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# Gold Academy: Private Education and Corporate Training

Optimal thought and optimal fitness through reason, logic, science, passion, and wisdom.

## Sitemaps

- [XML Sitemap](https://goldams.com/sitemap.xml): Contains all public & indexable URLs for this website.

## Posts

- [Blog](https://goldams.com/blog/) - A Rational Perspective on All Things Education All Through Life
- [Student Successes](https://goldams.com/student-successes-2/) - In other news, a student ended up with an 88 on his final and an 89 for the term in college chemistry. Another ended up with a 92 on her final and maybe 95 for the term in college economics. (She said that most people failed the class. Sounds like it could’ve been 20 out
- [School Year Successes](https://goldams.com/school-year-successes/) - While I am never satisfied with how well I taught or with how well students learned to reason and each to be a better person (I aim for what MLK Jr. said education should be about in his “The Purpose of Education”), I must have made some positive impact and done some good over the
- [What is Real?](https://goldams.com/what-is-real/) - My current listen on Audible: What is Real? by Adam Becker. Description: “Every physicist agrees quantum mechanics is among humanity's finest scientific achievements. But ask what it means, and the result will be a brawl. For a century, most physicists have followed Niels Bohr's Copenhagen interpretation and dismissed questions about the reality underlying quantum physics
- [Preparing For Athletic Performance: Some Science](https://goldams.com/preparing-for-athletic-performance-some-science/) - Interesting podcast episode on how learning, consciousness, neuroplasticity, and preparation for movement all interplay. Show description: “Revisiting the topic of calibration in direct learning, with a specific focus on why we lose calibration when not practicing. The blessing and curse of having a high learning rate. “Articles: Better with each throw—a study on calibration and
- [The Tao of Wing Chun](https://goldams.com/the-tao-of-wing-chun/) - And before the book What is Real, I listened to the Tao of Wing Chun. Good book. Interesting stuff. Description: “Wing Chun is the most popular form of Chinese Kung Fu in the world today, with over four million practitioners. The art as it is presently understood has been handed down from teacher to student
- [Sherlock Holmes, Induction, and Deduction](https://goldams.com/sherlock-holmes-induction-and-deduction/) - So what did Sherlock Holmes do in his cases? He was very observant -- and isn't that induction? But he's supposed to be about deduction. So what's going on? What's the story? Here's an answer. Image from "Sherlock Holmes" on Wikipedia.
- [MLK Was Right on Education](https://goldams.com/mlk-was-right-on-education/) - As Martin Luther King, Jr., wrote: Education must also train one for quick, resolute and effective thinking. To think incisively and to think for one’s self is very difficult. We are prone to let our mental life become invaded by legions of half truths, prejudices, and propaganda. At this point, I often wonder whether or
- [Root Cause Analysis: When Is It Complete?](https://goldams.com/root-cause-analysis-when-is-it-complete/) - I've heard some people ask when root-cause analysis is complete and how far they should go. Here is an answer. Image from Wikipedia.
- [What You Need To Know About Sherlock Holmes and Induction](https://goldams.com/what-you-need-to-know-about-sherlock-holmes-and-induction/) - Brett McKay does good intellectual work on his "Art of Manliness" Podcast, and I'd like to see him dig deeper into it and develop his rational, intellectual abilities more. So here's one way, in my opinion, he can do that, gain more mental and physical prowess, and help his listeners do the same. I'm striving
- [Think For Yourself](https://goldams.com/think-for-yourself/) - Amen. Rational, logical thought is a sacred “obligation” and practice. We should each practice it. We should help each other with it. It should be instituted in our culture. It should be taught to students in schools. Teachers should be practitioners and masters of it. Managers in companies and administrators in schools should practice it.
- [Physics Needs To Return To the Philosophical Principles of Newton and Galileo](https://goldams.com/physics-needs-to-return-to-the-philosophical-principles-of-newton-and-galileo/) - Agreed. Galileo explicitly rejected Platonism in favor of Aristotelianism:“Galileo’s radical renewal sprang, nevertheless, from the Aristotelian mind set, as it was taught at the Jesuits’ Collegio Romano: human reason has a basic ability to recognize and understand the objects registered by the senses. The objects are real. They have properties that can be perceived, and
- [The Ecological Approach Should Reject Bad Epistemology](https://goldams.com/the-ecological-approach-should-reject-bad-philosophy-epistemology/) - Dr. Rob Gray does good work in the Ecological Approach to perception and training, and I'd like to see him dig deeper into it and develop his basic ideas more. So here's one way, in my opinion, he can get rid of an unintended contradiction, and make his position stronger. I'm striving to be in
- [Mainstream Education Is Broken -- How Do We Fix It?](https://goldams.com/mainstream-education-is-broken-how-do-we-fix-it/) - Thoughts on improving education —so we end our children can have better lives. Image from "John Dewey" on Wikipedia.
- [How To Improve Your Thinking and Creativity](https://goldams.com/how-to-improve-your-thinking-and-creativity/) - Amen. This is how it should be done. Not that “direct instruction“ is wrong or anything like that, it’s just a small part of the picture. And this is not an argument for “unschooling“ or anything like that. This video gives us an idea of what should be done in education, and what a good
- [Examples Are Critical To Thinking Well](https://goldams.com/examples-are-critical-to-thinking-well/) - Examples are important in thinking well. They are, after all, the source of our concepts and ideas. They keep us focused on reality, and help keep us from getting lost in errant, "speculative" thought. They are where we should look to learn more about a thing. Of course, we have to be selective and wise
- [How To Improve Your Thinking and Creativity, 2](https://goldams.com/how-to-improve-your-thinking-and-creativity-2/) - Another good video, with great advice from Richard Feynman. Image from "Richard Feynman" on Wikipedia.
- [We Need The Ecological Approach To Visual Perception](https://goldams.com/we-need-the-ecological-approach-to-visual-perception/) - Here are some good podcast episodes by Dr. Rob Gray about the work of JJ Gibson, who developed the Ecological Approach. Image from "Parkour" on Wikipedia.
- [The Origin of the Concept of "Potential Energy" 2](https://goldams.com/the-origin-of-the-concept-of-potential-energy-2/) - In "On the general law of the transformation of energy" (The London, Edinburgh, and Dublin Philosophical Magazine and Journal of Science, Series 4, Volume 5, 1853 - Issue 30), William John Macquorn Rankine (C.E., F.R.S.E., F.R.S.S.A.) introduced the term "potential energy" into science in 1853: In this investigation the term energy is used to comprehend
- [The Origin of the Concept of "Potential Energy" 3](https://goldams.com/the-origin-of-the-concept-of-potential-energy-3/) - In "On the Phrase Potential Energy" (1867), William Rankine wrote, in response to a criticism by John Herschel: In the course of an essay by John Herschel “On the Origin of Force,” which appeared some time ago in the Fortnightly Review, and has lately been republished in a volume, entitled Familiar Lectures on Scientific Subjects,
- [The Master Works of Peter Taylor Quidley](https://goldams.com/the-master-works-of-peter-taylor-quidley/) - The Master Works of Peter Taylor Quidley is a Website worth visiting! He does some nice work; see especially his figuratives. His "about the artist" page says: According to one critic, "The first thing you notice about Peter Quidley's oil paintings is the shimmering, lustrous character of the light which seems to radiate from the
- [Push-Ups Variations](https://goldams.com/push-ups-variations/) - Because exercise helps us think better and live better, as discussed in Spark: The Revolutionary New Science of Exercise and the Brain by Dr. John Ratey.
- [Bad School Management/Administration: An Example](https://goldams.com/bad-school-management-administration-an-example/) - As this post on Quora illustrates, sometimes good teachers are eliminated by bad managers/administrators. Such managers/administrators should be rooted out, disciplined, and, if necessary, fired — if, that is, we care about education, the youth, and their future. "I was working at a major Australian university, lecturing in mathematics and statistics. The deputy head, who
- [How To Explain](https://goldams.com/how-to-explain/) - We go to a training session or meet with a boss, but no one comes out understanding what they were attempting to explain. Why is that? We explain something to others, but they don’t get it. How could we do better? Why does that happen? Why are those explanations ineffective? How can we explain well
- [Three Essential Skills of Root-cause Analysis and Problem-solving](https://goldams.com/three-essential-skills-of-root-cause-analysis-and-problem-solving/) - To improve at root-cause analysis and problem solving, we need to improve our reasoning skills, Q&A skills, and curiosity. They are essential. Questioning Asking and answering questions well is an art. It takes practice and insight. And here I do not mean only asking questions of other people. I mean asking and answering questions in
- [Etymology Is Cool](https://goldams.com/etymology-is-cool/) - I love etymology. In fact, I have an etymology app on my phone. It’s fascinating knowing where words came from and how they developed, and it sometimes helps grasp or remember the meaning of a word. I sometimes use it when teaching. It’s helped people get, for example, mitosis vs. meiosis, and some stages of the cell cycle: prophase, metaphase, anaphase,
- [A Critical Thinking Skill: Thinking in Principles](https://goldams.com/a-critical-thinking-skill-thinking-in-principles/) - To think better, in life and at work, we should practice identifying basic ideas in things we read or hear. We often read something, but don’t stop to consider what all things the idea really applies to. We get “stuck” in one situation, and don’t grasp the broader application. Or implication. It’s like we learn
- [A Critical-Thinking Tool To Help Us Make Good Decisions and Stay True In All Our Thinking](https://goldams.com/decision-making-a-structure/) - In making good decisions at work and at home, in judging people at work and at home, in learning abstract ideas, we need a process. We need a format, a structure, and some standards to make sure we think efficiently, stay connected to reality, and stay committed to the truth. We need logic. Logic, after
- [A Response to Criticism: How to Respond So as to Encourage Better Thought in a Better World, Rather Than to Add to the Prejudice and Poor Thinking](https://goldams.com/a-response-to-criticism-responding-to-make-better-thought-in-a-better-world-rather-than-to-add-to-the-prejudice-and-poor-thinking/) - While we might have to be harsh to some people some times, we should more often strive to forge a more rational, ethical world. So, in a response to some ad hominem attacks to a comment I wrote on Facebook, I wrote the following (written initially in Nov 2022, but edited here for significant improvements).
- [A Tool To Control Bad Management and Encourage Good](https://goldams.com/a-tool-to-control-bad-management/) - We’ve all had a bad manager(s), or know someone who has. It’s an unfortunate ancient human tradition, one most of us wish was gone or at least minimized by now. We are rational, self-sovereign social animals — but that means we are social animals and we have free will. Each of us makes choices about our character
- [Happy Holidays!](https://goldams.com/happy-holidays-3/)
- [Truth](https://goldams.com/truth-2/) - Amidst and against those who lie, those who evade, and those who wish but do nothing, Wonder Woman says: "I've never wanted anything more. But he's gone [Steve Trevor, the man she loved], and that's the truth. And everything has a price. One I'm not willing to pay. Not any more. This world was a
- [Happy (Belated) Winter Solstice!](https://goldams.com/happy-belated-winter-solstice/) - The day the sun stands still, as the etymology says. Some ancients thought -- sensibly enough in context of the knowledge and methods humans had developed at that point -- that the sun went around the earth. Getting more advanced, to explain why the sun was higher in the sky at some times during the
- [Upcoming ACT Prep Courses!](https://goldams.com/upcoming-act-prep-courses/) - For more information, see the class on Outschool.
- [Upcoming SAT Prep Courses!](https://goldams.com/upcoming-sat-prep-courses/) - For more information, see the class on Outschool.
- [Upcoming Geometry Class!](https://goldams.com/upcoming-geometry-class/) - Starting in January 2024 on Outschool.
- [Recommended: The Elements of Astronomy](https://goldams.com/recommended-the-elements-of-astronomy/) - The Elements of Astronomy by Simon Newcomb appears to be a good introductory book to astronomy. You can see chapter 2 of the book at the Website of the physics department of CSBSJU or you can download a PDF of the entire book on the Internet Archive for free. The book was printed in 1900
- [Management of Self and Others](https://goldams.com/management-of-self-or-others/) - To manage well, we should follow principles of Extreme Ownership (re book by Willink and Babin) and The Five Whys (root cause analysis), and be committed to the truth -- or else we are failures at management.
- [A Static and Kinetic Friction Problem](https://goldams.com/a-static-and-kinetic-friction-problem/)
- [Physics, Logic, Galileo, and the Historical Development of Science](https://goldams.com/physics-logic-galileo-and-the-historical-development-of-science/)
- [A on an Algebra Final!](https://goldams.com/a-on-algebra-final/) - I just heard Tuesday that a student of mine got an A on his algebra final exam! Sweet! Congrats DB! On top of that, he goes to one of the top 50 private schools in the United States. I started tutoring him this semester in algebra, starting at the end of April. That exam was
- [A on a Precal Test!](https://goldams.com/a-on-a-precal-test/) - At the end of May, I found out a student got a 100 on a precal exam! Sweet! Congrats HL! He goes to one of the top private schools in Houston, one which is also highly rated in the US. He was all worried and feeling like he didn’t understand the material two days before
- [Stuff From students From the 90s](https://goldams.com/stuff-from-students-from-the-90s/) - Stuff from students from the 90s. I had totally forgotten about this stuff, but found it while cleaning out around home recently. A nice find! :) The letter was an essay the student wrote in an English class on Teacher Appreciation Day. The English teacher must have given it to me, with permission of the
- [Word vs. Meaning 2Jun2023](https://goldams.com/word-vs-meaning-2jun2023-2/) - Words are a tool of thought, but not thought itself. And communication comes from learning the speaker’s mental content.
- [Critical Thinking vs. "Critical Thinking" 2Jun2023](https://goldams.com/critical-thinking-vs-critical-thinking-2jun2023/)
- [An Origin of the Concept 'Freedom'](https://goldams.com/origin-of-the-concept-freedom/) - In the entry "Ama-gi" on Wikipedia, they write: "Ama-gi is a Sumerian word written 𒂼𒄄 ama-gi or 𒂼𒅈𒄄 ama-ar-gi. It has been translated as 'freedom', as well as 'manumission', 'exemption from debts or obligations', and 'the restoration of persons and property to their original status' including the remission of debts. Other interpretations include a 'reversion
- [Physical Education: Master Your Environment (10May2023)](https://goldams.com/physical-education-master-your-environment-10may2023/) - Engage yourself and your students with a complex environment. Train ways to move in it efficiently and well. Turn obstacles into fitness tools.
- [A Philosophy of Fitness/Physical Education](https://goldams.com/a-philosophy-of-fitness-physical-education/)
- [Physical Education: Master Your Environment (2Aug2014)](https://goldams.com/physical-education-master-your-environment-2aug2014/) - Engage yourself and your students with a complex environment.
- [Beautiful Barred Owl Feather](https://goldams.com/beautiful-barred-owl/) - A Barred Owl secondary wing feather I found today. Gorgeous.
- [Aristotle vs. Plato](https://goldams.com/aristotle-vs-plato/) - "If Plato's prose was silver, Aristotle's was a flowing river of gold." --Cicero Context of quote from its source, the History Channel's entry on Aristotle: "Aristotle's surviving works were likely meant as lecture notes rather than literature, and his now-lost writings were apparently of much better quality. The Roman philosopher Cicero said that 'If Plato's
- ["Does Gravity Have A Value? | Gravity And Me | Spark"](https://goldams.com/does-gravity-have-a-value-gravity-and-me-spark/)
- [Projectile Motion](https://goldams.com/projectile-motion/) - A bowling ball going through hoops.
- ["Galileo's Measure Of Gravity Explained By Jim Al-Khalili | The Amazing World Of Gravity | Spark"](https://goldams.com/galileos-measure-of-gravity-explained-by-jim-al-khalili-the-amazing-world-of-gravity-spark/) - Beautiful and well done.
- [Checkered White](https://goldams.com/checkered-white/)
- [Cantares Mexicanos](https://goldams.com/cantares-mexicanos/) - In the Cantares Mexicanos entry on Wikipedia, they write: "The Cantares Mexicanos is the name given to a manuscript collection of Nahuatl songs or poems recorded in the 16th century. The 91 songs of the Cantares form the largest Nahuatl song collection, containing over half of all known traditional Nahuatl songs. It is currently located
- [My Teaching Philosophy](https://goldams.com/my-teaching-philosophy/) - "Education must also train one for quick, resolute and effective thinking. To think incisively and to think for one’s self is very difficult. We are prone to let our mental life become invaded by legions of half truths, prejudices, and propaganda. At this point, I often wonder whether or not education is fulfilling its purpose.
- ["Vacation" Etymology](https://goldams.com/vacation-etymology/) - The entry for "vacation" in the Online Etymology Dictionary says: "late 14c., 'freedom from obligations, leisure, release' (from some activity or occupation), from Old French vacacion 'vacancy, vacant position' (14c.) and directly from Latin vacationem (nominative vacatio) 'leisure, freedom, exemption, a being free from duty, immunity earned by service,' noun of state from past-participle stem
- [Wisdom from Marie Curie](https://goldams.com/wisdom-from-marie-curie/) - "Life is not easy for any of us. But what of that? We must have perseverance and above all confidence in ourselves. We must believe that we are gifted for something and that this thing must be attained.” "Nothing in life is to be feared; it is only to be understood.” "am among those who
- [Fires & Controlled Burns](https://goldams.com/fires-controlled-burns/) - In "Montague Plains Wildlife Management Area," they write: "Paleoecological evidence strongly suggests fire was a common occurrence on the Montague Plains from 500 to at least 2,000 years before European settlement. Throughout North America, prehistoric Native Americans used fire as a landscape management tool to increase browse and mast for game species, drive game, increase
- [Temporal Discrepancy](https://goldams.com/temporal-discrepancy/) - And now, after the silly game-playing with clocks, we are off solar noon, the true noon -- even more than the time zone thing causes, but the time zone thing ain't bad, I think. Image from GeoTimeDate, but from 12Mar2023. See also: ‘Spring forward’ to daylight saving time brings surge in deadly crashes by Lisa
- [Mistake vs. Blunder vs. Error vs. Slip vs. Lapse](https://goldams.com/mistake-vs-blunder-vs-error-vs-slip-vs-lapse/) - How cool is that??
- [Hydrology](https://goldams.com/hydrology/) - In "Introduction to USGS Streamgaging," they write: "How Streamflow is Measured "As you're enjoying yourself sitting on the peaceful bank of a local river, one question you may ask yourself is 'How much water is flowing in this river?' You've come to the right place for an answer. The USGS has been measuring streamflow on thousands
- [Reading: The State of the Art](https://goldams.com/reading-the-state-of-the-art/) - In the Clarion Call of the Pope Center, a Mr. Thomas Bertonneau has an article entitled "What, Me Read?" The editor of the Clarion says: This is the first in a three-part series (to be published on Fridays). By analyzing the responses of his Survey of Literature students on their exams, Thomas F. Bertonneau, who
- [Raccoons](https://goldams.com/raccoons/) - In "Raccoon Hands and Their Amazing Sense Of Touch," Bill Dowd writes: While other mammals do have paws that enable them to hold food and make nests, A raccoon's hands are quite unique and especially dexterous. These mammals use their hands for a variety of tasks, including: -Wetting food and other objects to gauge their
- [Thank You MLK, JR.](https://goldams.com/thank-you-mlk-jr/)
- [Dewey's Formal Steps of Instruction](https://goldams.com/17937-2/) - On pp. 201-204 of How We Think, John Dewey wrote: "In the recitation the teacher comes into his closest contact with the pupil. In the recitation focus the possibilities of guiding children's activities, influencing their language habits, and directing their observations. In discussing the significance of the recitation as an instrumentality of education, we are accordingly
- [Questions For Anyone Who Teaches: Parents, Teachers, Trainers, Bosses, & More](https://goldams.com/questions-for-anyone-who-teaches-parents-teachers-trainers-bosses-more/) - On pp. 204-205 of How We Think, John Dewey wrote: "Lack of any preparation on the part of a teacher leads, of course, to a random, haphazard recitation, its success depending on the inspiration of the moment, which may or may not come. Preparation in simply the subject-matter conduces to a rigid order, the teacher
- [Nihilism](https://goldams.com/nihilism/) - An unfortunate suffering on the part of some moderns and an unfortunate influence on our world. "Nihilism is the belief that all values are baseless and that nothing can be known or communicated. It is often associated with extreme pessimism and a radical skepticism that condemns existence. A true nihilist would believe in nothing, have
- [Physical Education: Awareness & Cognitive Training Should be Part of Fitness Training (30Dec2022)](https://goldams.com/physical-education-awareness-cognitive-training-should-be-part-of-fitness-training-30dec2022/)
- [Balance (4Jan2023)](https://goldams.com/balance-4jan2023/) - Balance matters.. It’s an underappreciated an undertrained skill. We need it for optimal, efficient running, walking, lifting, carrying, fall prevention, etc. I walked along the whole entire railing under both lanes of traffic, two bridges of I-10 for eastbound and westbound traffic. So maybe the total distance was 100 yards, more or less. It was
- [ReasonRx Podcast Episode 59 Dr. Jon Morey on Fitness, Thriving, and Making the Most of the Outdoors](https://goldams.com/reasonrx-podcast-episode-59-dr-jon-morey-on-fitness-thriving-and-making-the-most-of-the-outdoors/) - Episode also available on many, many podcast apps, as well as free on Amazon and Audible. Dr. Jon Morey joins us to discuss-being outdoors and making the most of it-benefits of nature-his background and fitness journey-physical therapy-our fitness culture-MovNat-and more Show and show notes available on the podcast host site.
- [ReasonRx Podcast Episode 60 Dr. Jon Morey Talks the Pros and Cons of Modern Physical Education](https://goldams.com/reasonrx-podcast-episode-60-dr-jon-morey-talks-the-pros-and-cons-of-modern-physical-education/) - Episode also available on many, many podcast apps, as well as free on Amazon and Audible. Dr. Jon Morey is back to talk about modern physical education, its pros and cons, and what we can do to do it better. Show and show notes available on the podcast host stie.
- [Balance (3May2021)](https://goldams.com/balance-3may2021/)
- [ReasonRx Podcast Episode 63 Lies, Damned Lies -- and Truth -- About Statistics](https://goldams.com/reasonrx-podcast-episode-63-lies-damned-lies-and-truth-about-statistics/) - Episode also available on many, many podcast apps, as well as free on Amazon and Audible. In this episode I discuss the great, classic article "The Median Isn't the Message" by Stephen Jay Gould. We delve into the article, its meaning, and lots of the depth and breadth we can get out of it. It
- [ReasonRx Podcast Episode 64 Teaching Physics: Making Physics Relevant To Human Thought and Human Life](https://goldams.com/reasonrx-podcast-episode-64-teaching-physics-making-physics-relevant-to-human-thought-and-human-life/) - Episode also available on many, many podcast apps, as well as free on Amazon and Audible. In this episode I read Dr. Michael Fowler's "Teaching Heat: the Rise and Fall of the Caloric Theory" and discuss its significance. It recommends teaching physics historically, which also helps students learn science, logic, and reasoning, which they need
- [ReasonRx Podcast Episode 65 Teacher Scott Harris on the Most Important Subject to Teach: Philosophy](https://goldams.com/reasonrx-podcast-episode-65-teacher-scott-harris-on-the-most-important-subject-to-teach-philosophy/) - Episode also available on many, many podcast apps, as well as free on Amazon and Audible. In this episode, Scott Harris joins us to discuss:-what philosophy is-why you need it-why students need it-why it should be taught-his background in all that-how he teaches it-his scope and sequence-what students get out of it-some of his teacing
- [Karl Popper Critique, Part 6 (1Jan2023)](https://goldams.com/karl-popper-critique-part-6-1jan2023/)
- [Karl Popper Critique, Part 5 (1Jan2023)](https://goldams.com/karl-popper-critique-part-5-1jan2023/)
- [Karl Popper Critique, Part 4 (31Dec2022)](https://goldams.com/karl-popper-critique-part-4-31dec2022/)
- [Karl Popper Critique, Part 3 (29Dec2022)](https://goldams.com/karl-popper-critique-part-3-29dec2022/)
- [Karl Popper Critique, Part 2 (29Dec2022)](https://goldams.com/karl-popper-critique-part-2-29dec2022/)
- [Karl Popper Critique, Part 1 (28Dec2022)](https://goldams.com/karl-popper-critique-part-1-28dec2022/)
- [Science vs. "Science" (27Dec2022)](https://goldams.com/science-vs-science-27dec2022/)
- [Advanced Histories of Philosophy](https://goldams.com/advanced-histories-of-philosophy/) - Some excellent histories of philosophy, from what I am told by good authority. I have known about those of Windelband for decades; I need to get off my lazy rear end and read and study them. But these below are more advanced histories, not something for the beginner, who should read some introductions to philosophy
- ["The Last of His Tribe," a Poem](https://goldams.com/the-last-of-his-tribe-a-poem/) - A sorrowful, melancholy poem with which many can identify, in some way or other. The Last of His Tribe, author unknown (maybe James B. Marsh) I am standing alone in the deep forest shade,And the wind whistles mournful and low:I am roaming alone, where in childhood I playedWith the friends of my youth, in the
- [Comments To A Podcast Interview of Dr. Grandin](https://goldams.com/comments-to-a-podcast-interview-of-dr-grandin/) - Here are some comments I left, on 9Jan2023, to the YouTube video of the episode "Autism, Academics, and Animals | Dr. Temple Grandin | EP 318." Comment 1. I liked hearing about how Dr. Grandin would investigate the problem in the power grid. It reminded me of what Dr. Richard Feynman did in his Challenger
- [Method Matters: All Human Reasoning Must Be Placed Second to Direct Experience](https://goldams.com/method-matters-all-human-reasoning-must-be-placed-second-to-direct-experience/) - Have more confidence in your own ideas than in reality at your own peril. And that of others. We need a passionate commitment to the truth, not irrational commitments to some idea or emotion and not irrational commitments to social prestige or "saving face." See also the unfortunately related "One Of The Deadliest U.S. Accidental
- [Pigs: An Immunological Cousin](https://goldams.com/pigs-an-immunilogical-cousin/) - Biology and evolution are fascinating. And so is history: some ancient peoples had prescriptions against eating pork; nowadays we know why. And I think, if I remember right, that pigs brought over from Europe and gone feral were sadly one source of the spread of novel diseases amongst Native Americans. "The pig is an omnivorous,
- [Sounds Like an SAT Reading](https://goldams.com/sounds-like-an-sat-reading/) - In "This strange marine creature has an immune system remarkably similar to ours: Golden star tunicate could help scientists uncover new approaches for preventing organ rejection, treating cancer" (Science, 5Dec2018, doi: 10.1126/science.aaw2860), Mitch Leslie writes: "The golden star tunicate may look like a flower, but this marine invertebrate is a brawler, attacking its tunicate neighbors
- [Be Real About Word Problems (7Dec2022)](https://goldams.com/be-real-about-word-problems-7dec2022/)
- [Physical Education: Exercises for the Core (30Mar2022)](https://goldams.com/pe-exercises-for-the-core-30mar2022/)
- [The Purpose of Education](https://goldams.com/the-purpose-of-education-2/) - A test video that was too good to delete. I was trying out Apple's Photo Booth for recording videos to see if I could get better results than the lame SD that some lame recording app made. It was late at night and I had my "around the house napkin shirt" on. Also, please forgive
- [Education and Reasoning Are About Cognitive Connections: Total Multidisciplinary and Interdisciplinary Thinking](https://goldams.com/education-and-reasoning-are-about-cognitive-connections-total-multidisciplinary-and-interdisciplinary-thinking/) - As for what a mind does and what education is about, we might consider: “[Marva Collins] insisted on frequent reading and writing, through which children learn about their world and how what may seem separate matters when taught in subject silos, readily connect in thinking minds.” (From: https://www.thewestsideschools.ca/blog/marva-collins) In a lecture I listened to, someone
- [Physical Education: Fitness Programming, How To 22Oct2022](https://goldams.com/physical-education-fitness-programming-how-to-22oct20physical-education-fitness-programming-how-to-22oct2022physical-education-fitness-programming-how-to-22oct2022/)
- [Certainty (24Nov2022)](https://goldams.com/certainty-24nov2022/)
- [How Not To Walk or Run: A Demonstration](https://goldams.com/how-not-to-walk-or-run-a-demonstration/)
- [The Myth of a Myth (7Dec2022)](https://goldams.com/the-myth-of-a-myth-7dec2022/)
- [Using Examples in Teaching (24Nov2022)](https://goldams.com/using-examples-in-teaching-24nov2022/)
- [Anecdotes vs. Science (25Dec2022)](https://goldams.com/anecdotes-vs-science-25dec2022/)
- [Etymology of "Condolences" and More](https://goldams.com/etymology-of-condolences-and-more/) - Interesting etymology (but it's not related to "redolent," about which see below). Condolence. Prefixes. Hmm. Disdolence? Abdolence? Addolence? Redolence? Retrodolence? Obdolence? Sedolence? Indolence? Pendolence? Perdolence? From: https://www.etymonline.com/word/condolence "c. 1600, 'sympathetic grief, sorrowing with another' (a sense now obsolete); 1610s, 'expression of sympathy to one in distress, mourning, etc.,' from Late Latin condolens, present participle of condolere
- [What Is Science? (27Nov2022)](https://goldams.com/what-is-science-27nov2022/)
- [What Is Philosophy? (27Nov2022)](https://goldams.com/what-is-philosophy-27nov2022/)
- [A Day in the Life of a Teacher (2Nov2022)](https://goldams.com/a-day-in-the-life-of-a-teacher-2nov2022/)
- [The Life of a Teacher (30Oct2022)](https://goldams.com/the-life-of-a-teacher-30oct2022/)
- [Thinking Skills: Thinking as Asking and Answering Questions 17Oct2022](https://goldams.com/thinking-skills-thinking-as-asking-and-answering-questions-17oct2022/)
- [ACT Testimonials From Outschool](https://goldams.com/act-testimonials-from-outschool/)
- [A Public Response to a Public Review](https://goldams.com/a-public-response-to-a-public-review/) - In a review of "Summer Algebra 2 Review/Preview, Session 1" (Mon Jul 25 - Aug 5 at 4:30pm Central, 2022), to go with her 2/5 rating, a parent wrote: "I'm not sure where all the positive reviews stem from. The teacher was organized. However not a good explainer. At one point when my daughter asked
- [Galileo: Rejecting Plato](https://goldams.com/galileo-rejecting-plato/) - Platonists suffered from a bad epistemology and metaphysics, so they believed that ideas they made up in their heads were true regardless of what experience dictated. They did not understand where concepts came from, how we formed them, or what they were; they did not understand where generalizations came from, how they were formed, or
- [ReasonRX Podcast Episode 62 Grammar: Who Needs It? Who Cares? -- Those Who Think.](https://goldams.com/reasonrx-podcast-episode-62-grammar-who-needs-it-who-cares-those-who-think/) - Listen to the episode on Spreaker or on one of many, many podcast apps, or (free) on Audible, Amazon, or YouTube.
- [The Importance of Grammar](https://goldams.com/the-importance-of-grammar/) - "Americans do not know English grammar. It is all the more ridiculous coming from someone like me with a Russian accent. I do nor mind the other errors in writing so much, but this one is the hardest for me to encounter, to work with, and to correct, because it represents a cultural phenomenon, and
- [What Does Calculus Do?](https://goldams.com/what-does-calculus-do/)
- [Math Jokes!  (06Oct2022)](https://goldams.com/math-jokes-06oct2022/) - Watch at your own risk. You were forewarned. :)
- [Good Grammar Book](https://goldams.com/good-grammar-book/) - A recommended book on writing, composition, and grammar is Writing and Thinking by Foerster and Steadman. I finally looked it up on the Internet Archive, and found it! Yay! I have known about that book for decades, but only now looked it up. I have studied parts of it, but not all of it, and
- [Upcoming Grammar Class!](https://goldams.com/upcoming-grammar-class/) - See more on Outschool.
- [Serenity](https://goldams.com/serenity/) - "There is an internal peace, that transcends an external smile." --Michael Gold
- [Fitness Break! (1Aug2022)](https://goldams.com/fitness-break-1aug2022/)
- [An Open Response To an Outschool "Policy Violation" For Alleged Substandard Teaching](https://goldams.com/an-open-response-to-an-outschool-policy-violation-for-substandard-teaching/) - In an email entitled "Teacher Feedback - Policy Violation" (screen shots below), received at 10:20 PM CST on 18 Aug 2022, they said: "The Outschool team wants to support your experience on our platform. We offer these optional suggestions to address this parent's concern inthe future:"While watching class recordings, we found that you did not
- [ReasonRX Podcast Episode 61 Lombardo and Burroughs on Fitness and Physical Therapy: The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly](https://goldams.com/reasonrx-podcast-episode-61-lombardo-and-burroughs-on-fitness-and-physical-therapy-the-good-the-bad-and-the-ugly/) - A great, informative conversation that was too short! I’d have loved to have listened longer and to have heard more developed answers to their questions to each other, and to have heard more of their good questions! Also available on many, many podcast apps, as well as free on Audible, Amazon, and YouTube. And if
- [Conic Sections and Projectile Motion](https://goldams.com/conic-sections-and-projectile-motion/) - A diagram that shows how a projectile around the earth would go from a semi-parabola to a circle around the earth to an ellipse, and so on. Beautiful. Because Newton's Law of Universal Gravitation implied the conic sections as orbits. This diagram is from "The Flight of Newton's Cannonball" (May 2018, American Journal of Physics,
- [Upcoming Geometry Course! Starts 5Sept2022!](https://goldams.com/upcoming-geometry-course-starts-5sept2022/) - This Geometry course starts 5 Sept 2022 and runs through 14 Dec 2022. "Never before was my son as motivated and interested in a course. It was a delight to see and fun to hear him share about the lessons without prodding." --Paula L, 2Jan2022.
- [Upcoming Algebra 2 Course! Starts 5Spet2022!](https://goldams.com/upcoming-algebra-2-course-starts-5spet2022/) - This Algebra 2 course starts 5 Sept 2022 and ends 9 Sept 2022.
- [Upcoming Calculus Course! Starts 5Sept2022!](https://goldams.com/upcoming-calculus-course-starts-5sept2022/) - This Calculus course starts 5 Sept 2022 and runs through 14 Dec 2022.
- [Upcoming ACT Prep Course! Starts 9Sept2022!](https://goldams.com/upcoming-act-prep-course-starts-9sept2022/) - A section of ACT Test Prep! will run Fridays through Sundays starting 9 Sept 2022 and running through 16 Oct 2022.
- [Upcoming Summer 2022 Algebra 2 Preview!](https://goldams.com/upcoming-summer-2022-algebra-2-preview/) - Summer Algebra 2 Review/Preview, Session 1 Starts 25 July 2022! Another section starts 8 August 2022!
- [A 5-star Review and Testimonial: SAT Test Prep](https://goldams.com/a-5-star-review-and-testimonial-sat-test-prep/) - It's awesome to earn such testimonials -- and even more to know that they come only from giving students ideas and thinking skills that will serve the students throughout their lives and will make their lives better (and the lives of those they care about!). The student also did some two-week "calculus preview" courses before
- [Upcoming Summer 2022 Geometry Preview!](https://goldams.com/upcoming-summer-2022-geometry-preview/) - Summer Geometry Preview/Review, Session 2 Starts 25 July 2022!
- [Upcoming Summer 2022 Calculus Preview!](https://goldams.com/upcoming-summer-2022-calculus-preview/) - Summer Calculus Review/Preview, Session 2 Starts 25 July 2022!
- [Upcoming Summer 2022 Geometry Preview!](https://goldams.com/upcoming-summer-20212-geometry-preview/) - Summer Geometry Preview/Review, Session 1 Starts 25 July 2022! Another section starts 8 August 2022!
- [Upcoming Summer 2022 Precal Preview!](https://goldams.com/upcoming-summer-precal-preview/) - Summer Precal Review/Preview, Session 2 Starts 25 July 2022!
