What Defines a Character?

I imagine many of you are familiar with the newest Pixar heroine from last summer's film, Brave: Merida.

I thought she was pretty cool.

Disney is considering changing her appearance. They want her to look more like the image on the left:

Is this a big deal? Yes? No?

An artist named Matthew Bogart wrote about this issue on his blog. He is really thinking about what defines a character - what makes someone we have created through writing or artwork come alive in a certain way. What details about characters REALLY make them "who they are?"

He takes this on through a great comparison:

Would we care if the artist who drew Batman suddenly changed how HE looks?


Read Mr. Bogart's article here: http://thedaysarelongandshort.com/post/50220183714/the-brave-and-the-bold and then be ready to tell me what you think.

I would love comments below on what you think defines YOUR favorite characters in books or movies. What makes them special? What details could we never, ever change about them?

Force and Motion Games

Hi kiddos!

I am still home sick, so expect a few more in-class blog assignments over the next few days. You can visit all these sites at home, as well. We will be starting our Civil War simulation and continuing our discussions of a variety of marching songs when I return next Monday. Teaching Academy projects are still due Monday, May 13 - bring in a copy on Thursday to conference with a partner.



Today's blog assignment is below:

Below are links to several cool interactive games and simulations related to our studies of forces and motion. Try them out, then leave a comment describing a connection you can make between one of these activities and our investigations with our Kinex cars. Be sure you read your classmates' comments so that your comments are new ideas.

http://www.sciencekids.co.nz/gamesactivities/forcesinaction.html

http://www.edheads.org/activities/crash_scene/

http://sciencenetlinks.com/interactives/gravity.html

http://www.engineeringinteract.org/resources/parkworldplot/parkworldplotlink.htm

This is a nice review of force & motion concepts related to a rocket launch from NASA: