Very few of us appreciate the homework we receive throughout our time in school.  While we’re trying to balance volunteering and sports and music and whatever other extra-curricular activities we may be involved in, homework just gets in the way of us having a life. Wouldn’t it be wonderful to just get rid of it?

Two Calgary students have achieved just that.  Their parents signed a contract with the school to free their children from homework completely.  Sounds really great, doesn’t it?  But what does this mean in the end?  Shouldn’t their kids get used to having homework?  It’s not going to disappear any time soon.  What happens when they move on to high school or even University?  And doesn’t it undermine the role of the teacher?  What about the other kids in the class?  As much as I hate the copious amounts of homework I have at times, this story as covered by Global makes me wonder if it isn’t so bad after all.  Would I really want to get rid of it all together?  I think it re-enforces my day-to-day learning – it helps me solidify what I’ve absorbed over the day.

The story is really more applicable to elementary students, and there are some very valid points raised. However, there is a trend within school boards to bow to the will of parents without standing their ground as professionals on education.  The article mentions that a committee has been established to review homework policies for next year, but I would have liked to see them review this before striking any agreement with one set of parents.  I’m sure there is plenty of research that has been conducted in the field of education with regards to the efficiency and effectiveness of homework.

What are your thoughts? Should teachers be in command of the homework load or should parents be able to customize school for their children?  What is the real value of homework, if any?

My whole life, I have been allergic to peanuts, and there have been many incidents where I have had to spend the night in emergency.  If there was something I could do about this issue, it would be to let more people know why they should be conscious of those with a peanut/nut allergy.  Here are some basic questions and answers about peanut allergies that may let you know more about their severity:

How is it deadly?
Life-threatening food allergies (most commonly peanuts) can kill children in two ways. The first is called laryngospasm. As the food is swallowed, it produces immediate swelling that spreads to the vocal cords. If the vocal cords swell shut, the child is unable to breathe and dies with terrifying speed. The second mechanism is called anaphylactic shock. The child swallows and digests the food and, as long as two hours later, goes into shock and dies.

How long does it last?
Children with life-threatening food allergies do not usually grow out of them.  Without treatment, they are considered lifelong conditions.

How is it triggered?
Peanut allergies can either be triggered by airborne means (smelling peanuts), touching surfaces or people who have contacted peanuts (shaking hands with someone eating roasted peanuts), or through direct indigestion (eating a peanut or a something that contains one).

How is it prevented/treated?
To absolutely avoid peanuts throughout your lifetime is the core way of prevention.  No matter how careful you are, it is almost inevitable that it will not happen.  You must be prepared to deal with the emergency when it happens.  However, in this case, we have an injection by the name of an Epi Pen. It is designed for self-administration of epinephrine in acute allergic emergencies (such as anaphylaxis).  It provides a rapid, convenient dose of epinephrine for individuals needing protection from potentially fatal allergic reactions.

Maybe now you might know more about peanut allergies. Hopefully, in the future you can do the little things like ask if there is anyone with an allergy in the room before eating peanuts to save them from a reaction.

Wires are great, they served us for centuries, bringing useful electricity to us everyday; however, imagine that you have a printer, an external hard drive, a lamp, a set of speaker, a cell phone charger and a computer system in your bedroom, and they are all connected via wires.  You know when you need to take out your external hard drive and you have to spend forever to separate all the wires so you can get to your external hard drive’s wire?

Life must be easier than this!!!  And it can be.  A century ago, a Nikola Tesla imagined a world without wire for electricity, but the technology at the time did not allow for his idea to thrive. However, just recently, MIT’s breakthrough technology, WiTricity, was born, allowing the possibility of charging devices and home electronics wirelessly.

Essentially, this technology works by producing a external magnetic field near the device at a specific frequency at which only that device will respond to. Then, through resonance, the electrons in the devices flow due to the external magnetic field at a alternating current pattern, consequently, producing electricity.

This idea is not only cool, but also very safe.  Magnetic fields do not penetrate materials like an electric field does; it can only arrange the domain of electrons inside an idea, and only works well with highly conductive metals.  A moderate degree of magnetic fields will not effect the health of people in anyway, and it is even safer than the power lines and radio waves which we live with everyday.

This technology is thoroughly explained and demoed by Eric Giler at a recent TEDtalk.

See for yourself this fantastic technology:

I would say that this has truly fulfilled the dream of Mr. Tesla.  In the near future, let’s hope we can all get rid off the annoying wires that had brought us happiness with tears.  It is time for a transformation!  To learn more, click on the cool picture on the right.