- [Convert a 40-yd or 100-yd Dash Time to MPH?](https://goldams.com/convert-a-40-yd-or-100-yd-dash-time-to-mph/) - If you have a 100-yard dash time, divide it into 205 to get an approximate miles per hour speed. So, if you have a 10 second 100-yard dash, you are going about 20.5 mph. If you have a 14 second 100-yard dash, you are going about 14.6 mph. If you have a 12 second 100-yard
- [Chocolate: A Cause of Rapture and Rage](https://goldams.com/chocolate-a-cause-of-rapture-and-rage/) - Chocolate can cause some to become angry/mad. Some, like me. Chocolate messes with my brain and with my gut. Glad I've known this for a while -- but I wish I had discovered it much earlier in life. Thank goodness all I have to do is avoid the stuff. Then the world is a better
- [Real Success Is Being True](https://goldams.com/real-success-is-being-true/) - “If the day and the night are such that you greet them with joy, and life emits a fragrance like flowers and sweet-scented herbs, is more elastic, more starry, more immortal -- that is your success." --Henry David Thoreau
- [Be True, or Be Unwell](https://goldams.com/be-true-or-be-unwell/) - We go to narrow and do "cause I feel like it" stuff only at our own peril. (And yes, there is a causal link between diet and MS. This case cannot be dismissed as "it was genetic!" or "it just happened." Research mitochondria in the brain and neural disorders.) Same applies to fitness, sports, lifestyle,
- [Donate To a Good Cause: Rational Education](https://goldams.com/donate-to-a-good-cause/) - Donate to support the ReasonRX Podcast on PayPal or on Patreon. In this podcast, we will discuss, from a rational perspective, all things education-related. The ReasonRx Podcast will benefit not only the student, teacher, and parent, but also all adults and business professionals. Education is for everyone. Your hosts will interview guests and offer in-depth
- [The ReasonRx Podcast Now On iTunes! Sweet!](https://goldams.com/now-on-itunes-sweet/) - The ReasonRx Podcast
- [ReasonRx Podcast Episode 4 Danny Clark, Movement Expert, Talks How Movement Helps Grades, Thinking, and Health](https://goldams.com/danny-clark-movement-expert-talks-how-movement-helps-grades-thinking-and-health/) - In the latest episode of our ReasonRx Podcast (also on iTunes!), Danny Clark, movement expert, talks about movement, our culture, our nature, and how movement helps us: child, student, teacher, adult. Some topics Danny discusses are: -how and why movement is important for everyone: child and adult, student and teacher-what MovNat is and how it
- [ReasonRx Podcast Episode 5 Kim Cabrera Discusses Tracking: A Exercise in Logic](https://goldams.com/tracking-a-exercise-in-logic/) - Kim Cabrera, in Melanie's and my recent podcast (also on iTunes), talks with us about animal tracking, and how it can help students, teachers, and adults learn logical thinking skills and enjoy doing it. Gaining deep skills of logic and epistemology does not have to be all dry and boring. It can be and should
- [ReasonRx Podcast Episode 6 Teacher Scott Harris on Teaching and Learning for Everyone](https://goldams.com/teacher-scott-harris-on-teaching-and-learning-for-everyone/) - In our latest podcast (also on iTunes), Scott Harris discusses ideas and techniques parents, teachers, adults, business professionals, and students can use to better learn and educate. We all have to use principles of education and communication to work with other people. We need good techniques to teach our children, teach students, teach other adults,
- [ReasonRx Podcast Episode 3 Review of Joe Camp's book The Soul of a Horse](https://goldams.com/review-of-joe-camps-book-the-soul-of-a-horse/) - In this episode, getting both philosophic and practical, getting into some wide-ranging discussion, Melanie and Michael have a short and spontaneous review of the book The Soul of a Horse by Joe and Kathleen Camp. This book is about a lot more than "just horses." It is one that everyone should read and that everyone
- [ReasonRx Podcast Episode 9 Teacher Scott Harris: What Is Education? Part 2](https://goldams.com/what-is-education-part-2/) - In What Is Education? Part 2, Scott Harris joins Melanie and Michael to discuss a fundamental question: why do we need education? Education is regarded as important -- but why? Why do we need it? Why should we care? Why and how is the need for education rooted deep in our nature? This discussion founds
- [ReasonRx Podcast Episode 8 Review of Dan Flores' book Coyote America](https://goldams.com/review-of-dan-flores-book-coyote-america/) - In this episode, Melanie and Michael are joined by Melanie's children Jack (11), Kira (14), and Leo (16) to discuss the book Coyote America by Dan Flores. We discuss what the book is about, why it is valuable and of interest, what we learn from it, and what we like about it. The book is
- [ReasonRx Podcast Episode 7 Teacher Scott Harris: What is Education? Part 1](https://goldams.com/what-is-education-part-1/) - In What Is Education? Part 1, Scott Harris joins Melanie and Michael to discuss what parents, teachers, and professionals need to know about education. How does a teacher know she's doing well? What standards could she use to judge the education of her students? And her own teaching? Using good principles of education, what can
- [ReasonRx Podcast Episode 11 Scott Harris on Writing](https://goldams.com/podcast-11-scott-harris-on-writing/) - Award-winning teacher Scott Harris joins Melanie and Michael to discuss what writing is, why it is important in life, and how we should use it in education, and how we should teach it. Essay written by Melanie's daughter Kira, reviewing the book Coyote America by Dan Flores: http://goldams.com/book-review-by-kira-hoffman-of-dan-flores-book-coyote-america/ Essay written by Melanie's daughter Kira, reviewing
- [ReasonRx Podcast Episode 12 Another Interview with Bernd Heinrich](https://goldams.com/podcast-12-another-interview-with-bernd-heinrich/) - In this episode, Dr. Bernd Heinrich -- world-renowned biologist and world-class marathoner -- joins Melanie and Michael for a discussion of biology and how to incorporate it in parenting, education, and life. We pick up the pace and depth in the last half hour or so! We discuss: -animals, plants, wildlife, and nature we three
- [ReasonRx Podcast Episode  13 Teacher Scott Harris On Writing, Part 2](https://goldams.com/podcast-13-teacher-scott-harris-on-writing-part-2/) - In this episode, Scott and Michael -- after saying hi and catching up, talking about ending the school year, and Michael's earning his MovNat Level 2 Fitness Instructor certification -- discuss more about writing and how it can be done effectively in the sciences. For teachers, parents, and business professionals: everyone who writes, thinks, and
- [ReasonRx Podcast Episode 14 Coyote America Book Review, Part 2](https://goldams.com/podcast-14-coyote-america-book-review-part-2/) - Melanie and Michael are joined by Melanie's children Jack (11), Kira (14), and Leo (16) to further discuss the book Coyote America by Dan Flores -- a book about way more than just Coyotes! We dig more into what the book is about, what we learn from it, what we like about it, why everyone
- [ReasonRx Podcast Episode 15 Teacher Scott Harris: What is Physical Science? The Intro](https://goldams.com/episode-15-teacher-scott-harris-what-is-physical-science-the-intro/) - In this episode, Scott, Melanie, and Michael -- short because Michael did not have things set up properly to record (sorry!), so you missed some great discussion -- have some initial discussion of what science is and how to teach it. Knowing what science is is important for teachers, but also for parents, students, scientists,
- [Pictures of Montessori Materials For ReasonRx Podcast Episode 28](https://goldams.com/pictures-of-montessori-materials-for-reasonrx-podcast-episode-28/) - Pictures courtesy of Charlotte Cushman. Fabric matching. The tower of cubes, aka the pink tower. Broad stair. Variation with the tower. Knobbed cylinders. Metal insert. Tree booklet. Tree booklet in more detail. Sandpaper letters. A classroom making booklets. Geometric solids. Pouring water. Long rods. Multiplication. Combining sensory materials/creativity with knobbed cylinders and knobless cylinders.
- [ReasonRx Podcast Episode 16 CrossFit Box Owner John McPherson Talks CrossFit, Fitness, and Learning](https://goldams.com/reasonrx-podcast-episode-16-crossfit-box-owner-john-mcpherson-talks-crossfit-fitness-and-learning/) - CrossFit Box Owner and L4 Certified Trainer John McPherson joins Melanie and Michael to discuss CrossFit, health, fitness, education, and how to achieve whole health. Listen: https://www.spreaker.com/user/11043023/episode-16-crossfit-owner-john-mcpherson Also on iTunes: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-reasonrx-podcast/id1451154706#episodeGuid=https%3A%2F%2Fapi.spreaker.com%2Fepisode%2F18311085 Also on iHeartRadio, Overcast, Google Podcasts, Spotify, and Castbox. We discuss: -John's background and how he came into CrossFit -what CrossFit is, and a
- [ReasonRx Podcast Episode 17 CrossFit Box Owner John McPherson Talks CrossFit and Whole Health](https://goldams.com/reasonrx-podcast-episode-17-crossfit-box-owner-john-mcpherson-talks-crossfit-and-whole-health/) - CrossFit Box Owner, L4 Certified Trainer, John McPherson joins Michael to discuss CrossFit, health, fitness, education, and how to achieve whole health. Also on iTunes: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-reasonrx-podcast/id1451154706#episodeGuid=https%3A%2F%2Fapi.spreaker.com%2Fepisode%2F18379436 Also on iHeartRadio, Overcast, Google Podcasts, Spotify, and Castbox. We discuss: -how movement and exercise helps improve our cognition and confidence -how fitness helped some CA police officers, and
- [ReasonRx Podcast Episode 18 Danny Clark of MovNat: Making Teaching, Learning, and Living Reflect Human Nature](https://goldams.com/reasonrx-podcast-episode-18-danny-clark-of-movnat-making-teaching-learning-and-living-reflect-human-nature/) - In this episode, Danny Clark takes us on a fascinating, deep, important discussion of how human nature can better inform teaching, learning, education, parenting, working, and living. We discuss some fundamental ideas that can improve our daily lives, our long-term happiness, and our life on earth. We discuss some deep, important questions we can ask
- [ReasonRx Podcast Episode 19 Neurodevelopment Specialist Janet Oliver: Neurodevelopment Affects Everything](https://goldams.com/reasonrx-podcast-episode-19-neurodevelopment-specialist-janet-oliver-neurodevelopment-affects-everything/) - In this fascinating, info-packed episode, neurodevelopment specialist Janet Oliver joins Melanie and Michael go discuss Montessori-based and neurodevelopmental insights into human growth, development, learning, behavior, and physical and mental function -- and how many things we take too much in isolation are connected holistically. We discuss: -Janet’s background, career, and interests -human neurodevelopment basics -the
- [ReasonRx Podcast Episode 20 Philospher Andrew Bernstein: The Pros, Cons, and Whys of American Education](https://goldams.com/reasonrx-podcast-episode-20-philospher-andrew-bernstein-the-pros-cons-and-whys-of-american-education/) - In this episode, Dr. Andrew Bernstein takes us all on a thought-provoking discussion of what we -- teachers and parents and all involved -- are doing right and doing wrong in education. This is an important episode to make us think, reflect, and be self-critical, for what we are doing in education is what we
- [ReasonRx Podcast Episode 21 Montessori Expert Charlotte Cushman on Her Life in Montessori Education](https://goldams.com/reasonrx-podcast-episode-21-montessori-expert-charlotte-cushman-on-her-life-in-montessori-education/) - In this episode, Melanie and Michael converse with Charlotte Cushman -- trained Montessori teacher, experienced Montessori school administrator and owner, writer of books on Montessori education -- about her experiences in her Montessori career: lessons taught and lessons learned. We discuss: -her background -her training under Lena Wikramaratne, friend and associate of Maria Montessori herself
- [ReasonRx Podcast Episode 22 Neuroscience PhD and Movement Educator Jessica Groves-Chapman: For Strength, Health, Happiness, & Connectedness -- Move!](https://goldams.com/reasonrx-podcast-episode-22-neuroscience-phd-and-movement-educator-jessica-groves-chapman-for-strength-health-happiness-connectedness-move/) - In this episode, neuroscientist and movement expert Jessica Groves-Chapman helps us explore movement, its role in our life, and the interactions of movement, cognition, confidence, lifestyle, and emotion. She gives us insight -- in theory and in practice -- into living a more balanced, connected life. We discuss: -her background -her fitness and movement journey
- [ReasonRx Podcast Episode 23 Naturalist/biologist Kim Cabrera: What Wildlife Tracking Really Is And How It Can Be Used To Improve Education](https://goldams.com/reasonrx-podcast-episode-23-naturalist-biologist-kim-cabrera-what-wildlife-tracking-really-is-and-how-it-can-be-used-to-improve-education/) - In this episode, naturalist and tracking expert Kim Cabrera discusses what wildlife tracking really is and what all is involved, discusses biology and ecology, and gives us all ideas we can use to teach biology better. Kim discusses: -a brief review of her background (more in Episode 5) -how tracking is more than foot prints:
- [ReasonRx Podcast Episode 24 Strength and Conditioning Coach Jay Beito: His Background, the Power of MovNat, and the History of Fitness in the US](https://goldams.com/reasonrx-podcast-episode-24-strength-and-conditioning-coach-jay-beito-his-background-the-power-of-movnat-and-the-history-of-fitness-in-the-us/) - In this episode, Coach Jay Beito joins us for a fascinating discussion that interweaves his background with the history of US physical education -- and teaches us where the MovNat system comes from, and how and why it is so unique and powerful. Even with all of Coach Jay's background and expertise, he still benefited
- [ReasonRx Podcast Episode 40   Gundula Bosch, PhD Johns Hopkins, on the Importance of Philosophy to Science and Education](https://goldams.com/reasonrx-podcast-episode-40-gundula-bosch-phd-johns-hopkins-on-the-importance-of-philosophy-to-science-and-education/) - In this episode, Dr. Gundula Bosch joins us to discuss the R3ISE Graduate Science Program and the R3 Center for Innovation in Science Education. We discuss her background, the R3ISE program, how it came to be, what it does, why it is needed, the importance of philosophy and a philosophic perspective, and what you can
- [ReasonRx Podcast Episode 38 Hans G Schantz, PhD Physics: Some History, Philosophy, and Teaching of Physics, Good and Bad](https://goldams.com/reasonrx-podcast-episode-38-hans-g-schantz-phd-physics-some-history-philosophy-and-teaching-of-physics-good-and-bad/) - Dr. Hans Schantz joins us to for an initial discussion of physics. We first establish some context: in the history of science are many initial, unscientific rejections of valid ideas; we need to recognize science by how thinking is done, by method, not by mere authority or prestige or convention. With that said, Dr. Schantz
- [ReasonRx Podcast Episode 39 Dr. Andrew Bernstein: Where In Our Nature the Need For Education Arises And Why It's So Deeply Important](https://goldams.com/reasonrx-podcast-episode-39-dr-andrew-bernstein-where-in-our-nature-the-need-for-education-arises-and-why-its-so-deeply-important/) - In this episode, Dr. Bernstein discusses an issue that must be addressed before details about education can be addressed: why do we even need education? From where in our nature and in reality does it arise? And why do these questions matter? What is the cash value? What do they affect us each and all
- [ReasonRx Podcast Episode 37 Matt and Megin Sharp: Let Your Kids Be KidStrong](https://goldams.com/reasonrx-podcast-episode-37-matt-and-megin-sharp-let-your-kids-be-kidstrong/) - Today we are joined by Matt and Megin Sharp of KidStrong to discuss KidStrong, its principles, its results, and what you can do for your children and students. We have a great, fast-paced discussion about the importance of movement/exercise to children and how they benefit from it in all areas of life. In this day
- [ReasonRx Podcast Episode 36 Educator Stanislaw Pstrokonski Discusses What He Has Learned From Reading About Education and Great Teachers](https://goldams.com/reasonrx-podcast-episode-36-educator-stanislaw-pstrokonski-discusses-what-he-has-learned-from-reading-about-education-and-great-teachers/) - Educator Stanislaw Pstrokonski of The Education Bookcast joins us to discuss his background, his podcast, why he started his podcast, and what he has learned from it. This is an interesting discussion for all those interested in education in any way: teachers, business professionals, coaches, and parents. And, heck, anyone who wants to learn or
- [ReasonRx Podcast Episode 35 Award-Winning Teacher Scott Harris Discusses The Fad of "Emotional Wellness" Programs in Education](https://goldams.com/reasonrx-podcast-episode-35-award-winning-teacher-scott-harris-discusses-the-fad-of-emotional-wellness-programs-in-education/) - In this episode, Scott and Michael discuss the fad of "emotional wellness" programs in schools -- and how to do things right. We have emotions and should deal with them -- and we all have to learn how to do so through life -- but "emotional wellness" programs get things wrong in many ways, and
- [ReasonRx Podcast Episode 34 Tom Brown III on Tracking: Moving Through Terrain to Study Ecology](https://goldams.com/reasonrx-podcast-episode-34-tom-brown-iii-on-tracking-moving-through-terrain-to-study-ecology/) - In this podcast, Tom Brown III joins Michael to first discuss what tracking is and what all is involved (terrain, geology, natural history, and more), then to discuss a neglected aspect of tracking: moving. Human movement. We discuss why it matters, how to do it, and how to practice it. Also available on iTunes/Apple Podcasts,
- [ReasonRx Podcast Episode 32 Award-winning Teacher Scott Harris on Learning Styles Theories and Learning Styles Assessments](https://goldams.com/reasonrx-podcast-episode-32-award-winning-teacher-scott-harris-on-learning-styles-theories-and-learning-styles-assessments/)
- [ReasonRx Podcast Episode 33 Award-winning Teacher Scott Harris on the Background and Validity of Learning Styles Theories](https://goldams.com/reasonrx-podcast-episode-33-award-winning-teacher-scott-harris-on-the-background-and-validity-of-learning-styles-theories/) - In this episode, Scott and Michael discuss what "learning styles" means according to differing definitions of some researchers and website articles, dig into background of the idea of learning styles, discuss why the idea of learning styles is so widely accepted by some today, discuss why the idea is wrong, discuss how to think about
- [ReasonRx Podcast Episode 31 Movement Expert Dani Hemmat on "Fitnessizing" Your Daily Routine and Moving Out of Pain Into Health](https://goldams.com/reasonrx-podcast-episode-31-movement-expert-dani-hemmat-on-fitnessizing-your-daily-routine-and-moving-out-of-pain-into-health/) - In this episode, Dani Hemmat joins Melanie and Michael in a fascinating discussion of movement and how its affects pervade our system: biomechanically, neurologically, emotionally, fasciaistically (yeah, that's a made-up word). Yes, we are holistic, integrated, whole systems: one living organism living in and affected by its environment and ecology. Also available on iTunes/Apple Podcasts,
- [ReasonRx Podcast Episode 25 Award-winning Teacher Scott Harris: What's Wrong With Science Education and How To Fix It](https://goldams.com/reasonrx-podcast-episode-25-award-winning-teacher-scott-harris-whats-wrong-with-science-education-and-how-to-fix-it/) - In this episode, Scott, Melanie, and Michael provide and discuss evidence that science education is broken and in need of help, then discuss some ways to fix science education (and education in general). Also available on iTunes/Apple Podcasts, iHeartRadio, Overcast, Google Podcasts, Podcast Addict, Deezer, Spotify, and Castbox. And more. To support the show and
- [ReasonRx Podcast Episode 26 Ex-teacher and Reading Specialist Scott McMickle: His Dyslexia, His Time Teaching, and Why He Left Education](https://goldams.com/reasonrx-podcast-episode-26-ex-teacher-and-reading-specialist-scott-mcmickle-his-dyslexia-his-time-teaching-and-why-he-left-education/) - In this episode, Scott discusses his background, why he got into teaching, what he loved about it, what made him so successful -- and why he got out of education. He discusses the problems he had with dyslexia, how he helped students learn to read (even students with reading difficulties), and what he recommends for
- [ReasonRx Podcast Episode 27 Montessori Expert Charlotte Cushman: What Montessori Education Is and Why You Need It](https://goldams.com/reasonrx-podcast-episode-27-montessori-expert-charlotte-cushman-what-montessori-education-is-and-why-you-need-it/) - In this episode, Montessori Expert Charlotte Cushman describes in detail and in principle what Montessori Education is, tells us how to tell a real Montessori school from a fake, gives us some ideas of how it differs from other systems, and discusses the profound importance of Montessori for human life and your child's future. Also
- [ReasonRx Podcast Episode 28 (Part 1) Director and Story-teller Joe Camp Talks of His Work On the Benji Movies and of Life Lessons Learned](https://goldams.com/reasonrx-podcast-episode-28-part-1-director-and-story-teller-joe-camp-talks-of-his-work-on-the-benji-movies-and-of-life-lessons-learned/) - In this episode, Joe Camp -- writer, movie director, movie producer, animal lover, story teller -- discusses his life making the Benji movies -- which were rejected by the Hollywood establishment and had to be made and marketed independently, outside and against the "powers that be." We get to hear some great stories about the
- [ReasonRx Podcast Episode 28 (Part 2) Director and Story-teller Joe Camp Talks of His Work On the Benji Movies and of Life Lessons Learned](https://goldams.com/reasonrx-podcast-episode-28-part-2-director-and-story-teller-joe-camp-talks-of-his-work-on-the-benji-movies-and-of-life-lessons-learned/) - In this episode, Joe Camp -- writer, movie director, movie producer, animal lover, story teller -- discusses his life making the Benji movies -- which were rejected by the Hollywood establishment and had to be made and marketed independently, outside and against the "powers that be." We get to hear some great stories about the
- [ReasonRx Podcast Episode 29 Movement and Child Expert Sabrina Bell Talks How To Raise Stronger, More Confident Children](https://goldams.com/reasonrx-podcast-episode-29-movement-and-child-expert-sabrina-bell-talks-how-to-raise-stronger-more-confident-children/) - In this episode, Sabrina Bell joins Melanie and Michael to discuss her varied background, her wide training in movement and nutrition and family development, her work with children, and her advice on how to raise happier, stronger, more independent, more confident children. She discusses:-her background and the training she’s received-her work under Katy Bowman: what
- [ReasonRx Podcast Episode 30 (Part 1) Soul of a Horse Author Joe Camp Talks Horses and the Deep Lessons They Teach](https://goldams.com/reasonrx-podcast-episode-30-part-1-soul-of-a-horse-author-joe-camp-talks-horses-and-the-deep-lessons-they-teach/) - In this episode, Joe Camp discusses detail and science of how he takes care of his horses. His passion leads him to research, reason, and be scientific in all aspects of a horse's life --- just as we should with our children and our students (and our dogs and out cats and our pets). Thinking
- [ReasonRx Podcast Episode 30 (Part 2) Soul of a Horse Author Joe Camp Talks Horses and the Deep Lessons They Teach](https://goldams.com/reasonrx-podcast-episode-30-part-2-soul-of-a-horse-author-joe-camp-talks-horses-and-the-deep-lessons-they-teach/) - In this episode, Joe Camp discusses detail and science of how he takes care of his horses. His passion leads him to research, reason, and be scientific in all aspects of a horse's life --- just as we should with our children and our students (and our dogs and out cats and our pets). Thinking
- [ReasonRx Podcast Episode 41 Teacher Scott Harris on Teaching in the COVID Quarantine](https://goldams.com/reasonrx-podcast-episode-41-teacher-scott-harris-on-teaching-in-the-covid-quarantine/) - In this episode, Scott and Michael discuss teaching in the quarantine. Scott discusses the adjustment on the part of a teacher and gives some advice to students, parents, and teachers. Also available on iTunes/Apple Podcasts, iHeartRadio, Overcast, Google Podcasts, Podcast Addict, Deezer, Spotify, and Castbox. And more.To support the show and help us grow our
- [ReasonRx Podcast Episode 42 Chess FIDE Master Chris Land on Chess, Learning, and Teaching](https://goldams.com/reasonrx-podcast-episode-42-chess-fide-master-chris-land-on-chess-learning-and-teaching/) - Chess Master Chris Land joins us to discuss chess, its nature, its rating system, leaning it, teaching it, playing it, and how they all relate to other domains of learning and human performance. Also available on iTunes/Apple Podcasts, iHeartRadio, Overcast, Google Podcasts, Podcast Addict, Deezer, Spotify, and Castbox. And more.To support the show and help
- [ReasonRX Podcast Episode 43 Engineer Hannes Hacker on Engineering and the Engineering Mindset](https://goldams.com/reasonrx-podcast-episode-43-engineer-hannes-hacker-on-engineering-and-the-engineering-mindset/) - Experienced engineer Hannes Hacker joins us to discuss:-his background-what engineering is-thinking skills involved in engineering-examples of good engineering and bad engineering, and why they are good or bad Also available on iTunes/Apple Podcasts, iHeartRadio, Overcast, Google Podcasts, Podcast Addict, Deezer, Spotify, and Castbox. And more.To support the show and help us grow our audience --
- [ReasonRX Podcast Episode 49 Engineer Hannes Hacker on Thinking Skills and Logic in Engineering](https://goldams.com/reasonrx-podcast-episode-49-engineer-hannes-hacker-on-thinking-skills-and-logic-in-engineering/) - Experienced engineer Hannes Hacker joins us to discuss: -the importance of logic and thinking skills to engineering -what induction is -some examples of using induction in engineering -how induction is related to deduction -the importance of clear, defined language and concepts -some tragic examples of what happens without clearly defined language -how engineering education could
- [ReasonRX Podcast Episode 44 Engineer Hannes Hacker on Engineering and its Roots in Science](https://goldams.com/reasonrx-podcast-episode-44-engineer-hannes-hacker-on-engineering-and-its-roots-in-science/) - Experienced engineer Hannes Hacker joins us to discuss:-what engineering is-the scientific roots of engineering Also available on Podcast Addict, Google Podcasts, Spotify, Castbox, Deezer, iHeartRadio, iTunes. And more.
- [ReasonRX Podcast Episode 48 Athlete and Coach Brad Kearns on the Importance of Exercise to Academics and Health, and How to Make it Part of Life](https://goldams.com/reasonrx-podcast-episode-48-athlete-and-coach-brad-kearns-on-the-importance-of-exercise-to-academics-and-health-and-how-to-make-it-part-of-life/) - In this episode, Brad Kearns -- author and former #3 world-ranked professional triathlon athlete -- joins us to discuss: -his background -human nature and human health -why exercise is important -his experience in athletics and what he learned from it -how to train smart -overcoming your fears, and being real and pure -and more Brad
- [ReasonRX Podcast Episode 45 Historian Dan Flores on Ecology, Human Ecology, History, and Science](https://goldams.com/reasonrx-podcast-episode-45-historian-dan-flores-on-ecology-human-ecology-history-and-science/) - Listen here: https://www.spreaker.com/episode/42050127 Also available on Podcast Addict, Google Podcasts, Spotify, Castbox, Deezer, iHeartRadio, iTunes. And more. Dan joins us to discuss- our nature as fission-fusion rational, social animals-how that nature informs how we react to COVID -how that nature has allowed us to survive through history-what "fission-fusion" means-human history in North America-some history of human-animal
- [ReasonRx Podcast Episode 46 Educators Gail Paquette and Kira Withrow, Mother and Daughter, on Education, Teaching, and Homeschooling](https://goldams.com/reasonrx-podcast-episode-46-educators-gail-paquette-and-kira-withrow-mother-and-daughter-on-education-teaching-and-homeschooling/) - Mother and daughter Gail Paquette and Kira Withrow join us to discuss what education is, what good teaching is, the state of modern education, and why one might homeschool. After telling us about their backgrounds, they discuss the culture in general and their experiences homeschooling in the 1990s and teaching today. Listen here: https://www.spreaker.com/user/11043023/episode-46-educators-gail-and-kira-on-ed Also
- [ReasonRX Podcast Episode 47 Humor Theorist Chris Land on the Nature of Humor and Its Use in Education, Part 1](https://goldams.com/reasonrx-podcast-episode-47-humor-theorist-chris-land-on-the-nature-of-humor-and-its-use-in-education-part-1/) - In this episode, humor theorist Chris Land joins us in a first discussion of what humor is, what you can learn from the art and science, and how you can use it to teach and learn better. Listen: https://www.spreaker.com/user/11043023/episode-47-humor-theorist-chris-land-on-_1 Also available on Podcast Addict, Google Podcasts, Spotify, Castbox, Deezer, iHeartRadio, iTunes. And more.
- [ReasonRX Podcast Episode 50 What Logic Is, How We Know It, and Why It's Important](https://goldams.com/reasonrx-podcast-episode-50-what-logic-is-how-we-know-it-and-why-its-important/) - In this episode, we discuss what logic really is so we can stick to the real, and so we can dismiss the misconceptions and misunderstandings of logic that are common today and avoid the disasters that come with them. We need to know what logic really is so we can better structure and sequence curriculum,
- [ReasonRX Podcast Episode 51 Teacher Training Reform, Teacher Training Essentials](https://goldams.com/reasonrx-podcast-episode-51-teacher-training-reform-teacher-training-essentials/) - In this episode, we discuss some essentials of teacher training and hence provide a guide to teacher education reform. Education is the systematic training of the conceptual faculty of the young in order to instill in them the knowledge and methods they each need to be a good, independent, adult human animal. "A teacher (also
- [ReasonRX Podcast Episode 52 Education, Logic, Language, and Blake's The Tyger](https://goldams.com/reasonrx-podcast-episode-52-education-logic-language-and-blakes-the-tyger/) - In this episode, we discuss logic — but couched in writing an essay about William Blake's poem The Tyger, which I actually helped a student with years ago, way back in 2006 or 2012 or thereabouts. So this episode is about what I remember doing with that student to correct mistakes he had about the
- [ReasonRX Podcast Episode 53 Award-Winning Teacher Scott Harris on Education and Life During COVID](https://goldams.com/reasonrx-podcast-episode-53-award-winning-teacher-scott-harris-on-education-and-life-during-covid/) - In this episode, Scott and Michael discuss, in this COVID quarantine:-what we each did today and yesterday, just saying hi-sports and athletics-teaching-the importance of longer-term assignments as opposed to 40-minute worksheets-the CDC, government, Lysenkoism, and science-why to get outdoors-fitness and movement-the importance of thinking of things holistically; thinking of things in isolation or in compartments
- [ReasonRX Podcast Episode 54 Award-winning Teacher Scott Harris on The 3Rs, Reason, and Racism](https://goldams.com/reasonrx-podcast-episode-54-award-winning-teacher-scott-harris-on-the-3rs-reason-and-racism/) - In this episode, Scott and Michael discuss:-current events and recent public letters to some private high schools-some ideas about racism and attempts to deal with it today: the good and the bad-racism (all bad, no good to it)-the philosophic and historical roots of some of these bad attempts-the social vs. the metaphysical-the practicality of some
- [ReasonRx Podcast Episode 55 James Lennox, PhD Philosophy, on the Importance of Philosophy to Science and Education](https://goldams.com/reasonrx-podcast-episode-55-james-lennox-phd-philosophy-on-the-importance-of-philosophy-to-science-and-education/) - Show description: "In this episode, James Lennox, PhD Philosophy, joins us to discuss:-running and fitness-Dr. Lennox's academic background-why you should study science from a historical perspective-his study of the history and philosophy of science-the nature of science-the nature of philosophy-the dependence of science on philosophy-specific examples, through history, of science and its dependence on philosophy-recommendations
- [ReasonRX Podcast Episode 56 Assistant Scoutmaster Hans Schantz on How Principles of Scouting Can Help Schools, Homeschoolers, Teams, and Companies](https://goldams.com/reasonrx-podcast-episode-56-assistant-scoutmaster-hans-schantz-on-how-principles-of-scouting-can-help-schools-homeschoolers-teams-and-companies/) - Show description: "Assistant Scoutmaster Hans Schantz joins us to discuss ways to better teach, educate, and manage children and teens. We discuss:-Hans' experience and background with the Scouts-the history of the Scouts-the founder, Robert Baden-Powell-the Patrol Method-how Scouting is structured and how it works-successes Hans has seen with Scouts-the connection between Baden-Powell and Maria Montessori
- [ReasonRx Podcast Episode 57 Fitness Experts Phil Lombardo and Nick Burroughs on Fitness and Our Fitness Culture](https://goldams.com/reasonrx-podcast-episode-57-fitness-experts-phil-lombardo-and-nick-burroughs-on-fitness-and-our-fitness-culture/) - Also available on many, many podcast apps, as well as free on Audible, Amazon, and YouTube. Show description: "Nick Burroughs (PT, MSPT) and Dr. Phil Lombardo (PT, DPT, SCS), each a MovNat Level 2 Certified Trainer (almost Level 3), join us to discuss-their professional backgrounds-their fitness backgrounds-our fitness culture-principles of good programming and training-the importance
- [ReasonRx Podcast Episode 58 Fitness Experts Phil Lombardo and Nick Burroughs on  Fitness and Our Fitness Culture Part 2](https://goldams.com/reasonrx-podcast-episode-58-fitness-experts-phil-lombardo-and-nick-burroughs-on-fitness-and-our-fitness-culture-part-2/) - Nick Burroughs (PT, MSPT) and Dr. Phil Lombardo (PT, DPT, SCS), each a MovNat Level 2 Certified Fitness Trainer, join us to discuss-our fitness culture, its pros and cons-principles of good training-how to avoid overspecializing (i.e., setting oneself up for injury)-how to be strong and functional, and not to strengthen dysfunction-the importance of balance and
- [CCERP Podcast Episode 2 UT Professor Jim Fordyce on Ecology and Its Importance](https://goldams.com/ccerp-podcast-episode-2-ut-professor-jim-fordyce-on-ecology-and-its-importance/) - University of Tennessee Professor Jim Fordyce (PhD, UC Davis) joins us to discuss ecology, ecological thinking, their importance, and why it matters to us all. Great discussion. Also available on Podcast Addict, Google Podcasts, Spotify, Castbox, Deezer, iHeartRadio, iTunes. And more.
