Thank you, Carl Sagan!

Today, Dr. Kat read us a children's picture book called Eratosthenes. The story is based on a true story and could be used in any aged classroom. It's lengthy compared to other children's books, but full of interesting information. 

We talked about all the different ways this story could be integrated into different subjects. Our class came up with great ideas. From math, to history, to social studies and language arts, this book can start many diverse conversations in the classroom. The book was informative and illustrated to explain the concepts Eratosthenes discovered over 2,000 years ago. 

Dr. Kat then showed us a YouTube video of Carl Sagan explaining the same story. When I watched this, it caught my attention on a deeper level. Seeing Carl manipulate the map to show the difference in shadows based on the curvature of the surface clicked with me. It helped me to understand the concept in a way I did not quite catch when reading the book. 

This experience was a great example to me of how we should offer multiple routes for our students when learning new concepts. We all don't learn the same way and you never know when something will create a lightbulb for a student. Keeping up with research in the field is a great way to make sure we are utilizing the best routes for our students. Getting to know our students is essential to knowing what will work for them. Differentiating will require creativity and effort on our part, but is imperative for developing successful learners.