Would you get this technology for your portable devices like cellphones, mp3 players, laptops, or even your home television?  I know I certainly would.

I am a junior facilitator with the Minds in Motion All Girls [science] Club and volunteer each Saturday at the U of C and help with their activities.  So far this fall, we have created aliens, Saturn-mobiles, discussed the science of zombies and eaten candy. 😀

This past weekend, we went to the TELUS World of Science along with the All Boys [science] Club.  We took the train there and back (what an experience with over 20 grade 3-5 kids!) and played with LEGO, explored WowTown, the space-themed basement, the Creative Kids Museum and the (very loud) outdoor park.

The highlight of my visit (and most of the kids cheering me on) was getting the chance to go on the Electric G-Force Bike.  In a nutshell, they strap you in, tell you to hold down the green button, ask you if you’re ready and then blast you off on a continuous loop.  Update for those of you who have seen the G-Force Bike in the past: you no longer have to actually pedal the “bike” anymore–instead, it is now electronic (hence the name) and they strap your feet down and you hold on and enjoy the ride!

Here is the video of me partially freaking out on the Electric G-Force Bike, while I maintain my composure as a good example for the little guys and gals.  I got up to 4 Gs and you can hear the boys cheering for 5… gotta love them 😉

Are you a game developer or interested in becoming one?  Or do you just have some time to kill?  Whatever the reason, I have something you might be interested in.  Kongregate is a gaming website dedicated in hosting free games for anyone interested, but more importantly, it supports game developers by holding weekly, monthly and other special event contests to entice developers to make quality games for the community.  In return, the developers have the opportunity to win great cash prizes ranging from $250 to $1,500 and possibly more depending on the contests being held.  For example, STRIDE® gum is sponsoring a contest that has prizes totaling $25,000!

Even if you are not a game developer, Kongregate still has lots to offer to the player community.  They always have challenges going on with some of the games allowing the players the chance to win various prizes, such as popular video games or even computers.

This is a really unique website, and I love how they are able to interact with the community and support game development for anyone who wishes to give it a try.  Hopefully this will give any of you game developers out there some initiative to create some of the next top web games!  Enjoy!

These days, you don’t usually find many people who are not on Facebook. However, there still are those people that ask, “What is Facebook?” and I have dedicated this post to fill you all in – for those of you who are already very familiar with Facebook, let this be a little history lesson for you.

Facebook is a global social networking website that is operated and privately owned by Facebook Incorporated. Facebook users can add friends, send them messages, update their personal profiles to notify friends about themselves, and much more.  Additionally, users can join networks organized by city, workplace, school, and region.  The website’s name came from the informal name of books given at the start of the academic year by university administrations with the intention of helping students get to know each other better.

Mark Zuckerberg is founded Facebook, with the help of some of his college roommates and fellow computer science students while studying at Harvard University.  The website’s membership was initially limited to Harvard students, but was expanded to other colleges in the Boston area, the Ivy League, and Stanford University.  Later it expanded to included any university student, then high school students, and finally, to anyone age thirteen and older. Worldwide, Facebook has over 300 million active users currently.

Facebook is not allowed everywhere as it has met with some controversy.  It has been blocked in several countries including Syria, China, and Iran.  Workplaces also have banned it as to discourage employees from wasting time using the service.  Privacy has also been an issue, and it has been compromised several times.  Facebook settled a lawsuit regarding claims over source code and intellectual property.

In January of 2009, A Complete.com study ranked Facebook as the most used social network by worldwide monthly active users, followed by MySpace.

To get a bit more of a general idea on Facebook, click here!  Want to get an account or just sign in? Click here!

Want to become a fan of Youth Are Awesome on Facebook?  Click here 🙂

“I declare that the Beatles are mutants. Prototypes of evolutionary agents sent by God, endowed with a mysterious power to create a new human species, a young race of laughing freemen.” – Timothy Leary

Raging crowds, raving teens, and disapproving parents, what do all three of these things have in common?  You guessed it!  The Beatles, also known as the Fab Four.  To this day, they are one of the most famous and popular rock and roll groups of all time.

The Beatles consist of George Harrison, John Lennon, Paul McCartney, and Richard Starkey also known as, Ringo Starr.  All of the Beatles where born and raised in Liverpool, England. John Lennon was considered the leader of the band.  He was a song writer, one of the two lead singers, and rhythm guitarist.  George Harrison was the lead guitarist.  Paul McCartney was a song writer, one of the two lead singers, and the bassist.  Ringo Starr played the drums.

