Read This To Put A Chill on Your Summer Heatwave!

 What ever happened to the ships Erebus, Terror and the 129 souls that set sail for the top of the world confident that they could conquer the frozen landscape and find a sea route through the Arctic Ocean?

The Terror by Dan Simmons is a 600 + page turner of an historical novel that recreates the doomed Sir John Franklin expedition of 1845 that was charged with searching for the Northwest Passage.

If you are sweltering in the summer heat this is the perfect book to cool off with as temperatures are typically well below zero. And, as a result of Simmons' meticulous research, you will find yourself a part of the crew facing starvation, disease, and something not quite human that roams the ice. (Chills!)

Intrigued?

Take a look at the book review by David Masiel in the Washington Post:
The Thing on the Ice

Check out the author's site:
Dan Simmons Official Web Site

 

Links about the Franklin Expedition:
NOVA'S Artic Passage

Franklin's Lost Expedition


Check out this video from the NOVA program:




The story continues! 

This just in from BBC News dated 7/21/10:
Canadian Archaeologists Hunt Long-Lost Arctic Explorers


Enjoy!

Cats in the U.S. Navy?!? Shiver me timbers!

Who would have thought the U.S. Navy would be so classy as to have cats in their service?  (Most of us know that cats and libraries go together but who knew about cats and ships?)

Check out this article Cats and the Sea Services from the U.S.Naval Institute.

And then go check out this book at  your local library:

Henry the Sailor Cat by Mary Calhoun
to read about the time the Siamese star of High-Wire Henry goes to sea, climbs to the top of the mast, does a little whale-watching and helps rescue a man overboard.

Meow!

Celebrate Lasers!

Ok, Peeps, who knew that 2010 marks the 50th anniversary of the first laser?

"No!", you say? 

"Why, yes it is!" Miss Bun says.  

Check out these sites for a fascinating look at all things laser related:

LaserFest is ground zero for this celebration. It's mind-boggling!

Bright Idea: The First Lasers is an online exhibit produced for LaserFest by the Center For History of Physics of the American Institute of Physics.


(I've gotta say that the AIP does a fantastic job of bringing this branch of science to life especially for those of us with degrees in the humanities! Kudos!) Check it out!

Kid & the Winter Olympics

The 2010 Winter Olympics are upon us so here are two sites that are full of fun, games, crafts, puzzles, printables & more to help keep kids engaged in this historic event.

From PrintActivites.com : Winter Olympic Printables

& from ActivityVillage: Winter Olympics for Kids

While you are at these sites be sure to take a look at all they have to offer!

Happy Birthday, Nevermore???

Happy 201st Birthday Edgar Allan Poe!

Evidently this year broke with tradition when the Poe Toaster never showed up. Find out about the story in the Baltimore Sun: Poe Toaster is "Nevermore"

Then check out the Edgar Allan Poe Society of Baltimore site for some great info & links!

Do You Know the Snowflake Man???

Wilson A. Bentley, aka "Snowflake Bentley", from Jericho, Vermont was only 19 when he made the world's first photomicrograph of a snow crystal in 1885. His process was so unique and innovative that professionals at first doubted his results and his veracity.


 "In 1898, at the age of 33, he began to publish articles of his findings and images. He published 49 popular and 11 technical articles about snow crystals, frost, dew, and raindrops, including the entry on "snow" in the 14th edition of the Encyclopedia Britannica."

During his lifetime he filled nine notebooks with 47 years worth of observations and lived to see his book, Snow Crystals, published.

To learn more about this fascinating scientist & his work check out these links:

The Bentley Snow Crystal Collection of the Buffalo Museum of Science
(includes his photographic process, bio, photographs, notebook entries, articles & more!)

Wilson A. Bentley, The Snowflake Man
( by the Jericho Historical Society)

More resources below :

Snowflake Bentley by Jacqueline Briggs Martin

is the author's site about her 1999 Caldecott Award winning book that has good resources for classroom teachers & homeschoolers.

Kind of makes one look at the white stuff in a whole different way, doesn't it?

