from today:

“Today i had soo much fun thinking of ideas for our lessons. I believe that everyone did a great job and put in input!!”

“…we went to the library and saw some books that dated back to 800 AD!!!!!!!”

“Today we made lots of decisions about what will be in the magic school. It looks like everything is going to come out pretty well...”

“Today was fun and everyone is hard at work. I think this will go great. Every body will have a great old time with this. I hope I get the Magic Muggle class because I think that I will do a great job.”

”Today was great. We had theatre. chem, physics, and we have been brainstorming a lot today. It's a pretty good time. I hope I can come back next year.”

Day 6

[Written by Chrissy, Gabe, and quotes from the rest of the gang.]

This morning we had a theatre lesson from counselors Kim and Andrew YAY! We started out with a game where someone in the center of the circle had to make some crazy noise and do some crazy action while moving to someone, then the person the moved towards had to repeat the sound/action back to the center and make up their own, etc. It was really fun. Next, we worked on more improv and developing character traits and crutches. Crutches are unique things that characters do.

In the afternoon we took a trip to the Academy of Natural Sciences.
The academy of natural sciences was great !! :] ... first, we got to go "behind the scenes" of the live animal exhibit. We got to see ducks, crowns, OWLS, prairie dogs, umm...a big cute cat. Also, a reeeeeeeally cute thingyatoo! awww i wanted one, and turtles. Anyway, then we went to the dinosaur exibit. that was fun because we got to learn about different bones. after that was this cool room, but im not sure what it was called. there were giant rochhes there !!! gross. the academy was fun :]

Here is what some other people had to say:

“It was pretty cool ,we looked at different things like live animals ....I think that animals are the cutest behind glass but up close they didn't smell very nice. All the dinosaur fossils were cool and really mysterious.”

“… we learned about real animals such as owls, crows, falcons, parrots, turtles, iguanas, snakes, and other mammals. we also learned about dinosaurs, and their close relation to birds of the present”

“The coolest animal there was the Kinkaju. He is related to a racoon but looks a lot like a monkey.”

p.s. it was also hilarious when everybody was singing on the bus. AND when elena and i were makin a nickname and a theme song for everyone. also, josh's song is now my ringtone :] ... anyway that was hilarious.

Day 5

(this post was written by Gabe, based on the group's reflections from the message board)

Day 5 marks the one-third point in the Science & Theatre Magic Program. I think everyone agrees with me that it is passing by far too quickly.

We began day 5 with a math lesson from Professor Bob Styer. We learned about Euler (pronounced "oiler") paths and circuits, and put on a short skit to help explain. Euler paths and circuits apply to any number of vertices connected with any number of lines. If you can trace over every line without retracing or changing vertices, it has an Euler path. If you can do that and end at the same vertex you started with, it is an Euler circuit. We learned that if a figure has no vertices with an odd degree (number of lines radiating from it), it has at leat one Euler circuit. If it has two vertices with an odd degree, it has no Euler circuit but at leat one Euler path. If it has one or more than two vertices with odd an odd degree, it has no Euler paths or Euler circuits. We also learned a trick where you ask someone to think of a number between 2 and 9, then add it to itself, then add that number to itself, then add that number to itself, then add the two digits of the final number together, then "magically" know their original number. It is based on a 9-hour clock system.

Here's what some scholars had to say about our morning math class:

"Math was slighty confusing, but I still enjoyed it."

"Math was confusing, but if you look at the problem the right way, you could understand it. Dr. Styer did a great job describing it, and i really liked the math problem we did by using the Mod 9 system."

Next, we were on to our fourth theatre class, but on the way we stopped to have a look at the Connelly Center. The center had tons of stuff, including a giant koi pond, indoor computer trees, and of course, pool tables. Then at theatre, we continued our improv from the last class. Everyone did a great job! Then we all gathered in a circle for the grand finale. Two people stood in the center of the circle and acted. Then when Father David said "freeze," one person had to be replaced and the two people continued based on the posture they were in when Father David froze them. Everyone had a great time with it.

Here's what people said about the Connelly Center and Theatre class:

"The Connelly Center was very cool, I think that it would be a cool place to hang out... I think it would be cooler were there some performers."

"It was so funny, I love theater cause thats where people get to act as silly as they want."

"IT WAS AWESOME!!!"

"IMPROV!! I love improv."

After theatre, our group headed to lunch. Sweet, sweet lunch. Enough said.

Following lunch, we split up into two groups. one went inside to use computers, while the other stayed and hung out and played frisbee by the willow tree. This is when some of us got nicknames, and I got my awesome theme song:

To the tune of "Switch" by Will Smith

GAAAAAaaaaAaaaABE!!
Turn it over and... GABE
Turn around now... GABE
Turn it over and ...
Ohh la la laaaaaa!

