I am a green teacher.

 Read the rest at http://greenteacher.com/investigating-river-quarrying/

Aha?!

Dear GMA News,

I really appreciate your Infographic. Nevertheless, there are just things I would like you to improve in your succeeding release. I am sorry, but I cannot help to surmise that makers and designers of your Infographic need to undergo review of basic science concepts. This is the second time I am calling your attention. In your Infographic published at here, I would like to ask and bring to your attention the following,

1. Why is your mosquito although just a symbol having only 2 pairs of legs? It is an insect therefore it should have 3 pairs. If you justify that the pair at the rear is a leg then that makes our mosquito wingless and that makes your mosquito's legs swollen.  
2. Instead of sun to represent hotness, why don't you use thermometer instead? It gives an impression that those who are exposed to sun or 'naarawan' is susceptible to mosquitoes.
 
3. I don't know if using several colors entails additional expense in publishing the work because if it does not, applying red color to the bulb of thermometer would have made the illustration better.
4. In 'nakasuot ka ng itim' illustration, this makes me wonder if designer fails to consider person as common denominator. This one is different from the rest. This simply shows that a working concept was not done.

5. The two "pawis" illustrations can be made into one idea.

6. Should it be better if we use 'sa loob' rather than 'sa ilalim'? The former is inside while the latter is under. It seems to me that the person is 'nakadapa' and not 'nakahiga'.
 
7. Lotion and patch are not represented, only spray.

8. In 'mga sangkap', it is important to provide how much asukal and yeast to be mixed with other ingredients. This is to ensure that it will really last for 2 weeks.
 
9. You convince readers better if you use actual picture rather than drawing of what you have prepared yourself.

10 Do red lines represent the flow of carbon dioxide? Well carbon dioxide is colorless as far as I know but if the purpose is to illustrate the production of gas, why then use red which is associated with something dangerous. Please hire a science communicator to do or review the Infographics before publication.

Ang napa AHA,

Aris

Ikaw ba ay malakas at maganda ngunit matalino pa?

Dear children of God,


Have you not even wondered why people were so disappointed that our lone participant to Sochi Olympics and the first ever to participate in figure skating did not receive ample financial support from the Philippine government? In fact, one meme came out to compare the priorities of government when it comes to support our gifted in sports.

Have you not wondered how aghast most of us when we learned that the reigning Ms International 2013 was given only a mock donation of 20 pesos? See fro yourself the comment thread by clicking the pic below.

I believe that you have heard several accounts of limited financial support by OUR GOVERNMENT to our gifted citizens competing in an international arena. However, when we speak of government, are we not also a part of this so-called government? Are we not a bit and parcel of this so-called government? Rather than point fingers and blame anyone, cannot we get our acts together and do something? One of the ways to have a better government is by voting wisely.


Now for the last question, if you happen to know that a gifted in science will join a competition cannot be given a full support, will it also receive the same level of on-line indignation and more importantly 'support' in whatever form? Take for a case of plead for support below:



Kaya hindi ko maiwasang magtanong kung bakit ganoon na lang nating sumbatan ang gobyerno sa kakulangan nito upang supurtahan ang ating kalahok sa larangan ng PALAKASAN at PAGANDAHAN? Maging ganoon rin ba ang ating magiging damdamin kung ito ay mangyari sa larangan ng PATALINUHAN? Hanggang sa LAKAS at GANDA na lamang ba tayo?

Kaya kung tayo ay hanggang lakas at ganda, itong panawagan ay ipagkibing balikat mo na lamang. Pero kung ikaw ay malakas, maganda at saka MATALINO PA, gagawin mo ang mga sumusunod na mungkahi ko.

1. Dahil mag aaral ka na tumatangagap ng stipend, magsasakrispisyo ka at mag aambag mula sa iyong stipend.

2. Maging mas makabuluhan ang iyong suporta kung handa mong isakripisyo ang perang nakalaan sa mga luho pansamantala upang madagdagan ang pambaon ng kaeskwela. Kung tutuusin, sa bawat pagkakataong ako ay mangibang bansa upang maglahad ng aking pananaliksik, lagi akong nabibigyan ng baon ng inyong mga guro gaano man kakarampot ang sweldo. Kahit sa pagpunta ko dito sa Japan, nagbigay rin sila kahit papaano.

The act of giving is not what you give after what is left but giving something even when you don't have anymore to give. Don't give just because you feel sorry, give because it is the kind thing to do. So are you kind enough?

Labyu,

Aris

How I became Alice of the Wonderland?

I had have enough of miscommunication due to my failure to adapt to how 'r' is uttered as between 'd' and 'l' sound. Usually it sounds 'l' to me.

