Mind Rockets

Backed by stunning illustrations, David Christian narrates a complete history of the universe, from the Big Bang to the Internet, in a riveting 18 minutes. This is "Big History": an enlightening, wide-angle look at complexity, life and humanity, set against our slim share of the cosmic timeline.

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We started our session with a short warming exercise in Big History listening to David Christian’s History of the Universe in 18 minutes. We will continue after vacation. Next, came a discussion on rockets: the stages and rigors they undergo at launch and the underlying physics that drive them: Newton's Laws of Motion. With the remaining time we designed several uniquely different straw rockets, each iteration having their thoughts guided to thinking critically as to how to improve their design. Their first designs traveled a few feet, but by the end of class their small rockets were blasting across the room.