This apparently made Josh want to smite me, even though he should be fighting the battle of Jericho. Meanwhile, others were playing games, listening to music, and watching movies on computers.

Here's what people said:

"yeah, right. you mean, every one complained about the heat, and were to too lazy to move, pretty much. only andrew(conselor), adam, and i were the only ones actually moving and doing stuff. we didn't even touch the soccer ball!!! do you know how many strange looks i got on the train this morning, carrying that thing? do you? DO YOU!? (several angry faces)"

"You know what, I think we had more fun with theme songs and whatnot than we would have had playing frisbee in the sun, and that's what it's really all about."

"it's not about the fun, man, its about the exercise. does anyone wonder how the u.s. lost in the first round of the world cup? maybe it was because the entire team spend practice sessions under a giant tree making up theme songs for themselves. i bet that was it. yep. no one moving their lazy butts and getting in gear. NOBODY!!! YOU HEAR ME?!? ALL YOU PEOPLE, SITTING ON YOUR FANCY TREE BRANCHES SINGING, WHILE SOME OF US OR RUNNING AND GETTING OUR EXERCISE! IT MAKESME SO MAD!!! AHHHHHHHHHH!!! (longer succession of angry faces, this time moving to the left)"

"Calm down. I respect your perspective, but you should take a look at this analogy: Camp : Fun :: Home : Any other crazy things."

As you can see, we had somewhat of an argument going on!

"I really like playing frisbee, mostly because I am pretty good. I also really like going to the willow tree because when it is really hot and sunny like it was today, the willow provides excellent shade and coolness! Counselor Andrew is ok at frisbee but I am sooooo much better. No offense Andrew!"

Next we were off to math again... AND BUBBLES! First, Melissa de-confusitated everyone on the subject of Euler paths and whatnot. Next, Professor Styer taught us about surface tension... WITH BUBBLES! We found that the bubble juice will always suck in to minimize its area, and that because of surface area, bubbles will alway be spherical. And then came the fun part. people would stand in the middle of a bubble juice-filled kiddie pool and had a bubble cylinder hula hooped over them. It was tons of fun!
We also dicover that blowing out while in the center of the bubble cylinder created giant bubbles and a big ol' bubble arm reaching out out.

What does the general public think of this?

"it was really cool."

"It was cool when someone exhaled when inside the giant bubble, because then you could form extra smaller bubbles."

"yes today's bubble experiment was really really cool. also, we realized that slowly the giant bubble would move toward the person and as soon as the bubble touched something it popped"

"that part was creepy. it felt like it was a solid wall moving in to crush you, and worse, get soap in your eyes"

"the bubbles are the best!!!!"

The general concensus: cool bubbles.

And so ended, after more computer time for reflection, day 5. I'm sure everyone is excited for next week and our museum trip!!

Day 3

Today we began the day with another rousing game of Zing, Pow, Boing. From there we headed back to the Physics laboratory from yesterday to revisit some of the experiments done yesterday and talk about how they could be used in the performance for the younger children. While discussing the ideas the scholars discovered the door to the darkroom; which is a tall revolving cylinder so that no light ever enters the room. It became very amusing to see anyone enter the circle, have the circular wall spin around them, and have no one or someone else there when the opening appeared again. From there everyone went back to the Chemistry lab for the same thing, revisiting the experiments and some discussion. After that it was time for theatre so we all headed to meet with Father David. As always he provided everyone with entertaining games that allowed everyone to use their imagination. One of these games was a name game where everyone got into a circle had to say their name along with a short action, the person next to them then had to do their own action and the action of everyone before them. Afterward some of the scholars were given a scenario and personality they had to act out which everyone did very well. From there it was on to lunch and then to a short Service Learning presentation. We discussed how important it was to make a big impact on the children that were going to be coming, because it could be something that we do that makes their life change and lead them to think of becoming scientists in the future. Everyone was also given a worksheet and divided into groups to discuss a community problem and some invention that could solve it. In the afternoon, we split into two groups and some went to Physics and some Chemistry to continue the things they were working on in the morning. For the last portion of the day everyone was brought to the computer lab and Adam did a presentation on how to make a web page using HTML. Many of the scholars had already had some experience with web pages and everyone jumped right in and started making very impressive pages.

Here are some of the things they said about Day 3:

“We're having a great time!”

“Today we mess around with all this cool stuff. It was so much fun.”

“Today in chemistry I learned that if you put dry ice in hot water, that it makes a lot more smoke than it would in normal water.”

“I thought it was great that we made our own web pages. I didn't know what HTML was until today.”

“I cannot wait for Friday when we get to go back to the physics lab!”

“I really enjoyed service learning today. Our guest speaker was really nice and she got us thinking about how one person can change the world.”

“I wish this camp could last forever!”

