Happy 25th Birthday! Things Turning 25 Along with High Touch High Tech

Happy 25th Birthday!

Things Turning 25 Along with High Touch High Tech

1994 was an amazing year in world news, technological and scientific advancements. High Touch High Tech began franchising, Nelson Mandela won the presidency of South Africa, and Amazon and Yahoo were both created, and floppy disks were a thing of everyday life! Take the nostalgic trip down memory lane with us as we reminisce 1994.

Amazon and Yahoo

In 1994, the world wide web has just been created. Yahoo and Amazon were both created and grew to the internet giants they are today. Imagine the days before being able to chat with strangers thousands of miles away at any given time! Imagine being unable to order your entire grocery list from your couch through Amazon prime! These websites revolutionized our relationship with the internet, both getting their start alongside High Touch High Tech.

Creation of the Element 110, Darmstadtium

Darmstadtium, element 110 was first synthesized in 1994! There were several failed attempts to create element 110, and was first successfully made that year. While chemists Yuri Ganessian and Vladimir Utyonkov created the very first Darmstadtium particles through cold fusion, credit for the first successful synthesizing goes to Sigurd Hofmann, Peter Armbruster and Gottfried Münzenberg of Darmstadt, Germany where the element earned its name. The German scientists created the element by bombarding lead with nickel, and their evidence was deeming more credible and confirmed by other scientists throughout the world. Darmstadtium is a highly radioactive metal, and few atoms have ever been created!

PlayStation

The very first PlayStation was released by Sony in 1994. While PlayStation wasn’t the sole gaming console on the market, then competing with the Nintendo 64 and Sega Saturn, the PlayStation was game changing. With a CD format and sleek design, the PlayStation became the first gaming console to sell 100 million units worldwide! While many trends and gaming consoles have come and gone, PlayStation has remained a key player for 25 years.

Living fossil Wollemi Pine found

Before 1994, the Wollemi Pine (Wollemia nobilis) was believed to be extinct, only having been seen in fossils. The plant is from a line of evolutionary plants, dating back to the dinosaurs, long believed to have been extinct. In 1994, the plant was discovered in the remote, rainforest gorge of Australia. Currently, there are about 80 mature plants and 300 seedlings. The Wollemi pine produces various types of foliage depending on the age of the leaf, and the leaf’s position on the tree. Newer foliage is apple-green in color and frond-like. As the plant develops, the foliage becomes a blue-green color, giving it a Jurassic appearance with dual leaf rows on its branches. The mature trees have a bubbling chocolate appearance, as spongy nodules develop on its bark.

Nelson Mandela Elected President of South Africa

Until 1994, the Apartheid government of South Africa only allowed black voters elect Bantustan or homeland candidates. The Bantu Homelands Citizenship Act had stripped black citizens of South Africa of their citizenship, making them citizens of their segregated homelands, or Bantu, in the apartheid state. In 1994 these homelands ceased to exist and were incorporated into the general South African elections, making this election the first multiracial election in South African history. On May 10^th of 1994, Nelson Mandela, at the age of 77, was inaugurated as South Africa’s first place president. He tirelessly worked as president to address the issues caused by the apartheid, poverty, inequality, lack of social services and infrastructure, and building a strong economy. Nelson Mandela’s presidency reconciled and strengthened the nation of South Africa, becoming a beacon of progress throughout the world.

Western Hemisphere Declared Free of Polio

Poliomyelitis, more commonly known as polio, was a disease which left survivors permanently disabled. Each few years polio epidemics would plague cities and towns, leaving a trail of death and paralysis behind it. Most famous of all polio survivors being President Franklin Delano Roosevelt, being paralyzed waist down by the disease at age 39. FDR founded the National Foundation for Infantile Paralysis in 1938, which would lead to the development of vaccinations for polio. In 1908, polio was identified as a virus by Dr. Karl Landsteiner after filtering preparations of spinal fluid of persons killed by polio. Later in 1910, Dr. Simon Flexner identified “germicidal substances” in the blood of monkeys that survived the polio virus, identifying the antibodies to polio which are the necessary agents in developing a vaccination.

Two separate teams of researchers developed early forms of the polio vaccination in 1935, both vaccinations ending in allergic reactions, illnesses, paralysis, and some deaths. For another 25 years, there were unfortunate trials and errors of an effective polio vaccination, but in the year 1960 Albert Sabin’s poliovirus vaccination for Type 1 poliovirus was licensed and formally recommended by the U.S. Surgeon general. Three years after this licensure, a vaccination for poliovirus types 1, 2 and 3 were combined creating one vaccination of the disease. In the year 1994, polio was completely eradicated in the Western Hemisphere. While there are still cases of polio globally, there has been more than a 99% reduction of polio cases worldwide, proven the Poliomyelitis vaccination a simple and effective.