Case 1:
nihonjin: ohayou alis.
aris: what did you say?
nihonjin: alis
aris: no it is A-ris, Aris.
nihonjin: alis.
aris: why don't you say arigatou?
nihonjin: ari..
aris: ok, then add 's"
nihonjin: alis
aris: aalis na lang ako dito.
and that is how I became Alice of the Wonderland here in Japan.

and the contrast, Case 2,  when 'l' becomes 'r'
nihonjin: alis, next week is erection
aris: what?
nihonjin: erection day
aris: *confused* so what do you do?
nihonjin:people vote for new governor
aris: lechehan

case 3
nihonjin: did you see the new praystation?
aris: where?
nihonjin: tyotto matte *shows*
aris: oh dear, it is playstation. *kamehame wave*

case 4
aris: have you seen the zero gravity of kate upton?
nihonjin: nope
aris: come here i will show you.
nihonjin: is she single?
aris: yes she is single
nihonjin: honto? really?
aris: yes she is. check it.
nihonjin: *reads an article in wikipedia and suddenly* you are a liar!
aris: what is the problem?
nihonjin: you said she is single but she is already a mother.
aris: how can that be? let me see the article and HAHAHA!The model becomes mother.


Note: This posting has the consent of the concerned parties involved.

How science can make you a better communicator?

Dear children of God,

The above Infographic was published by GMA News Research Center in line with the Feast of the Black Nazarene for this year. When I made the decision to inform the news agency, the post already garnered 979 likes and 74 shares. How can they afford to publish something like this? And so I wrote,

"Dear GMA News,
Attention: Agatha Guidaben, GMA News Research
First, I would like to thank the staff for coming up with an Infographic. The Infographic on Black Nazarene somehow caught my attention because of very obvious 'errors'.
1. When you make a table, there should be no repetition of entries. The units, hours and millions, should had been placed on top.
2. Numbers should be right aligned, if not, at least align the decimal places.
3. The information is BETTER presented as a graph and not in tabular form.
4. Infographic means making it more graphical. Grandstand should be depicted better if the image/symbol of grandstand is used, the picture of actual Jones bridge for the bridge and of course Quiapo church for the church.
5. You could have settled for the past six years because data is missing in 2007. In using six years of data, you can already substantiate the information that devotees are increasing.
6. If you have thought of item number 5, you can only provide a 'cleaner' Infographic by adding start/end label near the picture of Quirino and Quiapo Church picture.
7. At least 1/2 of the Infographic is occupied by the title and the design. I don't understand what is really the greater aim, to visually entertain or infotainment.
8. The unit kms is wrong. It is not a standard unit.

Sincerely,

Aris"





Out of curiosity, I checked the Infographic published by Inquirer and aghast is an understatement to describe how I felt seeing,


It got only 533 likes less than that of GMA News but with greater number of shares. I wrote both of them on the same day, January 9 but I got a reply only from GMA News after 19 days had passed.

Unfortunately, Rappler did not publish an Infographic about Nazarene on that day. It would be very interesting considering that Rappler seems to have mathematically and scientifically accurate Infographics. The thing I would like to point out is how your science and math lessons on data presentation or research in particular gives you an edge over those who don't take their lessons seriously. Second, your Science Research makes you a better communicator of information.

siraris

How can a helium-filled ballon be the cause of a fire?

Reading the last statement of the news article above adapted from The Daily Guardian saddens me because it is already 2014 yet there are still so many misconceptions about Helium. My intention is not to blame anyone but the entire system on how we teach probably science.

From my recollection of basic Chemistry concepts, HELIUM IS NOT FLAMMABLE. How can it be the cause of a fire? How about the rubber or the balloon itself? If it caught fire, won't it deflate abruptly? Likewise, I don't think that a flame from a candle can raise the temperature of a balloon that fast. i can only surmise that the balloon was filled with a different gas, but not helium. I smell something here but never think it is helium because helium is odorless.

Now consider the Periodic Table of Elements below.


 photo  source

Helium is known as a noble gas. It is sometimes described as an inert gas. From my limited English, inert means nonreactive or stable. Again, how can helium be the cause of a fire?Note to self (and also to other science enthusiasts): I will make sure that I teach the basic science (Chemistry) concepts and interrelate it with its immediate use of learning.

Dugang nga mga pamangkot:


- Insa nagcandle lighting (kung nagsindi gid man sa gin aligar) pa tanda liwat sa kwarto tapos JS?
- Kung ang JS Prom isa na ka paghiwat ukon party, insa may post-prom party pa gid?
- Kung ang JS Prom pagtao kang responsibilidad halin sa senior paagto sa junior, diin nag apok ang responsibilidad nga amo ang una nga katuyuan sang JS Prom?
- Kung magasto na nga daan ang JS, insa magasto pa gid sa kwarto sa isa ka hotel nga mas barato iguan kung masugat sila tapso JS?
- Kung ginhikanan kaw insa waay kaw it dibir nga man-anon kung maano pa gid sanda tapos kang JS kag kung may pahinugot daya kang eskulahan?
- Insa nga gapanghalawhaw kaw sa gastos para sugaton kag siguraduhon nga makauli ya bata mo tapos JS? Mas importante bala ang kwarta nga kinuton kaysa sa tanduhay mo nga panghunahuna kung diin don ang MENOR DE EDAD mo nga bata?