global warming halloween costume

So, this was my first Halloween at an elementary school, and it was a day of wacky celebration. My favorite costume was that of a fellow science teacher.

FRONT: You can see the drips on her skirt, the clue that this wasn't your everyday glacier costume. Even though scientists predict that melting ice will not threaten coastal communities for some time, there is incontrovertible evidence that ice is melting at a rapid rate. "Last year Eric Rignot ... calculated that Greenland lost a total of 54 cubic miles (225 cubic kilometers) of ice in 2005, more than twice as much as ten years ago—and more than some scientists were prepared to believe."

BACK: On her back, she displayed the June 2007 issue of National Geographic entitled The Big Thaw (The magazine also has a pretty cool interactive site where you can learn more about global warming.)

It's very interesting teaching in a Berkeley, CA school. The other day, I showed the 3rd grade class part of a YouTube video to introduce them to Rube Goldberg. I explained that I was only showing part of the video, since it was actually a 1940s advertisement for gasoline. ("Fortunately for us, man has discovered a virtually unlimited source of power... gasoline") I mentioned that I thought is was amazing that just 50-some years ago, there was such positive excitement around using oil.

One third grader raised his hand and said, "That's funny because in 2007 we know that burning gas causes pollution and that pollution affects the atmosphere, which causes global warming. So, the ice is melting in places around the world, and some polar animals are losing their habitats." Many kids nodded along. He continued, "But, my family has a hybrid car, so we are trying to make the problem a little bit better." After a bit of discussion, I learned that over HALF of the students had at least one car in the family that was a hybrid, electric, or ran on natural gas. Which reminds me of a sign I saw this weekend at a Berkeley street fair.

addicted to carving pumpkins

I never imagined e-carving a pumpkin could be so fun!

sign: shoplifters will be composted

Only in California...

This sign was nestled in the boxes of dates at the Farmer's Market one Saturday morning.

sign: bathroom emergency?

At Legoland in Carlsbad, California.

sign: don't sit on the animals

From the Wild Animal Park in San Diego, CA.

sign: low clearance

Sometimes you come across signs that can't help but make you laugh. I've decided to include these nuggets of amusement in their very own blog category.

This first sign is found in the California Academy of Sciences museum in San Francisco, CA.

sashimi tabernacle choir OR singing fish car

My roommate casually mentioned an Art Car Fest over dinner a few days ago. Conveniently, my morning science classes were canceled today, so I went. I was floored by a car full of singing fish. There are few things more random that that. Of course, my first question was, how did they make that?

In fact, the experience inspired my first YouTube video upload. :)

a lizard in a lizard

(Imagine my surprise when I realized I already have a previous post about reptiles swallowing unusual things.) Anyway, this story is a new one for me....

Things got pretty weird in Jacksonville, Florida, when a 7 year old brought her pet 12-inch bearded dragon to the animal hospital. She thought it was having a baby. (This would be a problem, since bearded dragons lay eggs.)

At the animal hospital, veterinarian John Rossi sedated the lizard and began to pull on the obstructions.

"The next thing I knew, I was seeing legs and a body and a head. It was very strange to be tugging on this thing," he said. By the time the rubbery lizard's legs began to appear, Rossi realized what it was.

"We were all laughing," he said. "It passed completely through the entire (gastrointestinal) tract," Rossi said.

Her pet had swallowed a 7 inch rubber lizard. Whoa. The rubber lizard was a little over 58% the length of the lizard. Imagine if you swallowed a 3 foot rubber human....