The Transition in Technology from 1994

So many of our everyday life depends on the internet; work, entertainment, communication, information, monetary transactions, networking, marketing, and education. In 1994, the World Wide Web invented by Tim Berners-Lee, and became the Internet we know and depend on today.

In 1994 there was no Google, no Hulu and Netflix, no smartphones, no YouTube, no social media, and no flat-screen TVs. Let’s look back at our very humble internet and technology beginnings.

The First Website

Windows Operating System

Yahoo

Program Installation, installed via floppy disk

GameBoy Games

Before Netflix and streaming sites, you had to go to a Blockbuster or video store to watch a movie

VHS Movies, the DVD was invented in 1995

No one had an email, or much access to the internet, so faxing was the go-to for messages

Cell phones, whose battery was the size of the phone. Free of a camera, touch screen, and texting.

CD Players, because there were no iPods, Pandora, or Spotify.

Technology is constantly developing, and we’ve come a long way since 1994. As new inventions are developed, technology takes an increasing large role in our lives. We at High Touch High Tech believe in developing the next generation of inventors, granting us to the innovations of our future.

High Touch High Tech

800.444.4968

info@ScienceMadeFun.net

Sources Cited:

Barker, E. “25 Moments That Defined 1994.” NME, Jan. 2014. Retrieved from: https://www.nme.com/photos/25-moments-that-defined-1994-1422189

Sony Interactive Entertainment. “PlayStation, Through the Years.” PlayStation, Sep. 2019. Retrieved from: https://www.playstation.com/en-gb/explore/ps4/playstation-through-the-years/

Robertson, M. “Darmstadtium.” Royal Society of Chemistry, 2017. Retrieved from: http://www.rsc.org/periodic-table/element/110/darmstadtium

The Global Trees Campaign. “Threatened Trees, Wollemi Pine.” Fauna and Flora International, 2017. Retrieved from: https://globaltrees.org/threatened-trees/trees/wollemi-pine/

South African History Online. “The Nelson Mandela Presidency – 1994 to 1999.” South African History Online Towards a People’s History, August 2019. Retrieved from: https://www.sahistory.org.za/article/nelson-mandela-presidency-1994-1999

History of Vaccines. “The History of Vaccines, All Timelines Overview.” The College of Physicians of Philadelphia Birthplace of American Medicine, 2019. Retrieved from: https://www.historyofvaccines.org/timeline#EVT_100340

Bort, J. “No Google. No Netflix. No iPhone. This is What Tech Was Like in 1994.” Business Insider, August 2014. Retrieved from: https://www.businessinsider.com/tech-in-1994-the-year-the-web-was-born-2014-8

Playful Learning

Playful Learning: The Role it Plays in Education

Children of all cultures and backgrounds play. Play is omnipresent in the developing minds of children, as well as young animals. Play is an agent that promotes early brain development, strengthens language skills, the executive functions of memory and attention, mathematics and spatial skills, scientific thinking, and emotional development. There is an evident correlation between play and cognitive progression, which grants breakthroughs in conducting education.

Guided play maintains the free and fun aspects of play, while focusing on education goals, fostering an opportunity for imaginative exploration. For children, play and activity is about make-believe, discovery, amusement, and socialization. The difference between free and guided play is gentle adult guidance to lead towards the learning goal, while allowing the creativity to be nurtured. This innovative approach to making learning an active experience has shown to be a successful pedagogical tool in a variety of subjects, particularly mathematics and science.

Parents, educators, and policy makers want to ensure that today’s youth will grow into tomorrow’s successful adults. The time for childhood development is short, and the expectations are increasingly high. Traditional learning is direct instruction, typically using flash cards, repetitive lessons, and over explanation with a lack of discovery. Playful learning through guided play supports children taking a lead in their instruction, while being directed to the points and concepts that are vital to education standards and goals. Current and expanding research shows that guided play provides and delivers the same outcomes in children’s learning as traditional teaching, while being a more effective teaching tool.

Research finds that children who engage in guided play activities were more likely to learn target information. Additionally, they are more likely to retain abstract themes than the children who were given direct instruction, while children engaging in free play, without any adult support, overall are less likely to stumble upon the same realizations. A study with preschool aged children taught about shapes using guided play, free play, and conventional instruction. The children who engaged in guided play lesson were able to identify more atypical shapes than those who participated in direct lessons, and more shapes overall than those who participated in free play. The role of adults in guided play is to support the children’s choices, asking open-ended questions to gently shape behavior without controlling it.