Enjoy!

Twelfth Night? What's It All About?

If you think that New Year's Eve is really the end of this holiday season you have obviously forgotten about Twelfth Night. Here is your chance to learn about Twelfth Night cake, wassailing the apple trees, Molly dancers, Mummers, grand balls & more!

Take a look at these interesting links about this particular celebration:

Understanding Twelfth Night: The Holiday That Time Forgot
by the Camden County Historical Society

Twelfth Night by The School of the Seasons

& Twelfth Night (Holiday) by Wikipedia

Enjoy!

Happy Winter Solstice!

Today is the first day of winter and also the shortest day of the year (if you live in the northern hemisphere that is).

The good people at National Geographic have put together a  few facts about this annual event. Check it out here: Winter Solstice 2009

Frosty the Snowman....

  

What's winter without a snowman?

Ever wonder where the snowman comes from? Glad  you asked! It turns out that the snowman does have a history and it just might be one that you weren't expecting. Check out this Smithsonian article by Bob Eckstein (who also wrote a book on the subject called History of the Snowman): Snowman Gone Wild.

We are so glad that Frosty was able to clean up his act which led to the famous song from the 1950's. Get the scoop on the song @ Wikipedia: Frosty the Snowman 

And then take a look at this original vintage Frosty the Snowman video (with lyrics) from 1954:






To finish our "Everything You Always Wanted to Know About Snowmen" tour try building one of your own online from the good people at Highlights:
Build A Snowman (Don't forget to print your creation!)

Now we just need a good snow day!!!

About Snowglobes plus make a Digital one of your own! TGIFF!

Snowglobes are quite in keeping with the season and there is nothing like having your own miniature world  (complete with blizzard) at your fingertips.

Ever wondered about the history of these sometimes lovely, sometimes tacky curios? Check out what Wikipedia has to say about Snow Globes. You may be surprised.

Then go here: Sony Ericsson Snowglobe where you can make your own little wintry world (you can upload your own photo if you'd like to) , add a message, and send it to friends and family!

Get your blizzard on!

Get The Skinny on Christmas Foods & Their History . .

 The Food Timeline - Christmas Foods History is the place to go for information on your favorite holiday food traditions, as well as recommended reading, some recipes, & specific topic resources.

Mind Your Manners @ the McCord Museum of Canadian History!

The McCord Museum of Canadian History in Montreal was founded in 1921, and embodies the vision of  passionate collector, David Ross McCord, whose abiding wish was to shed light on the history and cultures of his country and thus bring its people together.

Here you will find online exhibits, history online, thematic tours, educational resources and more!

The website of the McCord Museum is definitely worth a visit if you do nothing else but try the Mind Your Manners role playing game for the Victorian Era. (FYI: there is also one for the Roaring Twenties). 

 This online game has many delightful Monty Python-esque attributes. Be sure to have your sound on. (Miss Bun especially appreciated the fate of the lady who wore the wrong dress to the evening dinner at home.) The whole game is very amusing! And be sure to check out the other interactive games to be found on this interesting site. 

P.S. A "thank you kindly" to my sources in New Hampshire for alerting me to this site!

The History of Thanksgiving. . .

On The History of Thanksgiving by history.com you can:

• Find out what the first Thanksgiving menu was
• Read the proclamation that started it all
• Find out about the first broadcasted  football game in 1934
  
• Look up Thanksgiving trivia

And lots more!

So, don't just sit there like a stuffed turkey.....trot on over to this site and enjoy!

Hibernation Anyone??? A ThinkQuest Website has the Scoop!

Ok, so hibernation time is just around the corner (You're feeling very sleepy...) and in case you were wondering what that's all about take a look at this very good website created by a group of 5th graders for a competition put on by ThinkQuest (see below):

The Deep Sleep
Did you know there are four different ways animals deep sleep? Check it out!     

What is this ThinkQuest I speak of?

