Thursday, June 24, 2010

Kids Can 'Discover' fun at science camp

Correspondent
Thursday, June 24, 2010

Squeals erupt from the children as the black and white rat scurries through a maze of brightly colored foam puzzle pieces and cardboard boxes, searching for the elusive cheese.

Unable to locate the cheese, the rat is at a standstill, prompting Michelle McPherson, director of school programs at Port Discover, to encourage the Port Discover Sensational Science camp-goers to modify the layout of the maze.

Quickly the group of eight to 12-year-olds moves into action in an ultimate display of teamwork using their recently acquired knowledge of positive reinforcement and learned animal behaviors to construct a new maze.

The best way to learn is through hands-on activities, said McPherson, an Elizabeth City State University graduate and former high school biology teacher.

Port Discover is Elizabeth City’s hands-on science museum for children. This summer marks the first series of summer camps since the center moved into its expanded space on Main Street. Port Discover director LuAnne Pendergraft says the larger space is allowing the center to offer expanded activities for the children, such as this week’s science camp aimed at teaching kids a variety of scientific techniques.

Moses McDaniel, Port Discover educator and ECSU research associate, demonstrated “laboratory techniques” on Monday helping campers create their own bacteria slides.

“It is absolutely great to see

them excited about science,” said McDaniel.

Sensational Science Camp attendees were introduced to the themes of microbiology, animal science, space exploration, technology/design and water quality this week. Camper Chaz McDaniel, 11, was excited to design and launch a water bottle rocket during Wednesday’s space exploration day.

McPherson said the space exploration theme was a result of requests for space themed projects on surveys at the end of last year’s summer science camp at Port Discover. The surveys at the end of each camp provide valuable feedback for planning future events.

The success of Port Discover’s programs has been maintained since its creation five years ago through the collaborative efforts of the staff, local government, community sponsors and Elizabeth City State University, according to Pendergraft.

“We wouldn’t be able to do what we are doing without the guidance of the university,” said Pendergraft.

The university’s “expertise of faculty,” “shared resources,” and presence of faculty on the 2010 Port Discover Board of Directors has led to “true community collaboration.”

Pendergraft said Port Discover has also been able to thrive through the recently purchased property that previously contained the Pasquotank Arts Council.

After moving into the larger space in March, the program was able to increase the number of participants in programs, decrease off-site travel and provide children with a “freer space to learn in,” said Pendergraft.

The larger facility contains a computer area with two computers loaded with science software, science board games and an Interactive Gallery that is open to the public. Enticing games like the cell require users “to match organelles with their functions,” by pressing buttons as a large model of a cell lights up with each selection. Another game asks users to pull a lever as they watch two balloon like lungs fill with air in a torso.

Glass habitats provide the onlooker with a glimpse into the activities of fish, Madagascar Hissing Cockroaches, toads, frogs, tadpoles and snakes. There is also a toddler area with “very basic” activities that provide an introduction to science, said Pendergraft.

Wendy Pierce, Port Discover director of community programs and ECSU graduate, said one of the best aspects of working with the program is the “ability to be creative in an informal learning environment.”

Pierce said the scientific method and North Carolina Standard Course of Study are used in the implementation of lessons and programs.

It is vital that we “spark a continued interest” in the areas of science, math and technology, said Pierce.

Port Discover will provide a Discovery Days camp for five to seven-year-olds June 28 to June 30.

Pendergraft said the Port Discover camps provide “quality fun” in a scientific environment.


Maze of Monkey Illusion - 2009
Optical illusion maze caused by conflicting horizontal and vertical lines.

maze of monkey illusion medium InkBlotMazes Ink Blot Mazes, By Yonatan Frimer, your humble maze artist

Maze Illusion - Artwork by Yonatan Frimer

Maze Cartoon of Tony Hayward fixing a leak on his boat, by Yonatna Frimer

Maze Cartoon of Tony Hayward fixing a leak on his boat.
maze cartoon of Tony Hayward with a leak in his boat.
Maze cartoon of Tony Hayward, BP CEO, trying to stop a leak on his boat. Which he approaches the same way he did for the leak in the bottom of the Gulf of Mexico.
Created by Yonatan Frimer

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Maze cartoons by Yonatan Frimer
Maze Art by Yonatan Frimer

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Gulf residents outraged by BP CEO's yacht outing


Jun 19, 4:09 PM (ET)

By RAPHAEL SATTER and HOLBROOK MOHR

VENICE, La. (AP) - Just when it seemed Gulf residents couldn't get any more outraged about the massive oil spill fouling their coastline, word came Saturday that BP's CEO was taking time off to attend a glitzy yacht race in England.

Tony Hayward's latest public relations gaffe didn't sit well with people in the U.S. who have seen their livelihoods ruined by the massive two-month oil spill.

