FYI: A Timely Exhibit in this Christmas Season

On KUHF yesterday, I heard about a new exhibit at the Houston Museum of Natural History called 'the Birth of Christianity: a Jewish Story'. It features, among other things, a stone tablet newly discovered containing what they're calling 'Gabriel's Prophecy' in which the Angel Gabriel tells of the Messiah who will die and then rise from the dead after three days. The KUHF feature on the stone tablet can be found here.

From the Houston Museum of Natural History site:

Explore the cultural, political and personal events that shaped Jerusalem and the surrounding region more than 2,000 years ago in The Birth of Christianity: A Jewish Story. View the earliest known manuscript containing the story of Christ's birth in the oldest known copy of the New Testament Book of Luke. Examine other ancient manuscripts including the prophetic Old Testament Book of Isaiah - one of the original Dead Sea Scrolls found at Qumran. Witness history first hand and be among the first to view a host of other authentic artifacts from this fascinating time and place, which to this day remains one of the world's most important and influential cultural intersections.

The exhibit runs from December 13th through April 12th, so there's plenty of time to get down and see it. Museum hours and admission prices can be found at the site. I hope to make a family outing of our visit.

Link of the Week: Waterford Press

Free Games, Activities and More

• Waterford Press is a small company which specializes in pocket-size books for travelers and naturalists. Their traveling line includes Speakeasy, City, Eco-Traveler for various destinations. Their naturalist line includes national, regional, and state guides.
• On the Waterfordpress.com website, they provide games, activities, and quizzes which are free to download in PDF format. Files can then be printed and saved for repeated use. All foster interest and stimulate learning about the earth sciences.
  
• Their Games Category is quite comprehensive, and, as demonstrated in the Maze links below, the range of material includes all Primary-age skill levels. Subcategories include:
  
• Mazes beginning moderate advanced
• Be an Artist (drawing grids) example
• Color Me example
  
• Dot-to-Dots example
• Crossword Puzzles example
• Fold-ins example
• Word Search example
• Picture Scramble example
• Make Words example
• Name Scramble example
• Name Match example
• Oddball Out example
• Oragami example
• Spot the Differences example
  
• Who Am I? example
  
• Shadow Know-How example
  
• The Activities Category offers step-by-step instructions for hands-on learning and experimentation. Subcategories include:
• Animals example
• Plants example
• Weather example
• Geology example
• The files in the Quiz category are informative and cater to varied learning levels. Subcategories include:
• Animals example
  
• Night Sky example
  
• Weather example
  
• Geology example
• Room for improvement:
• Downloading is only available one page at a time which feels lumbrous. It would be much more convenient were one able to download a subcategory at a time, or at the very least, all the pages of one particular game, activity, or quiz.
• Some pages could use better formating, with compression and multiple activities per page.
  
• The website formatting feels clunky, and the webmaster should demonstrate enough familiarity with HTML to prevent column overlap which is dependent upon individual browser settings. This is a simple thing to correct and one wonders why they do not, especially since they know about the problem.
  
• Summary: The uneven production values for both the site and the material itself hampers an overall positive impression, and reflects poorly upon the company's retail material. However, this free site offers fun and interesting games and activities for children ages pre-K to 5th- or 6th-grade skill levels, which foster parental involvement. It is a good resource for Cub Scouts, Activity Days, FHE, quiet time, and road trips; could also be used as lesson enhancers for home study.
  

Things to know:
URL: http://www.waterfordpress.com/entergame.html
Sponsor: Waterford Press
Emphasis: Primary Earth-studies Education
Rating: 3/5 Not as professional as one would wish but with good educational intentions