ThinkQuest  is a protected, online learning platform that enables teachers to integrate learning projects into their classroom curriculum and students to develop 21st century skills. It is provided as a free service to K-12 schools around the globe by The Oracle Education Foundation.

On the ThinkQuest site you will find the project area (here you can take a tour of ThinkQuest...fyi); a competition space where the technology contests happen and the ThinkQuest Library that houses all the projects and is a pretty nifty learning resource.There is also a professional development program for teachers.

School administrators must enroll their schools to participate in a project or competition but anyone can access the ThinkQuest Library and check out the competition winners.

You can search the library by age group, country, and subject category. There are over 7,000 websites created by students from around the world and they are amazing.  Enjoy!

Check Out the Most Famous Shipping Disaster in the History of the Great Lakes. . .

The SS Edmund Fitzgerald was an American Great Lakes freighter that sank suddenly on November 10, 1975 in 530 feet of water without sending any distress signals. Her entire crew of 29 was lost.



The sinking of the "Mighty Fitz" became the most famous disaster in the history of the Great Lakes and was the subject of Gordon Lightfoot's hit ballad "The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald".

Here are some links to a wealth of information on this famous ship and her fate:

The Great Lakes Shipwreck Museum  
(Don't miss the tabs at the bottom of the page for more info.)

The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald
This site has many interesting links to explore, song lyrics, and midi-versions of the song.

Wikipedia's SS Edmund Fitzgerald
This site has a list of the crew as well as some very interesting external links to check out including Google Earth and NOAA.

Happy Birthday to . . .

Daniel Boone who was born in Berks County, Pennsylvania in 1734 to Quaker parents.

Find out more about this original American folk hero at:

Daniel Boone - Wikipedia

and

The Daniel Boone Homestead

A Spooktacular Happy Birthday To . . .

Bela Lugosi who was born on this day in 1882 in Lugos outside the western border of Transylvania. He has   remained (in spite of the Twilight series) the quintessential Count Dracula of all time. (IMHO)

Here are a couple of sites to check out:

Bela Lugosi -  Wikipedia  has info on his life, career path, filmography, references, further reading, external links & more.

Official Bela Lugosi Website is run by the Lugosi family and many pages appear to be under construction. This site is worth a look see for the cool intro plus the biography is written by his son, Bela Lugosi, Jr., and gives a unique perspective on the famous actor's life.

Did you know that after his death he was evidently buried in one of his Dracula capes? How cool is that?

History Channel's History of Halloween. . .

This month just wouldn't be complete without a visit to The History Channel's History of Halloween site.

Here you can explore & learn all sorts of things such as Halloween history (ancient origins, coming to American, today's traditions, around the world, historic haunts & superstitions) to pumpkin stencils to ghost hunting games to videos and more!

P.S. There are annoying adverts on this site so just use your esp powers and mentally make them invisible!

Check Out the Ouija Board Museum. . .

 Have you ever played with one of these? They are a little creepy, no? (Just right for this time of year!) Who knew there were so many varieties?

The Museum of Talking Boards has everything from history & lore to theories & directions. Along the way you can peruse the Gallery, check out Interactive Talking Boards as well as boards in books and movies.

The best way to navigate this site is through their Site Map which you can find at the bottom of the main page. (Note: the links on the Site Map page are not highlighted so they don't look like links. Go ahead and click on them anyway. If you dare!)

What Do You Know About Poe?

 
Knowing Poe  is an award winning website from Maryland Public Television that aims to introduce us to the literature, life, and times of one of America's foremost writers.






Take your time while visiting this site because there are many  interactive activities, videos, and more to look at that have been created especially for students in middle and high school.

Check out the Classroom Connections, For Families, and About This Site links at the bottom of the homepage.
 .
"In addition to these interactive experiences, there are lesson plans created by Maryland teachers, primary source documents, links for further research, and materials for fun family activities related to Edgar Allan Poe."

"Throughout the site, watch for the Random Raven to give you some inside information and little known facts about Poe the person and Poe the writer."

Edgar Allan Poe + Halloween = How Cool Is That??? (So says Miss Bun!)