"Man, that ain't right. None of us can even go out fishing, and he's at the yacht races," said Bobby Pitre, 33, who runs a tattoo shop in Larose, La. "I wish we could get a day off from the oil, too."

As social networking sites like Twitter and Facebook lit up with anger, BP spokespeople rushed to defend Hayward, who has drawn withering criticism as the public face of his company's halting efforts to stop the worst oil spill in U.S. history.

Robert Wine, a BP spokesman at the company's Houston headquarters, said it's the first break Hayward has had since the Deepwater Horizon rig exploded April 20, killing 11 workers and setting off the undersea gusher.

"He's spending a few hours with his family at a weekend," Wine said Saturday. "I'm sure that everyone would understand that."

Not Mike Strohmeyer, who owns the Lighthouse Lodge in Venice, on Louisiana's southern tip, who said Hayward was "just numb."

"I don't think he has any feelings," he said. "If I was in his position.....

Click here to read the full article on AP News

Friday, June 18, 2010

Hizbullah wants to gas Israel, I mean take gas from Israel - Maze Cartoon by Yonatan Frimer

Hizbullah wants to gas Israel, I mean take gas from Israel - Maze Cartoon

maze cartoon of hizbullah wants israels gas
Maze Cartoon - Jewish monkey reading a newspaper with the headlines, "Hizbullah Claims Israel's Gas Belongs to them" says, "In World War 2, the anti-semites put us into gas chambers. Now they want to chamber our gas" Created by Yonatan Frimer

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Hizbullah: Israel's gas belongs to us

Marine law expert Adv. Amir Cohen-Dor: The Dalit and Tamar gas fields are within Israel's economic zone.

Adi Ben-Israel and Uzi Blumer14 Jun 10 17:41

Hizbullah claims that that the natural gas fields recently discovered in the Mediterranean, belong to Lebanon and warned Israel against extracting gas from them. Iranian English language paper "Tehran Times" quotes Hezbollah's executive council chief Hashem Safieddine as saying that it would not allow Israel to loot Lebanese gas resources.

Earlier this week, Lebanese parliamentary speaker Nabih Berri told "AFP", “Israel is racing to make the case a fait accompli and was quick to present itself as an oil emirate, ignoring the fact that, according to the maps, the deposit extends into Lebanese waters. Lebanon must take immediate action to defend its financial, political, economic and sovereign rights."

Click here to read the full article on Globes

Wednesday, June 16, 2010

Maze cartoon of Iran stuck between a rock and a hard place. By Yonatan Frimer

Maze Cartoon:
Iran is stuck between a rock (Iraq) and a hard place (Afghanistan) Created by Yonatan Frimer

maze cartoon of Iran stuck between a rock and a hard place

Maze cartoon of a map of the middle-east. Iran is marked as "Stuck" and Iraq is "A Rock" and Afghanistan is marked "A Hard Place. To allude to the fact that Iran is stuck between a rock and a hard place. Created by Yonatan Frimer
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Team Of Monkeys Maze Cartoon
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By ALI AKBAR DAREINI (AP)

The United Nations Security Council approved a new round of sanctions against Iran last week for its refusal to curb the country's nuclear program, which the U.S. and its allies suspect is aimed at producing weapons. Iran denies that.

President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said Iran favors a dialogue with the West, but will announce its conditions soon. He said the carrot-and-stick approach doesn't work and Iran will not make "one iota of concessions" to the West.

"You showed bad temper, reneged on your promise and again resorted to devilish manners," he said of the powers that imposed sanctions. "We set conditions (for talks) so that, God willing, you'll be punished a bit and sit at the negotiating table like a polite child," he told a crowd during a visit to the central Iranian town of Shahr-e-Kord. His speech was broadcast live on state TV.

Click here to read the full AP article

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Maze Of Monkeys jumping off a building in 3-D maze goodnessMaze of Monkeys in 3-D
Maze Kong - by Yonatan Frimer

Mushroom Maze
mushroom maze
Maze-a-delic by Yonatan Frimer

Monday, June 14, 2010

Rodent of the Week: How habits are formed

Rodent of the Week: How habits are formed

June 11, 2010

Rodent_of_the_week When I was in high school, I had to drive a long distance on a freeway to get to school. After arriving, I often wondered how I got there. I didn't remember the drive or even thinking about driving.

This feeling is a common (and, yes, somewhat scary) experience that a group of neuroscientists think they can better explain. In an experiment with rats, researchers at MIT identified two distinct neural circuits in the brain that show distinct changes when the rats were learning to navigate a maze and, later, after they mastered the task.

The rats were placed in a maze that had chocolate sprinkles at the end. The activity in specific parts of their brains was analyzed as they learned the maze, which included a T-juncture where they had to stop and choose to turn right or left. The rats performed the maze repeatedly until they had learned it.