- [CCERP Podcast Episode 3 Mark "Merriwether" Vorderbruggen on the Benefits of Foraging: Food, Medicinals, Nature Time, Time with Friends and Neighbors & More](https://goldams.com/ccerp-podcast-episode-3-mark-merriwether-vorderbruggen-on-the-benefits-of-foraging-food-medicinals-nature-time-time-with-friends-and-neighbors-more/) - Also available on Podcast Addict, Google Podcasts, Spotify, Castbox, Deezer, iHeartRadio, iTunes. And more. INFO COMMENTS Earth Sciences, #ccerp, #ccerppodcast, #cypress creek, #cypresstx, #foraging, #foragingtexas, #houstontx, #markvorderbruggenMark "Merriwether" Vorderbruggen, Ph.D., joins us to talk about the many and varied benefits of foraging. 1. It saves you money. 2. It adds nutrients to your diet. 3. It adds variety to your diet. 4. It lowers your water bill, fertilizer
- [CCERP Podcast Episode 6 Kelly Norrid of Texas Parks and Wildlife Department: All About Our Local Plants, Parks, and Wildlife](https://goldams.com/ccerp-podcast-6-kelly-norrid-of-texas-parks-and-wildlife-department-all-about-our-local-plants-parks-and-wildlife/) - Kelly Norrid, of Texas Parks and Wildlife Department, joins us to discuss his background, what his job with TPWD involves, how you can benefit from it, how he became interested in biology (interesting story!!), restoring ecosystems, some interesting behavior of Vultures, the benefits of snakes, the importance of nature and the wild, and more. A
- [CCERP Podcast 8 Fitness Trainer Tim Maddox On Training, Running, and Moving In the Outdoors and Through Life](https://goldams.com/ccerp-podcast-8-fitness-trainer-tim-maddox-on-training-running-and-moving-in-the-outdoors-and-through-life/) - Fitness Trainer Tim Maddox joins us to discuss a neglected aspect of hiking, tracking, trail running, picking up trash, care-taking a natural area, orienteering, and generally being outdoors: our own movement. Tim shares his background and qualifications, and who and what has influenced him, then he discusses what "natural movement" and "MovNat" are. We then
- [CCERP Podcast Episode 9 Teri MacArthur Talks All About the Texas Master Naturalist Program](https://goldams.com/ccerp-podcast-episode-9-teri-macarthur-talks-all-about-the-texas-master-naturalist-program/) - In this episode, 19-year veteran Texas Master Naturalist Teri MacArthur joins us to discuss the Texas Master Naturalist Program, what it does, how it started and evolved, the projects that they have done and that you can participate in, the training program, and how you can get involved. Enjoy! Also available on Podcast Addict, Google
- [CCERP Podcast Episode 5 Susan Chadwick of Save Buffalo Bayou: Taking Care of Our Local Bayous and Creeks and Why We Need Them Natural](https://goldams.com/ccerp-podcast-episode-5-susan-chadwick-of-save-buffalo-bayou-taking-care-of-our-local-bayous-and-creeks-and-why-we-need-them-natural/) - Listen here: https://www.spreaker.com/user/11043023/5-susan-chadwick-we-need-natural-local-b Today we are joined by Susan Chadwick of Save Buffalo Bayou for a discussion of our local area, its history, the importance of natural creeks and bayous, what you can do to keep things wild and natural, and the natural beauty around us. Enjoy! Also available on Podcast Addict, Google Podcasts, Spotify,
- [CCERP Podcast Episode 7 Geologist Tom Helm: The Geologic History of Texas and of Houston](https://goldams.com/ccerp-podcast-episode-7-geologist-tom-helm-the-geologic-history-of-texas-and-of-houston/) - Geologist Tom Helm joins us to discuss the geologic history of Texas and our local Houston area. We discuss his background, how he became interested in geology, the geologic formation of our state and local area, what you can see around Texas, when and how our bayous and creeks were formed, and what you can
- [CCERP Podcast 20 Managing Houston Flooding: Floodplain Expert Bob Freitag and Environmental Advocate Susan Chadwick](https://goldams.com/ccerp-podcast-20-managing-houston-flooding-floodplain-expert-bob-freitag-and-environmental-advocate-susan-chadwick/) - Today we are joined by Susan Chadwick, environmental advocate and Executive Director of Save Buffalo Bayou, and Bob Freitag, expert on hazard mitigation and floodplain management, to discuss -Houston flooding-the USACE Interim Report (2020) on trying to manage flooding by altering Buffalo Bayou and Cypress Creek-floodplain management-modern science vs. old thinking about streams and floodplains-the nature
- [CCERP Podcast 22 MaryAnne Placentini of Katy Prairie Conservancy: How Wetlands and Prairies Help Us Manage Flooding](https://goldams.com/ccerp-podcast-22-maryanne-placentini-of-katy-prairie-conservancy-how-wetlands-and-prairies-help-us-manage-flooding/) - Mary Anne Piacentini, President, Katy Prairie Conservancy, joins us to discuss:-her background -the Katy Prairie Conservancy: what it does and what it has accomplished -Houston flooding: what and why-the Army Corps of Engineers Interim Report: what it says; what has been accepted and what has been rejected by it-effective, cost-efficient, proven manageable ways to mitigate flooding-what to
- [CCERP Podcast Episode 36 Fitness Expert Danny Clark on Mindfulness and Appreciating Nature](https://goldams.com/fitness-expert-danny-clark-on-mindfulness-and-appreciating-nature/) - Show description: "Today, movement/fitness expert Danny Clark joins us to talk about the mental side of fitness/movement and being outdoors. This was a fascinating discussion. "Danny discusses:-why we need this-what contemplation is and why its important-what might get in the way-education-science-ancient Greece-total focus-meditation, contemplation, awareness, trance-and more" Also available on many, many podcast apps, as
- [CCERP Podcast Episode  23 Certified Tracker Beau Harger on Tracking and Tracking Certification](https://goldams.com/ccerp-podcast-episode-23-certified-tracker-beau-harger-on-tracking-and-tracking-certification/) - Show description: "Today, Beau Harger, Level 3 CyberTracker Certified, joins us to discuss his background, tracking, what it is, what we get out of it, and why we love it."About Beau: "Beau is a compounding pharmacist by day and an avid outdoorsman in his spare time. He learned the art of tracking from one of
- [CCERP Podcast Episode 24 Janet Pesaturo, Certified Tracker, on Animals, Tracking, and Game Cams](https://goldams.com/ccerp-podcast-episode-24-janet-pesaturo-certified-tracker-on-animals-tracking-and-game-cams/) - Listen here. Also available on many, many podcast apps, as well as free on Amazon, Audible, and YouTube. Show description: "Level 3 CyberTracker certified tracker and author Janet Pesaturo joins us to discuss:-her background-her start in tracking-why she loves tracking and using game cams-what is involved in tracking and using game cams-her book Camera Trapping
- [CCERP Podcast Episode 25 Author and Historian Dan Flores on Ecology, Human Ecology, History, and Science](https://goldams.com/ccerp-podcast-episode-25-author-and-historian-dan-flores-on-ecology-human-ecology-history-and-science/) - Show description: "Dan joins us to discuss-our nature as fission-fusion rational, social animals-how that nature informs how we react to COVID-how that nature has allowed us to survive through history-what "fission-fusion" means-human history in North America-some history of human-animal interactions in North America-human culture-what science is-the importance of "interdisciplinary" thinking-the content of his forthcoming book
- [CCERP Podcast Episode 28 Nature Guide John "Griff" Griffith on Ecology, Nature, Cougars, and Predators](https://goldams.com/ccerp-podcast-episode-28-nature-guide-john-griff-griffith-on-ecology-nature-cougars-and-predators/) - Also available on many, many podcast apps, as well as free on Amazon, Audible, and YouTube. Show description: " 'Griff' Griffith joins us to discuss:-his background and how he became interested in nature-the flora, fauna, land, and First Peoples of Northern California-how First Peoples influenced their local ecologies-the importance of fire to some ecosystems-Kyle Burgess,
- [CCERP Podcast Episode 37 Two Fitness and Physical Therapy Experts on Training, Mindset, and Human Nature](https://goldams.com/ccerp-podcast-episode-37-two-fitness-and-physical-therapy-experts-on-training-mindset-and-human-nature/) - Show description: "Today we are joined by Isaac Chilton, Personal Trainer and Structural Integrator, and Nick Burroughs, Physical Therapist, to discuss movement/fitness training and how to be true to human nature and true to nature. We discuss:-the importance of balance training-balance training progressions and regressions-when to be patient and when to just do it-teaching fitness,
- [CCERP Podcast Episode 26 Biologist Fred Collins on Kleb Woods Nature Center and our Local History](https://goldams.com/ccerp-podcast-episode-26-biologist-fred-collins-on-kleb-woods-nature-center-and-our-local-history/) - Also available on many, many podcast apps, as well as free on Amazon, Audible, and YouTube. Show description: "Biologist Fred Collins joins us to discuss:-his background and his interest in nature-Kleb Nature Preserve-what he does at the Preserve-Cypress Top Historic Park-surprising local Houston-Galveston history-programs that Kleb offers like a history book club, birding, and festivals-ancient
- [CCERP Podcast Episode 27 Naturalist Rose Holmes on the Kickerillo-MIscher Preserve and its Staff, Programs, Flora, and Fauna](https://goldams.com/ccerp-podcast-episode-27-naturalist-rose-holmes-on-the-kickerillo-mischer-preserve-and-its-staff-programs-flora-and-fauna/) - lso available on many, many podcast apps, as well as free on Amazon, Audible, and YouTube. Show description: "In this episode, local Naturalist Rose Holmes joins us to discuss:-her background and her interest in nature-the Kickerillo-Mischer Preserve (KMP)-what she and the other Naturalists do there-what programs the KMP has-what plants and animals are there"About Rose:
- [CCERP Podcast Episode 29 Ecologist Dr. Mark Elbroch on Cougar Ecology and More](https://goldams.com/ccerp-podcast-episode-29-ecologist-dr-mark-elbroch-on-cougar-ecology-and-more/) - Also available on many, many podcast apps, as well as free on Amazon, Audible, and YouTube. Show description: "In this episode, Dr. Mark Elbroch joins us to discuss:-his background-how he became interested in nature-the professional work he has done-what he has learned in studying Mountain Lions-the nature of Mountain Lions (aka Cougar, Puma, Panther)-what you
- [CCERP Podcast Episode 30 Tom Brown III on Human Life, Education, and Our Need for Nature](https://goldams.com/ccerp-podcast-episode-30-tom-brown-iii-on-human-life-education-and-our-need-for-nature/)
- [CCERP Podcast Episode 31 Historian Tim Seiter on Local Native American History](https://goldams.com/ccerp-podcast-episode-31-historian-tim-seiter-on-local-native-american-history/) - Also available on many, many podcast apps, as well as free on Audible, Amazon, and YouTube. Show description: "In this episode, Tim discusses:-his background-the importance, to a specific profession, of being a generalist-how he became interested in history-Native American history-the Apache and early Europeans-Native Americans of South Texas and Cypress Creek: the Karankawa, Akokisa, and
- [CCERP Podcast Episode 32 Teri MacArthur of The Woodlands Township On Water Quality, Why It Matters To You, and What You Can Do](https://goldams.com/ccerp-podcast-episode-32-teri-macarthur-of-the-woodlands-township-on-water-quality-why-it-matters-to-you-and-what-you-can-do/) - Also available on many, many podcast apps, as well as free on Audible, Amazon, and YouTube. Show description: "In this episode, Teri MacArthur joins us to discuss water quality, what compromises it, why it is important, why it matters to you, and what we can do about it."About Teri: "Teri MacArthur serves The Woodlands Township
- [CCERP Podcast Episode 33 Teri MacArthur of the Woodlands Township on Ecosystems, Invasive Species, and Why They Matter](https://goldams.com/ccerp-podcast-episode-33-teri-macarthur-of-the-woodlands-township-on-ecosystems-invasive-species-and-why-they-matter/) - Also available on many, many podcast apps, as well as free on Audible, Amazon, and YouTube. Show description: "In this episode, Teri MacArthur joins us to discuss invasive species, why the topic is important, why it matters to you, and what we can do about it. A great discussion recorded on 25 June 2021."About Teri:
- [CCERP Podcast Episode 34 Physical Therapist Nick Burroughs on Fitness in the Outdoors](https://goldams.com/ccerp-podcast-episode-34-physical-therapist-nick-burroughs-on-fitness-in-the-outdoors/) - Also available on many, many podcast apps, as well as free on Audible, Amazon, and YouTube. Show description: "Physical Therapist Nick Burroughs, a MovNat Brother of mine, joins us to discuss:-his professional background-his fitness background-how outdoor fitness has helped him personally and has helped him help others-the benefits of outdoor, natural fitness-how to be fit
- [CCERP Podcast Episode 35 Five Fitness Experts on Nature, Fitness Indoors and Outdoors, and MovNat](https://goldams.com/ccerp-podcast-episode-35-five-fitness-experts-on-nature-fitness-indoors-and-outdoors-and-movnat/) - Also available on many, many podcast apps, as well as free on Audible, Amazon, and YouTube. Show description: "Today, we talk with folks from the MovNat Level 3 Certification in Glorietta, NM, September 2021, about fitness, the broader idea of human movement, nature, culture, and being a good human animal. Joining us is Nate Smith,
- [CCERP Podcast Episode 38 Roary Achibald on Being Outdoors and Being Human](https://goldams.com/ccerp-podcast-episode-38-roary-achibald-on-the-outdoors-and-being-human/) - Roary joins us to discuss-his background-his fitness and MovNat journey-how he spends his mornings-the value of the outdoors-why you should get outside-tracking and foraging-living, enjoying, and surviving in the outdoors-the upcoming MovNat Survival Retreat in Conifer, CO, August 26-28, 2022, that he will run. Episode contains a few curse words, but that's it. Nothing more
- [Observations, Anecdotes, and Science](https://goldams.com/observations-anecdotes-and-science/) - “To reject all anecdotes is also to reject facts.“ –– Bernd Heinrich, the Mind of the Raven
- ["What Nobel Laureates and Elite Athletes Have in Common"](https://goldams.com/what-nobel-laureates-and-elite-athletes-have-in-common/) - In "What Nobel Laureates and Elite Athletes Have in Common" (5 Oct 2021), David Epstein writes: Two weeks ago, I wrote about a new study on the childhoods of elite athletes. Bottom line: athletes who went on to become the best adults did a wider variety of activities in childhood, and initially progressed more slowly
- [Being a Generalist Focuses Your Interests](https://goldams.com/being-a-generalist-focuses-your-interests/) - "It appears as though they are scattering and dissipating their energies, while in reality they are channeling and strengthening them." --Santiago Ramón y Cajal, the father of modern neuroscience. (Wikipedia. Britannica.)
- [Cherry Laurel Tea](https://goldams.com/cherry-laurel-tea/) - If you pick some Holly for tea, do not confuse American Holly with toxic Cherry Laurel. As I did. 21 Oct 2016 is the day I learned I drank some cyanide. Woot! Note the different numbers of spiky things on the leaves: American Holly has only a few, but Cherry Laurel has a whole bunch.
- [Snared by Contradictions](https://goldams.com/snared-by-contradictions/) - Silly things said by people who say “math is stupid,” “math is useless,” or “I’ll never use this in life:”1. What is my heart rate?2. Is my heart rate lower than yours after the 100-yard dash?3. What time is it?4. How long till we get there?5. How much insulin do I need?6. What is my yearly salary?7. What percent increase in salary
- [Math Is Useless?](https://goldams.com/math-is-useless/) - We are never going to use it when we get out of high school? I have a 30-foot rope that I want to hang in a tree. What fun we’d have moving a ladder around to different trees and different branches, holding the rope in one hand, seeing if the branch was high enough, climbing
- [Snared By Contradictions, 2](https://goldams.com/snared-by-contradictions-2/) - Silly things said by people who say “math is stupid,” “math is useless,” or “I’ll never use this in life:”1. How much do I weigh?2. How much weight do I need to lose?3. Macy's has a 30% off sale!4. How much medicine do I need to give my dog/cat?5. For how long do I need
- [Fitness Standards from LaSierra High School, 1966](https://goldams.com/fitness-standards/) - Here are some better fitness standards than what we usually see (or don't see), standards from LaSierra High School Physical Education Department's 1966 Concept Philosophy handbook.
- ["London Bridge is Falling Down" is Viking Verse?](https://goldams.com/london-bridge-is-falling-down-is-viking-verse/) - Maybe. Yes, the nursery rhyme "London Bridge is Falling Down" might have come from a Viking verse. As they say on Wikipedia: "One hypothesis of origin is that the rhyme relates to the supposed destruction of London Bridge by Olaf II in 1014 (or 1009). The nineteenth-century translation of the Norse saga the Heimskringla, published
- [Feynman: How To Explain and To Not Explain](https://goldams.com/feynman-how-to-explain-and-not-to-explain/) - First, an introduction to the article I will excerpt: "In 1964 the eminent physicist Richard Feynman served on the State of California's Curriculum Commission and saw how the Commission chose math textbooks for use in California's public schools. In his acerbic memoir of that experience, titled 'Judging Books by Their Covers,' Feynman analyzed the Commission's
- [Afternoon Fitness Break (3Apr2022)](https://goldams.com/afternoon-fitness-break-3apr2022/) - Exercise is for our total animal self. It is holistic. Exercise yourself mentally and physically. Please don't always "tune out" while you are exercising, as too many do on treadmills. Connect. Be whole. Train strength, attention, concentration, balance, mobility, and all.
- [Parent Review of an Outschool Calculus Class](https://goldams.com/parent-review-of-an-outschool-calculus-class/) - Calculus, Semester 2, on Outschool.
- [Another Parent Review of an Outschool Calculus Class](https://goldams.com/another-parent-review-of-an-outschool-calculus/) - Calculus, Semester 2, on Outschool.
- [Armadillo (26Jun20917)](https://goldams.com/armadillo-26jun20917/)
- [Four Armadillos (2Jun2020)](https://goldams.com/four-armadillos/)
- [Movement For Cognition](https://goldams.com/movement-for-cognition/) - As John Ratey says in his book Spark, movement makes us smarter. Our brains and minds need it for optimal function. Even better -- get complex movement in complex environments.
- [Opossum Save!](https://goldams.com/opossum-save/) - I am glad I came to this park today so I could help this tapped, frightened Virginia Opossum! What luck!
- [Strive For Excellence](https://goldams.com/strive-for-excellence/)
- [Data Visualization History: William Playfair](https://goldams.com/data-visualization-history-william-playfair/) - This is something we need to know about for presenting science, engineering, finance, economics, business, fitness, health, and more; for doing presentations; for studying; for taking notes; and lots more. In William Playfair, they write “Two decades before Playfair’s first achievements, in 1765 Joseph Priestley had created the innovation of the first timeline charts, in
- [Mathematics Tutoring](https://goldams.com/mathematics-tutoring/) - Mathematics: Arithmetic, Algebra, Geometry, Precalculus, Calculus, Statistics Private tutoring for 1 student is $60 per hour. Click here to compare this to the price of a piano lesson, guitar lesson, dinner at a restaurant, dance lesson, etc. I offer an invaluable service for a reasonable price.
- [Test Preparation / Tutoring](https://goldams.com/test-preparation-tutoring/) - Standardized Tests: SAT, ACT, TAKS, THEA & More (Extra charges could apply for distant travel or for room or technology rentals.) Private tutoring for 1 student is $60 per hour. Click here to compare this to the price of a piano lesson, guitar lesson, dinner at a restaurant, dance lesson, etc. I offer an invaluable service
- [Data Visualization](https://goldams.com/data-visualization/) - In "The Mind's Eye – A Look at Data Visualization Psychology," Tetiana Donska writes: "People have used visuals to help tell stories and illustrate answers to essential questions for thousands of years. The earliest example of data visualization is probably a map from around 27,000 years ago, and for a long time, it was rare
- [Please Don't Feed Bread to Wild Animals](https://goldams.com/please-dont-feed-bread-to-wild-animals/)
- ["I Found A Baby Mammal. Now What?"](https://goldams.com/i-found-a-baby-mammal-now-what/)
- ["I Found a Baby Bird. Now What?"](https://goldams.com/i-found-a-baby-bird-now-what/)
- [Adapt To Reality](https://goldams.com/adapt-to-reality/) - "The rigid person is a disciple of death;the soft, supple and delicate are lovers of life." --Lao Tzu (Laozi), the Tao Te Ching (Daodejing). From the post Cloud Hands by Michael Garofalo. From the verses:"A man living is yielding and receptive.Dying, he is rigid and inflexible.All Things, the grass and trees:Living, they are yielding and
- [Viking History in England](https://goldams.com/viking-history-in-england/) - In "Digging Up the Rich Viking History of Britain: A massive 1,100-year-old graveyard leads to a surprising new view of the Nordic legacy in Britain" (Smithsonian Magazine, April 2022), Joshua Levine writes: "The story of the Vikings in England is generally held to start on June 8, 793, when a raiding party landed on the
- [Improving Physics Education: Wisdom From 1969 That is Still Relevant](https://goldams.com/improving-physics-education-wisdom-from-1969-that-is-still-relevant/) - In "High School and College Physics: Can We Match Impedances?" (Iowa Science Teachers Journal: Vol. 6 : No. 3 , Article 5), Dr. Herbert Priestley (Knox College) wrote: Since the body of knowledge comprising physics continues to grow, there is constant concern among writers of high school textbooks about being up to date and among
- [Evidence For Coulomb's Law](https://goldams.com/evidence-for-coulombs-law/) - The physicist in the video is Eric Rogers, who wrote a good physics book from a historical perspective. The book is entitled Physics for the Enquiring Mind. The video shows some evidence from which we induce Coulomb's Law. Could be better, could be worse. But at least they give reasons for the law, and do
- [Hyperbolas in Statistics: Regression Confidence Intervals](https://goldams.com/hyperbolas-in-statistics-regression-confidence-intervals/) - This stuff is beautiful. I love it. From the second edition of Probability and Statistics for Engineers and Scientists (9th Edition) by Ronald E. Walpole, Raymond H. Myers, Sharon L. Myers, Keying E. Ye. From the classic Statistical Methods (6th edition) by William G. Snedecor and George W. Cochran.
- [Upcoming Fitness Workshop](https://goldams.com/upcoming-fitness-workshop/) - Learn more on Total Human Fitness' MovNat Workshops page. Sign up on MovNat's Website.
- [Recommended Movie: "To Sir, With Love"](https://goldams.com/recommended-movie-to-sir-with-love/) - "To Sir, With Love" is a good education-related movie made in the 60s. Set in England, it features Sidney Poitier as a new high school teacher. One plot summary on IBD says: After searching unsuccessfully for work as an engineer, Mark Thackeray accepts a teaching position at a rough, East End London high school. His
- [Obituary of Professor Emeritus Herbert Priestley](https://goldams.com/obituary-of-professor-emeritus-herbert-priestley/) - Some beautiful writing in this news article and in this obituary about a man with an interesting and productive life. In an article in Knox News in May 2003, they wrote: Sophisticated, British-born and a legendary lecturer, Herbert Priestley came to Knox in 1952. His interests, like waves, are essentially unbounded, touching all space and
- [Red Admiral](https://goldams.com/15415-2/)
- [So Precise, the Moon Affects its Construction](https://goldams.com/so-precise-the-moon-affects-its-construction/) - In "The £2.5 million fighter jet system that’s so precise it's affected by the MOON'S gravity" (Daily Mail, 9 April 2015), Victoria Woollaston writes: "Aside from making a fighter jet lightweight, agile and astonishingly fast, engineers of one the world's most advanced aircraft have another, more surprising issue to contend with: the moon. "BAE System's
- [Happy Winter Holidays!](https://goldams.com/happy-winter-holidays-3/)
- [Happy Winter Holidays!](https://goldams.com/happy-winter-holidays-2/)
- [Happy Winter Holidays!](https://goldams.com/happy-winter-holidays/)
- [Merry Christmas!](https://goldams.com/merry-christmas-6/)
- [Merry Christmas!](https://goldams.com/merry-christmas-5/)
- [Merry Christmas!](https://goldams.com/merry-christmas-4/)
- [Wildlife Tracking Website: CyberTracker](https://goldams.com/wildlife-tracking-website-cybertracker/) - As they say "CyberTracker is being used worldwide by indigenous communities, in protected areas, scientific research, tracking science, citizen science, environmental education, forestry, farming, social surveys and crime prevention." They are a world-recognized authority in wildlife tracking certification.
- [Nine-banded Armadillo Tracks (5Feb2022)](https://goldams.com/nine-banded-armadillo-tracks-5feb2022/)
- [Dewberry in Bloom, 5Feb2022](https://goldams.com/dewberry-in-bloom-5feb2022/)
- [Bald Eagle! Majestic!](https://goldams.com/bald-eagle-majestic/) - I saw a Bald Eagle today as I was leaving a Panera in Tomball, TX! A big bird with a white head and a white tail! Gorgeous.I saw another two ten years ago while I was riding another majestic animal: a Horse.
- [Birding Websites: Cornell Lab of Ornithology](https://goldams.com/birding-websites-cornell-lab-of-ornithology/) - You can look up bird species to learn their basic description, ID info, life history, similar species, size comparisons with different sized birds, calls and sounds they make, etc. See, for example, the Barred Owl, the Pileated Woodpecker, The Red-shouldered Hawk, and the Northern Flicker.
- [Question Mark (9Feb2022)](https://goldams.com/question-mark-9feb2022/)
- [Beauty and Serenity: Local Nature](https://goldams.com/beauty-and-serenity-local-nature/)
- [Yaupon Holly Growing in Old Stump (8Feb2022)](https://goldams.com/yaupon-holly-growing-in-old-stump-8feb2022/)
- [Majestic Loblolly (8Feb2022)](https://goldams.com/majestic-loblolly-8feb2022/)
- [Winter Color (8Feb2022)](https://goldams.com/winter-color-8feb2022/)
- [Slow Trail Run (8Feb2022)](https://goldams.com/slow-trail-run-8feb2022/) - Love the local trails! Peaceful, serene, rejuvenating, natural, real. An "active recovery" run today. An easy, massaging pace of maybe 10-12 minutes per mile.
- [Wildlife Tracks in Cypress Creek (26Jan2022)](https://goldams.com/wildlife-tracks-in-cypress-creek-26jan2022/) - Compare to Beaver tracks, Racoon tracks, and other mammal tracks on Kim Cabrera's site. And to Nutria, Beaver, Racoon, and more on Jonah Evans' site.
- [Beautiful Frost Patterns (6Feb2022)](https://goldams.com/beautiful-frost-patterns/) - Frost on my windshield this cold morning, around 8:57 AM.
- [Domestic Dog Tracks (5Feb2022)](https://goldams.com/domestic-dog-tracks/)
- [Trundholm Sun Chariot](https://goldams.com/15014-2/) - "The Trundholm sun chariot pulled by a horse is a sculpture believed to be illustrating an important part of Nordic Bronze Age mythology. The sculpture is probably c. 1350 BC. It is displayed at the National Museum of Denmark." (Sun, Wikipedia.) "
- [Beautiful Loblolly Pine (5Feb2022)](https://goldams.com/beautiful-loblolly-pine-5feb2022/)
- [The Yellow Sandshell: A River Mussel (13Jan2022)](https://goldams.com/yellow-sandshell-river-mussell/) - I think this one was predated by a Raccoon, but I could be wrong. At "Lampsilis teres" they write: The yellow sandshell's shell is yellow, shiny, and smooth, and can grow to 190 mm long. In males, the back end of the shell is pointed, while it is rounded in females. The inner shell is
- [Earthworm (3Feb2022)](https://goldams.com/earthworm-3feb2022/) - A big earthworm I saw in a local park on a recent cold (38ºF) morning.
- [Pileated Woodpecker (4Feb2022)](https://goldams.com/pileated-woodpecker-4feb2022/) - A Woodpecker I saw at a local park on a recent cold (26ºF) morning.
- ["Why Do Children Need Nature to Thrive?" (Biophilic Solutions Podcast)](https://goldams.com/why-do-children-need-nature-to-thrive-biophilic-solutions-podcast/) - In the podcast Why Do Children Need Nature to Thrive?, they discuss, as they describe it in their show notes: For this week’s episode, we sat down (in person!) with Sarah Milligan-Toffler, President and CEO of the Children and Nature Network, an organization that is dedicated to increasing equitable access to the outdoors so that
- [Mycorrhizal Fungi Symbioses Feeding the Earth](https://goldams.com/mycorrhizal-fungi-symbioses-feeding-the-earth/) - They say: "Fungal networks support much of life on earth. SPUN is a science-based initiative founded to map fungal networks and advocate for their protection. In collaboration with researchers and local communities, we aim to accelerate efforts to protect underground ecosystems largely absent from conservation and climate agendas." Episode 75 of the Big Biology podcast,
- [Running, Hitting, Jumping, and More: Power Comes From the Core](https://goldams.com/running-hitting-jumping-and-more-power-comes-from-the-core/) - You can see clearly in the powerhouse kicks of Bruce Khan how power comes from the hips and core. Here is a trailer from Revenger; more good fight scenes in the movie itself. In "Interview with Bruce Khan" (Kung-Fu Kingdom, March 7, 2019), Brad Curran writes: My first martial art was Taekwondo at the age
- [Enter the Kettlebell](https://goldams.com/enter-the-kettlebell/) - A very entertaining and very informative, and highly recommended, video by Pavel Tsatsouline (see also) of StrongFirst.
- [MovNat Freedom](https://goldams.com/movnat-freedom/)
- [Wildlife Tracking Apps](https://goldams.com/wildlife-tracking-apps/) - Learn more at Jonah Evans' Nature Tracking site. He also has a free "lite" version of the app.
- [Birding Websites: Audubon](https://goldams.com/birding-websites-audubon/) - You can look up bird species to learn their basic description, ID info, life history, similar species, range, calls and sounds they make, etc. See, for example, the Barred Owl, the Pileated Woodpecker, The Red-shouldered Hawk, and the Northern Flicker.
- [Birding Websites: All About Birds](https://goldams.com/birding-websites-all-about-birds/) - You can look up bird species to learn their basic description, ID info, life history, similar species, size comparisons with different sized birds, calls and sounds they make, etc. See, for example, the Barred Owl, the Pileated Woodpecker, The Red-shouldered Hawk, and the Northern Flicker.
- [Feather Identification Guides: Featherbase](https://goldams.com/feather-identification-guides-featherbase/) - As they say: Since the 20th century, scientific ornithology has been closely linked to the conservation of birds. The study of feathers is a factor that is often overlooked. In museums, the majority of their bird skin collections are archived, stored away in drawers under lock and key and only ever seen by a very
- [Feather Identification Guides: Wildlife Science Center](https://goldams.com/feather-identification-guides-wildlife-science-center/) - Peruse the site: https://www.wildlifesciencecenter.org/ On their Meet the Animals page, you can click on a picture to learn about an animal species. In info about some bird species, they have tail feathers of the birds they picture, like the Great Horned Owl, the Red-tailed Hawk, and more.
- [Feather Identification Guides: The Feather Atlas](https://goldams.com/feather-identification-guides-the-feather-atlas/) - Peruse the site: https://www.fws.gov/lab/featheratlas/
- [Wildlife Tracking Website: Kim Cabrera's Beartracker's Animal Tracks Den](https://goldams.com/wildlife-tracking-website-kim-cabreras-beartrackers-animal-tracks-den/) - Visit the Beartracker's Animal Tracks Den site for lots of great info. A good site for mammal tracks, bird tracks, amphibian tracks, reptile tracks, and invertebrate tracks.
- [American Beaver Track and Sign (19Jan2022)](https://goldams.com/american-beaver-track-and-sign-19jan2022/) - You can compare American Beaver and Nutria tracks on Jonah Evans' site.
- [Tracking Website: Jonah Evans' Nature Tracking](https://goldams.com/tracking-website-johan-evans-nature-tracking/) - Visit the Nature Tracking site and click here to read Jonah Evans' bio. A good site for mammal tracks, bird tracks, herp tracks, and invertebrate tracks.
- [A Foggy Day at Cypress Park (2Feb2022)](https://goldams.com/a-foggy-day-at-cypress-park-2feb2022/)
- [Coyote Tracks (2Feb2022)](https://goldams.com/coyote-tracks-2feb2022/)
- [Workout Ideas with 2x4s (25Jan2021)](https://goldams.com/workout-ideas-with-2x4s-25jan2021/)
- [The Origin of the Concept of "Energy"](https://goldams.com/the-origin-of-the-concept-of-energy/) - In "History of energy," they write on Wikipedia: The word energy derives from Greek ἐνέργεια (energeia), which appears for the first time in the 4th century BCE works of Aristotle (OUP V, 240, 1991) (including Physics, Metaphysics, Nicomachean Ethics[1] and De Anima[2]). The modern concept of energy emerged[when?] from the idea of vis viva (living
- [Parkour at Near 60 Years Old](https://goldams.com/parkour-near-60-years-old/)
- [Field Notes 2-1-2020 Education And All Thinking Need Logical Induction](https://goldams.com/field-notes-2-1-2020-education-and-all-thinking-need-logical-induction/)
- [Field Notes 2-1-2020 Education And All Thinking Need Logical Hierarchy](https://goldams.com/field-notes-2-1-2020-education-and-all-thinking-need-logical-hierarchy/)
- [Field Notes 10-6-2019 Education Needs More Logic, Fewer Empty Words](https://goldams.com/field-notes-10-6-2019-education-needs-more-logic-fewer-empty-words/)
- [Field Notes 1–24–17 Similarity and Difference in Concept-formation](https://goldams.com/field-notes-1-24-17-similarity-and-difference-in-concept-formation/)
- [Field Notes 1–24–17 We As Teachers Should Teach the Individual](https://goldams.com/field-notes-1-24-17-we-as-teachers-should-teach-the-individual/)
- [Field Notes 12-20-2018 How To Think About Vaccines: An Exercise in Logic](https://goldams.com/field-notes-12-20-2018-how-to-think-about-vaccines-an-exercise-in-logic/)
- [What Every Teacher Needs To Know 8-31-2018](https://goldams.com/what-every-teacher-needs-to-know-8-31-2018/)
- [Field Notes 5-22-2019 What Is Proof? Who Cares?](https://goldams.com/field-notes-5-22-2019-what-is-proof-who-cares/)
- [Comment on Science 12-3-2018](https://goldams.com/comment-on-science-12-3-2018/)
- [What is Knowledge, Not Mere Words 2-19-2018](https://goldams.com/what-is-knowledge-not-mere-words-2-19-2018/)
- [Field Notes 1–24–17 The Crucial Role of Examples in Concept-formation](https://goldams.com/field-notes-1-24-17-the-crucial-role-of-examples-in-concept-formation/)
- [Field Notes 1–21–17 The Importance of Context in Teaching and Learning](https://goldams.com/field-notes-1-21-17-the-importance-of-context-in-teaching-and-learning/)
- [Field Notes 1-20-17 Thoughts on a Recent Statistics Tutoring Session and on Teaching Statistics](https://goldams.com/field-notes-1-20-17-thoughts-on-a-recent-statistics-tutoring-session-and-on-teaching-statistics/)
- [Field Notes 1-18-17 To Teach Mastery of Word Problems, Teach Grammar](https://goldams.com/field-notes-1-18-17-to-teach-mastery-of-word-problems-teach-grammar/)
- [Field Notes 1–17–17 In Education, Technique Matters](https://goldams.com/field-notes-1-17-17-in-education-technique-matters/)
- [Field Notes 1-18-17 Good Tutoring and Teaching Is In the Technique](https://goldams.com/field-notes-1-18-17-good-tutoring-and-teaching-is-in-the-technique/)
- [Field Notes 1–20–17 We Need New Standards in Education](https://goldams.com/field-notes-1-20-17-we-need-new-standards-in-education/)
- [Field Notes 11–22–16 Context, a Principle of Logic: a Biological Example](https://goldams.com/field-notes-11-22-16-context-a-principle-of-logic-a-biological-example/)
- [Field Notes 21Nov16 Context, A Principle of Logic: a Physics and An Art Example](https://goldams.com/field-notes-21nov16-context-a-principle-of-logic-a-physics-and-an-art-example/)
- [Field Notes 2Nov2016 On the Philosophy of Math Education](https://goldams.com/field-notes-2nov2016-on-the-philosophy-of-math-education/)
- [Field Notes 12Jan2017 What Are My "Field Notes?" Thoughts of a Philosophical Educator](https://goldams.com/field-notes-12jan2017-what-are-my-field-notes-thoughts-of-a-philosophical-educator/) - A Video library starts with this video:
- [Field Notes 1Jan2017 A Resolution for Teachers](https://goldams.com/field-notes-1jan2017-a-resolution-for-teachers/)
- [Field Notes 12–29–16 The Evidence of the Senses is Valid](https://goldams.com/field-notes-12-29-16-the-evidence-of-the-senses-is-valid/)
- [Field Notes on the Philosophy of Biology Education 2Nov2016](https://goldams.com/field-notes-on-the-philosophy-of-biology-education/)
- [The Origin of the Concept of "Potential Energy"](https://goldams.com/the-origin-of-the-concept-of-potential-energy/) - In "Potential Energy," they wrote: In 1853, William Rankine, in his “On the General Law of the Transformation of Energy”, introduced the term “potential energy”, as a terminological upgrade to the older terms: vis mortua (Leibniz, 1673), force morte (Diderot, 1769), or dead force.[1] In 1860s, the term potential energy, in respect to a body
- [Announcement: New Classes Starting Soon!](https://goldams.com/announcement-new-classes-starting-soon/) - Welcome. I know how difficult it can be to find high-quality, expert instructors for yourself or your child. If you are looking for someone to give you or your child mastery of a subject as part of an education -- i.e., as part of learning to reason and use logic -- you have come to
- [A Year Ago Today: Animal Tracks in the Houston Freeze, 15-19 Feb 2021](https://goldams.com/a-year-ago-today-animal-tracks-in-the-houston-freeze-15-19-feb-2021/)
- [A Year Ago Today: The Houston Freeze, 15-19 Feb 2021](https://goldams.com/a-year-ago-today-the-houston-freeze-15-19-feb-2021/) - Click on the picture or click here for more pictures.
- [Armadillo (19Feb2021)](https://goldams.com/armadillo-19feb2021/)
- [“Animal Gaits for Animators” (1 min 47 sec)](https://goldams.com/animal-gaits-for-animators-1-min-47-sec/) - Canine tracks. Nice.
- [“Horse Gaits -- Footfall: Emphasis on the Diagonal” (5 min)](https://goldams.com/horse-gaits-footfall-emphasis-on-the-diagonal-5-min/) - Nice video on horse gaits.
- [Pictures from the MovNat Level 3 Certification 2021](https://goldams.com/pictures-from-the-movnat-level-3-certification-2021/) - Some fitness pictures, some nature pictures. :) Click on the picture or click here to see photos in Flickr. The location was Glorietta, New Mexico, in and around Camp Glorietta.
- [A MovNat Fitness Circuit in a Gym](https://goldams.com/gym-movnat-fitness-circuit/)
- [Agkistrodon contortrix contortrix Two 6-15-2018](https://goldams.com/agkistrodon-contortrix-contortrix-two-6-15-2018/) - Not just one, but I saw two Copperheads today! :-) Sweet! Notice starting at maybe three minutes in, when I was prodding it with a stick, how aggressive it was and how it was striking a lot. — Not! It just wanted to be left alone and did not want to hurt me at all.
- [Copperhead! 30Oct2018](https://goldams.com/copperhead/) - Contrary to the “conventional wisdom” of too many people, Copperheads do not want to hurt us. They want to be left alone. Be scientific and logical: look at the thing. Learn its nature and behavior. Observe. Learn its relationships with other things. Learn how to deal with it safely and effectively. Experience in nature is
- [Copperhead 8-12-2017](https://goldams.com/copperhead-8-12-17/)
- [Coral Snake Behavior and Biology](https://goldams.com/coral-snake-behavior-and-biology/) - Unlike some thieves and criminals, Coral Snakes are scared of you. They will run like hell to get away. (I wish criminals did that!!) I saw a youngster Coral one time, and I have never seen in all my life a snake wiggle faster than that one. Every Coral I have seen makes a hasty
- [A Video Testimonial From Rajiv R](https://goldams.com/a-video-testimonial-from-rajiv-r/) - Rajiv R talks about his experience with Gold Academy.
- [The Priced, and the Priceless](https://goldams.com/the-priced-and-the-priceless/) - Dinner at a restaurant, a baseball game, a day at the rodeo, a video game -- material things come and go; they have a price. But with education and tutoring -- knowledge is forever; it is priceless. What you can take with you from a good teacher or tutor you can use forever, as is
- [Reviresco](https://goldams.com/reviresco/) - Reviresco is Latin for "I am renewed" or " I am revived."
- [Fitness Testimonials From Outschool](https://goldams.com/fitness-testimonials-from-outschool/) - About Functional Fitness (Half Hour Group Class), students say: "My son loved this class! It is a very different type of exercise using functional movement. He thought it was very creative and fun. Kids who don’t love vigorous exercise but want to get moving would like this one I think."--An Outschool Parent "Excellent and nice
- [MovNat: A Deeply Valuable Tool For Physical Therapists](https://goldams.com/movnat-a-deeply-valuable-tool-for-physical-therapists/) - MovNat keeps you fit, strong, and powerful, and helps you do so without pain — and helps you recover from injuries. Physical therapists and related professions need it; it is a tool that deeply helps both their practice and their clients.
