Good Morning . . . and Advancement in Technology

Good morning students – As you can see I'm not there today (I'm working on school business at another location).  You are required to make good use of your time even when I’m not there.  I’ll be online working today so if you have questions email or send me an iGoogle message at janice.lang@bedford.k12.mi.us.   If you finish your project you may begin the blog assignment below.  This blog assignment isn’t to be started until your research project is 100% finished.  I’ll see you on Tuesday. 

Advancement in Technology – helps save lives. 

Advancements in technology most often come about as people try to solve specific problems.  The problem – millions of babies in 3^rd world countries die each year due to being too cold in the first few months of life.  Engineering students around the country were given the task to design a portable incubator that would be low cost to manufacture and low cost to maintain.  Follow the progress.  Select the first link and read the article and watch the video.    

http://www.designthatmatters.org/news/dtm-blog/project/incubator/

http://extreme.stanford.edu/projects/embrace.html 

High School Friend

When I was in high school the Vietnam War was in full swing and many friends either signed up to serve our country or were drafted. Bruce, a good friend, signed up for the marines and was stationed in California. He was trained as an air traffic controller. After the war ended he had a lot of free time on his hands so we decided to visit. Bruce was always a very active guy. In high school he was a runner and it wasn’t unusual for him to run from his home on the east side of Toledo to my house on the south end. When visiting Bruce in California we visited many of the state and national parks in the area. Bruce always took his one year old daughter with him no matter how high we were going to climb. We had a lot of fun that visit hiking and exploring the area.

When Bruce’s tour of duty ended he came back to the Toledo area and planned on continuing his career as an air traffic controller. One hot summer day Bruce and four of his friends decided to go fishing in Lake Erie. They fished all day in the scorching hot sun and decided to go for a swim before coming in. Three of the guys jumped in and Bruce was to follow. Bruce dove in and hit a sand bar which broke his neck. His life was changed forever.

Bruce was 22 years old on that day and his life would never be the same. Technically he was paralyzed from the neck down. However he could breathe without a ventilator and he had some limited movement of his arms. He could move them forward about eight inches and backward about six inches. He could not bring his arms up over his head. He couldn’t move his hands or fingers, but could cock his wrists enough to hold a glass. Even with his very limited ability, Bruce has lived the past 20 years on his own. He has driven across America on several occasions in a modified van - alone. To this day Bruce lives alone in San Diego, California and is still a very active man. How is this possible? Yes, he does have people come in to help him with his personal need such as toilet, showering and such. But he is active and mobile. Assistive technology has improved the quality of life for millions of people with various issues. Your project this week is to research assistive technology and how these advances improve the quality of life for millions. Bruce’s story is just one of millions. Do you know anyone with special needs? Share your thoughts.

What's Going On???

You have to view this from home because it's from YouTube. What type of music do you like?

2010 Airshow in Oshkosh

Take a look at the item my husband had on his Christmas list. 

http://www.eaavideo.org/video.aspx?v=635469588001 .  Do you think something like this would actually sell?  Would 40 miles per hour in the air limit sales? What are your thoughts?

Lang Online B Hour 2 (T2 2010)

We’ll be using this site for teacher-to-student communication as well as student-to-student communication. My goal is to do at least one blog post per week. Generally I will post on Monday, and you have until Friday to complete the weekly blog by leaving a comment.  It will be YOUR responsibility to check the blog on a regular basis.   On days I'm out, daily work will be posted on the blog. 

Before we get started we’ll have to set some ground rules.First of all, all postings to this site must use school appropriate language. When you post, write in complete sentences. Key your first initial and last name at the end of your post so I know who posted it (all posts are worth points and I won't accept late posts). When commenting on another student’s post, keep your comments non-personal. You can agree or disagree with a comment but refrain from sarcasm and/or put-downs. State your position on the issue at hand and why you feel that way.


Your assignments: 
1.  Respond to the following using the comment link bottom right of this post.  Ask if you don't see it. Who did you have for Online A?  What did you like about the class?  What didn't you like about the class?  Tell me a little about yourself. Include information on your family, friends and things you enjoy doing. Due today :)

2.  In your Delicious Account - create a link to this blog.  Enter the appropriate tags for your link.


3.  On the student-teacher drive in the "write" folder, when it's your turn,   post your blog address and email address.  Be sure to get the complete URL and wait your turn.