The study showed that one specific neural circuit became stronger with practice. A second neural circuit showed high activity occurring at times when the rats had to make a decision in the maze. But as they learned the maze, activity in this circuit declined. The task had become habitual.

So, arriving at school in one piece wasn't just a matter of luck. "It is good to know that we can train our brains to develop good habits and avoid bad ones," the lead author of the study, Ann Graybiel, said in a news release.

Understanding how specific regions of the brain change through learning could help in developing new treatments for brain-based diseases. The study was published Thursday in the journal Neuron.

-- Shari Roan

Photo credit: Advanced Cell Technology Inc.

Some cool mazes, maze art and maze cartoons
Mushroom maze
Maze A Delical
Maze of Mushrooms by Yonatan Frimer 2006
Maze Portrait of Albert Einstein.
Celebrity, artword, celebrities, portraits, famous,  Portait maze of albert einstein
"Genius Maze" - By Y. Frimer


Maze Cartoon of Erdogans comparison of Flotilla raid to September 11th.

Maze cartoon of erdogan on flotilla and armenian genocide

Maze cartoon of Turkish Prime Minister Erdogan comparing the Flotilla raid to September 11th. Someone from the crowd asks how it would "stack up against the Armenian Genocide." Created by Yonatan Frimer
Click here for a printable, hi-res version of this maze
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Maze cartoons of news headlines for immediate release. By Yonatan Frimer

***FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE***

Released Monday, June 14th, 2010

You may print or publish these cartoon mazes at no cost.

Note:

  • Links to printable versions and the solutions are under each cartoon.
  • Please attribute to Yonatan Frimer at TeamOfMonkeys.com
  • Yonatan Frimer is available as a freelance cartoonist, for more info click here.


Maze Cartoon UN Bombing Iran with Sanctions By Yonatan Frimer
maze cartoon of Iran bombed by sanctions. By Yonatan Frimer
Cartoon maze of a UN fighter jet dropping bombed marked "Sanctions" on Iran, while he has other with the name of known targets and the pilot says, "If these don't work, then we drop the real ones!" Created by Yonatan Frimer
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Cartoon Maze Chemtrails Vs. Kassams By Yonatan Frimer
maze cartoon of chemtrails vs kassams Yonatan Frimer
Maze cartoon contrasting the difference between USA and Israel. In the USA they complain about chemtrails in the sky, in Israel, they have Kassams. By Yonatan Frimer
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Maze cartoon of a week in the life of Helen Thomas By Yonatan Frimer
Week in the life of Helen Thomas
Maze cartoon of a week in the life of Helen Thomas. First she tells the Jews to go back to Germany, then says she is sorry, then quits her job.
Created by Yonatan Frimer
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Cartoon Maze: Sh*t My Son Tweets By Yonatan Frimer
Shit my son calls a maze
Maze cartoon of The Dad of Sh*t My Dad Says saying, "The book ought to be called "Shit My Son Tweets" or "Twitters" or whatever young people call it. Created by Yonatan Frimer
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Cartoon Maze: Not the size of the boat... By Yonatan FrimerNot the size of the maze, its the motion of the pen
Maze cartoon of Bibi Netanyahu and PM Erdogan in the mens room, sizing each other up. Erdogan has a scronful look on his face and defends, "It's not the size of the boat, it's the motion of the ocean" Created by Yonatan Frimer
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***END***

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Wednesday, June 9, 2010

Political Maze Top Ten List by Yonatan Frimer

Bellow is a list of the Top Ten Political Maze Cartoons by Yonatan Frimer

#10

Cartoon Maze: Which Islam is the true one? By Yonatan Frimer

Maze cartoon of sunni, shia, islam infidel.

Maze cartoon of a muslim preacher at the pulpit exlaiming "Islam is the only true religion." A voice from the crowd asks, "Shi'a or Sunni?" The speaker responds, "INFIDEL!!!" Created by Yonatan Frimer
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#9
Bill Gates' Microsoft iPad - Cartoon Maze
ipad by bill gates microsoft
Editoral Cartoon Maze in Larger and Printable Format

Can't solve the maze? Click here for the maze solution
Editorial Cartoon Maze of Bill Gates telling his team of monkeys to make a microsoft version of the iPad.

#8
Editorial Maze Cartoon - JFK vs Obama on NASA
JFK vs Obama on NASA
Editoral Cartoon Maze in Larger and Printable Format

Can't solve the maze? Click here for the maze solution
Editorial Cartoon Maze contrasting JFK to Obama on the issue of traveling to the moon and NASA.

#7

Editorial Maze Cartoon - Eyjafjallajökull
Eyjafjallajökull volcano in ice land europe ash cloud
Editoral Cartoon Maze in Larger and Printable Format

Can't solve the maze? Click here for the maze solution
Editorial Cartoon Maze of Eyjafjallajökull volcano in Iceland that erupted an ash cloud over European airspace causing havoc.