- [Characteristically Swamp Rabbit (13Jan2022)](https://goldams.com/characteristically-swamp-rabbit/) - At "Swamp Rabbit," the Office for Environmental Programs Outreach Services at the University of Kentucky wrote: Description - Brownish gray; short coarse fur; white underside, including tail; short, thin tail; large, rust colored feet; large head; black spot between ears; extra skin between toes help them swim and walk through mudSize - 20.5 – 21.3 in. (52
- [Characteristically American Beaver (13Jan2022)](https://goldams.com/characteristically-american-beaver/)
- [North American River Otter (13Jan2022)](https://goldams.com/north-american-river-otter-13jan2022/) - The North American River Otter, a denizen species of my local Cypress Creek and Creeks and Bayous of the local area. You can compare the tracks pictured to those in Kim Cabrera's River Otter page on her Beartracker's Animal Tracking Den tracking site.
- [Afternotes From a Meeting (23Jan2022)](https://goldams.com/notes-from-a-meeting-23jan2022/) - 1. I recommend reading and analyzing The Soul of a Horse by Joe Camp for its structure, for the thinking skills and logic implicit in it, for the role independent thought plays in living a good life, and for the importance of science and logic to being true to what we love so we can help it flourish. Logic
- ["Sleep Habits and Susceptibility to the Common Cold"](https://goldams.com/sleep-habits-and-susceptibility-to-the-common-cold/) - In "Sleep Habits and Susceptibility to the Common Cold" (Journal of the American Medical Association, 12 January 2009), Sheldon Cohen, PhD; William J. Doyle, PhD; Cuneyt M. Alper, MD; et al, write: Methods A total of 153 healthy men and women (age range, 21-55 years) volunteered to participate in the study. For 14 consecutive days, they
- [Galileo Quote on Aristotle and Epistemology](https://goldams.com/galileo-quote-on-aristotle-and-epistemology/) - "I should even think that in making the celestial material alterable, I contradict the doctrine of Aristotle much less than do those people who still want to keep the sky inalterable; for I am sure that he never took its inalterability to be as certain as the fact that all human reasoning must be placed
- [Aristotle on Inquiry](https://goldams.com/aristotle-on-inquiry/) - "Aristotle was able to accomplish what he did in biology because he had given a great deal of thought to the nature of scientific inquiry. "How does one progress from the superficial and unorganized state of everyday experience toward organized scientific understanding? "To answer this question, you need a concept of the goal to be
- [Aristotle on Perception vs. Experience](https://goldams.com/aristotle-on-perception-vs-experience/) - “All men by nature desire to know – – this is indicated by the pleasure we take in our senses. This pleasure is independent of their utility: we delight in them for their own sake and particularly in the case of sight…. Sense represents the first stage. Next comes memory in the case of the
- [The Post Hoc Fallacy](https://goldams.com/the-post-hoc-fallacy/) - Post hoc, ergo propter hoc means, in Latin "after this, therefore because of this," which is the name of the fallacy that "because an event occurred first, it must have caused this later event." (From the Merriam-Webster Dictionary.) Many commit this fallacy when they credit an improving economy to a current President or Presidential administration.
- [American Beaver Sign (14Jan2022)](https://goldams.com/american-beaver-sign-14jan2022/)
- [Beaver Castor/Scent Mound (and Track and Sign)](https://goldams.com/beaver-castor-scent-mound-and-track-and-sign/) - In "Beaver Scent Mound Construction," Janet Pesaturo writes: Like many other animals, beavers are territorial, and use scent to mark ownership. On the shore of their pond, they create piles of leaves, sticks and other debris, much of it dredged up with mud from the bottom of the pond. Some of these mounds are small
- [Dog Track and Sign (19Jan2022)](https://goldams.com/dog-track-and-sign-19jan2022/) - I suspect a dog rolled in the sand, urinated, dragged something, and dug into the creekside.
- [A Beautiful Cypress Morning (17Jan2022)](https://goldams.com/a-beautiful-cypress-morning-17jan2022/)
- [Heavenly Bamboo](https://goldams.com/heavenly-bamboo/)
- [A Cold Cypress Morning (17Jan2022)](https://goldams.com/a-cold-cypress-morning-17jan2022/)
- [Winter Color (20-22 Jan 2022)](https://goldams.com/winter-color-20-22-jan-2022/)
- [(Conceptual) Thinking and the Five Whys](https://goldams.com/conceptual-thinking-and-the-five-whys/) - In "5 Whys," the Mind Tools Content Team writes: Have you ever had a problem that refused to go away? No matter what you did, sooner or later it would return, perhaps in another form.Stubborn or recurrent problems are often symptoms of deeper issues. "Quick fixes" may seem convenient, but they often solve only the
- [Concretize Concepts](https://goldams.com/concretize-concepts/) - In tutoring some students in chemistry through the years, I've seen an improper use of language in our culture. Students are not being trained to use language to form and use concepts, but to use language as empty symbols and as "social constructs." They do not develop concepts for, and therefore do not know how
- [Fitness Testimonial: Elizabeth M](https://goldams.com/fitness-testimonial-elizabeth-m/) - “I’m so grateful to you. I feel STRONG as I move through space. I’ve never felt this strong.” — Elizabeth M, teacher, a MovNat fitness client (for only two months!)
- [Red Admiral](https://goldams.com/red-admiral-2/) - Seen today sunning itself in 46ºF weather. Butterflies in the winter. I love Houston!
- [American Beaver Tracks](https://goldams.com/american-beaver-tracks/) - Seen along my local Cypress Creek, northwest of Houston, TX.
- [Mirrors, and Thinking in Principles](https://goldams.com/mirrors-and-thinking-in-principles/) - "We have doomed the wolf not for what it is but for what we deliberately and mistakenly perceive it to be: the mythologized epitome of a savage, ruthless killer—which is, in reality, not more than the reflected image of ourselves. We have made it the scapewolf for our own sins." --Farley Mowat There is a
- [Scurvy: An Example of Science vs. the Scientific Community](https://goldams.com/scurvy-and-science-vs-the-scientific-community/) - In "Scott and Scurvy" (Idle Words, 6 March 2010), Maciej Cegłowski writes: One of the most striking features of the disease is the disproportion between its severity and the simplicity of the cure. Today we know that scurvy is due solely to a deficiency in vitamin C, a compound essential to metabolism that the human
- [Get Real](https://goldams.com/get-real/) - Federico Bitti, who had dystonia, was helped by Joaquin Farias, an expert in biomechanics. I love the independent thought and the benevolence of this guy!! How was he "cured?" No chemicals (no drugs), no electronics (no implants), just biology. What a great doc! This is science. This is advanced technology: applied science. This is cognitive
- [Acoustic Ripples From Tonga Volcano](https://goldams.com/acoustic-ripples-from-tonga-volcano/) - Graph from Brian McNoldy at the University of Miami. In "Tonga faces daunting challenges after massive volcanic eruption," University of Miami staff write: The eruption was so powerful, it also generated acoustic waves in the atmosphere, with the explosion being heard as far away as Alaska, making it perhaps the loudest sound known. “Eventually it
- [Pull-ups 14Jan2022](https://goldams.com/pull-ups/)
- [Xaidie C Testimonial on Calculus Course](https://goldams.com/xaidie-c-testimonial-on-calculus-course/) - In a 5-star review, parent Xaidie C wrote of Calculus, Semester 1 on Outschool:
- [Stay Fit and Have Fun Doing It](https://goldams.com/stay-fit-and-have-fun-doing-it/)
- [Too Much Modern "Scientific Thinking"](https://goldams.com/too-much-modern-scientific-thinking/)
- [Recommended: Dr. Michael Fowler's Lectures in Physics](https://goldams.com/recommended-dr-michael-fowlers-lectures-in-physics/) - Dr. Michael Fowler at the University of Virginia presents physics from a historical point of view. This is critical in education to seeing how concepts and inductions were formed, how context and philosophy matter, how "scientists" make mistakes, and how people had to figure out what science was and how it worked. On his UVa
- [On Spelling](https://goldams.com/on-spelling/) - In "Spelling tackled in American Educator" (8 Jan 2009), Ken DeRossa wrote: Following my lead, American Educator has a good article on Spelling and how to teach it.Not unsurprisingly, popular spelling instruction practices are based on flimsy pseudo-science:"One common perception we have encountered is that visual memory, analogous to taking a mental picture of the
- [Fire-Hunter by Jim Kjelgaard](https://goldams.com/fire-hunter-by-jim-kjelgaard/) - Fire-Hunter by Jim Kjelgaard is a good book about a man and a woman in prehistoric times who get kicked out of their hunter-gatherer tribe -- the man, basically for the "sin" of independent thought; the woman, for being injured. While the tribe was bound by tradition and magic, the man and woman have to
- [The Wright Brothers: Pioneers of American Aviation by Quentin Reynolds](https://goldams.com/the-wright-brothers-pioneers-of-american-aviation-by-quentin-reynolds/) - This book does a good job of showing -- in a general, introductory way -- the inductions the Wright Brothers made and the skills they learned through the course of their lives, which inductions and skills made it possible for them to invent a plane that turned and flew further than others had. Wright Brothers:
- [Mark Twain: A Quote](https://goldams.com/mark-twain-a-quote/) - The difference between the almost right word and the right word is really a large matter—it’s the difference between the lightning bug and the lightning. --Mark Twain
- [Expert Math Help](https://goldams.com/expert-math-help-2/) - Is anyone interested in low cost math courses? Private tutoring? Let your child work with someone who knows the arithmetic needed for algebra and who knows why and how that algebra is needed for algebra two, precalculus, calculus, physics, chemistry and finance. Let your child work with someone who knows geometry, where geometry comes from,
- [Ruth Katz: A Quote](https://goldams.com/ruth-katz-a-quote/) - A dignified and formal dance is a delicately planned geometry. -- Ruth Katz
- [Alexander Pope: A Quote](https://goldams.com/alexander-pope-a-quote/) - True ease in writing comes from art, not chance,As those move easiest who have learned to dance. -- Alexander Pope, "Essay on Criticism"
- [David Harriman's "Top 10 Discoveries in the History of Physics"](https://goldams.com/david-harrimans-top-10-discoveries-in-the-history-of-physics/) - His Top Ten People and Ideas: Thales -- natural world; explanation Aristarchus-- size of and distance to moon; careful observation and mathematics; sun bigger than earth Archimedes -- discoverer of mathematical physics; Archimedes' law and levers Galileo -- pendulum (period depends only on length); math applied to motion; law of free fall Newton -- universal
- [Asleep at the Wheel: Classic Country Americana](https://goldams.com/asleep-at-the-wheel-classic-country-americana/) - Find out more at the Asleep at the Wheel website.
- [Don Edwards: Classic Country Americana](https://goldams.com/don-edwards-performing-the-cowboys-song/) - On the Don Edwards website, they say: Don Edwards is a songster, historian, author, songwriter, musicologist, actor, accomplished guitarist with a Santa Cruz signature guitar, yodeler extraordinaire and a multiple award winning recording artist. Don has won 8 Wrangler Awards from the National Cowboy and Western Heritage Museum including the prestigious Chester A Reynolds Founders
- [On Note-Taking](https://goldams.com/on-note-taking/) - I teach principles in the concrete and in the abstract such as (1) visual variation, (2) using space as much as using content, (3) recording context, (4) logic. (Maybe you know all this already.) The first, because the mind functions on contrast (and integration). This involves such concrete, obvious things as underlining or using color.
- [Reckless](https://goldams.com/reckless/) - Wow. What a horse. She was promoted to Staff Sergeant, earned two Purple Hearts, and more. In "She wasn't a horse - She was a Marine!" they write: During this five-day battle [the Battle of Outpost Vegas in March of 1953], on one day alone she made 51 trips from the Ammunition Supply Point to
- [Mold and Pet Food](https://goldams.com/mold-and-pet-food/) - In "Why Upgrading Your Pet's Diet is More Important Now than Ever" (healthy pets on mercola.com, 23 Nov 2012), Dr. Karen Becker writes: For U.S. farmers in the Corn Belt, the summer of 2012 will be remembered as one of the hottest and driest on record. In addition to lower crop yields, conditions were ideal
- [Definitions](https://goldams.com/definitions-2/) - It is very important to learn methods: to learn how to reason out concepts, generalizations, and principles, so you can take action. But a key to reasoning properly, to keeping your thoughts in touch with reality -- to making sure you are honest in your own mind and with the world; to making sure you
- [In Education, Get the Fundamentals](https://goldams.com/in-education-get-the-fundamentals/) - Much of modern education likes to teach ideas to students so that they can deduce individual facts. It likes to think that if it teaches "basics," the details will follow. But you cannot have the concepts unless you form them first. And you cannot have the generalizations to deduce from unless you form them first.
- [Hedy Lamarr, Actress & Inventor](https://goldams.com/hedy-lamarr-actress-inventor/) - In "Hedy Lamarr," they write: Although Lamarr had no formal training and was primarily self-taught, she worked in her spare time on various hobbies and inventions, which included an improved traffic stoplight and a tablet that would dissolve in water to create a carbonated drink. The beverage was unsuccessful; Lamarr herself said it tasted like
- ["German Fitness, 1930's - Film 6031"](https://goldams.com/german-fitness-1930s-film-6031/) - Video is 9 min 20 sec long.
- ["Physical Training Battalion Boys In Action (1945)"](https://goldams.com/physical-training-battalion-boys-in-action-1945/) - Video is 1 min 58 sec long.
- ["Men of Tomorrow (1938)"](https://goldams.com/men-of-tomorrow-1938/) - Video is 1 min 34 sec long.
- ["Boys' P.T. Aka Children Of South Africa (1944)"](https://goldams.com/boys-p-t-aka-children-of-south-africa-1944/) - Video 1 min 49 sec long.
- ["Physical Fitness (1936)"](https://goldams.com/physical-fitness-1936/) - Video is 1 min 13 sec long.
- [Good To Hear](https://goldams.com/good-to-hear/) - While I was out taking care of my horse on Saturday, I, to my surprise and hers, saw a student I had tutored for the SAT. She was out at the barn I stall my horse at; she was with some relatives riding their horse -- small world, running into people like that. She had
- [Jennifer S Testimonial on Sentence Diagramming Class](https://goldams.com/jennifer-s-testimonial-on-sentence-diagramming-class/) - In a 5-star review, parent Jennifer S wrote (22 Feb 2021) of Sentence Diagramming: Lesson 1 on Outschool: My 11th grade son had never learned or heard of sentence diagramming before, and - having always felt that it was one of the most useful skills I learned in school for professional/business writing - I wanted
- [Lindsay W Testimonial on Geometry Course](https://goldams.com/lindsay-w-testimonial-on-geometry-course/) - In a 5-star review, parent Lindsay W wrote (10 Mar 2021) of my Geometry Essentials, Semester 1 on Outschool: My 13 yo son got a lot out of this class. The teacher is funny. I wasn't around much but when I was there was some hilarious things going on. But not all the kids got
- [Danielle L Testimonial on Calculus Course](https://goldams.com/danielle-l-testimonial-on-calculus-course/) - In a 5-star review, parent Danielle L wrote of my Summer Calculus Review/Preview, Session 1 on Outschool: This class was excellent! My daughter said "He is the best teacher ever! He actually explains why things work so you understand what's going on instead of just memorizing it." She took Calc 1 a year ago and
- [Lia J Testimonial on Algebra Course](https://goldams.com/lia-j-testimonial-on-algebra-course/) - In a 5-star review, parent Lia J wrote (10 Jul 2021) of my Summer Algebra 2 Review/Preview, Session 1 on Outschool: For the past 2 years, my son has taken a different math class over the summer with Michael Gold just to sharpen up before the upcoming school year, and the payoff has been tremendous.
- [Gita S Testimonial on Geometry Course](https://goldams.com/gita-s-testimonial-on-geometry/) - In a 5-star review, parent Gita S wrote (28 June 2020) of my Summer Geometry Preview/Review, Session 1 on Outschool: Great overview of what geometry class will be like in the upcoming school year. It teaches you how to think about geometry, and the importance of logic and systematic thinking in general.https://outschool.com/classes/summer-geometry-previewreview-session-1-RWzysREo#abkyddb3ck
- [Paula L Testimonial on Geometry Course](https://goldams.com/parent-paula-l-testimonial-on-geometry/) - In a 5-star review, parent Paula L wrote (2 Jan 2022) of my High School Geometry, Semester 1 on Outschool: Never before was my son as motivated and interested in a course. It was a delight to see and fun to hear him share about the lessons without prodding 😄https://outschool.com/classes/high-school-geometry-semester-1-dbrMHxs3#abkyddb3ck
- [Laura S Testimonial on Geometry Course](https://goldams.com/laura-s-testimonial-on-geometry-class/) - In a 5-star review, parent Laura S wrote (22 Aug 2021) of my Summer Geometry Preview/Review, Session 1 on Outschool: This class helped my son prepare for 9th grade Geometry Honors. He felt the teacher was very prepared, extremely knowledgeable, worked at a good pace for understanding and was thorough. There was time for questions
- [Mary B Testimonial on Geometry Course](https://goldams.com/mary-b-testimonial-on-geometry-course/) - In a 5-star review, parent Mary B wrote (19 Aug 2020) of my Summmer Geometry Preview/Review, Session 1 on Outschool: Michael Gold’s "Summer Geometry Preview/Review" was a in-depth yet efficient way (8-classes over a two-week period @ 1.5 hours per class) to get a preview of what to expect in the fall. My daughter wants
- [Li S Testimonial on Sentence Diagramming Course](https://goldams.com/li-s-testimonial-on-sentence-diagramming-course/) - In a 5-star review, parent Li S wrote (16 Dec 2020) of my Sentence Diagramming Grammar Class, Session 1 on Outschool: My daughter’s learning experience with Mr. Gold was excellent. The class was very interactive and informative. There were class note summaries and practices provided by Mr. Gold after each class. To learn about the
- [Efficiency: Human and Automobile](https://goldams.com/efficiency-human-and-automobile/) - In "Why Does Body Temperature Increase During Exercise?" (LiveStrong.com, August 31, 2021), Sara Lindberg writes: When you use your muscles during exercise, 80 percent of the total energy is converted to heat, while only 20 percent is used for muscle contraction, says board-certified Philadelphia-based primary care doctor Ava Williams, MD. "This heat energy is distributed
- [The Hips Don't Lie](https://goldams.com/the-hips-dont-lie/) - The hips provide most of the incredible power and force that our lower body can generate for running and jumping, and deficiencies in strength and flexibility in this area of the body can mean the difference between a winning performance or a painful end to the game.https://gmb.io/hips/ From "Hip Exercises for Power and Mobility” by Jarlo
- [Parkour Over 50](https://goldams.com/parkour-over-50/) - Graceful! Like dancing.
- [Parkour For Over 50](https://goldams.com/parkour-for-over-50/)
- [Parkour At Any Age](https://goldams.com/parkour-at-any-age/)
- [MovNat at 71 Years of Age!](https://goldams.com/movnat-at-71-years-of-age/)
- [Functional Fitness at Any Age](https://goldams.com/functional-fitness-at-any-age/)
- [The Importance of  Breathing, and Breathing Right](https://goldams.com/the-importance-of-breathing-and-breathing-right/) - In "Three Steps to Better Belly Breathing" (Core Exercise Solutions, 16 Feb 2017), Dr. Sarah Ellis Duvall, DPT, CPT, CNC, writes: Breathing is everything. Rather, correct breathing is everything. It can be the difference between a super strong pain free body and one that's under constant cortisol distress, locked down by tight paraspinals and full
- [MovNat at 80 Years Old!](https://goldams.com/movnat-at-80-years-old/)
- [Franklin and Evaporative Cooling](https://goldams.com/franklin-and-evaporative-cooling/) - In "Benjamin Franklin – Founding Father & Air Conditioning Pioneer!," Lane Associates writes: Legend has it that Franklin’s interest in the subject started on a hot July day in Philadelphia in the 1750’s. Ben was sitting in his room, sweating profusely despite a small breeze blowing in through his open windows. He got up to
- [Caffeine Metabolism](https://goldams.com/caffeine-metabolism/) - In "2 Pharmacology of Caffeine" from "Caffeine for the Sustainment of Mental Task Performance: Formulations for Military Operations" (Institute of Medicine (US) Committee on Military Nutrition Research.Washington (DC): National Academies Press (US); 2001, they write: The mean half-life of caffeine in plasma of healthy individuals is about 5 hours. However, caffeine's elimination half-life may range
- [Trash Pickup: Exercise Class Run by Mother Nature](https://goldams.com/trash-pickup-exercise-class-run-by-mother-nature/) - Some of my trash pick up today. Getting stuff out of these brambles and underbrush – – it’s mobility class with Mother Nature calling the shots: “Bend! Crawl! Twist! Soldier crawl! Hand-foot crawl! Hand-knee crawl! Bend! Down! Up! Down! Reach! C'mon, I said reach!“
- [Training and Programming Are the Goal](https://goldams.com/training-and-programming-are-the-goal/) - If you want to be a cut, chiseled statue — you will. And just as static, immobile, and dead. If you want to “do stuff“ – – you will. And you will produce a dysfunctional wreck by disregarding technique and biomechanics. You become what you train for. If you want to be an agile, powerful,
- [Logical Hierarchy](https://goldams.com/logical-hierarchy/) - No one should be able to get a degree in any biological field unless they are first a naturalist. It’s just basic logical hierarchy. They should first be rooted in reality, and in life and its ecological relationships: animate with animate, and with inanimate.
- [Barefoot Resources](https://goldams.com/barefoot-resources/) - A. Articles 1. "Barefoot Walking Benefits Can Include Improved Balance And Posture” (Huffington Post, 23 Nov 2015) Walking barefoot helps to improve balance, posture and prevent common foot injuries, according to an American researcher.Patrick McKeon, a professor at Ithaca College's School of Health Sciences and Human Performance in New York, says that the more people
- [Winter Color](https://goldams.com/winter-color-3/)
- [Original Petit-Dulong Paper (in Translation)](https://goldams.com/original-petit-dulong-paper-in-translation/) - In "Research on some important points of the Theory of Heat" (Annales de Chimie et de Physique 10, 395-413 (1819); contemporary translation from Annals of Philosophy 14, 189-198 (1819)) by Alexis-Thérèse Petit (1791-1820) and Pierre-Louis Dulong (1785-1838), they famously conclude that: The atoms of all simple bodies have exactly the same capacity for heat. Their
- ["A Lifter's Guide to Movement" by FMS](https://goldams.com/a-lifters-guide-to-movement-by-fms/) - Show description: From Olympic weightlifting to powerlifting, Strongman to bodybuilding, or just the average person lifting weights, individuals all over the world have discovered the benefits that strength training has to offer.But with its continuing popularity, there’s also been a rise in misinformation, bad form, and unobtainable goals. Today, we give our insight on weight
- [A Rare Source of Reason in Education](https://goldams.com/a-rare-source-of-reason-in-education/) - I work with students, teachers, and business professionals, teaching: -logic and thinking skills (the root of it all) -mathematics -physics and the sciences -sentence diagramming -the history and nature of science -philosophy -teaching skills, curriculum design, and more Private tutoring. Group classes. Teacher training. Curriculum consulting. Thinking skills coaching for business professionals and businesses. Contact
- [Joule's Great Paddlewheel Experiment](https://goldams.com/joules-great-paddlewheel-experiment/) - About Joule, the American Physical Society says in "December 1840: Joule’s abstract on converting mechanical power into heat" (This Month in History in the APS News, December 2009, Volume 18, Number 11) Scientists in the early 19th century adhered to caloric theory, first proposed by Antoine Lavoisier in 1783 and further bolstered by the work
- ["The Great Dance:" The Beauty of Tracking and Nature Study](https://goldams.com/the-great-dance-the-beauty-of-tracking-and-nature-study/) - Description on Amazon: "!Nqate is a hunter. His home is the Kalahari. His people depend on him for their survival. This is his story, told in his own words. His is a world invisible to outsiders--a world in which every footprint, raindrop, or broken branch is of profound importance. The ultimate expression of his being
- [How the Reasonable Argue With Each Other](https://goldams.com/13141-2/) - In "How to Argue With Kindness and Care: 4 Rules from Philosopher Daniel Dennett" (Open Culture, 19 Jun 2019), Josh Jones writes:" Like their classical predecessors, these rules directly tie careful, generous listening to sound argumentation. We cannot say we have understood an argument unless we’ve actually heard its nuances, can summarize it for others,
- [Red Admiral](https://goldams.com/red-admiral/) - Finally got some (recent) pictures of one! Sweet. I have been seeing them flying and flitting around the past few weeks, but I have not been able to get near one that was cooperating and sitting still to get pictures. Today: success! Yes! It takes stealth and patience and the ability to move extremely slowly.
- [Be Real, Please](https://goldams.com/be-real-please/) - Get out in nature. Connect with life: trees, plants, birds, insects, butterflies, deer, snakes, mammals, and more. It’s good to get into it and get real every day instead of being stuck inside home where most everything is inanimate and dead. Don’t let a cage keep you from the living. Get out and get connected,
- [Mobility Work in Nature (from 21 Nov 2016)](https://goldams.com/mobility-work-in-nature-from-21-nov-2016/)
- [Evolutionary Fitness](https://goldams.com/evolutionary-fitness/) - Art DeVany (See also his bio and writings on Amazon.) says of his Evolutionary Fitness: Evolutionary Fitness is a result of my personal and scientific quest to stay fit and young. It combines my experience as a professional and amateur athlete, and nearly 50 years in the study and practice of fitness, with my scientific
- [Inside a Dance Hall, 1914](https://goldams.com/inside-a-dance-hall-1914/)
- [Some Dancing in Old Silent Movies](https://goldams.com/some-dancing-in-old-silent-movies/)
- [Some Dancing of the 1920s](https://goldams.com/some-dancing-of-the-1920s/)
- [Recommended: "The Boy Mechanic"](https://goldams.com/recommended-the-boy-mechanic/) - The Boy Mechanic: Things For Boys To Do is a good book from Popular Mechanics in 1913. (Also on The Internet Archive.) There is also a The Boy Mechanic: Book 2. (Other uploads of both books available for download on The Internet Archive.) You can see an ad for the two books in Popular Mechanics
- [Nutrition and Education: A Link? Post 2](https://goldams.com/nutrition-and-education-a-link-post-2/) - Another "for what it's worth" -- i.e., I report, you decide. Writing about "bipolar disorder" (related to education in so far as its a behaviorial issue and affects learning), Pedro Bastos (member of the New York Academy of Sciences and the International Society of Sports Nutrition; Post-graduate degree in Exercise and Health from ESDRM; currently
- [Physics Fail, Reprise](https://goldams.com/physics-fail-reprise/) - Groan. So much physics is taught without giving content and examples to the concepts. It pains me. It hurts seeing how students suffer from this; it gives me joy to help them grasp what is going on.Concepts are organizations of concretes (examples, individual things, illustrations) and are meaningless without them.But words in physics are used
- [Biology: It's Not Just Competition](https://goldams.com/biology-its-about-cooperation/) - "It’s not that symbiosis occasionally occurs in nature; it’s that everywhere, at every level of complexity, symbiosis makes what we call nature possible.” — Moises Velasquez-Madoff, An Epidemic of Absence, p. 167 (ISBN 1439199396 or 978143919939)
- [Developing Attention](https://goldams.com/developing-attention/) - Spin, Swing, Climb & Slide! is a podcast worth the listen. They talk about the importance of childhood play in a person's development.For example, they talked about the importance of spinning around. When children do so, it helps them develop their vestibular system and its integration with the nervous system, which, they say, is important
- [Movement and Attention](https://goldams.com/movement-and-attention/) - In “BRING BACK THE MERRY-GO-ROUND: It is a therapeutic tool,” Angela Hanscom, an “occupational therapist” for children, writes:As a child, I loved the merry-go-round! It was such a thrill. I remember holding on to the metal posts as we ran around and around, finally jumping onto the merry-go-round at the last second, hanging on for
- [Paleo & Science: A Plea](https://goldams.com/paleo-science-a-plea/) - Sadly, most Paleo "leaders" (scientists, coaches, and nutritionists who are paving the way for the Paleo diet and lifestyle) have a poor (or incomplete) philosophy of science. Many believe that science proceeds by making hypotheses up, then testing them: pretty much the MO of Ancel Keys and T. Colin Campbell, thinkers whose methods we should
- [On The Importance of A Rational Education and Rational Teachers](https://goldams.com/on-the-importance-of-a-rational-education-and-rational-teachers/) - In the blog post "When and How Do People Learn To Think?," David Harriman says:Ignatius Loyola, founder of the Jesuit order in the sixteenth century, once said: “Give me a child until the age of seven and I will give you the man.”He exaggerated, but he wasn’t wrong. If the age is changed to seventeen, then–in
- [Induction is Valid](https://goldams.com/induction-is-valid/) - Scientists and philosophers do not understand induction, yet, in their ignorance, write it off as invalid, as some mysterious, illogical leap of faith. But induction is obviously something we use frequently in life and which plays an important role in our knowledge (e.g., developing concepts, principles, generalizations) -- i.e., it is valid. Instead of saying
- [Summer Learning](https://goldams.com/summer-learning/) - In a summary of Making Summer Count by McCombs, Augustine, Schwartz, et. al., they say:Research has shown that students' skills and knowledge often deteriorate during the summer months, with low-income students facing the largest losses. Instruction during the summer has the potential to stop these losses and propel students toward higher achievement. A review of the
- [Make The Most of the Summer](https://goldams.com/make-the-most-of-the-summer/) - In a summary of Making Summer Count by McCombs, Augustine, Schwartz, et. al., they say:Research has shown that students' skills and knowledge often deteriorate during the summer months, with low-income students facing the largest losses. Instruction during the summer has the potential to stop these losses and propel students toward higher achievement. A review of the
- [Teaching Exponents](https://goldams.com/teaching-exponents/) - Someone recently asked what a zero exponent would mean in the real world. Here is my basic response. The important method of research is to ask and answer questions, and the important questions to ask are "how did we get the concept?" and "what does it mean?" We should look for things in the world
- [Writing and Debating: Fundamental Issues of Government and Politics](https://goldams.com/writing-and-debating-fundamental-issues-of-government-and-politics/) - On WYNC.org, they say "starting March 10, WNYC's Brian Lehrer will be moderating First Principles, a series of three debates on the moral underpinnings of today's politics. The event co-sponsored by Demos, The Ayn Rand Institute and It's A Free Country." Describing the event in more detail at First Principles, they say: First Principles: The Moral
- [Geometry in Design](https://goldams.com/geometry-in-design/) - Too cool: geometry in the Apple logo.
- [Diet, Health, and Mental Health](https://goldams.com/diet-health-and-mental-health/) - In "An Unconventional Approach to PCOS," Peggy Emch writes about how powerful a factor diet is for health, mental health, and well-being. When I was 14, I went to the emergency room with 4 cysts which had ruptured on my ovaries in unison (utterly agonizing pain). But after the ultrasound confirmed that the cysts had
- [Happy Independence Day!!](https://goldams.com/happy-independence-day-3/) - Picture from DCTravelBlog.com. Picture from WashingtonPost.com.
- [Diet For Health & Learning: A Simple View](https://goldams.com/diet-for-health-learning-a-simple-view/) - Paleo Based Diet/Lifestyle Houston, Tx has a nice, simple, basic presentation of paleo. Check it out. Good for your body, good for your brain. You might also want to check out their post Starving Cancer -- and, in that vein, check out the Primal Parent's blog post Intermittent Fasting -- Is It Safe For Children?.
- [Some Tidbits of Math History](https://goldams.com/some-tidbits-of-math-history/) - There is some interesting material about math symbols at The History of Mathematical Symbols by Douglass Weaver and Anthony D. Smith. For example, they say: Percent has been used since the end of the fifteenth century in business problems such as computing interest, profit and loss, and taxes. However, the idea had its origin much
- [Memory, Learning, and Vitamin B12](https://goldams.com/memory-learning-and-vitamin-b12/) - In "B12 deficiency: a silent epidemic with serious consequences," Chris Kresser says: What do all of these diseases have in common? Alzheimer’s, dementia, cognitive decline and memory loss (collectively referred to as “aging”) Multiple sclerosis (MS) and other neurological disorders Mental illness (depression, anxiety, bipolar disorder, psychosis) Cardiovascular disease Learning or developmental disorders in kids
- [Combating Autism](https://goldams.com/combating-autism/) - Fox News interviewed a family (be sure to read the comments to the post on Tom Naugton's site), Michael and Tula Larson, and their doctor, Dr. Kenneth Bock, (author of Healing the New Childhood Epidemics: Autism, ADHD, Asthma and Allergies) about Tula's autism and how it was eliminated with diet. The diet is basically the
- [Discovering the Principles and Effects of the Discovering Math Series](https://goldams.com/discovering-the-principles-and-effects-of-the-discovering-math-series/) - In reading Robert Pondiscio's "Suing Over Curriculum" (February 5, 2010), I was amused to find mention of a math text that I find generally flawed and illogical: Discovering Math. It is a text used locally, too, so I've had the stress of having to tutor some students who are subjected to the text's cognitive torture.
- [Atmospheric CO2 Level Constant Over the Past 160 Years?](https://goldams.com/atmospheric-co2-level-constant-over-the-past-160-years/) - As with astronomy, where Ptolemy was not right because his math "worked" (mostly) and was fancy, but where Copernicus, Galileo and Newton were right because they derived their conclusions from the facts, so also, climate science must bow to facts and evidence, not vice versa. There will be not knowledge proper in climate science until
- [Statistics and Current Events](https://goldams.com/statistics-and-current-events/) - In "Fables of the Reconstruction (Or, How to Make Your Own Hockey Stick)," the blogger Iowahawk says: What follows started as a comment I made over at Ace's last week which he graciously decided to feature on a separate post (thanks Ace). In short, it's a detailed how-to-guide for replicating the climate reconstruction method used
- [Recent Fasting & Exercising: Informed by Math & Science](https://goldams.com/recent-fasting-exercising-informed-by-math-science/) - Having learned a great deal from Art De Vany's Evolutionary Fitness (and from other people who I have learned about from and since beginning to read Art De Vany's Website), I have radically changed my diet and exercise routines. In some respects they are "routines," but in some respects they are like Bruce Lee's system
- [Introducing Ardi, Ancestor of Lucy](https://goldams.com/introducing-ardi-ancestor-of-lucy/) - In "Before Lucy came Ardi, new earliest hominid found" (Yahoo News, Thu Oct 1, 6:33 pm ET), Randolph E. Schmid says: The story of humankind is reaching back another million years as scientists learn more about "Ardi," a hominid who lived 4.4 million years ago in what is now Ethiopia. The 110-pound, 4-foot female roamed forests a million years
- [Why People Need Powell History](https://goldams.com/why-people-need-powell-history/) - In the blog post "Mourning Constitutional- OK kids score even worse than AZ" (Jay P. Greene's Blog, Thursday, September 17th, 2009 at 10:52 am), Mr. Greene writes: Regular JPGB readers will recall that the Goldwater Institute gave a version of the United States Citizenship Test to Arizona high school students, only to learn that they were
- [Monkeys & Music](https://goldams.com/monkeys-music/) - In "Play that monkey music: Tunes inspired by tamarin calls seem to alter the primates’ emotions" (Science News, Tuesday, September 1, 2009), Jenny Lauren Lee writes: [Charles Snowdon of the University of Wisconsin-Madison] says even the music that made the monkeys content is not pleasant to the human ear. The tamarin calls are higher pitched
- [Happy Birthday Oil!!](https://goldams.com/happy-birthday-oil/) - Oil 150 says: From medicine to jet fuel, the oil industry has not only powered progress, but transformed the world. It all began in the United States in 1859 in northwestern Pennsylvania, when Colonel Edwin Drake drilled the first successful commercial well. Oil 150 is the official website of the 150th anniversary celebration of the
- [Study on Montessori Education vs. Traditional Education](https://goldams.com/study-on-montessori-education-vs-traditional-education/) - In "Montessori Education Provides Better Outcomes Than Traditional Methods, Study Finds" on Montessori-Science.org, they say: September 28, 2006—A study comparing outcomes of children at a public inner-city Montessori school with children who attended traditional schools indicates that Montessori education leads to children with better social and academic skills. The study appears in the September 29,
- [Good For Cats](https://goldams.com/good-for-cats/) - My cats are about out of dry food, and are taking a while to transition from dry to wet, so I am compromising with them. I went to Veterans Memorial Drive Animal Hospital today and bought some high-quality, high-protein, grain-free dry food: Evo (an Innova company) brand's Dry Cat and Kitten Food and Nature's Logic
- [New Cat Food](https://goldams.com/new-cat-food/) - Yesterday I purchased some frozen raw Nature's Variety, chicken formula. The ingredients are: Chicken, Raw Ground Chicken Bone, Turkey, Turkey Liver, Turkey Heart, Apples, Carrots, Butternut Squash, Ground Flaxseed, Chicken Eggs, Broccoli, Lettuce, Spinach, Dried Kelp, Apple Cider Vinegar, Parsley, Honey, Salmon Oil, Olive Oil, Blueberries, Alfalfa Sprouts, Persimmons, Duck Eggs, Pheasant Eggs, Quail Eggs,
- [Want Excellence in Education? Return to Reason](https://goldams.com/want-excellence-in-education-return-to-reason/) - It is well documented that there is a problem with mainstream modern American education (including some of its streams and tributaries): many high school grads are unprepared for college level work; illiteracy in our culture has been increasing for decades; standardized test scores are up while the difficulty level is dumbed down; many are ignorant
- [A Classic Music Video](https://goldams.com/a-classic-music-video/) - I've always loved the music video "Take Me On" by a-ha. It's really well done, and tells a good story.