John Lennon and Paul McCartney wrote some of the most supreme music ever, whether together or on their own.  Some songs, such as “I Am the Walrus,” composed by John Lennon, bring listeners on a psychedelic trip.  Others, like Paul McCartney’s piece, “Hey Jude,” have captivated audiences around the world, uniting every person whilst they sing, “Na, na, na,  Hey Jude.”  Ringo Starr and George Harrison also wrote songs for The Beatles, but far less than Lennon and McCartney.

Below is just one of their masterworks, “Hey Jude”. Stay tuned until next week for more of The Beatles!

[youtube BD3ovfZXO5Q]

The Calgary Stamps are well on their way to defending that sought-after Grey Cup!  They played the Edmonton Eskimos this past Sunday November 15th in the West Semifinal, and won 24-21 to advance to the Western final.

Next in the way of the cup are the Saskatchewan Roughriders, who play Calgary in the West Final next Sunday at 2:30pm. If Calgary wins, they’ll advance to the Grey Cup Finals, being played in Calgary on November 29th!

Hopefully the Stamps can keep their momentum going and redeem themselves against the riders! For more information, go to www.cfl.ca!

GO STAMPS!

Eva was born with Cystic Fibrosis (CF) – a genetic disease that affects 1 in 3600 Canadians, and which 1 in 25 Canadians carry the gene for.

Tonight is the television premiere of 65_RedRoses, an award-winning documentary made about 23 year-old Eva’s battle with CF – a disease which affects several organs of the body, mostly the digestive system and the lungs, and causes a buildup of mucous which causes infections and makes it really hard to breathe (imagine breathing through a drinking straw 24/7).  The median age of survival for CF is 37 years.

The documentary follows Eva as she waits for a double lung transplant, and centres on Eva’s online relationships (the title of the film comes from her online profile name) with other CF patients around the world through her blog.  I encourage you to check out her online journal – it’s a fantastically honest portrayal of what it is like living with CF and the amazing strength that it takes to deal with all that comes along with this fatal disease.

65_RedRoses airs tonight at 7pm on CBC’s The Passionate Eye, and I really encourage you to watch – I’m sure you’ll be inspired. 

If you would like more information on Cystic Fibrosis, you can check out the Canadian Cystic Fibrosis Foundation’s website.

Many of us know about the Ronald McDonald House up by the Alberta Children’s Hospital. The charity was first established in 1973 by Philadelphia Eagles player Fred Hill and his wife Fran when their daughter, Kimberly Hill, was diagnosised with lymphatic leukemia. They hoped to purchase and renovate a house near the hospital for the family, and partenered with local McDonald Restaurants, St. Christopher’s Hospital for Children, and with the Eagles football team to accomplish their goal.

In Calgary, we have our own Ronald McDonald House that helps hundred of families every year.  We also have a wonderful company called ChromaColour Creative Art Center.

The two have partenered up for an artsy fundraiser. “Painting a Future for Sick Kids and their Families” fundraiser is taking place December 5th, 2009 from 10:00am – 5:00pm at ChromaColour – #5, 1410-28 Street N.E.

 The event will showcase 20+ local artists and artisans. Everything from paintings to ceramics to silk purses to photography to animation art will be on display and on sale! Admission is free, but donations are appreciated. This is a great oppertunity to do some feel-good Christmas shopping and connect with local talent.

Imagine what it would be like to have someone in your family with a severe illness – or maybe you don’t have to imagine too hard. Either way, little makes a day brighter than knowing you’re helping out a wonderful charity like this.

Add it to your Facebook events. I hope to see you there!

Paper Towns is one of the best books I have every read.  Then one day, a thought hit me – if Paper Towns is my favorite novel, why haven’t I read more books from the same author?  It would make sense that if I’m look for a book similar to Paper Towns, I would read a book written by the author of Paper Towns.

So I went on the website of the Calgary Public Library and typed the name of the author (John Green) into there search engine.  As a result, I found four novels written by him – Paper Towns, Looking for Alaska, An Abundance of Katherines, and Let it Snow (3 connected stories by 3 authors including John) – so I requested the three that I haven’t read and I plan to share them with you.

My knowledge of John Green (as an author) is based on reviews, and the novel Paper Towns.  From what I know, he writes love stories for teenage guys.  By that I mean, he writes meaningful, well-done stories filled with themes and hilarious “guy humor”, but girls may like them too.

The book Paper Towns contain material not suited for readers under the age of 14 and his other novels may be the same.

Tune in next week for part 2 (Let it Snow).