#6

Editorial Maze Cartoon - Iran Geophysics
Iran Geophysics, women cause earthquakes Eyjafjallajökull volcano in ice land europe ash cloud
Editoral Cartoon Maze in Larger and Printable Format

Can't solve the maze? Click here for the maze solution
Editorial Cartoon Maze of Eyjafjallajökull volcano in Iceland that erupted an ash cloud over European airspace causing havoc.

#5

Maze Cartoon on the Economy of Greece.

economy of greece maze cartoon
Maze Cartoon for Editorial use on the Economy of Greece. A 747 marked "Economy of Greece" flys while chained to two bags of debt that are carried by the IMF and EU. Created by Yonatan Frimer

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#4

Maze Cartoon - Effects of Human Error on Stock Markethuman error in stock market maze cartoon


Maze cartoon editorial showcasing how stocks are effected by human error, buy having a bull represent stocks and a cowboy wrangling him to represent human error.
#3

Cartoon maze of how the Tea Party started. By Yonatan Frimerhow the tea party started maze

Cartoon maze editorial of a bunch of sheep in a field. One sheep stands up and exclaims, "I will no longer be a follower!" The rest of the flock yells, "Me too!" and the group in the front explaim "If this catches on, we got to get that fox on board."

#2

Cartoon Maze of Erdogan and comparison of Flotilla raid to September 11th.

Maze cartoon of erdogan on flotilla and armenian genocide

Maze cartoon of Turkish Prime Minister Erdogan comparing the Flotilla raid to September 11th. Someone from the crowd asks how it would "stack up against the Armenian Genocide." Created by Yonatan Frimer
Click here for a printable, hi-res version of this maze
Click here or on the image for the maze solution.

#1

Editorial Maze Cartoon on Arizona Immigration laws.

Arizona immigration laws maze cartoon

Cartoon maze editorial bunch immigrants sneaking into America. Leader tells them "We are almost there folks, make sure you have plenty of water and get your fake birth certificate from Sanchez before the border." As they stand near a road with a sign that says, "Arizona 50 Miles." Created by Yonatan Frimer
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Cartoon Maze: Not the size of the boat, It's the motion of the ocean... By Yonatan Frimer

Cartoon Maze: Not the size of the boat... By Yonatan Frimer

Not the size of the maze, its the motion of the pen

Maze cartoon of Bibi Netanyahu and PM Erdogan in the mens room, sizing each other up. Erdogan has a scronful look on his face and defends, "It's not the size of the boat, it's the motion of the ocean" Created by Yonatan Frimer
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Team Of Monkeys - Maze Cartoons
Ink Blot Mazes - Maze Art
Go Comics - Political Maze
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More on this maze's topic:

Turkey's Erdogan bears responsibility in flotilla fiasco

WESTERN GOVERNMENTS have been right to be concerned about Israel's poor judgment and botched execution in the raid against the Free Gaza flotilla. But they ought to be at least as worried about the Turkish government of Recep Tayyip Erdogan, which since Monday has shown a sympathy toward Islamic militants and a penchant for grotesque demagoguery toward Israel that ought to be unacceptable for a member of NATO.

On the opposite page today, Turkey's ambassador to the United States makes the argument that Israel had no cause to clash with the "European lawmakers, journalists, business leaders and an 86-year-old Holocaust survivor" who were aboard the flotilla. But there...(read full article)


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Sunday, June 6, 2010

Rs 52 crore made available to farmers for growing maze

By Our Staff Reporter
Bhopal, June 6:
More than Rs 52 crore was made available as subsidy to farmers of Madhya Pradesh under integrated scheme for increasing the production of oilseeds, pulses and maze during the year 2009-10.
An integrated scheme is under implementation in the state with the cooperation of the Union Government for increasing the production of oilseeds, pulses and maze. Under this scheme, subsidies are being provided to farmers on seed production, distribution, sprinkler set, pipeline, crop-saving medicines and appliances etc. During the last year, farmers were provided subsidies worth Rs 42 crore for increasing production of oilseeds, Rs 8 crore for pulses and Rs 2 crore increasing the production of maze.
During the earlier years, farmers in the state were provided subsidies worth Rs 48 crore in 2008-09 and about Rs 43 crore in 2007-08 under the scheme. During the year 2010-11, farmers will not be provided subsidies for pulses since crops of pulses have been covered under National Food Mission.

Wednesday, June 2, 2010

Left in the wake of the Gaza flotilla, by Yonatan Frimer

Cartoon Maze of the Gaza Flotilla and what it left in its wake.
Maze cartoon of gaza flotilla by Yonatan Frimer
Maze cartoon of the Gaza Flotilla. The boat leaves in its wake violence, diplomatic crisis, sympathy for terrorist, lies, and of course an Israeli PR overhaul. Created by Yonatan Frimer
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