- [On Patrick Henry](https://goldams.com/on-patrick-henry/) - Dr. John Ridpath has another excellent lecture (1 hour 11 minutes; given February 12, 2004) on the life and character of Patrick Henry, entitled "In the Dawn's Early Light: Patrick Henry—Beacon for America." (Requires RealPlayer.) The lecture is summarized as follows: On Presidents’ Day we honor some of the great men who contributed to the
- [George Washington: Man of Integrity, Courage, and Sterling Morality](https://goldams.com/george-washington-man-of-integrity-courage-and-sterling-morality/) - Dr. John Ridpath has an excellent lecture (1 hour 45 minutes; given February 21, 2005) on the life and character of George Washington, entitled "George Washington: Integrity and the Founding of America." (Requires RealPlayer.) Recommended! The lecture is summarized as follows: The Founders of America all viewed George Washington as their leader, and many of
- [Intellectual Independence](https://goldams.com/intellectual-independence/) - As Galileo and Aristotle say, we need to 'do the experiment,' to reason things out, to appeal, not to authority, but to first principles and the evidence of the senses. And we need to know that facts and ideas must all integrate without contradiction. In "Teen Outsmarts Doctors In Science Class: Self-diagnosis impresses docs who've
- [Modern Education's Malfeasance](https://goldams.com/modern-educations-malfeasance/) - Modern education, in so far as it has turned away from reason and objectivity, has turned against its fundamental purpose: to train the young in reasoning. Of course, this is a for the most part generalization about modern education, not a universal generalization. David Solway, in "A Huge Serving of Academia Nuts" (Pajamas Media, May
- [4-30: On This Day In History](https://goldams.com/4-30-on-this-day-in-history/) - Scopes Systems' 'on this day in history' page says that these events occurred on this day: 1006 Brightest supernova in recorded hist ory is observed 1492 Columbus is given royal commission to equip his fleet 1789 George Washington inaugurated as 1st President of US 1798 Department of the Navy is established 1803 US doubles in
- [Exercise and Depression](https://goldams.com/exercise-and-depression/) - There is a connection between mind and body. I've posted on this blog about the work that some of have done finding a connection between physical activity and brain development. Scientific American recently had an article about the importance of play, i.e., physical activity, to children. So it should come as no surprise that there
- [A Current Read](https://goldams.com/a-current-read/) - This book is good: It's a slim book: 124 pages long. But it is interesting and insightful. You cannot, by any rational standard, but respect and admire Mr. Douglas for what he made of himself in the conditions he grew up in. He rose from the lowest depths imposed upon him to self-created intellectual and
- [Happy Birthday, Mr. Douglas!!](https://goldams.com/happy-birthday-mr-douglas/) - Mrs. Debi Ghate said on the Voices For Reason (update: corrected "of" to "from" on 2-25-09) blog that Mr. Douglas' birthday was in February! The exact date is not known. She writes of Mr. Douglas: By his own best estimate, February marks the anniversary of Frederick Douglass’s birth. As is commonly known, Douglass was born
- [Happy Birthday, Ayn Rand](https://goldams.com/happy-birthday-ayn-rand/) - At MSN Encarta, they say: Ayn Rand (1905-1982), American novelist and philosopher, whose championing of the gifted individual established her as a controversial figure in 20th-century literary and philosophical debate. Rand upheld individualism over collectivism and egoism over altruism. She staunchly defended reason as the tool that sustains and nourishes the individual against the forces
- [The Intel Science Talent Search](https://goldams.com/the-intel-science-talent-search/) - This competition is in semifinalist stage right now. I have heard that a Woodlands Homeschooler, Michael Wham, is one of the semifinalists. Congratulations! A recent press release says: 300 High School Seniors Named Semifinalists in Intel Science Talent Search Young Innovators Compete for $1.25 Million in Scholarships SANTA CLARA, Calif., Jan. 14, 2009 – At
- [Fats: Avoid...or Control?](https://goldams.com/fats-avoidor-control/) - In the Paleo Diet Newsletter, v. 5, #5, Pedro Bastos says: As noted in the previous issue, awareness is growing that the type of dietary fat is more important than the amount of dietary fat. In fact, in 1995, researchers from the USDA's Western Human Nutrition Research Center, in S. Francisco, California, have shown that
- [The Paleo Diet: Some Supporting Evidence](https://goldams.com/the-paleo-diet-some-supporting-evidence/) - In The Paleo Diet Update v.5, #6 - "How Healthy Were Our Ancestors?," Mr. Pedro Bastos writes: This evolutionary template shows that to achieve optimal health, body composition and physical fitness, we should try to emulate our ancestors' diet and lifestyle. Some of the reasons for this conclusion are: 1. Lower total blood cholesterol in
- [Bald Eagles](https://goldams.com/bald-eagles/) - The Raptor Resource Project has a camera showing us the birth and growth of three fledgling eagles in Decorah, Iowa. Fun, fascinating and interesting. The RRP has a blog where they are (sometimes) posting about the growth, trials and tribulations of the eaglets and parent eagles. Enjoy!
- [Michael Farday's "A Chemical History of a Candle" Lecture Series](https://goldams.com/michael-fardays-a-chemical-history-of-a-candle-lecture-series/)
- [Thoreau on Living](https://goldams.com/thoreau-on-living/) - "I went to the woods because I wished to live deliberately, to front only the essential facts of life, and see if I could not learn what it had to teach, and not, when I came to die, discover that I had not lived. I did not wish to live what was not life, living
- [Beautiful Milkweed](https://goldams.com/beautiful-milkweed/)
- [Wild Onion 1Jan2022](https://goldams.com/wild-onion-1jan2022/)
- [A Cold Cypress TX Morning 2Jan2022](https://goldams.com/a-cold-cypress-tx-morning-2jan2022/)
- [What is Philosophy? Why Do You Need It?](https://goldams.com/what-is-philosophy-why-do-you-need-it/) - We will study what philosophy is, why we need it, and how bad philosophical ideas make science and thinking go wrong. Enroll on Outschool, or contact me to set up a course for you, a small group, or your school. In this class, we will discuss what philosophy is, what its branches are, why it
- [Inquiring-mind Science: How Did Kepler Discover Elliptical Orbits?](https://goldams.com/inquiring-mind-science-how-did-kepler-discover-elliptical-orbits/) - In this class, we will learn how Kepler figured out that the planets moved in elliptical orbits about the sun. Enroll on Outschool, or contact me to set up a course for you, a small group, or your school. Modern astronomy and knowledge of the solar system also depend on knowing the shape of the
- [Inquiring-mind Science: How Big Is the Earth?](https://goldams.com/inquiring-mind-science-how-big-is-the-earth/) - We will learn how science works by seeing how to figure out the size of the earth. Enroll on Outschool, or contact me to set up a course for you, a small group, or your school. Modern astronomy and knowledge of the solar system depend on knowing how big the earth is. Without this knowledge,
- [Inquiring-mind Science: How Far Is the Moon?](https://goldams.com/inquiring-mind-science-how-far-is-the-moon/) - Enroll on Outschool, or contact me to set up a course for you, a small group, or your school. We will do the calculations to figure the moon's distance from the earth, and learn the facts it depends on. How big is our solar system? How far apart are the planets? How do we know?
- [Inquiring-mind Science: How Far Is the Sun? How Far Are the Planets?](https://goldams.com/inquiring-mind-science-how-far-is-the-sun-how-far-are-the-planets/) - In this class we will learn how to reason out and calculate how far the sun is from the earth and how far planets are from the sun. Enroll on Outschool, or contact me to set up a course for you, a small group, or your school. Modern astronomy and knowledge of the solar system
- [Logic For Future Scientists](https://goldams.com/logic-for-future-scientists/) - In this course, focused on scientists and future scientists but also for engineers or anyone who wants to know science, we will learn logic and the logic of science by studying actual science, scientific successes & failures, and the history of science. Enroll on Outschool or contact me to set up a course for yourself,
- [Logic For Future Teachers](https://goldams.com/logic-for-future-teachers/) - Enroll on Outschool, or contact me to set up a course or workshop for you, for a small group, for your school, or for your company. We will learn ideas and techniques that are deep, fundamental, and powerful -- yet found nowhere else (or rarely anywhere). They will benefit any teacher or thinker of any
- [Introductory Logic: Thinking Skills That Matter](https://goldams.com/introductory-logic-thinking-skills-that-matter/) - We will learn aspects of logic fundamental to efficient, effective thinking. (A more in-depth course than Logic Essentials.) Enroll on Outschool, or contact me to set up a class for you, a small group, your school, a group of teachers, or a group of professionals (business, engineers, scientists, etc.). A "master class" in logic. A
- [Logic Essentials: How To Think Well](https://goldams.com/logic-essentials-how-to-think-well/) - Enroll on Outschool, or contact me to set up a class for you, a small group, your school, a group of teachers, or a group of professionals (business, engineers, scientists, etc.). We will learn aspects of logic fundamental to efficient, effective thinking -- logic you need, logic you want, logic you have now found. On
- [Calculus, Semester 2](https://goldams.com/calculus-semester-2/) - Enroll on Outschool, or contact me to set up a course for a small group. In this course, we will learn calculus on a high school/college level. This course will be about equivalent to an AP Calculus AB course, semester 2. Recommended for students who plan to go into science, engineering, medical, or other careers
- [High School Geometry, Semester 2](https://goldams.com/high-school-geometry-semester-2/) - Enroll on Outschool or contact me to set up a class for a small group. Geometry for those who want a more traditional, in-depth geometry course. We will learn concepts of geometry that are important in themselves, but that are also an important foundation for later mathematics and for physics, chemistry, and biology. And from
- [Sentence Diagramming Grammar Class, Session 2](https://goldams.com/sentence-diagramming-grammar-class-session-2/) - Learn grammar by diagramming sentences! From adjective and adverbial clauses to noun clauses, infinitives, participles, gerunds, and more. Enroll on Outschool, or contact me to set up a private individual or group class. Sentence diagramming helps us master sentence construction, which helps us write better, read better, and think better. In tutoring many high school
- [Sentence Diagramming Grammar Class, Session 1](https://goldams.com/sentence-diagramming-grammar-class-session-1/) - Learn grammar by diagramming sentences! Basic sentences, prepositional phrases, adjective clauses, adverbial clauses, and more. Enroll on Outschool, or contact me to set up a private individual or group class. Sentence diagramming helps us master sentence construction, which helps us write better, read better, and think better. In tutoring many high school students (even junior
- [Inquiring-mind Science: How Franklin Discovered Lightning Was Electricity](https://goldams.com/inquiring-mind-science-how-franklin-discovered-lightning-was-electricity/) - Many of us know the story of Franklin flying a kite in a storm, but few know the lessons for scientific thinking behind it. (Enroll on Outschool, or contact me to learn this privately or in a small group.) That Franklin flew a kite in a storm to see if lightning was electricity is a
- [Logic: The Missing Link](https://goldams.com/logic-the-missing-link/) - We need more reason and logic in schools. A dearth of it leads to people having their conceptual thought severed from their perceptual awareness of reality. We need training in method and technique to know how to correctly think conceptually. No such training leads to people being lost and confused, frustrated and angry. Logic, the
- [“Navy SEAL on MovNat” by Mark Bollong](https://goldams.com/navy-seal-on-movnat-by-mark-bollong/) - In “Navy SEAL on MovNat: Brilliant, Practical, Not Flashy: How this Navy SEAL Commander Takes Real World Fitness to Another Level with Natural Movement," (MovNat website, 9 July 2020), Mark Bollong writes: Hello fellow humans, If you are wondering about MovNat and whether it is something worth investing your time and resources into, I hope I
- [“Top-ranking UFC fighter Carlos Condit shares great insights about his MovNat / Natural Movement Fitness training with founder Erwan Le Corre"](https://goldams.com/top-ranking-ufc-fighter-carlos-condit-shares-great-insights-about-his-movnat-natural-movement-fitness-training-with-founder-erwan-le-corre/) - Carlos Condit on the value of MovNat. (3 min 5 sec)
- [Shawshank Redemption Quote](https://goldams.com/shawshank-redemption-quote-2/) - "Get busy living, or get busy dying." -Andy in The Shawshank Redemption, based on a story by Stephen King ("Rita Hayworth and the Shawshank Redemption")
- [Shawshank Redemption Quote](https://goldams.com/shawshank-redemption-quote/) - "[T]here are places in this world that aren't made out of stone. That there's something inside... that they can't get to, that they can't touch. That's yours." --Andy in The Shawshank Redemption, based on a story by Stephen King ("Rita Hayworth and the Shawshank Redemption")
- [Trash Pickup Exercise](https://goldams.com/trash-pickup-exercise/) - Two day's worth of work, three hours each day, pulling trash out of the woods -- flood debris mostly, but also some trash dumped on a property that is now owned by the county. Some trash I had to haul 25 yards, some 50 yards, some 100 yards, some 200 yards, and some of it
- [Winter Color](https://goldams.com/winter-color-2/)
- [Winter Color](https://goldams.com/winter-color/)
- [Red and Green](https://goldams.com/red-and-green/)
- [Common Buckeye, Uncommon Beauty](https://goldams.com/common-buckeye-uncommon-beauty/)
- [Little Cypress Creek Today (30Dec2021)](https://goldams.com/little-cypress-creek-today-30dec2021/) - Beautiful. Serene. Gorgeous. Natural. Real.
- [The Fascinating Complexity of Biology: Gears in Planthoppers](https://goldams.com/the-fascinating-complexity-of-biology-gears-in-planthoppers/) - In the fascinating article "This Insect Has The Only Mechanical Gears Ever Found in Nature" (Smithsonian Magazine, September 12, 2013, reprinted on Pocket) by Joseph Stromberg writes Malcolm Burrows and Gregory Sutton, a pair of biologists from the University of Cambridge in the U.K., discovered that juveniles of the species [Issus coleoptratus ] have an intricate
- [Sunset in Flatonia TX 28Dec2021](https://goldams.com/sunset-in-flatonia-tx-28dec2021/)
- [ReasonRx Podcast Episode 10 Dr. Bernd Heinrich Interview](https://goldams.com/dr-bernd-heinrich-interview/) - In this episode (on our podcast host and on iTunes), Dr. Bernd Heinrich -- world-renowned biologist and world-class ultra-marathoner -- joins Melanie and Michael for a discussion of nature, biology, education, the nature of science, his journey through life, and more. Sorry the sound quality was not good sometimes; our Internet connection was sometimes not
- [Beware](https://goldams.com/beware/) - Those who dispense with logic want to dispense with understanding, truth, and reality.
- [On Understanding](https://goldams.com/on-understanding/) - Understanding and real knowledge requires "hierarchy diagrams" of concepts, definitions, and propositions. They trace an item of knowledge step by step back to the evidence of the senses, identifying the logically necessary steps, not the chronological order or the optional, personal information.
- [SAT/ACT Importance 2022](https://goldams.com/sat-act-importance-2022/) - In "Harvard Extends Test-Optional Admissions Policy for Four Years" (New York Times, 16 Dec 2021), Anemona Hartocollis writes: Harvard will not require SAT or ACT scores for admission through the next four years, extending a policy adopted during the coronavirus pandemic and adding fuel to the movement to permanently eliminate standardized test scores for admission
- [Cypress Serenity (19 Feb 2021, 2)](https://goldams.com/cypress-serenity-19-feb-2021-2/)
- [Cypress Serenity (19 Feb 2021)](https://goldams.com/cypress-serenity-19-feb-2021/)
- [Pond Serenity (2 May 2021)](https://goldams.com/pond-serenity-2-may-2021/)
- [Serenity (18 Apr 2021)](https://goldams.com/serenity-18-apr-2021/)
- [Wise Land Use](https://goldams.com/wise-land-use/) - Often, it is one's mind that needs to be developed, not the land.
- [Mobility For Running (15 May 2021)](https://goldams.com/mobility-for-running-15-may-2021/)
- [Three-toed Box Turtle (excerpt from 22 Jul 2021)](https://goldams.com/three-toed-box-turtle/)
- [Three-toed Box Turtle (from 22 July 2022)](https://goldams.com/12805-2/)
- [Common Box Turtle (from 10 Jun 2021)](https://goldams.com/common-box-turtle-from-10-jun-2021-2/)
- [Gulf Fritillary on Christmas Day](https://goldams.com/gulf-fritillary-on-christmas-day/)
- [Happy Holidays!](https://goldams.com/happy-holidays-2/)
- [Merry Christmas!](https://goldams.com/merry-christmas-3/)
- [A Philosophy of Education](https://goldams.com/a-philosophy-of-education/) - Education is the systematic training of the conceptual faculty by means of supplying in essentials both its content and its method. It is one of many things — among them fitness, friendship, family, nature time, security, emotional stability — needed to fully develop a person in all their human aspects and needed to thrive. The
- [Traits of a Total Human Athlete: Mobility and Strength (from 28 Jan 2021)](https://goldams.com/traits-of-a-total-human-athlete-mobility-and-strength-from-28-jan-2021/)
- [Fitness is Non-optional](https://goldams.com/fitness-is-non-optional/) - Mind is for movement. Use it or lose it.
- [The Purpose of Education](https://goldams.com/the-purpose-of-education/) - To paraphrase the great writer Victor Hugo, if I was merely teaching to the test, I'd break my pencil and throw it away. Education is not about making test-taking drones. Education is about helping children become the best adults and the most powerful, practical, happy life-loving thinkers they can be.
- [Logic is Fundamental](https://goldams.com/logic-is-fundamental-2/) - Reading is useless unless you think well — i.e., think logically — and have a fundamental commitment to truth and reality.
- [Happy Winter Solstice! (Approximately.)](https://goldams.com/happy-winter-solstice-approximately/) - The day the sun stands still. The etymology is here: https://www.etymonline.com/word/solstice Some ancients thought -- sensibly enough in context of the knowledge and methods humans had developed at that point -- that the sun went around the earth. Getting more advanced, to explain why the sun was higher in the sky at some times during
- [Logical Hierarchy Is Essential](https://goldams.com/logical-hierarchy-is-essential/) - We must have solid ground, whether for running, learning, or thinking. If we run off it, we fail.
- [Excerpts From a MovNat Elements Workshop (on 6 Nov 2021)](https://goldams.com/excerpts-from-a-movnat-elements-workshop-on-6-nov-2021-2/) - Next MovNat Elements workshop is on 15 Jan 2022! Enroll on the MovNat Website!
- [Excerpts From a MovNat Elements Workshop (on 6 Nov 2021)](https://goldams.com/excerpts-from-a-movnat-elements-workshop-on-6-nov-2021/) - The next MovNat Elements workshop is on 15 Jan 2022! Enroll on the MovNat website!
- [Training for Total Human Fitness (from 23 June 2017)](https://goldams.com/training-for-total-human-fitness-from-23-june-2017/)
- [Total Fitness Training (from 29 Setpt 2017)](https://goldams.com/total-fitness-training-from-29-setpt-2017/)
- [Fitness Training for the Total Human Athlete](https://goldams.com/fitness-training-for-the-total-human-athlete/)
- [“Demonstrating How Sound Can't Travel Through a Vacuum - Christmas Lectures with Charles Taylor” (2 min 12 sec)](https://goldams.com/demonstrating-how-sound-cant-travel-through-a-vacuum-christmas-lectures-with-charles-taylor-2-min-12-sec/)
- ["Musical Road- Lancaster, CA" (1 min 9 sec)](https://goldams.com/musical-road-lancaster-ca-1-min-9-sec/)
- ["New Mexico "Musical Highway" Plays America the Beautiful" (49 sec)](https://goldams.com/new-mexico-musical-highway-plays-america-the-beautiful-49-sec/)
- ["Musical Highway, Albuquerque” (51 sec)](https://goldams.com/musical-highway-albuquerque-51-sec/)
- [“Savart's wheel, Good science, bad music” (8 min 16 sec)](https://goldams.com/savarts-wheel-good-science-bad-music-8-min-16-sec/)
- [“Demonstrating Resonance with Chladni Figures - Christmas Lectures with Charles Taylor” (9 min 40 sec)](https://goldams.com/demonstrating-resonance-with-chladni-figures-christmas-lectures-with-charles-taylor-9-min-40-sec/)
- [“Tyndall's Experiments on Resonance - Christmas Lectures with Charles Taylor” (5 min 41 sec)](https://goldams.com/tyndalls-experiments-on-resonance-christmas-lectures-with-charles-taylor-5-min-41-sec/)
- [Traits of Athletic Competence: Power (from 19 April 2021)](https://goldams.com/traits-of-athletic-competence-power-from-19-april-2021/)
- [Traits of a Total Athlete: Power and Balance (from 29 Dec 2020)](https://goldams.com/traits-of-a-total-athlete-power-and-balance-from-29-dec-2020/)
- [My MovNat Level 2 ReCert (from July 2021)](https://goldams.com/my-movnat-level-2-recert-from-july-2021/)
- [Real Functional Fitness For the Total Athlete (from 12 Nov 2020)](https://goldams.com/real-functional-fitness-for-the-total-athlete-from-12-nov-2020/)
- [The 2x4: a Versatile Training Tool](https://goldams.com/the-2x4-a-versatile-training-tool/)
- [Common Box Turtle! (from 10 Jun 2021)](https://goldams.com/common-box-turtle-from-10-jun-2021/)
- [White-lined Sphinx Moth! Beautiful!](https://goldams.com/white-lined-sphinx-moth-beautiful/)
- [A Fitness Circuit For the Total Human Athlete (from 25 Sept 2021)](https://goldams.com/a-fitness-circuit-for-the-total-human-athlete-from-25-sept-2021/)
- [Traits of Athletic Competence: Balance and Agility](https://goldams.com/traits-of-athletic-competence-balance-and-agility/)
- [A Fitness Circuit For the Total Human Athlete, Indoors or Out (from 12 Oct 2021](https://goldams.com/a-fitness-circuit-for-the-total-human-athlete-indoors-or-out-from-12-oct-2021/)
- [A Fitness Circuit for the Total Human Athlete (from 23 Oct 2021)](https://goldams.com/a-fitness-circuit-for-the-total-human-athlete/)
- [A Recent Red-Shouldered Hawk I Saw (on 22 Dec 2021)](https://goldams.com/a-recent-red-shouldered-hawk-i-saw-on-22-dec-2021/)
- [A Recent Coralsnake I Saw (on 27 Nov 2021)](https://goldams.com/a-recent-coralsnake-i-saw-on-27-nov-2021/)
- [Aristotle on Loving Biology](https://goldams.com/aristotle-on-loving-biology/) - Among the substantial beings constituted by nature, some are ungenerated and imperishable throughout all eternity [stuff in the heavens, the stars and planets, the celestial], while others partake of generation and perishing [stuff on earth, the terrestrial]. Yet it has turned out that our studies of the former, though they are valuable and divine, are
- [Medical Doctor Mark Hyman and Scientist Dale Harrison: "The Real Story About COVID Vaccines: What We Know, What We Don’t"](https://goldams.com/medical-doctor-mark-hyman-and-scientist-dale-harrioson-the-real-story-about-covid-vaccines-what-we-know-what-we-dont/) - Show description: "I really wanted to talk to someone in-depth about where we are with COVID-19, what we can count on with the vaccines, and what we still don’t know. I knew Dale Harrison would be the perfect scientist to help me break down this topic. Dale is a senior executive with more than 20
- [A Poetic Quote About Independent Thought](https://goldams.com/a-poetic-quote-about-independent-thought/) - Beautiful: Mr. Lincoln was a peculiar man, having a peculiar mind; he was gifted with a peculiarity, namely, a new look-out on nature. Everything had to be newly created for him – – facts newly gathered, newly arranged, and newly classed. He had no faith, as already expressed. In order to believe he must see
- [Serenity For the Soul](https://goldams.com/serenity-for-the-soul/) - This is more and deeper than “stopping to smell the roses.” (Nothing against roses or stopping to smell them! Recommended!) This is philosophic, fundamental core connection. This is being real: being real to human nature and being real to nature.
- [Education is For Independent Reasoning](https://goldams.com/education-is-for-independent-reasoning/) - In "Our schools are broken: An interview with director Greg Whiteley about his Sundance doc ‘Most Likely to Succeed’" by Alexandra Heeney (The Standord Daily, 6 Feb 2015), Whitley says: “Compliance, following instructions: those don’t serve us very well in the 21st century. If that’s all you can do, and you show up to a job
- [Think For Yourself, Think In the Big Picture](https://goldams.com/think-for-yourself-think-in-the-big-picture/) - "Does Avoiding The Sun Shorten Your Lifespan?” by Chris Kresser Blurb: “Too much sun exposure isn’t a good thing, but not enough may be even worse. Read this to find out why.” Excerpt: “These guidelines were based on the observation that light-skinned people of European ancestry living in Northern Australia had the highest risk of
- [Body Physics: Motion to Metabolism by Lawrence Davis](https://goldams.com/body-physics-motion-to-metabolism-by-lawrence-davis/) - Nice idea. I like it some, but not completely. I love that they use biology and biomechanics to develop and give context and meaning to the physics, but would like to see a better quality, truer epistemology and philosophy of science in it. On the website for the book, they say: "Body Physics sticks to
- [MLK on Education](https://goldams.com/mlk-on-education/) - Logic should be part of our education. As Martin Luther King, Jr. wrote in his “The Purpose of Education," published in the Morehouse College newspaper The Maroon Tiger. As I engage in the so-called “bull sessions” around and about the school, I too often find that most college men have a misconception of the purpose
- [An Archimedian Bio, 2](https://goldams.com/an-archimedian-bio-2/) - In "Archimedes: Greek Mathematician," Gerald J. Toomer (Professor Emeritus of the History of Mathematics, Brown University, Providence, Rhode Island) writes: Method Concerning Mechanical Theorems describes a process of discovery in mathematics. It is the sole surviving work from antiquity, and one of the few from any period, that deals with this topic. In it Archimedes recounts
- [An Archimedian Bio](https://goldams.com/an-archimedian-bio/) - In "Archimedes," some folks at famousscientists.org write: Archimedes was, arguably, the world’s greatest scientist – certainly the greatest scientist of the classical age.He was a mathematician, physicist, astronomer, engineer, inventor, and weapons-designer. As we’ll see, he was a man who was both of his time and far ahead of his time.Archimedes was born in the
- [Teach Historically, Teach Inductively](https://goldams.com/teach-historically-teach-inductively/) - Teach historically. Students need to learn the logic, concept-formation, fallacy identification, induction (i.e., generalization), conceptual integration (i.e., making connections, or "theory building"), and thinking skills that only teaching historically (or in a related way) affords. In "Teaching Heat: the Rise and Fall of the Caloric Theory," Dr. Michael Fowler (UVa), writes: In my experience, there
- [Strengthen Your Joints](https://goldams.com/strengthen-your-joints/) - The What. And How and Why.
- [Resolve to be Whole, 2](https://goldams.com/resolve-to-be-whole-2/) - Resolve to be whole, mentally and physically and "mind-body." Mind is for movement -- so train complex movements in complex environments for optimal mental and physical function. The opportunities we have are endless. Just train smart, be mindful, be safe, and follow good logical progressions from where you are to the more intense and complex.
- [Resolve to be Whole](https://goldams.com/resolve-to-be-whole/) - Resolve to be whole, mentally and physically and "mind-body." Mind is for movement -- so train complex movements in complex environments for optimal mental and physical function. The opportunities we have are endless. Just train smart, be mindful, be safe, and follow good logical progressions from where you are to the more intense and complex.
- [Lost in Math](https://goldams.com/lost-in-math/) - In Lost in Math: How Beauty Leads Physics Astray, physicist Sabine Hossenfelder documents some bad epistemology that makes some "scientists" go wrong. The book is OK, but is a good basic idea. It would be benefit from discussion of a good epistemology and a good philosophy of science. So it is good reading more for
- [Fitness -- For What?](https://goldams.com/fitness-for-what/) - The point of fitness is to be able to survive and to master the complexity of our world. Fitness means being able to perform complex movements in complex environments. Gyms are a useful, but limited tool -- if all one does is go to the typical gym (non-CrossFit, etc.), one has only compromised, compartmentalized "fitness,"
- [How Pseudo-science Is Made](https://goldams.com/how-pseudo-science-is-made/) - "How Emotions Are Made: The Secret Life of the Brain" by Lisa Feldman Barrett is straight up Immanuel Kant and his ilk. It is fundamentally invalid, in both content and method. She does not do science, but, like the Scholastics who rejected a heliocentric view of the solar system and like the Communists in Russia
- [Joan Feynman](https://goldams.com/joan-feynman/) - Wow! Richard Feynman had a younger sister who also earned a PhD in Physics! Impressive! Cool! But, wow!, when she was young, her mom said to her "women's brains can't do science." Good for Joan in being independent and dong science anyway! She also had to deal with sexist women teachers.
- [Feynman On Science](https://goldams.com/feynman-on-science/) - "The job of a scientist is to listen carefully to nature, not to tell nature how to behave." Dr. Richard Feynam, Nobel Prize winner in physics
- [Be Authors of Life, Not Destruction](https://goldams.com/be-authors-of-life/) - "At what point then is the approach of danger to be expected? I answer, if it ever reach us, it must spring up amongst us. It cannot come from abroad. If destruction be our lot, we must ourselves be its author and finisher. As a nation of freemen, we must live through all time, or
- [The Value of Sentence Diagramming](https://goldams.com/the-value-of-sentence-diagramming/) - Sentence diagramming is a useful tool. In "Eight Benefits of Greek New Testament Sentence Diagramming," (Sharper Iron, Mar 19 2020), Randy Leedy writes: Sentence diagramming comes into its own as a tool that maximizes the exegete’s harvest of information about the aspects of a text’s meaning that are mediated through grammatical structure. Though establishing grammatical structure is
- [Be Wise, Not Hasty](https://goldams.com/be-wise-not-hasty/) - "My countrymen, one and all, think calmly and well, upon this whole subject. Nothing valuable can be lost by taking time. If there be an object to hurry any of you, in hot haste, to a step which you would never take deliberately, that object will be frustrated by taking time; but no good object
- [Vitamin D and COVID](https://goldams.com/vitamin-d-and-covid/) - In an open letter, "Over 100 Scientists, Doctors, & Leading Authorities Call For Increased Vitamin D Use To Combat COVID-19." To all governments, public health officials, doctors, and healthcare workers,Research shows low vitamin D levels almost certainly promote COVID-19 infections, hospitalizations, and deaths. Given its safety, we call for immediate widespread increased vitamin D intakes.Vitamin D modulates thousands of
- [The Functional Movement Screen and Its Scoring](https://goldams.com/the-functional-movement-screen-and-its-scoring/) - In "Understanding the Functional Movement Screen (FMS): A Tool To Avoid Injuries," Thomas Nuzum wrote (http://theraplus.org/understanding-functional-movement-screen-fms-tool-avoid-injuries/, 6 Aug 2014): The Functional Movement Screen (FMS) is a screening tool used to evaluate a person’s movement patterns and identify asymmetries, weaknesses, muscular and joint stiffness that contribute to injury. It is a screen not an in-depth evaluation.
- [Logic Every Student Needs -- And Teacher and Adult](https://goldams.com/logic-every-student-needs-and-teacher-and-adult/) - Visit Logic Essentials on Outschool to find out more.
- ["Lack of Exercise is a Major Cause of Chronic Diseases" by Booth, Roberts, Laye](https://goldams.com/lack-of-exercise-is-a-major-cause-of-chronic-diseases-by-booth-roberts-laye/) - An excerpt: A sedentary lifestyle over several years is associated with increased risk for type 2 diabetes, cardiovascular disease, and premature mortality. What is much less appreciated is the high cost of physical inactivity even in the short term. Booth et al. have been drawing attention for years to the societal and individual burden of
- [Gray Cook and Lee Burton on  Our Movement Culture](https://goldams.com/gray-cook-and-lee-burton-on-our-movement-culture/) - Listen here: https://overcast.fm/+cO92pdKa8 Some important points in the show: 1. Movement deficiencies in the US population existed in the 1950s, preceding the advent of chronic disease.2. Natural movement is an effective, recommended, sustainable, long-term form of fitness training. Show description: “Our hosts are Gray Cook and Dr. Lee Burton. Both are pioneers in the movement
- [Richard Feynman on Being a Scientist](https://goldams.com/richard-feynman-on-being-a-scientist/)
- [Information Ecology](https://goldams.com/information-ecology/) - In "Tracker Birds," Derek Solomon writes: The Rattling Cisticola, in spite of its small stature, has a serious dislike of invaders in its territory, and on many occasions, they will find a tracker moving through their territory, and call aggressively from a few metres away, following the tracker’s progress through its demarcated area, until they
- [The Examined Life](https://goldams.com/the-examined-life/) - Out walking my cat around my apartment complex the day after Christmas, some lady stopped her car as she was driving through the parking lot, rolled down her window, and talked about how cool she thought it was that I took my cat out like that. She said that at first, weeks ago, she was
- [Fitness is Holistic](https://goldams.com/fitness-is-holistic/) - Because of bad ideas in our culture, too many people "exercise" their way into dysfunction. That hurts my heart. They are “sold a bill of goods,” so they “just do it” or practice a constrained, compartmentalized fitness system. Hence they fall apart wholly, or they try to maintain one system while all other systems and
- [Rational Agriculture](https://goldams.com/rational-agriculture/) - Not only do trees protect more delicate edible plants from the elements and extreme weather, they provide nutrients, water, pest control and pollination services. Although you might not find all your traditional annual veggies in a forest garden, you will discover hundreds of new varieties of edible plants you never knew existed, that are often
- [Philosophy is Fundamental](https://goldams.com/philosophy-is-fundamental-2/) - This is the kind of thing that happens when one is philosophically compromised and has a compromised philosophy of science: "Secrets of Math From the Bee Whisperer" by Susan D'Agostino (Quanta Magazine, 22 Jan 2020.) Bees cannot do math! These scientists intersperse good methods with making crap up. They need to learn the logic of
- [Carpe Diem](https://goldams.com/carpe-diem/) - Happy the man, and happy he alone, He, who can call today his own: He, who, secure within, can say Tomorrow, do thy worst, for l have lived today. Be fair, or foul, or rain, or shine, The joys l have possest, in spite of fate, are mine. Not Heav'n itself upon the past has
- [Thinking and Caring](https://goldams.com/thinking-and-caring/) - Be true to the individual and the nature of that individual, and they will be true to you.
- [Look](https://goldams.com/look/) - Details matter. There is depth in details.
- [Overcome and Achieve](https://goldams.com/overcome-and-achieve/) - Did it! I'm not sure how much that thing weighs: 150-250 pounds, probably more toward the higher end. I have wanted to try squatting this for a while, but have been stopped by fear, ignorance, and uncertainty. "How much does it weigh? Can I do that? Have I yet recovered knee and leg strength enough
- [Breathe](https://goldams.com/breathe/) - Breathe. In 3-5 seconds, out 3-5 seconds. Breathe deep, into your hips and your core, expanding your lower rib cage and your stomach.
- [To Read, You Must Know How To Understand](https://goldams.com/to-read-you-must-know-how-to-understand/) - We are not our education: it is something done to us. Not our fault. And, today, most of us suffered a defective, deficient, or incomplete education. We succeed in spite of it, not because of it. Elsbeth Kroeber and Walter H. Wolff, in Adventures with Living Things (p. xii-xiii), write: Most of us, even grownups,
- [What Education Needs](https://goldams.com/what-education-needs/) - A good education should teach us how to think well – – logic and the rules of rational thought – – at the same time as teaching us about the world we live in, and how to live in it. Nothing does that better than ecology.
- [20th Century High School Biology Textbooks Reviewed and Ranked](https://goldams.com/20th-century-high-school-biology-textbooks-reviewed-and-ranked/) - The website Textbook History is a good resource for old biology books. Ronald Ladouceur provides: A database of 82 American high school biology textbooks, from Elements of Biology (1907) through Modern Biology (1969).Each entry includes a brief observational note and a 0-5 ranking based on a qualitative assessment of the presentation of the topic of
- [Snakes: Safer Than Some People, Safer Than Cars](https://goldams.com/snakes-safer-than-some-people-safer-than-cars/) - “When you realize that only about two in over 100,000,000 persons die of snake bite in the United States, – that we have few venomous kinds of snakes in this country, and finally, that rational treatment is usually successful, you can see how foolish is the fear and hatred so often shown toward these really
- [Breck Bartholomew Natural History Books](https://goldams.com/breck-bartholomew-natural-history-books/) - Interesting Website here. It discusses and links to lots of books and scientific work about animals we'd otherwise not know about. Rare Natural History is part of a group of websites high-lighting Natural History books and their illustrations. The menu bar above contains links to: "Bookstore" — links to Breck Bartholomew Natural History Books: A bookstore specializing
- [Resource For Old Textbooks](https://goldams.com/resource-for-old-textbooks/) - In the document Early American Textbooks, the Office of Educational Research and Improvement, of the US Department of Education, says: Nothing gives us insight into the history of education more clearly than do school textbooks of the past They tell us what people thought was worth knowing the -- content of education. They provide clues
- [In Biology, the Lowly Is the Mighty](https://goldams.com/in-biology-the-lowly-is-the-mighty/) - “The variety and number of organisms in the soil, including algae, fungi, bacteria, and nematodes, are astonishingly high. These organisms play a vital role in maintaining soil texture and fertility through their role in decomposition and nutrient cycling.” —John R. Tester in Minnesota’s Natural Heritage: an Ecological Perspective (p. 25)
- [The Soil Connects](https://goldams.com/the-soil-connects/) - “The soil provides us with a logical link between the physical factors of climate and geology and the biological world.“ —John R. Tester in Minnesota’s Natural Heritage: an Ecological Perspective (p. 25) I love that sentence.
