Gavel Games

The best way to have everyone’s input in a meeting is actually quite parliamentary, well, parliamentary procedure that is. Parliamentary procedure is a way to insure that each person present has his or her say in the matter being discussed. Effective use of parliamentary procedure makes meetings run smoother. It is a democratic process, created originally for government meetings. However, the process is quite useful for all types of meetings.

Would you like to learn more about parliamentary procedure? Come check out par-law in action at this year’s 2010 Gavel Games Contest! Youth teams of 4 or 5 will be competing to achieve purple ribbons on their parliamentary practices. The contest will be held on Saturday, January 30 at Blue Valley High School. Teams in Junior (age 7-10); Intermediate (age 11-13) and Senior (age 14-19) will be participating. The first teams are scheduled at 8:30 a.m. The contest will conclude at noon. Come check it out!

Not to Burst Your Bubble

The temperatures have been downright frigid, even by Kansas Winter weather standards. So, I decided to try an experiment. This morning (Friday, January 08, 2010) I decided to try blowing bubbles outside – with an air temperature of 2 degrees – to see exactly what would happen. I had been told that the bubbles will shatter is extreme cold temperatures. So, I bundled up, and set off to find out.

I conducted the experiment in an area beside the county office buildings. There was a South wall and a West wall. The area was fairly sheltered from large amounts of wind. I dipped the wand in the solution, and blew bubbles ten different times. I discovered that several things happened: First, bubbles that hit hard surfaces (concrete, bricks etc.) shortly after being blown, burst quickly. Second, bubbles that were airborne for a longer period of time did shatter into a big bubble gum like consistency. Third, bubbles that landed lightly in the snow, stayed in their bubble shape and became frozen in that state.

I plan to post some follow-up photos after a couple more experiment tries!

Landscape Lighting

These aren't UFO's but the glow of landscape lighting in the snow. Lighting allows one to enjoy the outdoors for more hours during the day. It is also functional when used to light a path and can provide security. To learn more about it, click on the link.
http://www.riley.ksu.edu/DesktopDefault.aspx?tabid=214