“Chem. was SOOO much fun because I got to make my own jewelry!”

Day 2

For the second day of the program we started off by going outside and playing a game in the beautiful weather. Kim got everyone to form a circle including all the counselors and staff and then began to explain an elimination game called Zing, Pop, Boing in which the players pass an invisible ball of energy to people in the ring using different motions, if anyone messes up any of the motions they are out. The game was very intense but extremely fun and entertaining as even the adults got into it. From there we went to Physics where the scholars were taught about the size and distance comparing things incredibly small like particles to galaxies as well as shockwaves. After that it was off to Theatre again with Father David who once again had fun and interesting imaginative games for everyone to do including using props to make a story. When our time there was done we all headed off to lunch and then back to the Physics laboratory for some experiments with the things we had heard about before. These included looking at the waves from shaking a slinky, to observing a taunt vibrating string under a strobe light. In the last session we began discussing ideas for the presentation to the younger children coming in two weeks. Everyone had tons of great ideas and a lot new things began to be tossed around. During the last half hour everyone was allowed to log onto the message board and post their comments about the day.

Here are some of things they said about today:

“I really liked working with the slinky because it gave me a better understanding of how there are shockwaves all around us and they work in a much simpler way than I would have thought!”

“Acting was really good, and that continuing-the-story game was a good exercise. Lunch was, of course, the best.”

“I really like how this program is set and how it goes.”

“We have made a lot of progress working together.”

Day 1

We couldn’t have hoped for a nicer day for the start of our program. After an introductory session, which began outdoors as everyone was arriving, there was Theatre, Chemistry, lunch at the cafeteria (aka, the Pit), a magical illusion show with “Magic Tom”, then back to the Chem lab. In the last session we went to the computer lab to explore the computing environment, get login information and register for the message board http://novamagicschool.proboards39.com/.
Each student posted a message under the “integration and reflection” category. There's been some serious activity and this has continued posting beyond our 3-4pm session. It looks like the enthusiasm that we saw last year is going to carry over into this year!

We have an amazing group of scholars enrolled in our program and a great team of counselors: Kim, Melissa, Andrew, and Adam (part-time). Adam is also doing web support. People who observed for a short while thought that the scholars already knew each other – even though most of them had just met!

Here are some reflections from Day 1:
“I would say that the group is off to a good start in terms of making new friends, especially for the first day!”

“This is so cool!”

“This is really, really fun. Chem was the coolest, because where else can you make a penny look silver or gold, create Goo, make metals and
liquids turn different colors with just a shake, or play with dry ice?
Anyway, I can't wait to get started on some of the other stuff.

“My brain is overflowing with ideas. I'm glad i'm working with such a talented group of people, and all are very fun to be with.” :)

“Magic Tom was Crazy Good!!!!!!!”

“I think the theatre part will be fun because I like acting”

“Lunch was sooooooooo much better than at my school”

“Today at Chemistry I learned a very cool trick. The trick is to make a penny look like it is made out of gold. What you have to do is put a penny in a zinc solution and let the zinc coat the penny. After that, you light a burner and pick up the penny with prongs and put the penny back and forth through the fire to fuse the zinc and copper to make it into brass which makes the penny look like a gold coin. I can't wait to show my friends and family.”

“I can see why people long ago would try to trick people into believing a copper coin was really gold. I would never know.”

“Our lessons aren't our only weapons. Not only are we armed with creativity, but this group has a whole platoon of different talents.
Right now each of us has a surface-to-air missile of personal strengths just waiting to be launched into the program!
[ ...] So if you didn't understand my military metaphor, what I'm trying to say is that we all have our individual talents-- art, theatre, music, whatever-- that we bring to the table, and we should work those into the program as well as our lessons.”

2006 Science & Theatre Magic Program Wecome

The 2006 Science & Theatre Magic Program is about to begin.

Last year's program was a big success. See this link for some pictures and description of the 2005 program. The magic school also got some publicity. Here is a link to an article in the Suburban and Wayne Times (archived here) and the issue of the Villanova Blueprints that has a full page article about our program on page 24. Our program was featured in the Regional Showcase of exemplary projects at the 17th National Service Learning Conference

We are excited about what lies ahead in the next three weeks. We will be using this blog for a daily reflection on our experiences.

Whether you are one of the new or returning scholars in our program, an old friend, or a visitor, you can check here for news and anecdotes about the Science & Theatre Magic Program.

What's new this year:

• The Science & Theatre Magic Program has been extended to 3 weeks
• We have an even more diverse group of scholars, including 3 returning scholars
  
• This year's scholars come from 12 different city and suburban schools in the Philadelphia region
• We have a message board where we will do our more informal chatting; we will post a summary of the group discussions on this blog

Welcome (or welcome back). Let the magic begin!!!