- [The True Is the Whole](https://goldams.com/the-true-is-the-whole/) - We cannot have the parts or the individual without the whole they are in; we cannot have the whole without the parts or individuals that make it up. They are timelessly, eternally united. Education, culture, and human thought should reflect this.
- [New Year's Resolution: Get Logic](https://goldams.com/new-years-resolution-get-logic/) - Without an understanding of and some mastery of logic – – specifically, induction, conceptual integration, concept-formation, rules of definition, rules of classification – – our education and the functioning of our minds is incomplete and compromised. (Or, in some cases, depending on the education and training, 100% deficient.) Don’t let it happen to you. Make
- [Newton's Rules of Reasoning](https://goldams.com/newtons-rules-of-reasoning/) - We need to learn from them, in all things scientific. Quoted from: http://strangebeautiful.com/other-texts/newton-principia-rules-reasoning.pdf Newton’s Principia: Rules of Reasoning in Natural Philosophy Trans. A. Motte, 1729Rule IWe are to admit no more causes of natural things than such as are both true and sufficient to explain their appearances.To this purpose the philosophers say that Nature does nothing in
- [An Aristotelian Influence on Galileo and Science](https://goldams.com/an-aristotelian-influence-on-galileo-and-science/) - In the book Galileo Galilei - When the World Stood Still, Atle Naess wrote: "Galileo's radical renewal sprang, nevertheless, from the Aristotelian mind set, as it was taught at the Jesuits' Collegio Romano: human reason has a basic ability to recognize and understand the objects registered by the senses. The objects are real. They have
- [Science, Art, Philosophy, and Scientific Method](https://goldams.com/science-art-philosophy-and-scientific-method/) - In the book Galileo Galilei - When the World Stood Still, Atle Naess wrote: Another important inspiration for experimentation was Galileo's experience of music. The daily routine of tuning a lute so that its sound was pure, was another sort of experimental trial and error: one had to put more or less tension on the
- [Happy Holidays!](https://goldams.com/happy-holidays/)
- [Improving Science Education -- and Education in General](https://goldams.com/improving-science-education-and-education-in-general/) - In "Biomedical science education needs a new philosophy, Johns Hopkins researchers say" (Johns Hopkins' the Hub, 3 Jan 2018), Barbara Benham writes: Today's graduate biomedical science education system is in need of comprehensive reform, two researchers at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health argue in a new paper....For their part, Casadevall and Bosch write
- [An Epidemic of Absents](https://goldams.com/an-epidemic-of-absents/) - One thing that happens when education and a culture starts to be unmoored from logic: more and more individuals lose contact with the truth and more and more start to talk (as if they were experts) about things they do not understand or know next to nothing (i.e., bullshit). That is why she cannot be
- [An Epidemic of Absents 2](https://goldams.com/an-epidemic-of-absents-2/) - Frankfurt is seeing the consequence of the influence of John Dewey and his philosophic tribe on our culture and our kids: Someone who lies and someone who tells the truth are playing on opposite sides, so to speak, in the same game. Each responds to the facts as he understands them, although the response of
- [Nutrition and Education: A Link?](https://goldams.com/nutrition-and-education-a-link/) - For what it's worth -- i.e., I report, you decide. As for myself, I have neither done scientific research on this issue, nor have I studied it. But Wiley Long (M.S., Nutrition and Exercise Science), writing in the Paleo Diet Update (of which Mr. Long is editor), says: There is growing evidence that the Paleo
- [Walden Study Text](https://goldams.com/walden-study-text/) - Ann Woodleif and the American Transcendentalism Web has a Walden Study Text with some explanations, annotations, and food for thought about words, phrases, and ideas in Walden. They explain well why we need a resource like theirs: This book is not a novel, a narrative poem, or a play; there is no clear story line,
- [Thoreau Quote](https://goldams.com/thoreau-quote/) - "Pause! Avast! Why so seeming fast, but deadly slow?" -- Henry David Thoreau, Walden ("Where I Lived, and What I Lived For")In his Journal, almost a decade before Walden was published, Thoreau had written "Stop! Avast! Why so fast!"
- [Oak Acorn Plum Gall](https://goldams.com/oak-acorn-plum-gall/) - Pictured is Oak Acorn Plum Gall. It was IDed for me by some folks at the Texas Fruiting Plant Growers (Texas Rare Fruit Growers) FB page. I have seen it during the past week on hike/bike trails along Cypress Creek in Cypress, Texas, northwest of Houston, Texas. And, of course, I always found them under
- [SAT/ACT Grammar Practice](https://goldams.com/satact-grammar-practice/) - On learnenglishfeelgood.com is some good grammar/writing practice.Do the worksheets “dangling modifiers,” “sentence fragments,” “run-on or fragment?,” and “run on sentences.”Other good things to work on: “commonly confused/misspelled words,” “using commas,” “gerund or infinitive,” “conditional,” phrasal verbs, prepositions, pronouns, adjectives.On gavilan.edu is a grammar packet entitled "Grammar - Parts of Speech: Summer Assignment." It has all sorts
- [SAT Study: Math Practice](https://goldams.com/sat-study-math-practice/) - Here are some math practice tests and reviews that would be good for preparing for the SAT:1. Pre algebra review (50 questions)2. Pre algebra review (107 questions)3. Pre algebra review (50 questions)4. Algebra 1 review (90 questions)5. Algebra 1 review (55 questions)6. Algebra 1 review (70 questions)7. Geometry first semester review (109 questions)8. Geometry first
- [Finding Libraries At Which To Study: It's Easy](https://goldams.com/finding-libraries-at-which-to-study-its-easy/) - Thank goodness for the Internet -- and the mathematics, physics, and reasoning that made it possible, and that continue to refine and improve it. How easy it is to find places to go to study; besides Paneras and Starbucks and home, there are nice, quiet libraries all over the place. We can see all the
- [Exposing Modern "Education:"  An Anecdote](https://goldams.com/exposing-modern-education-an-anecdote/) - In "A Letter from a Child" (CapMag, October 5, 2009), Thomas Sowell writes: One of these self-indulgences was exemplified by a letter I received recently from a fifth-grader.... He said, "I have been assigned to ask a famous person a question about how he or she would solve a difficult problem." The problem was what to do
- [Applying Math to the Cholesterol Hypothesis of Heart Disease](https://goldams.com/applying-math-to-the-cholesterol-hypothesis-of-heart-disease/) - In, "Jimmy and MONICA: A Tale From the Heart" (Fat Head Blog, September 7, 2009), Tom Naughton writes: Jimmy’s total cholesterol is well over 300. ... To make matters worse, Jimmy has a family history of heart disease. His father had a quintuple bypass a year ago. His brother Kevin died of heart failure at
- [Health, Flu, Vitamin D, Diet and More](https://goldams.com/health-flu-vitamin-d-diet-and-more/) - I'm convinced that vitamin D3 and a change in diet has improved my health, immunity, and biochemistry. Well, as convinced as one can be without running scientific experiments on oneself, or doing some rough controlled experiments. I'm basing my conviction on personal experience, friends' experience, and the science I've read on Dr. Eades' Website, Dr.
- [Unprepared For College and Reasoning, 2](https://goldams.com/unprepared-for-college-and-reasoning-2/) - In "Not Much: What Will They Learn in College?" (August 26, 2009), Walter Williams writes: Employers complain that graduates of colleges lack the writing and analytical skills necessary to succeed in the workplace. A 2006 survey conducted by The Conference Board, Corporate Voices for Working Families, the Partnership for 21st Century Skills, and the Society for Human
- [Modern Education: A Trojan Horse](https://goldams.com/modern-education-a-trojan-horse/) - We’ve accepted a Trojan Horse into our midst: mainstream modern education. It has a nice appearance, but within carries an element of destruction. We want to believe that it produces students who, upon graduating from high school, are competent (or better) at reading, writing, math, history and science. We believe high school graduates should possess
- [Foolish at Physics](https://goldams.com/foolish-at-physics/) - A science textbook tried to explain the fact that a shower curtain (unweighted and without magnets) will push toward you by applealing tp the Bernoulli principle. This claim is shown to be ignorant in "Fun in the Tub" by Howard P. Lyon: Over the past few years, a half-page article called "Attack of the Shower
- [Reason: Taking Association To a Higher Level](https://goldams.com/reason-taking-association-to-a-higher-level/) - It is fascinating to read Ms. Montessori's observation and summation of what happened when students worked with rods and beads in learning arithmetic. From pp. 207-208 of The Advanced Montessori Method, Volume II by Maria Montessori (Clio Press, Oxford England, ISBN 1-85109-233-1, (c) 1965 Montessori-Pierson Estates): The "bead work" became at once an established element
- [Holiday vs. Holiday](https://goldams.com/holiday-vs-holiday/) - Holiday: Earth Hour. See also...most news outlets and numerous Websites. vs. Holiday: The Competitive Enterprise Institute has an awe-inspiring video to celebrate Human Achievement Hour. See also The Real Meaning of Earth Hour by Dr. Keith Lockitch and Alternative to Earth Hour by the people who came up with the idea for Human Achievement Hour
- [The "General Welfare" Clause](https://goldams.com/the-general-welfare-clause/) - In "Good Ideas," Walter Wiliams says: Let's look at what the men who wrote the Constitution had to say about its general welfare clause. In a letter to Edmund Pendleton, James Madison, the father of the Constitution, said, "If Congress can do whatever in their discretion can be done by money, and will promote the
- [Canola Oil](https://goldams.com/canola-oil/) - While researching vegetable oils to use as a supplement for my horse -- which research is still in process -- I came across a comment (post number 690, posted by Lori, username Maggienm, on Tuesday, June 17, 2008 at 9:20 PM) on Horseadvice.com that referenced the article "Canola oil -good or bad?" by Dr. Carl
- [Natural History is Fundamental](https://goldams.com/natural-history-is-fundamental/) - Right. But, philosophically, the issue is that the true is the whole (i.e., all of knowledge). The true is not fragmented; truth is not made of isolated buckets. Nothing makes sense except in light of everything else we know; an item of knowledge not integrated with other things we know is useless, not understood --
- [The Significance of GPA to Life](https://goldams.com/the-significance-of-gpa-to-life/) - “The correlation between the test of broad, conceptual thinking and GPA was about zero.” — David Epstein, Range: Why Generalists Triumph in a Specialized World Let’s up our game and do ourselves and our students better!! Longer quote: "Flynn’s great disappointment is the degree to which society, and particularly higher education, has responded to the
- [Think: It Matters](https://goldams.com/think-it-matters/) - "Lose that reason, suspend that criticality, become gullible, accept anything that custom serves up, and you enter the life of a puppet on a string.” —Daniel N. Robinson, lecture 2, The Great Ideas of Philosophy
- [Mind and Body are United (Plato Was Wrong)](https://goldams.com/mind-and-body-are-united-plato-was-wrong/) - In Consilience: The Unity of Knowledge, E.O. Wilson writes: Without the stimulus and guidance of emotion, rational thought slows and disintegrates. The rational mind does not float above the irrational. It cannot free itself to engage in pure reason. There are pure theorems in mathematics, but no pure thoughts that discover them. In the brain-in-the-vat
- [A Biologist On Emotion](https://goldams.com/a-biologist-on-emotion/) - "What is emotion? It is the modification of neural activity that animates and focuses mental activity. It is created by physiological activity that selects certain streams of information over others, shifting the body and mind to higher or lower degrees of activity, agitating the circuits that create scenarios, and selecting ones that end in certain
- [My Experience Doing a Four-day Fast](https://goldams.com/my-experience-doing-a-four-day-fast/) - I just finished a 4-day fast and an exploration of my resilience -- the resilience inherent in us all. Unless we are broken, in part or in whole, we all got it. This is my third 4+-day fast in three years. Fasting is very important for our health — I think we are evolutionarily adapted
- [Philosophy Is Fundamental](https://goldams.com/philosophy-is-fundamental/) - "Philosophy takes a systematic and critical perspective on all of the assumptions and claims that we, in the other compartments of human endeavor, accept.” — Daniel N. Robinson, lecture 2, The Great Ideas of Philosophy (lecture series), 2nd edition Other "comparements" being, for example, history, physics, chemistry, and biology.
- [Thought and Value Are Not Fundamentally Divorced](https://goldams.com/thought-and-value-are-not-fundamentally-divorced/) - "The human brain bears the stamp of 400 million years of trial and error, traceable by fossils and molecular homology in nearly unbroken sequence from fish to amphibian to reptile to primitive mammal to our immediate primate forerunners. "In the final step, the brain was catapulted to a radically new level, equipped for language and
- [The ReasonRx Podcast Now on iHeartRadio!](https://goldams.com/the-reasonrx-podcast/) - Now also on iHeartRadio: https://www.iheart.com/podcast/256-the-reasonrx-podcast-31158985/
- [We Are Specialized Generalists](https://goldams.com/we-are-specialized-generalists/) - "I dove into work showing that highly credentialed experts can become so narrow-minded that they actually get worse with experience, even while becoming more confident." — David Epstein, Range: Why Generalists Triumph In a Specialized World Specialization is good, but don't overdo it. And by no means neglect the big picture that is human life,
- [Some Training Today](https://goldams.com/some-training-today/) - Contact me, or a local MovNat instructor, if you'd like to work on total human movement and strength to be the best you can be. Balance. Mobility. Agility. Strength. Power. Michael: MovNat Level 1 & Level 2 Certified Fitness Trainer/Instructor. Cell: 281-770-2276 Email: michael@goldams.com Website: www.GoldAMS.com
- [Physical Activity and Brain Development 2A](https://goldams.com/physical-activity-and-brain-development-2a/) - Donna Bateman, who runs Parents With Purpose, has some interesting articles on her website. (Though at least one is downright corrupt. Update (3-17-09 at 1:20 PM): See the following post for detail.) Parents With Purpose gives presentations on child brain development and learning, and provides evaluations of children and their neurological function. She says about
- [Why the EF/Paleo Diet](https://goldams.com/why-the-efpaleo-diet/) - In "Heart Surgeon Admits Huge Mistake!," published 02/03/2009 on Total Health Breakthroughs, Dwight Lundell, MD, says (and this is consistent with the good, cutting-edge work of Dr. Loren Cordain): As a heart surgeon with 25 years experience, having performed over 5,000 open-heart surgeries, today is my day to right the wrong with medical and scientific
- [A Good Paleo Breakfast](https://goldams.com/a-good-paleo-breakfast/) - That is: Breakfast by Science and Capitalism A delicious breakfast (last week) of walnuts; raspberries and blackberries; half an avocado with some Napa Naturals extra virgin olive oil in the center and with some Adam's Reserve ground chipotle pepper sprinkled on; and some shrimp with cracked pepper and extra virgin olive oil. Thanks to Art
- [A Hunter-Gatherer Breakfast](https://goldams.com/a-hunter-gatherer-breakfast/) - Pork carnitas with red pepper flakes and sauteed (in olive oil!!) red onion; raspberries; blackberries; and hot coffee. Yum. Update: For more on good health, nutrition and excercise; for the whats, hows and whys; see Art De Vany, Dr. Cordain's Paleo Diet, Dr. Michael Eades, and google "evolutionary fitness," "paleo diet," "caveman diet," etc. Someone
- [The German Shepherd: My Favorite Breed](https://goldams.com/the-german-shepherd-my-favorite-breed/) - I love the German Shepherd. I love the richness, color, and texture of its coat; I love the size: substantial but not ungainly; I love its loyalty, athleticism, intelligence and friendliness; and I love its focus on people. The German Shepherd is good at "reading" its owner (its "leader of the pack"), it wants feedback
- [A Hunter-Gatherer: A Day in the Life](https://goldams.com/a-hunter-gatherer-a-day-in-the-life/) - In the Paleo Diet Newsletter (Issue: # 2009 - 8 / February 20, 2009), Dr. Loren Cordain writes: Few modern people have ever experienced what it is like to "run with the hunt". One notable exception is Dr. Kim Hill, an anthropologist at Arizona State, who has spent 30 years living with and studying the
- ["How Did You Die?" by Edmund Vance Cooke](https://goldams.com/how-did-you-die-by-edmund-vance-cooke/) - Did you tackle that trouble that came your way With a resolute heart and cheerful? Or hide your face from the light of day With a craven soul and fearful? Oh, trouble's a ton, or trouble's an ounce, Or a trouble is what you make it. And it isn't the fact that you're hurt that
- [Modern Medicine Needs Logic](https://goldams.com/modern-medicine-needs-logic/) - Argument from authority and authoritarian methods are tried and failed -- over and over again throughout history. As have Platonic methods. What we need are inductive, integrative epistemological standards in science and medicine -- which have been developed to some extent (we have a lot to learn) and are known, but just not widely known
- [Just Be](https://goldams.com/just-be/) - "If I am not for myself who is for me? And being for my own self, what am 'I'? And if not now, when?" --Hillel the Elder
- [Population Density and Disease](https://goldams.com/population-density-and-disease/) - In “Infectious Diseases and Human Population History: Throughout history the establishment of disease has been a side effect of the growth of civilization" (BioScience Vol. 46 No. 2, Feb 1996), Andrew P. Dobson and E. Robin Carper write: Archeological studies on human communities entering the transition between hunter-gathering and primitive pastoralism provide evidence suggesting that
- [Know What You Know, And What You Don't](https://goldams.com/know-what-you-know-and-what-you-dont/) - "With regard to matters requiring thought: the less people know and understand about them, the more positively they attempt to argue concerning them." -– Galileo Galilei
- [To Move Is Human](https://goldams.com/to-move-is-human/) - In our culture, too many of us have sadly gotten too far away some essentials of living a proper human, species-appropriate life. As a result, many live in a state of dysfunction. They are not thriving, healthy, and at optimum function. In “Exercise Is a Top Prescription for Mild Cognitive Impairment” (Psychology Today, December 27,
- [Tissue Healing Rates](https://goldams.com/tissue-healing-rates/) - Interesting chart and table showing the healing rate of some tissues from the article "From Injury To Field: How To Combine Rehabilitation & Athletic Programming" on Layman's Physio.This chart also shows the relative growth rates of different tissues.Take home message: don't build up muscle too fast and ahead of supporting tissue. If you do, you
- [Houston TX Archeology](https://goldams.com/houston-tx-archeology/) - Harris Country said, in a public release entitled "Cypress Creek Archeological Site:"The artifacts found at this site [near Meyer Park, along Cypress Creek] indicate that the various groups of nomadic prehistoric people returned every year (or every few years) on a seasonal basis to take advantage of the area’s plentiful hunting and fishing opportunities and
- [Quotations About Horses, 2](https://goldams.com/quotations-about-horses-2/) - We love dogs, cats, horses, other animals. They are precious. Some people don't understand horses.I hope these quotes from Nickers.com help you start to see their true nature and how people regard them."The horse knows how to be a horse if we will leave him alone... but the riders don't know how to ride." ~
- [Turning China and America From Success To Failure](https://goldams.com/turning-china-and-america-from-success-to-failure/) - In "Be Glad for Our Failure to Catch Up with China in Education" (Psychology Today, 28 May 2013), Peter Gray Ph.D. writes:In addressing the question of why the US system has produced better real-world results than the Chinese system, Zhao writes, “The short answer is that American education has not been as good as the
- [I Love Zinc!!](https://goldams.com/i-love-zinc/) - No wonder zinc helps me so much: it is involved in most every brain process. And many metabolic processes.Knowing the scientific detail -- i.e., the inductive, integrated knowledge of cause and effect in regard to zinc, the human brain, and human biology -- is important, but I learned learned some about the importance of zinc
- [Dr. Yaron Brook on Mathematics and Education](https://goldams.com/dr-yaron-brook-on-mathematics-and-education/) - Some of this quote you might disagree with, some of this quote might seem very controversial, but some of it you should strongly agree with, and all of it is food for thought and should be seriously discussed:Public education is destroying our kids. It’s destroying future generations. It’s destroying their ability to think, their ability
- [Katy Bowman Quote on Math](https://goldams.com/katy-bowman-quote-on-math/) - In talking about the Nature School that her young children attend (Episode 23: Nature School, of the Katy Says Podcast), Katy Bowman said:What [my 4-year old] knows right now astounds me. … [Children] are pattern recognition machines. And nature and math and even language is just patterns. And so if you can hone in your
- [Standup Desks 2](https://goldams.com/standup-desks-2/) - In "LearnFit 'standing desk' inspires healthy habits for students" (April 17, 2015, FoxNews.com), Brian Mastroianni writes:“The health benefits of standing include a higher heart rate, greater calorie expenditure, musculo-skeletal benefits that come from standing and better posture, more Oxygen flow around the body, and much more,” Hill said. “This leads to a better, reengaged student and
- [Integration: Physics, Movement, and Health](https://goldams.com/integration-physics-movement-and-health/) - Katy Bowman and Rob Wolf discuss, in a podcast, lots of great info about movement and about the relationship of health to movement, and lots of interesting applications of physics to the human body.Showing, one again, how physics is important. And showing, once again, how integration is important. Teaching math -- and physics, and history,
- [Quote on Knowledge](https://goldams.com/quote-on-knowledge/) - Though he was wrong on many or most things, Hegel did make a statement, that, in a rational mind, is true:The true is the whole.In other words, all knowledge is interrelated and interconnected. To acquaint oneself with math in one class, history in another, literature in another, grammar in another, and to never make connections
- [Excellent Writing: An Example](https://goldams.com/excellent-writing-an-example/) - In the article "Balanced Diets," Daniel Mason writes:On June 6, 1800, nearly a year into his scientific journey through South America, Alexander von Humboldt arrived at a mission on the Orinoco River called La Concepción de Uruana. It was a stunning site. The village sat at the foot of granite mountains, amidst huge pillars of stone
- [Ideal Gas Laws -- Learned Right](https://goldams.com/ideal-gas-laws-learned-right/) - The way most teach the ideal gas laws is wrongheaded and irrational: they are presented out of nowhere with no inductive basis and no context. The fault is not the fault of all teachers and all schools. The fault is with the pedagogists and philosophers who pushed the Platonic and Deweyian points of view that
- [Vaquera Ranch](https://goldams.com/vaquera-ranch/) - Vaquera Ranch, a natural horsemanship ranch, is running in Bastrop, TX. We need more like this. This is more like how it should be done. (Maybe could be better. I have not been there.) They say:There is an awful lot of information out there about how to keep your horse(s). At Vaquera Ranch we believe,
- [Happy Independence Day!!](https://goldams.com/happy-independence-day-4/) - (Image from Wikipedia) Happy Independence Day!! A great day to watch John Ridpath present the talk "George Washington: Integrity and the Founding of America." A summary: The Founders of America all viewed George Washington as their leader, and many of them, including Jefferson, Adams, Madison and Hamilton, held him in awe. Washington was indeed
- [What are the benefits of a rational study of mathematics?](https://goldams.com/what-are-the-benefits-of-a-rational-study-of-mathematics/) - Study of Euclid’s Elements had a tremendous influence on Galileo Galilei, Sir Isaac Newton, and Abraham Lincoln. Lincoln’s study of geometry is mentioned at the National Park Service’s website, on the page devoted to the Lincoln Memorial. In discussing his early years, they say: Lincoln's mother provided his early education. She was a rarity on the frontier in
- [Pre-Algebra Tutorial Video Sample](https://goldams.com/pre-algebra-tutorial-video-sample/) - Click here to view sample pre-algebra tutorial session with Michael Gold.
- [Winston Churchill: A Quote](https://goldams.com/winston-churchill-a-quote/) - "Never give in. Never give in. Never, never, never, never--in nothing, great or small, large or petty--never give in, except to convictions of honor and good sense. Never yield to force. Never yield to the apparently overwhelming might of the enemy." -- Winston Churchill Quote from Ron Kurtus' School of Champions. HT: Ari A Ron
- [Robb Wolf on Health & Nutrition](https://goldams.com/robb-wolf-on-health-nutrition/) - Rational Public Radio has a nice interview of Robb Wolf. Some good points are around -33 minutes, around -28 minutes, around -25 minutes, and around -23 minutes. Highly recommended. They describe the interview as: We caught up with fitness guru Robb Wolf to talk about America's weight problem. In addition to writing the bestselling book
- [Food For Kids: Meals Around the World](https://goldams.com/food-for-kids-meals-around-the-world/) - In Colorado daycare workers required to wear burqas, Monica Hughes, PhD, writes: OK, I exaggerate slightly for the purpose of generating a few hits. But seriously, I can’t really summarize it better than the source itself. ... But what really gets me worked up is food issues. There are simply few things more fundamental than
- [Cholesterol, Health, and How Science Should Be Done](https://goldams.com/cholesterol-health-and-how-science-should-be-done/) - Chris Kresser of The Healthy Skeptic interviews Chris Masterjohn about cholesterol and health: The Healthy Skeptic Podcast -- Episode 11. Mr. Kresser said: This week we’re glad to welcome Chris Masterjohn to the show. Chris is currently pursuing a PhD in Nutritional Sciences with a concentration in Biochemical and Molecular Nutrition at the University of
- [Diet, Depression, Memory, and Mental Health](https://goldams.com/diet-depression-memory-and-mental-health/) - Episode 13 of Chris Kresser's podcast is a good interview of Dr. Emily Deans. Mr. Kresser said: Dr. Emily Deans’ Evolutionary Psychiatry blog has quickly become one of my favorites over the past year. It’s rare to find a psychiatrist that acknowledges the role of nutrition in mental and behavioral health at all, much less
- [Advice For Writing -- and Math. And All Other Subjects.](https://goldams.com/advice-for-writing-and-math-and-all-other-subjects/) - In "Can You Drop It on Your Foot?" (National Association of Scholars, June 02, 2011), John Maguire says: Student papers are often unreadable not only because their grammar is bad, and sentences incomplete, but also because they are way, way too abstract. Abstractions really trap students. Assigned to write about some idea, students get caught
- [Khan Academy](https://goldams.com/khan-academy/) - Some people seem to be sold on the videos of Mr. Khan of Khan Academy. However, in "tutoring" mathematics, Mr. Khan does nothing but deliver the exact same methodology as the texts and as current public education. He is a video version of paper texts, showing, in essentials and fundamentals, nothing original whatsoever. He basically
- [Recommended Nutritionist](https://goldams.com/recommended-nutritionist/) - Christian Wernstedt does health education and coaching. Wish I would have had someone like him to tailor my diet and exercise when I was young!! Life would have been so much better!! I have read some of his advice to people, have read some of his writings, and have known of him for a few
- [Health Practictioner Doing It Right](https://goldams.com/health-practictioner-doing-it-right/) - Beginning "The Curse of No Symptoms," Christian Wernstedt writes: A frequent misunderstanding in the world of health is that having no symptoms equals health. This is not so. Symptoms are often the last thing to happen when the is suffering from malfunction. Being symptom free can be a curse, because there are no warning signs
- ["Touching Shoulders" by Unknown](https://goldams.com/touching-shoulders-by-unknown/) - There's a comforting thought at the close of the day, When I'm weary and lonely and sad, That sort of grips hold of my crusty old heart And bids it be merry and glad. It gets in my soul and it drives out the blues, And finally thrills through and through. It is just a
- [The Virtue of Independence](https://goldams.com/the-virtue-of-independence/) - The more I learn, the older I get, the more I see we need to find things out for ourselves. In a Jimmy Moore interview, Gary Taubes discusses how he was misrepresented by the media on the Dr. Oz show. Links to parts 2 and 3 can be found on Jimmy Moore's Website. Related: Dr.
- [Diet For Athletes](https://goldams.com/diet-for-athletes/) - Mark Pomery, triathelete and coach, is interviewed by Jimmy Moore about diet and athletics. He has some good ideas to reduce inflammation and more. One good idea from the interview is that most people think of asking 'how many calories did I burn' after they exercise, while Mark has people think about 'how many nutrients
- [Learning & Diet](https://goldams.com/learning-diet/) - The modern American diet is a big part of the cause of current learning difficulties and syndromes. We need and must have fats in our diet for proper neurological, and therefore cognitive, function, yet fats are demonized and avoided. I'd recommend you listen to Jimmy Moore's interview of Dr. Ann Childers to see what you
- [That 1895 Salina, Kansas Exam](https://goldams.com/that-1895-salina-kansas-exam/) - Someone has posted their answers to the exam. Nice. An example answer: 9. Use the following correctly in sentences, Cite, site, sight, fane, fain, feign, vane, vain, vein, raze, raise, rays. • a.) The cite which was given as a source for the quote was incorrect. • b.) The site was surveyed yesterday. • c.)
- [The First American Arithmetic Text](https://goldams.com/the-first-american-arithmetic-text/) - On p. 143 of Old textbooks: spelling, grammar, reading, arithmetic, geography, American history, civil government, physiology, penmanship, art, music, as taught in the common schools from colonial days to 1900 ((c) 1961, University of Pittsburgh Press, printed by American Book-Stratford Press, Inc.), author John Alfred Nietz wrote: The first seven arithmetic textbooks published in the
- [Dietary Fats and Human Health](https://goldams.com/dietary-fats-and-human-health/) - To add to our knowledge of the importance of fat (discussed, e.g., in "Real Brain Food") to our health, to our nervous system and brain, to our body function, and hence to learning and education, we can read "Fish Oils and Oils, Fats and Trans Fats," where the Arizona Center for Advanced Nutrition (about which
- [Houston Weather Warning](https://goldams.com/houston-weather-warning/) - In Houston, it's supposed to be 28 deg F tonight, 23 Thursday night, 23 Friday night, and 24 Saturday night. Source: AccuWeather. Take care of yourself and your animals!
- [A Great Day in History: the Return of the Horse to the Americas](https://goldams.com/a-great-day-in-history-the-return-of-the-horse-to-the-americas/) - "On Christopher Columbus's second voyage to the New World he brought with him to the Caribbean Island of Hispaniola (which today forms the countries of Haiti and the Dominican Republic) 24 stallions and 10 mares, arriving on January 2, 1494." (p. 11 of The World According to Horses by Stephen Budiansky, (c) 2000 by Stephen
- [Peters and Waterman, A Quote](https://goldams.com/peters-and-waterman-a-quote/) - Tolerance for failure is a very specific part of the excellent company culture. From In Search of Excellence by Tom Peters and Robert Waterman, as quoted by Michael Gerber in The E Myth Revisited (ISBN 0-88730-728-0), p. 118.
- [Real Brain Food](https://goldams.com/real-brain-food/) - It's not sugar that you need to kick-start your brain for a test. What you need are fats like omega-3s and cholesterol. The article "New Study Links DHA Type of Omega-3 to Better Nervous-System Function" (ScienceDaily, December 19, 2009), says: The omega-3 essential fatty acids commonly found in fatty fish and algae help animals avoid
- [What I Already Knew](https://goldams.com/what-i-already-knew/) - Writing in "Cognitive Scientists Debunk Learning-Style Theories" (Inside School Research Blog on Education Week, December 17, 2009, 9:47 AM), Debra Viaderosays: Writing in the journal Psychological Science in the Public Interest, cognitive scientists Hal Pashler, Mark McDaniel, Doug Rohrer, and Robert Bjork argue that, of the thousands of articles published on learning styles in recent
- ["Arab Horsemen" by Eugène Fromentin (1820-1876)](https://goldams.com/arab-horsemen-by-eugene-fromentin-1820-1876/) - Image from the Art Renewal Center. The Arabian horse: the original war horse, and the father of the thoroughbred and the quarter horse.
- [The Power of Concepts](https://goldams.com/the-power-of-concepts/) - In "Tiny parasite may have done in mighty T. rex" (Chicago Tribune, September 30, 2009), William Mullen writes: CHICAGO - Sue - the biggest, meanest, meat-eating dinosaur known to history - probably was killed not by some other monster killer battling with her 65 million years ago, but by a tiny, one-celled parasite that gave
- [Ape Intelligence](https://goldams.com/ape-intelligence/) - NOVA and National Geographic made a fascinating documentary entitled "Ape Genius," in which they showed how apes learn and how they function mentally. In one segment of the show, they compared how chimpanzees and human children learn and function; someone posted videos on YouTube in two parts: child vs chimpanzee, part 1 and child vs
- [Maureen Thompson: Painter](https://goldams.com/maureen-thompson-painter/) - Maureen Thompson has done some good work, worth taking a look at. It's what I like: Romantic Realism. She does Classical Realism, actually.
- [John Stossel on Education](https://goldams.com/john-stossel-on-education/) - Watch the short videos (1) "Are America's Schools Failing Our Kids? " (6 min, 3 sec); (2) "Education: Is More Money the Answer? " (5 min, 55 sec); (3) "Zoned Out of a Good Education" (4 min, 55 sec); (4) "School Choice Proponents Meet Resistance" (7 min 3 sec); (5) "The Teachers Union Monopoly" (8
- [The NCTQ's "Are You Qualified to Teach Elementary School Math?"](https://goldams.com/the-nctqs-are-you-qualified-to-teach-elementary-school-math/) - The National Council on Teacher Quality says about their test, "Are You Qualified to Teach Elementary School Math?": Now available, a newly formatted version of Exit with Expertise, NCTQ’s mathematics test for elementary teachers that first appeared in No Common Denominator: The Preparation of Elementary Teachers in Mathematics by America’s Education Schools. ® 2009 National
- [Birds, Brains, and Brahms](https://goldams.com/birds-brains-and-brahms/) - Some birds can move/"dance" to music, like the cockatoo Snowball, who can "dance" to Stevie Nicks. Birds seem to have some neurological precursor to music appreciation. Snowball seem to be able to follow rhythm -- sure looks like it does!! You can get the idea by watching the first minute or two; nothing new happens
- [Some Ms. Krauss](https://goldams.com/some-ms-krauss/) - "You're Just a Country Boy" by Alison Krauss. I absolutely love that wispy, floating, soft voice...
- [More Ms. Krauss](https://goldams.com/more-ms-krauss/) - "Sawing on the Strings" by Alison Krauss. Delicious.
- [SAT/ACT Essay Writing](https://goldams.com/satact-essay-writing/) - The Online Writing Lab of Roane State Community College some descriptions of various types of essay, with examples. I have looked at some of this, but not all. You can read some discussion of essay types and some examples of essays here: Expository essay Argumentative essays Persuasive essays Classic essays (good stuff here!!) Essays in
- [Grammar Texts](https://goldams.com/grammar-texts/) - Here are some grammar/writing texts I'd recommend: Writing and Thinking by Foerster and Steadman -- Jean Moroney has a review of the book on the Website of the bookseller The Paper Tiger. Dictionary of English Usage by Fowler (avoid the third edition!!) -- You can download a pdf of the Dictionary (1927 edition) on the
- [Modern History Education: The State of the Art](https://goldams.com/modern-history-education-the-state-of-the-art/) - In the post "The Know-nothing Party," Joanne Jacobs wrote: To become a citizen, immigrants must answer six of 10 basic civics questions, such as: Who wrote the Declaration of Independence? What do we call the first 10 amendments to the Constitution? Who was the first president of the United States? When the Goldwater Institute asked
- [Independence Day Art](https://goldams.com/independence-day-art/) - Historical Art Prints has some nice paintings of American Revolutionary subjects and themes. There is one of Molly Pitcher (gotta love her!!) and some of the great George Washington. Go take a look.
- [The International Baccalaureate Curriculum](https://goldams.com/the-international-baccalaureate-curriculum/) - In "Parents with a Backbone" (February 25, 2004), Thomas Sowell writes: Parents in Fairfax, Virginia, have succeeded in getting rid of one of the endless series of fad programs that distract American public schools from real education in real subjects. Like most fad programs, this one had a high-sounding name: The International Baccalaureate Curriculum. It
- [Happy Memorial Day!](https://goldams.com/happy-memorial-day/) - Picture from Wikipedia. Thanks to all the soldiers, past, present and future. We owe you a debt of gratitude. Thanks to our American soldiers. Thanks to the Greek soldiers who stood against the Persians. And thanks to the intellectuals and philosophers -- soldiers of the mind -- who developed the ideas of man's nature, reason,
- [Modern Language Instruction Against Reason](https://goldams.com/modern-language-instruction-against-reason/) - We need to pay more attention to grammar and to teaching grammar -- our means of making intelligible and communicating our thoughts -- especially in this day and age when it is attacked and corrupted, and when we could be inadvertently "conditioned" by the bad grammar all around us. We could easily fall prey to
- ["The Classroom Without Reason" by Douglas Campbell](https://goldams.com/the-classroom-without-reason-by-douglas-campbell/) - Mr. Campbell identifies some important reasons why schooling is in the bad shape it is today: too many teachers and professors regard teaching as "moral training," i.e., as pushing their own point of view on students; and too many teachers and professors train students in irrationalism: reason to them is evil or to be avoided,
- [Letter to Mr. Campbell For His "The Classroom Without Reason"](https://goldams.com/letter-to-mr-campbell-for-his-the-classroom-without-reason/) - "I have sworn upon the altar of God, eternal hostility against every form of tyranny over the mind of man." --Thomas Jefferson (From a letter to Dr. Benjamin Rush of September 23, 1800. ME 10:173; see the quotations page of the University of Virginia Library.) I had to send a quick, short letter of thanks
- [Temperature and Heart Rate Recently](https://goldams.com/temperature-and-heart-rate-recently/) - Heart rate around 70: Nope. Eight hours of sleep: Nope. Temperature of 98.6: Nope. Thank goodness. 3/12/09 after working out at the gym (and driving home) my temperature was only about 98.4 F. I did 5 minutes of cardio, 30 minutes of weights, 10 minutes of cardio, then 15 more minutes of weights. This was
- [Bluebonnets](https://goldams.com/bluebonnets/) - The bluebonnets are starting to flower! I have seen some along Woodlands Parkway. I like those flowers. Seeing a field of them live in person is an experience of beauty, especially when the field is broken by rock, a lone tree or two, some old barbed-wire fencing, or an old wood building. And horses. Texas
- [Daylight Savings Time!](https://goldams.com/daylight-savings-time/) - Remember to set your clock ahead one hour at 2 AM Sunday morning! National Geographic has an article on the history of daylight savings time on their Website.