Here at High Touch High Tech, we see the value of a hands-on, discovery style of learning. Each day we get to see students come to realizations, all the while using an active imagination. Teachers and the curriculum they abide by have yet to admit guided play and aren’t given the tools to do so. Our students lead in their own education, and it provides them an autonomy of their actions. Students are just learning how the world operates by using their imagination to dream of the possibilities and discovering new information each day. STEM education is the key to making sense of our world, thus being the single greatest influence on the innovations which will change the world.

High Touch High Tech

800.444.4968

Info@ScienceMadeFun.net

LIMELIGHT SCHOOL OF THE WEEK….

GRADE: 3rd Grade

TEACHER: Ms. Williams

PROGRAM: Newton in a Nutshell

SCIENTIST: Meteor Martin

This week’s LIMELIGHT SCHOOL OF THE WEEK IS……Long Mill Elementary School in Youngsville, NC

Hello Scientists, before I get into some detail about our Limelight school of the week, I wanted to tell everyone about a funny and embarrassing story that happened just before I arrived at the Limelight school.

My wife was out of town, so my mother had to take my children to school that morning in order for me to begin my classes on time. I needed to stop by her house, which was close by, to drop something off and as I opened the door, her security system went off. Now, I do know her code, but was not expecting this loud, obnoxious sound and I panicked. I couldn’t remember a thing. To make a long story short, the alarm company called the authorities and I waited 10 min for them to show. After no body arrived, I left and headed to the school. My mom arrived home shortly after to a Sheriff waiting and escorted her into the house to make sure nobody was in her home. I have to say, that had it been a true emergency, I am not sure that I am thrilled that it took over ten minutes for anyone to arrive at the home

So that’s how my day began and thank goodness it got so much better once I arrived at Long Mill Elementary,” on time I might add.

Our lesson, Newton in a Nutshell, was a hit with the 3^rd graders. We had so much fun learning about and exploring Sir Isaac Newton’s Laws of Motion. As the second class of the day was about to end, one of the students calls out “I would rather stay here and do more activities than go to lunch.” All I can say is, “LOVE IT.”

As I teach, I really enjoy speaking with and getting to know the teachers that I am helping in each and every school that I go to. As I was talking with one of these wonderful teachers at Long Mill Elementary, she stated that, “This is so much better that other field trips. It is so much easier having you come in and teach than to load up on a bus, get permission forms signed and returned, make sure that all the students have lunches and keep up with them.” It is exhilarating to hearing such positive comments from both students and teachers about our programs.

Thank you so much Long Mill Elementary School for allowing High Touch High Tech to be part of your curriculum.😊

Until next time, this is Meteor Martin blasting off!

Students Get Moving on Saturday with High Touch High Tech of Atlanta

High Touch High Tech of greater Atlanta got students moving at their Saturday Science workshop! Kids traded in their bikes for beakers for the day as they became real scientists and got hands-on with real science. Students from Mr. Perry Cantrell & Ms. Beverly Grahams classes took part in the “WE DO Lego Robotics” & “Dissection Connection” programs. Kids learned that science is fun as they got moving with robotics and opened up the world of biology with real frogs & earth worms! Check out the pictures below of High Touch High Tech Atlanta’s sensational Saturday Science event!

High Touch High Tech of Atlanta will be hosting more Saturday Science events this fall and in the spring of 2012. Find out when the next Saturday Science event will be by visiting their website:

High Touch High Tech of Greater Atlanta

Phone: 770.667.9443

Email: info@ScienceMadeFunATL.net

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Not in the Atlanta Area? Find a High Touch High Tech near you by visiting our locations page!

Get Your Students Excited For Science With Our NEW Hands-On Sizzlin’ Science Sampler!

We are happy to announce our NEW hands-on Sizzlin’ Science Sampler!

Let High Touch High Tech of WNC & GSP help introduce your science curriculum and get your students excited for science! Simply select three of our FUN, hands-on, educational experiments and we will create a custom 60-minute program designed specifically for your class! For pricing & reservations- call 800.444.4968 or book online at www.ScienceMadeFunWNC.net

Sizzlin’ Science Sampler ONLY valid for programs booked in WNC & Greenville/Spartanburg SC.

Not in the WNC or GSP area? Visit our locations page to find a High Touch High Tech near you for a full list of available programs and promotions available in your community!

Dinosaur Dan presents “Hands-on Science for a High Tech World” to educators across WNC!

For the third year in a row, HTHT of WNC provided its “Hands-on science for a high tech world” workshop for early childhood educators from around Western North Carolina.

This year 48 teachers, and early childhood directors participated. The hour and half workshop flew by, and everyone had a great time. More importantly, wonderful science process skills were shared and conveyed to teachers.

Teachers were able to ask questions and share feedback. Teachers learned amazing ways to teach kids science in a fun manner using safe, common, everyday materials. You can see for yourself just how much fun these educators were having with High Touch High Tech.