Assignment 2B-Exploratorium-HUMAN7

Assignment 2B- Exploratorium
Museum
1. Contains a title using the format listed above .25 points

Assignment 2B- Exploratorium

2. Contains the sources you used with links to these sources .25 points


http://www.exploratorium.edu/exploring/language/language_article5.html

http://www.exploratorium.edu/exploring/language/language_article1.html

http://www.exploratorium.edu/

http://www.exploratorium.edu/exploring/language/language_article2.html



3. Contains a brief paragraph how it connects to your study of humanities. 1 point


This connects to my study of the humanities because during my field trip I learned about where language came from originally. Learning about the history of where our language came from is a very important part of the study of humanities. This shows us how we are all so similar yet different at the same time.


Contains the following "analytical elements":
a. Observation: What did you choose? What do you see or hear or feel or think of in the choice you made? What is the subject of the work? If you chose a 'thing' what is the work made of and what techniques (colors, lines, shapes, textures)does the creator use? Be specific in your description. If you chose a place, be specific in your description of what you see or hear. Talk to your reader as though they cannot see the item but somehow must draw a painting of what you see or hear. 1 point


I chose to write about the Exploratorium in San Francisco, CA. In their site I found a link that teaches about the history of language and where it came from. It is interesting to see that so much information can be learned on this site. It is very well designed and has countless sites to visit. You can learn about the science of cooking to the weather in Antarctica.

I narrowed my search to the history of modern language. I thought it was very interesting and I enjoyed learning about the history of language and how it can be traced back 50,000 years ago to Africa. It is a well written site that has brown background and charts that compare the different languages and their similarities. When you finish reading all of the information they tell you their conclusion. Experts believe that very recently, (50,000 years ago) all human beings mitochondrial DNA of today can be traced back to Africa. So this means that we are all connected and according to a growing number of scholars, geneticists, archeologists, and linguists this comparative advantage is the reason so many of our languages sound so similar to each other.



b. Interpretation: What is your choice about? Give specific examples to support this statement in 2 sentences; do so in a way that teaches us something about your choice. Make Paulo Freire proud! .75 point


My choice was about the link on the Exploratorium site that teaches about the history of all of the languages and how they are all connected. The Exploratorium teaches a variety of things on a many different subjects. You can use this site to make your own conclusions about how the modern language has developed and by discussing with others what you have learned it will help to get feedback and listen to their opinion on what you have found. Paulo Freire would have been proud to learn that at this museum you are in charge of your own learning experience and no one will use you as a bank to force information on you.


c. Judgment: What led you to your choice? What do you think or feel about this choice? Why do you feel this way? Support your thoughts with specific observations. .5 point


I made this choice because I love to visit this museum. This museum has something for everyone. Even just on the internet you can learn a great deal by visiting this site. I think that learning about languages was fun and looking at the charts gives a visual experience not just reading the information. I also liked that they had an audio clip to listen to, that talks about the possible reasons behind this sudden change in language.


d. Questioning: What else would you like to know about this choice? When completing the question section, lead your audience into the question by stating a fact you do know, yet you still have the related question. This way, both your audience and you will have an educational experience. Example: I learned that John Steinbeck's Grapes of Wrath was based on his personal experience working with farm workers. I would like to know if the characters he used in that book are fictitious or are they people he met? .5 point


If I could ask Professor Ruhlen a question, it would be how he became interested in the study of language? I know that he can tell us the root of the words and where they came from going backwards. I think that is interesting to go back in time and piece together how each of the languages could be grouped with other languages and eventually they all traced back to one area as one language. That sounds amazing to me. How did the people travel so far and wide and still able to survive this long?


4. Using your classmates work from last week, tell us one thing you learned from 1 student. Is this one thing some common experience you share or some experience that is completely different than what you experienced? Is this one thing related to our class theoretical foundation and if so, how? Is that one thing related to historical or cultural context of this country or a different one? Link that persons blog to this entry (eg cut paste that blog entry here) . .5 point


What I learned from Jennifer Sylvester is that UC Berkley was established in 1868 and that it serves as the alma mater for over 60 Nobel Prize winners. That is great. I did not ever think of UC Berkley in that way. It changed my point of view. I had never researched it before and now I will be more aware of the many different things that UC Berkley is famous for. I knew that it was a good school but reading her article made me want to go there even though I am way too far away for that.

http://jennifer-humanities7.blogspot.com/2009/02/2a-uc-berkley.html