- [Cat & Crow](https://goldams.com/cat-crow/) - A cat and a crow as friends! Wow! Amazing! Wallace and Ann Collito were fortunate to see and experience what they did!! I don't know what the latest news is, but, in 2008, Linda Faber wrote a story, "KITTY CORNER: Update on an unlikely friendship" (The Sun Chronicle (34 South Main St., Attleboro, MA), Monday,
- [Texas Flag](https://goldams.com/texas-flag/) - Picture from TexasHistory.info.
- [Octopus vs. Shark](https://goldams.com/octopus-vs-shark/) - A National Geographic video.
- [Evolution and Human Speech](https://goldams.com/evolution-and-human-speech/) - For what it's worth. I have not read the book mentioned below -- it could be full of philosophic and scientific errors as far as I know; but then again, maybe not -- but it sounds interesting. On the University of Texas blog ShelfLife@Texas, Jessica Sinn writes: Using a Darwinian approach, MacNeilage, professor of psychology,
- [Cooking and Evolution](https://goldams.com/cooking-and-evolution/) - In "Whats Cooking?" (February 19, 2009), The Economist says: Moreover, without cooking, the human brain (which consumes 20-25% of the body’s energy) could not keep running. Dr Wrangham thus believes that cooking and humanity are coeval. In fact, as he outlined to the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS), in Chicago, he thinks
- [Primal Living](https://goldams.com/primal-living/) - On his blog Mark Sisson's Daily Apple, Mr. Sisson has written some posts worth reading: (1) Definitive Guide: The Primal Blueprint, and (2) The Definitive Guide to the Primal Eating Plan. They give a general overview of the lifestyle: diet, exercise, sleep, play, exercising your mind. Mr. Sisson's "Primal Blueprint" has a lot in common
- [My Oil Choice](https://goldams.com/my-oil-choice/) - I was running low on olive oil so I picked some up at the grocery store today. I have been buying Berio, which was not mentioned in the article "Slippery Business" by Tom Mueller, thank goodness, but which nevertheless I wondered about. Was it authentic extra virgin oil, or was it adulturated with hazelnut oil
- [The Human Heart Rate](https://goldams.com/the-human-heart-rate/) - Answers.com has an interesting round-up about heart rate. They say: Heart rate at rest is usually between 60-80 beats per minute; males tend to have a lower rate than females, and the resting rate tends to fall with age. Resting heart rate is also generally lower in those who are physically fit; rates of less
- [Washington's First Inaugural Address](https://goldams.com/washingtons-first-inaugural-address/) - George Washington gave his First Inaugural Address on Thursday, April 30, 1789. He said: Fellow-Citizens of the Senate and of the House of Representatives: AMONG the vicissitudes incident to life no event could have filled me with greater anxieties than that of which the notification was transmitted by your order, and received on the 14th
- [Ben Again 2](https://goldams.com/ben-again-2/) - In a letter to Mary Stevenson (written, it is thought, in November 1760, or sometime in 1761), Mr. Franklin said: My Experiment was this. I took a number of little Square Pieces of Broad Cloth from a Taylor’s Pattern Card, of various Colours. There were Black, deep Blue, lighter Blue, Green, Purple, Red, Yellow, White,
- [Happy Birthday, Horatio Alger](https://goldams.com/happy-birthday-horatio-alger/) - Picture from Washburn University. Horatio Alger, Jr. was born on January 13, 1832. I have not read any of his stories; this is a missing part of my education. And I don't know what he was like as a person; there is strong evidence that in at least part of his life he was unethical.
- [Statistics Resource: Online Data Analysis](https://goldams.com/statistics-resource-online-data-analysis/) - UCLA has a resource on the Internet, the Statistical Online Computational Resource (SOCR), which allows you to do statistical analyses: one-sample t tests, simple linear regression, multiple regression, survival analysis, two-sample t tests, sign tests, rank sum tests, Wilcoxon tests, ANOVA, chi-square tests, Fisher's exact test, Kolmogorov Smirnoff, run numerical "experiments," look at and alter
- [Americana: The Movies and Dancing of Eleanor Powell](https://goldams.com/americana-the-movies-and-dancing-of-eleanor-powell/) - A bit of American history here. Watch this fantastic video (click on the pic...while the video is up on YouTube) of Mrs. Powell dancing in an old black and white movie: Picture from Sean Axmaker's Blog. Quite a production!! (The number can also be viewed on ClassicMovieFavorites.com.) Mrs. Powell taps, she does kick-and-laybacks, she jumps,
- [The Horse](https://goldams.com/the-horse/) - He's an Arabian stallion. Mine. He's the horse who takes me out into the woods for exhilarating runs and relaxing lazy walks. Oklahoma State University's Department of Animal Science's Breeds of Livestock Project says about the Arabian: The Bedouin tribes of the desert, believing the horse to be a gift from God, told many romantic
- [Afternoon, and Tea Time](https://goldams.com/afternoon-and-tea-time/) - It's Rooibos Red Spice Tea from Allegro. They describe the tea as: Full-bodied and robust with warm spice Warming and naturally sweet with deep honey red liquor, our organic South African Rooibos is full bodied and caffeine free. Complimented with traditional organic chai spices – cinnamon, ginger, cardamom and clove, our Rooibos Red Spice Tea
- [Nocturnal Nonsense](https://goldams.com/nocturnal-nonsense/) - In "How Much Sleep Do We Really Need?" the National Sleep Foundation says: You hear the advice that people need eight hours of sleep, but does that apply to every person? What about children, teens and older people? Many people seem to get by on less than eight so... ... The first thing experts will
- [Physical Activity and Brain Development 2B](https://goldams.com/physical-activity-and-brain-development-2b/) - Mrs. Bateman of Parents With Purpose also mentions or excerpts from a study on brain regeneration/growth: Adult Mouse Brains Still Make Youthful Cells The brains of adult mammals are slowly, constantly churning out new brain cells. Previously scientists assumed the fresh neurons acted simply as replacements for old and dying cells. But recent research suggests
- [Physical Activity and Brain Development](https://goldams.com/physical-activity-and-brain-development/) - Janine Cate at Why Homeschool said she recently went to a seminar on brain development and learned (these are excerpts only): 1) Children need lots of opportunities to move their bodies so that their brains can develop. 2) A healthy diet and circadian sleep patterns are vital to brain development. 3) When a child is
- [Reading: The State of the Art 2](https://goldams.com/reading-the-state-of-the-art-2/) - In "What, Me Read? Part II" (January 22, 2009) by Thomas Bertonneau in the Pope Center's online Clarion Call, Mr. Bertonneau continues to draw some interesting conclusions from what he finds in his students' final exam papers (and, presumably, from his background knowledge of modern American culture and education). Speaking of the quality of writing
- [On Writing and Reasoning](https://goldams.com/on-writing-and-reasoning/) - Looks like Dr. Bertonneau has written a scholarly article on the role written language plays in reasoning. So I'll let him speak, thus saving myself from having to write a long article/essay on the claim he makes in his "What, Me Read?" series that writing and reasoning go hand in hand. Dr. Bertonneau introduces his
- [Theodore Roosevelt: A Quote](https://goldams.com/theodore-roosevelt-a-quote/) - A popular quote of Roosevelt's is: It is not the critic who counts; not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles, or where the doer of deeds could have done them better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat
- [Leonardo Da Vinci: A Quote](https://goldams.com/leonardo-da-vinci-a-quote/) - “Those who are in love with practice without knowledge are like the sailor who gets into a ship without rudder or compass and who never can be certain whether he is going. Practice must always be founded on sound theory." Quote attributed to The Notebooks of Leonardo Da Vinci, Volume I, at Constable.net and at
- [R.I.P. Tobi 2019](https://goldams.com/r-i-p-tobi-2019/) - Tobi left us late last night, 1 May 2019. A deep, good friend is gone forever. He was friend and family through good times and bad, from Spring 2003 to 1 May 2019. He'd often lie next to me, lie at my feet, or rest in my arms. He was strong, loving, and loyal. For
- [Book Review, by Kira Hoffman, of Dan Flores' Book Coyote America](https://goldams.com/book-review-by-kira-hoffman-of-dan-flores-book-coyote-america/) - “When the time comes you can’t hear the song of the coyote, the West is going to seem a mighty dull place.” -- Walt Disney (pg. 152) Coyotes across history have been worshipped and treated as gods, but they’ve also been mistreated by being poisoned, shot, and slaughtered. Yet with all of the destruction, coyotes have
- [Where Biology Should Start 2](https://goldams.com/where-biology-should-start-2/) - Things like this -- and foraging -- are where biology should start in school. Having students memorize DNA stuff is not philosophically sound, is not consistent with the nature of a real human education, and is not practical.
- [Where Biology Education Should Start](https://goldams.com/where-biology-education-should-start/) - Things like this -- and tracking -- are where biology should start in school. Having students memorize DNA stuff is not philosophically sound, is not consistent with the nature of a real human education, and is not practical.
- [The Power Of Progressions](https://goldams.com/the-power-of-progressions/) - Start slow and low, and build up. Do not move forward until you have mastered a step on the whole journey: take the next step only after the current is secure.
- [Catch!](https://goldams.com/catch/) - Be smart: Start with soft, safe objects. Work on balance and self-awareness, because they are foundational. Keep your eyes on the object. Keep the object in front of you. Be mindful of self-in-the-environment.
- [Movement Is Everywhere. No Excuses.](https://goldams.com/movement-is-everywhere-no-excuses/)
- [Don't Neglect Your Skin!](https://goldams.com/dont-neglect-your-skin/) - Your skin is not an envelope. It, like your liver and your brain, is an organ. The skin is an organ that produces vitamin D, has immune functions, helps with homeostasis, helps us sense our environment, helps connect us to our environment, and more. Take care of it!
- [Today's Movement Practice](https://goldams.com/todays-movement-practice/) - Today, I worked to fill the gap between the 3-mile runs I often do and the 12-mile run I recently did. Well, the 1.5-3.5 miles I usually run on forest trails, and the 12.4 I recently did on forest trails. Yes, as I did with my 12-miler, and as I always do, today I ran
- [Sleep!](https://goldams.com/sleep-3/)
- [Getting Sick?](https://goldams.com/getting-sick/) - You probably need to improve your glutathione status. In "10 Natural Ways to Increase Your Glutathione Levels" (HealthLine, 25 April, 2018), Kaitlyn Berkheiser writes Glutathione is one of the body’s most important and potent antioxidants. Antioxidants are substances that reduce oxidative stress by combating free radicals in the body.While most antioxidants are found in the
- [R.I.P. Kaitlin 2018](https://goldams.com/r-i-p-kaitlin-2018/) - Kaitlin. Lived, loved, and thrived 1-12-2003 to 9-5/6-2018. She was a daughter of a feral momma cat, born in the country, north of Austin, TX. (You see Kaitlin's brother Tobi in some of the pictures below.) She loved nature, loved her solitude, loved to eat and play, but loved me more. When she was young,
- [Some Local Geology](https://goldams.com/some-local-geology/) - In "$12 Million Bayou Project Based Oa A Mistake," (17 Aug 2017) Save Buffalo Bayou point out that clays in local streams are from geologic eras hundreds of thousands of years ago! In this type of slumping on Buffalo Bayou, water—mainly from overbank flooding after big storms but also from heavy lawn watering or even
- [Release Your Inner Mover](https://goldams.com/release-your-inner-mover/) - On the Feldenkrais Method Website, they say: The Feldenkrais Method® of somatic education uses gentle movement and directed attention to help people learn new and more effective ways of living the life they want. You can increase your ease and range of motion, improve your flexibility and coordination, and rediscover your innate capacity for graceful,
- [Some Biochemistry of Nose Breathing](https://goldams.com/some-biochemistry-of-nose-breathing/) - In "The Health Benefits of Nose Breathing," Ruth Allen (Behavioral Medicine Practitioner) writes: It has been estimated that approximately one third of people don’t breathe well enough to sustain normal health. These people do not get enough oxygenation of their cells, tissues and organs. In the book Behavioural and Psychological Approaches to Breathing Disorders, Dr
- [Math and Monopoly](https://goldams.com/math-and-monopoly/) - Monopoly involves a bit of math, e.g., probability and Markov chains. You can really dig into it and get things involved and abstract. Writing in "Probabilities in the Game of Monopoly," Truman Collins says: I recently saw an article in Scientific American (the April 1996 issue with additional information in the August 1996 and April 1997 issues)
- [A Great Texas Park](https://goldams.com/a-great-texas-park/) - Caprock Canyons State Park looks and sounds like a beautiful place, like a must-see. We all need more outdoor/nature time. It is good for our health and well-being and cognition.
- [Galileo's Study of Motion](https://goldams.com/galileos-study-of-motion/) - In "Galileo’s Great Discovery: How Things Fall" (D.W. MacDougal, Newton’s Gravity: An Introductory Guide 17 to the Mechanics of the Universe, Undergraduate Lecture Notes in Physics, DOI 10.1007/978-1-4614-5444-1_2, # Springer Science+Business Media New York 2012) they write Galileo Galilei (1564–1642), the famous Italian mathematician at the leading edge of the scientific revolution that was to
- [Thoreau the Classicist](https://goldams.com/thoreau-the-classicist/) - If you want to dig into Thoreau, then the book Thoreau: The Quest and the Classics (Yale University Press, 1951) by Ethel Seybold (Associate Professor of English at Illinois College) might help. I have not read it, so I do not yet know it's content. I found it while digging into Walden while I was
- [Be More Than Gym Fit](https://goldams.com/be-more-than-gym-fit/) - In "You May Be Strong...But Are You Tough?" (10 Jun 2014, Imminent Threat Solutions), Khaled Allen writes: Men in particular often confuse toughness with strength, thinking that being strong is automatically the same as being tough, when in fact the two are distinct qualities. As Erwan Le Corre, founder of MovNat, says, “Some people with great
- [Health Is Vitality Not Vanity](https://goldams.com/health-is-vitality-not-vanity/) - In "Health As An Objective Value" (The Journal of Medicine and Philosophy 20:499-511,1995), Dr. James Lennox writes: Human life requires that an amazing number of activities be con- tinuously and successfully performed and coordinated, over many of which we have no conscious control. These activities are located at every level of ontological resolution one wishes
- [Reason vs. Intelligence](https://goldams.com/reason-vs-intelligence/) - Not the same thing! In "Rational and Irrational Thought: The Thinking That IQ Tests Miss" (1 Jan 2015, Scientific American), Keith Stanovich writes: No doubt you know several folks with perfectly respectable IQs who repeatedly make poor decisions. The behavior of such people tells us that we are missing something important by treating intelligence as
- [Some Physics of Jumping](https://goldams.com/some-physics-of-jumping/) - In "Jumping From a Height," someone in the physics department at MIT wrote a good analysis of jumping and landing for a Physics 8.01X class for fall term 2002. (Thanks!) One screen capture shows the situation; another shows the force required to stop you when you fall. As you can see, the force required to
- [Valsalva: Usually, But Not Always](https://goldams.com/valsalva-usually-but-not-always/) - In "The Valsalva & Stroke" (10 Sept 2013, Starting Strength), Jonathon Sullivan, MD, PhD, SSC, writes: Athletes who engage in serious, programmatic, heavy resistance training will do so under Valsalva – whether they want to or not, as we shall see. And a very small number of them do, in fact, suffer hemorrhagic strokes. But is this
- [Improving Thought](https://goldams.com/improving-thought/) - When we learn vocabulary, we should have at least one example of a term. Think about it this way: if we don’t have an example(s), then we don’t know what we are talking about.
- [Exercise Standards](https://goldams.com/exercise-standards/) - We should not measure our exercise and movement only in terms of calories and weight. That is limiting and confining. We should also measure in terms of movement variety, joint mobility, angle through which our joints move, movement complexity, environmental complexity.
- [In Thinking, Get Real](https://goldams.com/in-thinking-get-real/) - We use deduction all through life and in every hour of our awareness. But deduction alone is for robots. To function optimally and to thrive as rational animals, we need logical induction, theory of definition, theory of classification, theory of logical context and hierarchy.
- [Success in Life Feeds on Induction and Observation](https://goldams.com/success-in-life-feeds-on-induction-and-observation/) - Deduction and “intuition“ and “automatic thinking“ work no better than does your machinery to generate valid concepts and generalizations: logical induction, method of definition, method of classification, concept formation, power of observation and attention.
- [Science Right and Wrong](https://goldams.com/science-right-and-wrong/) - What is usually called “the scientific method“ is a platonic delusion. Real science is the conceptualization of and generalization about the things, actions, and causes in the real world. Real science is inductive and integrative. It is rich, complex, conceptual, and perceptual.
- [Reality Before Words](https://goldams.com/reality-before-words/) - Just as shoes have important practical differences for individual people in individual contexts that cannot be obliterated by saying “shoes!“, so also vaccines have important practical differences that cannot be obliterated by saying “but vaccines!“ Causality matters.
- [Move Well, Move Much](https://goldams.com/move-well-move-much/) - If you workout In a gym, sweet. Gyms have some benefits. But have you had any complex movement today? if not, up your game and add it into the mix. We are not being fully human and realizing our full human potential without it. And that’s what we’re after, right? Live it up.
- [Just Sleep](https://goldams.com/just-sleep/) - Good stuff. Give it a listen. Sleep is a necessity for even basic function, never mind optimal function. It is neither optional nor dispensable. (And I'm only 40 minutes in. I have 1 hour 20 minutes to go.) Note: it's Joe, so it contains cursing.
- [Thoreau Resource](https://goldams.com/thoreau-resource/) - The University of California at Santa Barbara has a good site called The Writings of Henry David Thoreau, about which they say: Our site offers a number of resources for research. If you are collecting information for a school assignment, we recommend that you begin with the various pages in the About Thoreau section of
- [Walden Resources](https://goldams.com/walden-resources/) - The Walden Project has some good resources (including free pdfs of Thoreau's Walden) about Walden. About themselves and their mission, they say: The Walden Woods Project preserves the land, literature and legacy of Henry David Thoreau to foster an ethic of environmental stewardship and social responsibility. The Project achieves this mission through the integration of
- [Move For Health -- and Cognition](https://goldams.com/move-for-health-and-cognition/) - We need to move more and sit less. We need to think on our feet. In "What Nobody Is Telling You About Natural Movement & Evolutionary Fitness," Erwan LeCorre writes: Let’s look at the typical physical behavior and movement habits in modern, civilized humans. What do we do when we wake up? We get out
- [Understanding Walden Step By Step](https://goldams.com/understanding-walden-step-by-step/) - If you need to understand Walden to teach it, to write an essay about it, or to achieve a personal goal or value, you should study Walden: A Fluid Text Edition. It shows all the editions and editorial changes Walden went through from initial notes to final published draft. The Website says: In the 1960s,
- [Avoid Quarrels](https://goldams.com/avoid-quarrels/) - Grammar is a critical aspect of effective communication with ourselves, with those we love, with coworkers, and with people in general. We need to know some basics to let others know what we think, to avoid quarrels and angry disputes, and to get along. So I recommend you learn what you need so you can
- [Yum](https://goldams.com/yum/) - I want to make some PALEO SWEET POTATO SOUP WITH BACON. Sounds delicious.
- [Social Media](https://goldams.com/social-media/) - Pressured by a friend, I am starting on Twitter and Instagram as @EpistemeRx I will post education-related stuff -- which is a really broad topic: standards of education, optimal health for learning, epistemology, details of teaching, and more -- and will post as I can. Time is limited and finite. After all, we need to
- [Environment Matters For Us Humans](https://goldams.com/environment-matters-for-man/) - Life, including the human, is conditional. Our lives have requirements and occur in a biological context. We have a specific, objective nature. We need species-appropriate movement, environment, sleep, water, air, nutrition, symbioses, and more. Undercut those things, and you undercut human life. So, to coin a new term, I consider myself an "anthropocentric environmentalist.”
- [Education Is About Thinking For Life](https://goldams.com/education-is-about-thinking-for-life/) - Dr. Montessori was a great educator: she taught her students, as much as she was able, to be objective, scientific, life-loving, independent thinkers. That's what teachers should do. They should not merely teach to a test -- which is not education, but faking it.
- [Evaluating Teachers/tutors](https://goldams.com/evaluating-teachers-tutors/) - It's not about what a teacher has done; it's about what their students can do. It’s not about a teacher’s credentials; it’s about their students’ achievements and lives. But to make them the best they can be, you gotta be the best you can be.
- [Got biology?](https://goldams.com/got-biology/) - Physics and chemistry are lifeless. Biology matters. It's what survival is about. And it's what education needs to be based on; it's what makes education practical and relevant.
- [Exercise Is Where You Find It](https://goldams.com/exercise-is-where-you-find-it/)
- [A Majestic Red-tailed Hawk](https://goldams.com/a-majestic-red-tailed-hawk/)
- [Cool! A Bat!](https://goldams.com/cool-a-bat/)
- [Congrats JE!](https://goldams.com/congrats-je/) - Working with an algebra 2 student only a few times, I helped him to bring his grade up from an F to a C, and to earn a B on his midterm! Congrats JE!
- [Congrats, GR!](https://goldams.com/congrats-gr/) - A student of mine made an 85 on her chem 1 midterm, maintaining her B average, and a 94 on her algebra 2 midterm, bumping her up to an A average! Congrats, GR!
- [Essay Based on Quentin Reynolds' book The Wright Brothers: Pioneers of American Aviation, by Kira H](https://goldams.com/review-of-quentin-reynolds-book-the-wright-brothers-pioneers-of-american-aviation-by-kira-h/) - “When you two say you’re going to do something, you do it.” --Kate Wright to Wilbur and Orville Two brothers from the 19th century, Wilbur and Orville Wright (well known as the Wright Brothers), were nothing short of scientists. At the young age of 11 and 7, respectively, they were already on their way to
- [Biology Books](https://goldams.com/biology-books/) - If you are interested, here are most of the books I’ve read/listened to on biology and related topics. They are important, because only in biology do we learn what it is to be human -- we are rational animals, after all; animals that evolved in nature through millions of years of adaptation. Most of the
- [Strength and Balance](https://goldams.com/strength-and-balance/) - Balance matters: daily life, football, golf, baseball, old age, police work, EMS work, athletics, and more. If you, or someone you know, want some training, to be the best you can be, to aim to achieve optimal cognition and fitness, call/text me: 281-770-2276 or email: michaelgold@goldams.com. I am a certified fitness trainer. I can help
- [Vaccines: Pro or Con?](https://goldams.com/vaccines-pro-or-con/) - To make good decisions and recommendations regarding vaccines, and before we are pro or con, we should understand them. And that means vknowing the essence and the conceptual background of vaccines, as I discuss in the video. Vaccines do not work in isolation: we should not be advocating for or against vaccines until we have
- [Just Walk](https://goldams.com/just-walk/) - Just walk -- especially in the woods. (Well, don't only walk, but walk in addition to your other exercise.) In "8 Ways Walking Changes Your Brain For The Better, According To Science" (Bustle.com, Aug 16 2018), Kyli Rodriguez-Cayro writes: Despite what some people think, you don't need a fancy gym membership to get the health
- [Balance Is Basic](https://goldams.com/balance-is-basic/) - Balance matters: daily life, football, golf, baseball, old age, police work, EMS work, athletics, and more. I can help -- with a smart training program. If you, or someone you know, want some training, to be the best you can be, to aim to achieve optimal cognition and fitness, call/text me: 281-770-2276 or email: michaelgold@goldams.com.
- [My Credentials -- and the Benefits They Have For You](https://goldams.com/my-credentials-and-the-benefits-they-have-for-you/)
- [Happy New Year!](https://goldams.com/happy-new-year-2/) - May your year be happy, healthy, full of achievement, full of curiosity and learning, rational, logical, and loving.
- [Cost of Thoreau's Walden House In Today's Terms](https://goldams.com/cost-of-thoreaus-walden-house-in-todays-terms/) - As he reported in Walden, Thoreau's house cost him about $28.13. What is that in today's terms? The folks at Shelter Seeker calculated the cost a little differently, and came up with a figure of about $2,800. They said: Materials for Henry David Thoreau's Cabin (From his notebook)In brackets I have given a (very) approximate
- [Hurricane Harvey Rainfall Houston (Before 8-27-2017)](https://goldams.com/hurricane-harvey-rainfall-houston-before-8-27-2017/)
- [Balanced Strength](https://goldams.com/balanced-strength/) - If you, or someone you know, want some training, to be the best you can be, to aim to achieve optimal cognition and fitness, call/text me: 281-770-2276 or email: michaelgold@goldams.com. I am a certified fitness trainer.
- [My New Book! (Well, Was In August 2018)](https://goldams.com/new-book-well-was-in-august-2018/) - Great edition of Walden: it has annotations to help explain the dense work.
- [Nice! Beautiful, Wonderful Nature](https://goldams.com/nice-beautiful-wonderful-nature/)
- [The Ideal Gas Law (van der Waals Correction) and Disease Spread](https://goldams.com/the-ideal-gas-law-van-der-waals-correction-and-disease-spread/) - In "The scaling of contact rates with population density for the infectious disease models" (Mathematical Biosciences, Volume 244, Issue 2, August 2013, Pages 125-134), Hoa Hu, Karima Nigmatulina, and Philip Eckhoff write: Contact rates and patterns among individuals in a geographic area drive transmission of directly-transmitted pathogens, making it essential to understand and estimate contacts
- [History of Humans in the Americas](https://goldams.com/history-of-humans-in-the-americas/) - In "The First Americans May Have Arrived 130,000 Years Ago" (Discovermagazine.com, April 26, 2017), Gemma Tarlach writes: Is the conventional chronology of human migration little more than a house of cards? Maybe. And there’s a strong wind (or at least a tantalizing breeze) blowing in from southern California, where researchers say they have evidence that the First
- [Agriculture and Disease](https://goldams.com/agriculture-and-disease/) - In "The origin of human pathogens: evaluating the role of agriculture and domestic animals in the evolution of human disease," Dr. Jessica Pearce-Duvet (Biology Department, University of Utah) writes: Many significant diseases of human civilization are thought to have arisen concurrently with the advent of agriculture in human society. It has been hypothesised that the
- [Merry Christmas, Happy Holidays!](https://goldams.com/merry-christmas-happy-holidays/)
- [The Akokisha](https://goldams.com/the-akokisha/) - At UT's Texas Archeological Research Laboratory's Website are some good maps of local and Texas Native Americans homelands. They show tribes local to Houston, TX, and Cypress, TX. Here is one map:
- [Foraging Cook Book](https://goldams.com/foraging-cook-book/) - On the Spring Creek Greenway's Website is a book called Wild Stuff by Carmine Stahl, who they say was co-author of Trees of Texas, [and] has led a colorful and varied life – in turn a wartime meteorologist in the U.S. Army, a Methodist minister, a leader of nature camps for underprivileged youth, a college
- [Some Philosophy of Science](https://goldams.com/some-philosophy-of-science/) - “Science, indeed, is nothing more than the conceptual unravelling of sensory data; it has no other primary evidence from which to proceed.” —Dr. Leonard Peikoff
- [White-tailed Deer](https://goldams.com/white-tailed-deer/) - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8xWVhHXX7og
- [Must Have Sun](https://goldams.com/must-have-sun/) - https://youtu.be/xnmV_tmf79c
- [Quack!](https://goldams.com/quack/) - https://youtu.be/DjyQIJZVZ7Y
- [Complex Movement --> Complex Neural Function --> Complex Thought](https://goldams.com/complex-movement-complex-neural-function-complex-thought/) - https://youtu.be/QbuZ5ZUePHw
- [Beneficial Predator of Flannel Moth Caterpillars](https://goldams.com/beneficial-predator-of-flannel-moth-caterpillars/) - https://youtu.be/4xypHnnK3gg
- [In Life, Don't Stand Still](https://goldams.com/in-life-dont-stand-still/) - Learning implies change. Change requires adaptability. Driving them all is an awareness of and passion for human life on this great earth.
- [Student Algebra 2 Honors Success](https://goldams.com/student-algebra-2-honors-success/) - Congrats TL! 95 on an algebra 2 test at one of the top private schools in Texas! Sweet!
- [All In Modern Medicine That Is Not Inductive and Integrated Is Wrong](https://goldams.com/all-in-modern-medicine-that-is-not-inductive-and-integrated-is-wrong/) - Too much medical research cannot be trusted. As Dr. John Ioannidis says in STEM-Talk podcast #77 (November 20, 2018), too much of “modern medicine“ is not good for human health. (If you don't like this, you can take it up with John. Or the producers of the podcast.) And too many in modern medicine want to
- [Midterms Advice](https://goldams.com/midterms-advice/) - Midterms are coming up! Here is some advice in those hard, stressful times.He says "son," but, of course, this apples to men and women and all Homo sapiens alike. Saying "son or daughter or male or female or ...." in the song would really through the rhythm off. And they need to rhyme "son" with
- [Student Success!](https://goldams.com/student-success-3/) - Sweet! A student of mine earned a 91 on a recent honors Algebra 2 quiz at one of the top private schools in Texas. Nice job TL!
- [Student Success!](https://goldams.com/student-success-2/) - Sweet! A student I tutor earned a 101 on a recent geometry test at a private school in Houston! Good job CD!
- [Biology Matters: Vultures Help Keep Our Environment and Neighborhoods Clean](https://goldams.com/biology-matters-vultures-help-keep-our-environment-and-neighborhoods-clean/) - Vultures keep our environment and neighborhood clean. They help prevent rabies, plague, anthrax. They help keep our water clean. For free! No "gas footprint" and all that! So be nice to them, please. I used to not like them before I knew better. Now that I now their nature and their role in our ecology,
- [Comment on the Nature of Science](https://goldams.com/comment-on-the-nature-of-science/) - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rRxC145iw60
- [Be Fit To Be Strong, Mentally and Physically](https://goldams.com/11568-2/) - https://youtu.be/bT-v1Zk0EVcWhile doing this, I was mindful of my step, mindful of the minnows in the creek, observant of the blue sky and creekside downcreek and upcreek, aware of some trash in the water under some rocks, aware of the sand shifting, aware of a place I had stepped before this rep of log carry, and
- [Health Aphorism](https://goldams.com/health-aphorism/) - An apple a day is an apple such that, if (x1, y1, z1) is your location on earth, thensqrt[ (x2 - x1)^2 + (y2 - y1)^2 + (z2 - z1)^2 ] > Mwhere (x2, y2, z2) is the position of your doctor and where M is a real number of non-negligible quantity such that M
- [Good College Stat Test Grade!](https://goldams.com/good-college-stat-test-grade/) - Sweet! A student made a 105 (of 115) on her college stat test!The test covered ANOVA (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Analysis_of_variance), a harder topic in intro courses -- and she had to do all the calculations by hand!! She did not do so well on her first two tests, then gave me a call for this test. :)Congrats HS!
- [Aristotle on Epistemology](https://goldams.com/aristotle-on-epistemology/) - "Nothing [valid] is in the intellect that was not first in the senses." --Aristotle/St. Thomas Aquinas. See: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peripatetic_axiomSee also: https://books.google.com/books/about/Metaphysics_Aristotle.html?id=5bsdRyz5nZ4CThis is a basic principle that should shape and inform education and science and all human thought.
- [Big Picture Biology](https://goldams.com/big-picture-biology/) - Copperhead, with my commentary. Enjoy! 🙂Note: I’m not sure about my comment that maybe it had eaten. I need to see more Copperheads that are swollen with food in contrast to Copperheads that are not.https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n6Fs9zG4epw
- [Better Movement Practice Makes a Better Mind](https://goldams.com/better-movement-practice-makes-a-better-mind/) - Some recent movement practice: precision jumping.Because complex movement —> complex neurological function —> improved cognition and attitude.And because strength alone and “OMG! Big muscles!” don’t matter.What matters is functional strength that can be used to achieve values for yourself and for others.What matters is muscle built upon good ligament and tendon and bone, and controlled
- [Cell Phones and More: Back to Biology](https://goldams.com/cell-phones-and-more-back-to-biology/) - In the Wise Traditions podcast #158, "Tech Side Effects," Brian Hoyer and Hilda Labrada Gore discuss the affects of electromagnetic radiation on our health, and in so doing implicitly say and show how it is important to know physics, to know biology, and to put physics in context of biology, human life, and the requirements
- [Integrate Knowledge to Live More Effectively and Happily](https://goldams.com/11548-2/) - Rapid eye movement can be used to heal PTSD and other psychological traumas — since mind and body are united; they each affect each other. Traumas always have physiological consequences: long-term changes in heart rate, blood pressure, hormone levels, immune system function, brain function, even brain structure. In “What is EMDR?” the EMDR Institute writes: Eye
- [Study Skills](https://goldams.com/study-skills-2/) - How should you study? How should you learn? Everyone says “study harder!“?Here are some thoughts and some specific ideas:1. Ask more detailed questions.2. Ask more general questions.3. Ask follow-up questions.Examples: “How can I study harder? What do you mean?““If studying is about thinking, then how could I think better to study better?”“What specifically do you
- [Study Skills](https://goldams.com/study-skills/) - How should you study? How should you learn? Everyone says “study harder?" Here are some thoughts and some specific ideas.When your background knowledge isn’t there, learn it and master it.When you make a mistake over and over, put up a red flag for that kind of thing in your head, and be slower and more
- [Thoughts on Consciousness -- And Therefore the Philosophy of Education](https://goldams.com/11539-2/) - Consciousness is functional, it is a "tool." It is not some sort of learning machine detached from survival and biology. Consciousness is identification -- identification of what is in its environment for the sake of the survival of an organism in a species-appropriate way. It is an aspect of the organism, not something separate. It
- [Solid Science Testimonial](https://goldams.com/solid-science-testimonial/) - A nice testimonial from a mother whose children I have been teaching science."I recommend to any parent that seriously cares about their child's educational well-being -- as well as their mental and physical health -- to get in touch with Michael Gold and get started with him right away! His holistic and hierarchical approach to
- [Some Fitness Training 9-13-2018](https://goldams.com/some-fitness-training-9-13-2018/) - Trying something new here, but keeping it restrained because the environment was wet. I did not want to slip and fall on my tail bone or my head, or get hurt in some other form or fashion. As it was, the board was a little unstable.https://youtu.be/IE7-vmPTZvQ
- [Some Fitness Training 8-10-2018](https://goldams.com/some-fitness-training-8-10-2018/) - After half hour of mobility work, a 3.5 mile run at about a 9.5 minute per mile pace, and a little mobility and strength work:https://youtu.be/jubs3fhIwdQ
- [Quote on Learning](https://goldams.com/quote-on-learning/) - "All that I know I learned after I was thirty." --Georges Clemenceau
- [Kaitlin Purring](https://goldams.com/kaitlin-purring/) - In her last days. R.I.P., my beautiful, graceful carnivorous kitty. You purred a love for life and a love for me. We were family. And always will be. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qbbCAwpYjIU
- [Peaceful and Relaxing Purring](https://goldams.com/peaceful-and-relaxing-purring/) - https://youtu.be/faworJseOU4
- [R.I.P. Kaitlyn 2018](https://goldams.com/r-i-p-kaitlyn-2018/) - Passed in the night 6-5/6-6. At peace. She knew she was safe, and protected, and loved. In the past few weeks, I spent one or two or three hours, once or twice or more a day, petting her and giving her attention. She purred loudly and often. Her coat was soft and beautiful till the
- [B.A. Philosophy](https://goldams.com/b-a-philosophy/)
- [Movement Training 8-29-2018](https://goldams.com/movement-training-8-28-2018-2/) - https://youtu.be/x8FW_1IG2QwIf you want some training, to be the best you can be, to aim to achieve optimal cognition and fitness, call/text me, Michael, at 281-770-2276 or email michaelgold@goldams.com.
- [Movement Training 8-28-2018](https://goldams.com/movement-training-8-28-2018/) - https://youtu.be/xMkAQpnN4PoIf you want some training, to be the best you can be, to aim to achieve optimal cognition and fitness, call/text me, Michael, at 281-770-2276 or email michaelgold@goldams.com.
- [Unpacking Three Simple Things In Teaching](https://goldams.com/unpacking-three-simple-things-in-teaching/) - https://youtu.be/GHjJOmUNCTg
- [In Exercise, The True is the Whole](https://goldams.com/in-exercise-the-true-is-the-whole/) - "The reason that isolated body part training on machines doesn't work is the same reason that barbells work so well, better than any other tools we can use to gain strength. The human body functions as a complete system – – it works that way, and it likes to be trained that way. It doesn't
- [A Basic Idea of Animal Movement](https://goldams.com/a-basic-idea-of-animal-movement/) - "The skeletal system translates the force of muscle contraction into movement as the body interacts with its environment." --Mark Rippetoe, Starting Strength (p. 10, 3rd ed.)
- [Old Dictionary](https://goldams.com/old-dictionary/) - The 1828 edition of the Webster's Dictionary is available online! Cool!
- [Want a Competitive Advantage? Get Sun!](https://goldams.com/want-a-competitive-advantage-get-sun/) - As I say, get outdoors! Get in the sun! Nature, the outdoors, the sun, in proper measure, are good for your health, cognition, attitude, and success.In "Health Benefits of Sunbathing FAR Outweigh Risks, World Health Organization Says," Sara Burrows writes:The only concerning disease associated with the sun is malignant melanoma, which occurs mainly in the
- [Up Your Fitness](https://goldams.com/up-your-fitness-2/) - I tanked on that last set of pull-ups! LOL. Had to stop and move on to other things. If you want some fitness training to improve your fitness practice and competence, to be stronger in a broader range of movements, or to just get started, get in touch. I'm a certified trainer. We could work
- [Logic is Fundamental](https://goldams.com/logic-is-fundamental/) - To be a better writer, a better scientist, a better businessperson, a better athlete, become a better thinker. To become a better thinker, study logic. Don't waste time on "symbolic logic" or deduction. Learn what is important and essential: classification, definition, induction, and some argument analysis. Get in touch. I can help. 281-770-2276michael@goldams.com
- [Biology is Basic](https://goldams.com/biology-is-basic/) - As Theodosius Dobzhansky said: "Nothing in Biology Makes Sense Except in the Light of Evolution."That is actually the title of an article Dobzhansky wrote for The American Biology Teacher (March 1973), hence all the capital letters.Nothing in biology -- like GMOs, farming, glyphosate, vaccines, diet, exercise, human life, philosophic thought, etc.
- [Live Like a Hero](https://goldams.com/live-like-a-hero/) - "Olympus is but the outside of the earth everywhere." -- Henry David Thoreau, Walden
- [That Glyphosate Thing](https://goldams.com/that-glyphosate-thing-a/) - In "Glyphosate, pathways to modern diseases II: Celiac sprue and gluten intolerance," Anthony Samsel and Stephanie Seneff say in their Conclusion:"Celiac disease is a complex and multifactorial condition associated with gluten intolerance and a higher risk to thyroid disease, cancer and kidney disease, and there is also an increased risk to infertility and birth defects
- [Sprinting and Age](https://goldams.com/sprinting-and-age/) - The scientific article "Physical Fitness and Performance Age-Related Differences in 100-m Sprint Performance in Male and Female Master Runners" (Marko T. Korhonen, Antti Mero, Harri Suominen) has some interesting math and science in it. They said: “There was a general decline in sprint performances with age, the decrease becoming more evident around 65–70 yr of
- [Some Standardized 1.5 Mile Times](https://goldams.com/some-standardized-1-5-mile-times/) - Here are some norms for men and women for Texas State Trooper trainees and recruits.
- [Gardening Idea: Good For the Pocketbook, and Good For the Environment](https://goldams.com/gardening-idea-good-for-the-pocketbook-and-good-for-the-environment/) - Plants unfortunately dismissed as "weeds" are good for your health. And, since they are local, do not require as much water or fertilizer or pesticides or herbicides. Grow them for yourself, or share with those in need. Lots of this stuff is a great addition to a salad. I like lettuce as a base, but
- [Seize the Day -- In Context of Life](https://goldams.com/sieze-the-day-in-context-of-life/) - "When on my way this afternoon, Shall I go down this long hill in the rain to fish in the pond? I ask myself. And I say to myself: Yes, roam far, grasp life and conquer it, learn much and live. Your fetters are knocked off; you are really free. ...But come home from far,
- [Maintain the Benevolence of Your Mind and Soul](https://goldams.com/maintain-the-benevolence-of-your-mind-and-soul/) - "Most men have forgotten that it was ever morning; but a few serene memories, healthy and wakeful natures, there are who assure us that the sun rose clear, heralded by the singing of birds, - this very day’s sun, which rose before Memnon was ready to greet it." -- Henry David Thoreau
- [Fact vs. Fashion](https://goldams.com/fact-vs-fashion/) - “The lasts over which the footwear of civilization is shaped are rarely modeled in the spirit of truth that would make them conform to the contour of a normal foot. The whim of society and the manufacturers’ enterprise alone regulate their shape. Society, apparently, agrees that the human foot as formed by nature is coarse,
- [Make It Matter](https://goldams.com/make-it-matter/) - "As with our colleges, so with a hundred 'modern improvements'; there is an illusion about them; there is not always a positive advance. The devil goes on exacting compound interest to the last for his early share and numerous succeeding investments in them. Our inventions are wont to be pretty toys, which distract our attention
- [Wise Independence](https://goldams.com/wise-independence/) - "I went to the woods because I wished to live deliberately, to front only the essential facts of life, and see if I could not learn what it had to teach, and not, when I came to die, discover that I had not lived." --Henry David Thoreau Study the wisdom of the ages when young, and
- [Honesty & Integrity](https://goldams.com/honesty-integrity/) - "My life has been the poem I would have writ,But I could not both live and utter it.” --Henry David ThoreauLong-term, engage neither thought without action nor action without thought. Live a life of integrity, thought and action being unified -- and being consistent with reality and human nature. Have good thoughts, and record them
- [Stop. Look. Listen.](https://goldams.com/11389-2/) - “There is more to life than simply increasing its speed.” –Ghandi Yes. Live well. Act wisely. Think deeply. Learn logic slowly and steadfastly.
- [In Running, As in Logic, the True is the Whole](https://goldams.com/in-running-as-in-logic-the-true-is-the-whole/) - In "How Kelly Starrett and Japan Fixed My Running Form" (Men's Journal), Adharanand Finn wrote:To run well is a skill, and to do it well your whole body needs to be functioning properly, not just your feet. This is why many people who take up barefoot or minimal running end up injured. You can’t just
- [Look Beyond the Obvious](https://goldams.com/look-beyond-the-obvious/) - In “The Biomechanics of Good Running,” Jeff Beckham says:If you're a runner and you can't extend your hip well behind you on your stride, Jay Dicharry has bad news: You're never going to be a great runner.…Dicharry is the director of the Speed Performance Clinic and the Motion Analysis Lab Coordinator At The University Of
- [Running: It's Not What It Might Seem](https://goldams.com/running-its-not-what-it-might-seem/) - In "Running: It’s All in The Hips," James Dunne says:The biggest issue is that so many of us 21st century runners spend much of the time sitting down – a static flexion pattern – the complete opposite to running!We sit at desks, in the car, and on the sofa. If we’re lucky, we sit on
- [Paper Wasp](https://goldams.com/paper-wasp/) - https://youtu.be/FmbiTzDbfsE
- [Green Tree Frog](https://goldams.com/green-tree-frog/) - https://youtu.be/XjUcB-Ffvp0
- [Tons of Turtles](https://goldams.com/tons-of-turtles/) - https://youtu.be/23RVY5HUkVI
- [History, Ecology, and Human Height and Health](https://goldams.com/history-ecology-and-human-height-and-health/) - In Human Height, Max Roser says:Human height is determined by a combination of genetics and environmental factors making it an active area of research in both the sciences and social sciences. Recent breakthroughs in sequencing the human genome have allowed identification of 697 genetic variants that influence the height of an individual.1 Although genetics plays
- [Be The Best You Can Be](https://goldams.com/be-the-best-you-can-be/) - Be the best you can be -- and I can help you get there. I am certified in MovNat. Give me a call to set up some training! "The philosophy behind MovNat is simple: humans intrinsically know how to physically move their bodies, and itch to do so in a wide variety of ways. But decades
- [Four Years Ago](https://goldams.com/four-years-ago/) - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sFuxrzTNIBc
- [Just Because](https://goldams.com/just-because/) - Because starting a sentence with a subordinate clause is correct grammatically, because "because" is a subordinating conjunction, because I like to start some sentences with because-clauses and other subordinate clauses, because starting sentences in different ways adds good variety to our writing, and because I like to do what is right even if I am
- [Lightning and Reasoning](https://goldams.com/lightening-and-reasoning/) - Watch closely. What do you observe? Find details, colors, patterns, shapes. Compare with other videos of lightning striking. Put things in context of science and your own experience. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LCdIM67g3mYHere are screen captures from the video.
- [Don't Not Use Double Negatives](https://goldams.com/dont-not-use-double-negatives/) - In The American Language (1921), H.L. Menken wrote:Like most other examples of “bad grammar” encountered in American the compound negative is of great antiquity and was once quite respectable. The student of Anglo-Saxon encounters it constantly.…Chaucer, at the beginning of the period of transition to Modern English, used the double negative with the utmost freedom.
- [Mencken on Don't Not Use Double Negatives](https://goldams.com/mencken-on-dont-not-use-double-negatives/) - In The American Language (1921), H.L. Menken wrote:Like most other examples of “bad grammar” encountered in American the compound negative is of great antiquity and was once quite respectable. The student of Anglo-Saxon encounters it constantly.…Chaucer, at the beginning of the period of transition to Modern English, used the double negative with the utmost freedom.
- [Summer or School Year -- Up Your Game](https://goldams.com/summer-or-school-year-up-your-game/) - Play hard, rest, and sleep, but work hard and study hard. Make the most of life.Whether you or your child go to an elite private school or a public school, or do homeschooling — use the summer to get ready for the upcoming year, make up for educational deficiencies, or learn some thinking skills/study skills/logic;
- [Up Your Fitness](https://goldams.com/up-your-fitness/) - Athlete or starting strength -- I can help you achieve your best and help you cut down your risk of injury. Football. Soccer. Baseball. Softball. Basketball. Volleyball. Cheerleader. Martial Arts. More. -- I can help you up your game and stay in the game longer.Start now. Make the most of your time and life. Call
- [Don't Squander the Summer](https://goldams.com/dont-squander-the-summer/) - Play hard, rest and sleep, but work hard and study hard. Make the most of life.Whether elite private school, public school, or homeschool -- get ready for the upcoming year, make up for educational deficiencies, learn some thinking skills/study skills/logic.You will be hard-pressed, unfortunately, to find anyone better to help you or your child learn
- [Fitness Ratios](https://goldams.com/fitness-ratios/) - In “Know Your Ratios, Destroy Weaknesses” Christian Thibaudeau writes:In bodybuilding it's somewhat easy since you can see which muscles are underdeveloped. But for performance guys, the best way to find out what lift(s) are weaker or lagging is through strength ratios.You do this by comparing ideal strength levels or ratios between lifts, which is something
- [Aristotle on Biology](https://goldams.com/aristotle-on-biology/) - From Aristotle's Biology, by Dr. James Lennox, on the Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy"Aristotle was able to accomplish what he did in biology because he had given a great deal of thought to the nature of scientific inquiry. How does one progress from the superficial and unorganized state of everyday experience toward organized scientific understanding? To
- [Lennox on Aristotle on Inquisitiveness](https://goldams.com/lennox-on-aristotle-on-inquisitiveness/) - "Aristotle on the Epistemic Centrality of Curiosity" is an abstract, interesting philosophic thought (but not too abstruse). Description of talk by Dr. Lennox (bio 1, bio 2, books): "In this paper I 'dig into' a feature of Aristotle’s thought which is familiar to anyone with even a passing acquaintance with his philosophy—the centrality of 'questions
- [What Science Says About Fitness](https://goldams.com/what-science-says-about-fitness/) - In "Fitness VS Movement: Science Shows Quality Training Matters," the folks at MovNat write:In gyms all across the world, millions of people are unknowingly settling for sub-par fitness results, no matter how hard they work. It’s true that traditional fitness training delivers many benefits, but according to a recent study, movement-based training offers even better
- [Complex Movements in Complex Environments Are Good For Your Brain](https://goldams.com/complex-movements-in-complex-environments-are-good-for-your-brain/) - Fitness, to be optimal and appropriate for a human, should involve complex movement and complex environments. Scientific info that complexity matters is found in the article “Environment complexity stimulates visual cortex neurogenesis: death of a dogma and a research career” by Michael S. Kaplan. Introduction by the Editor of the Journal: "Over the past few years [since
- [July 4th](https://goldams.com/july-4th/) - Independence (Self-Sovereignty): a principle to be eternally fought for, as there are always some who want to try to take it away: king, queen, gang, mob, lynch mob, some members of some religion, some group in some race, some members of some sex, etc., etc., etc. Some people -- not everyone -- try to make
- [Happy Independence Day!](https://goldams.com/happy-independence-day-5/) - As you may know: "When John Hancock, Samuel Adams, and other founding fathers signed [The Declaration of Independence], they did not sign some empty philosophical statement, they signed their death warrant."If caught, they would have been hung, drawn, and quartered.But that is not all: "Today, the most famous offenders of the eighteenth-century English treason laws
- [In The Mail Yesterday! Sweet!](https://goldams.com/in-the-mail-yesterday-sweet/)
- [Happy Father's Day!](https://goldams.com/happy-fathers-day-2/) - Images from Totallyhistory.com
- [Agkistrodon contortrix contortrix One 6-15-2018](https://goldams.com/agkistrodon-contortrix-contortrix-one-6-15-2018/) - This is the first beautiful, stealthy, private, quiet, passive, life-loving, curious, observant Copperhead I saw today. One of two!! :):):):):)Using camouflage and stealth, the Southern Copperhead (Agkistrodon contortrix contortrix) is passive and not a threat. If you make yourself a threat, it will, like any animal, including all the people around you, react to defend
- [Fitness Testimonial](https://goldams.com/fitness-testimonial/) - If you are active, if you are a couch potato, if you are athletic – – I can help improve your health and up your game for the long-term and for real life. Just listen:
- [B.S. Mathematics](https://goldams.com/b-s-mathematics/)
- [Math Credentials](https://goldams.com/math-credentials/)
- [Red-eared Slider](https://goldams.com/red-eared-slider/) - Interesting to watch for its stride and gait, for the shine and trail it leaves, for the way it turned 180, for the sound its nails make on the asphalt, and more.It was in the parking lot of the local park, and had a fence between it and the nearby pond. Not only that, but
- [A Testimonial From a Mom](https://goldams.com/a-testimonial-from-a-mom/) - An awesome testimonial from the mother of three homeschoolers (all of whom I work with, tutoring/teaching them in science, all three at the same time): Michael expounds all that is science in such an interesting and exciting way! He always keeps my kids engaged and thinking that science is fun!He presents science in a logical,
- [Survival Requires Movement](https://goldams.com/survival-requires-movement/) - We should all be able to do things like this: https://www.theguardian.com/world/2018/may/28/spider-man-of-paris-climbs-four-storeys-to-rescue-dangling-boy At least in some measure. What that guy did would be a little too much for many of us (including me), but we should all be able to do this sort of thing to help ourselves and help others. Fitness and mindful movement matter.
- [Memorial Day Workout](https://goldams.com/memorial-day-workout/) - Nice! I took some high school athletes out today for some fitness training. In the Houston heat and humidity, they and I went out for 2+ hours into some local woods. We helped them -- MovNat and me -- become better athletes, better movers, healthier people, and better thinkers. I had them work on throwing,
- [Testimony of Some College Football Players](https://goldams.com/testimony-of-some-college-football-players/) - Today, I did a backward hand-foot crawl (aka bear crawl) backwards up an incline. At a jog. Then I let some college football players try. Fail. One had to stop on the way up, and, even then, did not have good technique going. The other could not even do it. Technique was even worse. I
- [Michael Is Now A Certified Fitness Trainer](https://goldams.com/michael-is-now-a-certified-fitness-trainer/) - And now, with this https://youtu.be/8Emx3gzxccA seen and approved, it is official: as of 7:16 AM today, I am now a Certified Level One MovNat Trainer. Hoo-yah! It was not easy! As with hard, good, meaningful achievements, this one has timeless universal aspects to it. We overcome obstacles. We fight back from injury. We fire ourselves
- [Up 300 Points on the SAT!](https://goldams.com/up-300-points-on-the-sat/) - Awesome! Congrats, DL! In 10 hourly sessions over 2 1/2 months, a student I tutored for the SAT went from an 890 to an 1190! That is a 300-point improvement! Wow! He went from 410 in reading/writing and 480 in math to a 630 in reading/writing and a 560 in math! All in only 10
- [A Thought On Good Thinking](https://goldams.com/a-thought-on-good-thinking/) - Having unconnected knowledge of this and that is not at all the same -- it is a junkyard. Having mere words is not the same -- it is faking knowledge. We need to form conclusions ourselves from real knowledge: what we experience, what we conceptualize, what we really learn from others. We can get a
- [A Thought](https://goldams.com/a-thought-2/) - Age ain't wisdom -- but, even more, youth ain't truth. Age alone does not confer wisdom, but wisdom ain't gonna happen without it.
- [Log Shoulder-carry: How To](https://goldams.com/log-shoulder-carry-how-to/) - How to. With a link to another video. Because we all need to carry stuff, from baggage to bicycles to backpacks to babies. And because it's physics where it matters: in our fitness for surviving, living, thriving, helping ourselves, helping those we care about, and helping others in emergencies -- as in Hurricane Harvey!!! https://youtu.be/Yy4a_EMhtmg
- [Physics and Falling](https://goldams.com/physics-and-falling/) - I jump into things here — both literally and figuratively — because I made this for some people I tutor, and we had already partially reasoned out and used the formulas discussed. https://youtu.be/hb7H1dgj2Go
- [Confidence Is Found Outside](https://goldams.com/11249-2/) - As Dr. Heather E. Heying (“Dr. Heying is an evolutionary biologist and a former professor at Evergreen State College”) says in “Nature Is Risky. That’s Why Students Need It” (New York Times, 4-30-20218):Over the course of several trips, I saw students rise to challenges in ways that they simply could not at home. I purposefully
- [Preserve Wildlife For Our Health](https://goldams.com/preserve-wildlife-for-our-health/) - I love snakes -- and get that they are valuable to our ecology. When one grasps a little biology, one gets how snakes -- and other animals, like wasps -- make the environment more suitable to human life, and help us be healthy.Have I always liked snakes and wasps? No. I used to not know
- [Life Needs Balance](https://goldams.com/life-needs-balance/) - Some balance work. All you need is a 2x4 or two. You could even have them inside to walk on everyday. As it says in the “description“ field, I did this six times in a row. I did these in the afternoon (I usually exercise in the morning) at the beginning of my workout when
- [Thought for the Day](https://goldams.com/thought-for-the-day/) - When we do not understand a subject or thing, we should refrain from discussing it (except to learn about it!) and from making proclamations or judgements about it (to the extent we do not know it). To think and talk in ignorance is sometimes foolhardy, but sometimes dangerous.As Alexander Pope wrote in his An Essay
- [Philosophic Thought of the Day (or Month)](https://goldams.com/philosophic-thought-of-the-day-or-month/) - Biology is the standard of judgement. Physics is fundamental in the world, but biology is fundamental to us in any action we take.We need to be careful to find out the affect of chemicals and technologies on our health and happiness and on the health and happiness of those we love.The things some people say
- [Mind is for Living](https://goldams.com/mind-is-for-living/) - https://youtu.be/szBAriGrDVo
- [A Cognitive 30-day Challenge](https://goldams.com/a-cognitive-30-day-challenge/) - https://youtu.be/zRFaj2tg7PY
- [Philosophy of Education](https://goldams.com/philosophy-of-education/) - https://youtu.be/D1UGypGiikE
- [Make Your Mind More Practical](https://goldams.com/make-your-mind-more-practical/) - https://youtu.be/g9yA0EeUCYk
- [Science Education: Inductive Logic is the Key](https://goldams.com/science-education-inductive-logic-is-the-key/) - In “How Bad Is the Government’s Science?” (Wall Street Journal, April 16, 2018 5:56 p.m. ET), Peter Wood and David Randall write: "Half the results published in peer-reviewed scientific journals are probably wrong. John Ioannidis, now a professor of medicine at Stanford, made headlines with that claim in 2005. Since then, researchers have confirmed his
- [Learning and Science](https://goldams.com/learning-and-science/) - In "Why Kids Shouldn’t Sit Still in Class" (NY Times, March 21, 2017) Donna de La Cruz wrote:“We fall into this trap that if kids are at their desks with their heads down and are silent and writing, we think they are learning,” Mr. Gatens added. “But what we have found is that the active
- [More Snow!](https://goldams.com/more-snow/) - https://youtu.be/CE2nQZ6LKeY
- [Thinking Skills For Corporations and Individuals](https://goldams.com/thinking-skills-for-corporations-and-individuals/) - https://youtu.be/01_3c7kC1XM
- [Small Sums Can Make Big Differences](https://goldams.com/small-sums-can-make-big-differences/) - https://youtu.be/aaaCzPPXcRI
- [One of the Few Keeping It Real](https://goldams.com/one-of-the-few-keeping-it-real/) - https://youtu.be/hVSc3vkf68I
- [Benefits in All Areas of Life](https://goldams.com/benefits-in-all-areas-of-life/) - https://youtu.be/A93KC4u5DCY
- [What We Do](https://goldams.com/what-we-do/) - https://youtu.be/4WuArPlydzw
- [It's What You Deserve](https://goldams.com/its-what-you-deserve/) - https://youtu.be/rbyMXG10fbA
- [Michael Gold](https://goldams.com/michael-gold/) - https://youtu.be/ChR8KJQMQFg
- [Balance](https://goldams.com/balance/) - https://youtu.be/xJV8E2UoxdE
- [Getting Out in the Snow](https://goldams.com/getting-out-in-the-snow/) - https://youtu.be/vwHKZJbRmp4
- [Hawk Flying](https://goldams.com/hawk-flying/) - https://youtu.be/F40-2zUr-fQ
- [When Is It Knowledge, Not Mere Words?](https://goldams.com/when-is-it-knowledge-not-mere-words/) - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=imkc-updBIU
- [Exercise and Multi-task](https://goldams.com/exercise-and-multi-task/) - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FOHHpjIF6Qk
- [Fitness Testimonial by Joe S](https://goldams.com/fitness-testimonial-by-joe-s/) - "Back in college I did a year of CrossFit and later on went through weight lifting programs with trainers at my gym. Michael has definitely been #1 when it came to proper form and joint/ligament strengthening."I trained with Michael for about 7 months and I saw huge improvements in my endurance and fitness. I felt
- [Fitness Testimonial by Carlton S](https://goldams.com/fitness-testimonial-2/) - “Exercising in the woods with Michael has benefited me more than any other type of workout that I have done with any trainer. The more I work out with Michael, the more I learn about my physical/mental strengths and weaknesses, and about nutrition for athletic performance and good health.“Ultimately, strengthening and conditioning is my goal.
- [Fitness Testimonial By Matt H](https://goldams.com/fitness-testimonial-by-matt-h/) - “Gold Academy is an experience unlike anything I was expecting. Coming from a background of physical contact sports such as hockey and football, I wanted to get myself back into form, without a florescent lighting tan, without aggravating previous injuries from the glory days. Being outside was the greatest reward, and the challenge I was
- [Watch the Wording](https://goldams.com/watch-the-wording/) - In "Beware the N Word" (Vitalanimal.com, October 8, 2017), Will Falconer, DVM, writes:You need to be discerning as a consumer, all the more so as these terms gain popularity. Natural, organic, holistic, homeopathic; they can be and regularly are misapplied, and putting full trust into something so labeled without doing your homework could have unintended
- [Train Yourself To Observe](https://goldams.com/train-yourself-to-observe/) - Skills of observation matter. Here is one area in which you can develop them. Be like Sherlock Holmes.In “One of the Most Untreated Types of Pain in Dogs” (healtypets.mercola.com, Jan 03, 2018), Dr. Karen Becker discusses some signs of pain and disease to look for in dogs.She writes:We also need to apply some science to
- [Exercise For Excellence](https://goldams.com/exercise-for-excellence/) - Most everyone wants to improve grades, performance at school, and performance at work. But we have some bad cultural conventions that preclude achieving optimum function. In "Short-term exercise equals big-time brain boost" (ScienceDaily, December 21, 2017), the author writes: While other studies have showed brain-health benefits after 20-minutes of a single-bout of exercise, or following
- [Brain Care is Important](https://goldams.com/brain-care-is-important/) - The brain and nervous system are important, yet the vast majority of Americans know little about them (but science still has a lot to learn!), do not modify their diet to the needs of brain and nervous system, do not sleep for brain and nervous system health, and do not focus any of their exercise
- [Work Smarter, Not Longer](https://goldams.com/work-smarter-not-longer/) - In “The Research Is Clear: Long Hours Backfire for People and for Companies” (Harvard Business Review, August 19, 2015)), Sarah Green Carmichael writes:In the 19th century, when organized labor first compelled factory owners to limit workdays to 10 (and then eight) hours, management was surprised to discover that output actually increased – and that expensive
- [Sleep --> Productivity](https://goldams.com/sleep-productivity-3/) - In “Sleep Deficit: The Performance Killer” (Harvard Business Review, October 2006), Bronwyn Fryer interviews Dr. Charles A. Czeisler, the Baldino Professor of Sleep Medicine at Harvard Medical School. In answer to one of Bronwyn's questions, Dr. Czeisler says:In a study our research team conducted of hospital interns who had been scheduled to work for at
- [Sleep --> Productivity](https://goldams.com/sleep-productivity-2/) - In “Sleep Deficit: The Performance Killer” (Harvard Business Review, October 2006), Bronwyn Fryer interviews Dr. Charles A. Czeisler, the Baldino Professor of Sleep Medicine at Harvard Medical School. In answer to one of Bronwyn's questions, Dr. Czeisler says:It amazes me that contemporary work and social culture glorifies sleeplessness in the way we once glorified people
- [Work Smarter, Not Harder](https://goldams.com/work-smarter-not-harder/) - In “The Research Is Clear: Long Hours Backfire for People and for Companies” (Harvard Business Review, August 19, 2015), Sarah Green Carmichael writes:In sum, the story of overwork is literally a story of diminishing returns: keep overworking, and you’ll progressively work more stupidly on tasks that are increasingly meaningless.You want productivity, better grades, better work
- [A Fitness Testimonial by Joe S](https://goldams.com/a-fitness-testimonial-by-joe-s/) - https://youtu.be/zi4BZXbnIN8
- [Cognitive Integration Is a Survival Skill](https://goldams.com/cognitive-integration-is-a-survival-skill/) - In “What Happens When Predators Disappear” (smithsonian.com, July 18, 2011), Sarah Zielinski writes: [T]he loss, or even reduction in numbers, of predators in an ecosystem can set off something caused a “trophic cascade” in which the change in predator population has effects across the food web and ecosystem. For example, when wolves were eliminated from
- [Lack of Sleep is a Silent Killer](https://goldams.com/lack-of-sleep-is-a-silent-killer/) - In “Sleep Deficit: The Performance Killer” (Harvard Business Review, October 2006) Bronwyn Fryer writes:At 12:30 am on June 10, 2002, Israel Lane Joubert and his family of seven set out for a long drive home following a family reunion in Beaumont, Texas. Joubert, who had hoped to reach home in faraway Fort Worth in time
- [Resolve to Sleep](https://goldams.com/resolve-to-sleep/) - You cannot eat, exercise, medicate, self-medicate, make-believe, get angry, evade, or wish yourself out of insufficient sleep. Just do it.
- [Sleep --> Productivity](https://goldams.com/sleep-productivity/) - In “The Research Is Clear: Long Hours Backfire for People and for Companies” (Harvard Business Review, August 19, 2015), Sarah Green Carmichael writes:Even if you enjoy your job and work long hours voluntarily, you’re simply more likely to make mistakes when you’re tired — and most of us tire more easily than we think we
- [The Hackberry: A Gem of a Tree](https://goldams.com/the-hackberry-a-gem-of-a-tree/) - In “NB 08/05/2016 – Hackberry: A Gem of a Weed,” Robert & Karen Benson wrote:I recently read Lab Girl (2016) by Hope Jahren. She recounts doing research on hackberry seeds. She discovered that she could dissolve away part of the hard seed coat with acid. The dissolvable mineral was calcium carbonate, as is found in
- [Things To  Do and To Avoid, If You Want To Be Productive](https://goldams.com/things-to-do-and-to-avoid-if-you-want-to-be-productive/) - In “4 Habits You Didn't Know Were Holding Back Your Brain Performance” (Dec 20, 2017, 05:49 AM, Forbes.com), Tara Swart writes: Exercise is fantastic for your brain’s health - it helps oxygenate the brain and consequently improves memory, concentration and creativity. However, forcing yourself to do exercise you don’t particularly enjoy or dragging yourself to
- [Tree Climbing Technique](https://goldams.com/tree-climbing-technique/) - Climbing trees is good exercise for mind and body: it works arms, legs, core, joints; and it keeps you aware and mindful of what you are doing. It, like everything else we do -- drive, use cell phones, use knives, use medicine -- is dangerous if done wrong and mindlessly, but has minimal risk if
- [Serving Your Fitness Needs](https://goldams.com/serving-your-fitness-needs/) - https://youtu.be/hbNoSlZmkCI
- [Forces and Climbing](https://goldams.com/forces-and-climbing/) - https://youtu.be/OmNYqdA008U
- [Measuring the Angle of the Sun Above the Horizon](https://goldams.com/measuring-the-angle-of-the-sun-above-the-horizon/) - https://youtu.be/4-b-NpAnYFo
- [Merry Christmas, Ya'll](https://goldams.com/merry-christmas-yall/) - https://youtu.be/raqcvpgs2ts
- [Merry Christmas!](https://goldams.com/merry-christmas-2/)
- [Interesting BBC Show on Sleep](https://goldams.com/interesting-bbc-show-on-sleep/) - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9zVsvZjD5DM
- [Talk on Sleep by Professor Russell Foster of Oxford University](https://goldams.com/talk-on-sleep-by-professor-russell-foster-of-oxford-university/) - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pp6rfOr_LRg
- [Sleep Deprivation is Toxic](https://goldams.com/sleep-deprivation-is-toxic/) - In "Here's Why Sleep Deprivation Is Toxic and Will Eventually Kill You" (USA Today, 12- 22-2017), Jeff Stibel writes: Doctors are in agreement on the precise level of sleep needed — at least seven hours is necessary per night. Not five or six hours because you think you can handle it. That may be OK
- [Defining "Exercise"](https://goldams.com/defining-exercise/) - Exercise is not mere "burning calories" or "building muscle."A good definition and understanding of exercise has to take into account the fact that exercise is practicing moving through a complex, fractal environment safely, efficiently, powerfully, and mindfully in a species-appropriate way.It is using and conditioning the muscles, ligaments, tendons, fascia, bones, hormones, biochemistry, and --
- [Defining "Sleep"](https://goldams.com/defining-sleep/) - Sleep is not a "waste of time."A good definition and understanding of sleep has to take into account the fact that sleep is a biological activity of clearing out waste, strengthening the human animal, consolidating learning, forming memories, building muscle, and achieving optimum health, attitude, and cognitive function.Sleep is a biological activity of adapting to
- [Defining "Food"](https://goldams.com/defining-food/) - Food is not "calories." That definition leads to health problems, cognitive dysfunction, and worse.A good definition and understanding of food has to take into account that food is a connection with our environment. It is a taking in of what we want to become. It is a putting of ourselves in the cycle of life
- [Sleep](https://goldams.com/sleep-2/) - In “This expert has a dire warning about not getting enough sleep” (Market Watch, Nov 29, 2017, 10:42 a.m. ET), Emma Court writes:Sleep expert Matthew Walker is not a fan of the expression "you can sleep when you’re dead."In fact, he calls it "mortally unwise advice."“Sleep is Mother Nature’s best effort yet to counter death,"
- [How Do Birds Get Vitamin D3?](https://goldams.com/how-do-birds-get-vitamin-d3/) - In the book Beaks, Bones, and Bird Songs by Roger Lederer, Lederer says that, when pruning, birds put a chemical on their feathers that becomes Vitamin D.Very little sunlight reaches their skin through their feathers, so they need another mechanism to gain Vitamin D.They put a chemical on their feathers while pruning; the chemical gets
- [Vitamin D and Epigenetics?](https://goldams.com/vitamin-d-and-epigenetics/) - Fascinating. In "Vitamin D Metabolism, Mechanism of Action, and Clinical Applications," Daniel D. Bikle writes:Vitamin D3 is made in the skin from 7-dehydrocholesterol under the influence of UV light. Vitamin D2 (ergocalciferol) is derived from the plant sterol ergosterol....With the finding of the vitamin D receptor (VDR) in nearly every tissue and the more recent
- [The Amazing Vitamin D](https://goldams.com/the-amazing-vitamin-d/) - Interesting. We learn more and more about Vitamin D as we conceptualize the things of and causes in reality. In "Sunlight and Vitamin D," the folks at Uvguide.co.uk write:Calcediol [25-hydroxy-vitamin D3] is then circulated in the bloodstream all around the body. In the kidneys, some is converted to the active hormone calcetriol. This plays a
- [Butterflies, Flight, and Physics](https://goldams.com/butterflies-flight-and-physics/) - In "How Butterflies Fly," J.N. Quinn writes:The wings of butterflies, and indeed, most insects, have a sharp edge. The sudden cut of of a butterfly’s wing pushes air much like a spoon in coffee. In the case of coffee and creamer, swirls appear around a low pressure center; butterflies use the air in the same
- [Basic Physics in Practice](https://goldams.com/basic-physics-in-practice/) - https://youtu.be/OmNYqdA008U
- [Good Work](https://goldams.com/good-work/) - One of Joe's students, Zac, earned a 95 on his recent Algebra quiz. Congrats!One of Michael's students, Josh, earned an 80 on his recent Precal test -- a grade Josh is pleased with and a grade higher than he had been making before starting tutoring. We did only one tutoring session before this test.
- [Wilderness First Aid](https://goldams.com/wilderness-first-aid/) - One of our teachers, Michael, passed the Wilderness First Aid class he took this past weekend!The Wilderness First Aid course that he took this past weekend is a good introductory course: you learn how to treat broken bones, broken spine, head injuries, hypothermia, altitude illness, wounds, bleeding, burns, lightning strikes, insect/spider/snake bites, stroke, shock, heart
- [Good Exercise For Good Cognition](https://goldams.com/good-exercise-for-good-cognition/) - Exercise and good movement practices are important.Because complex movement --> complex neurological and brain function --> complex thought --> better function in school, at work, in life.We know from experience and we understand the theory. So we do it.
- [We Can](https://goldams.com/we-can/) - If you want you yourself or your child to really learn to know why things are true and how to make use of ideas, give us a call!It will make you or your child’s life better forever.
- [Good Quiz!](https://goldams.com/good-quiz/) - Karina helped a student do well on a chemistry quiz. Awesome.Karina helped the student get resonance diagrams, how electrons move in that context, and why the diagrams matter. She took the student from confusion to clarity.Congrats!
- [An A on a Test!](https://goldams.com/an-a-on-a-test/) - Recently, Joe helped a student, Lauren, earn a 91 on her recent math test!It covered percentages, discount, markup, and simple Interest — none of which the student understood.Using our unique methodology, Joe taught Lauren to understand through simple, step-by-step, effective techniques and examples.Using our unique methodology, Joe taught Lauren not merely the material for the
- [Success Rocks](https://goldams.com/success-rocks/) - Yesterday, while tutoring a student, Michael got to see, again, how the student can do better on the ACT and SAT reading, after having spent months saying he hated the reading and not being able to do well on that section. (They did not work on reading till more recently.)We love seeing that confidence and
- [Awesome Grade!](https://goldams.com/awesome-grade/) - Olivia made a 106 on her geometry test!!She would have gotten a 108, but she forgot to put a negative sign on her answer when she wrote it in the answer box.Michael has been working with Olivia on geometry, making sure she gets it and can do a wide variety of exercises. She's been working
- [Awesome Testimonial](https://goldams.com/awesome-testimonial-2/) - "We have been clients of Michael Gold's for almost 10 years and he was initially recommended by the math department head at a top independent school here in Houston. Both of my sons (seniors in college and high school) have benefited greatly from Michael's commitment to assisting students with math and science. Their confidence and
- [Sleep](https://goldams.com/sleep/) - Some people think they are awesome because they get 5 hours a sleep a night (or so they say).However, sleep deprivation is a form of torture.
- [After Hurricane Harvey](https://goldams.com/after-hurricane-harvey/) - Be prepared (but not paranoid): "The Health Dangers from Hurricane Harvey's Floods and Housto's Chemical Plants." (Ben Guarino, Washington Times, September 1, 2017.)You might benefit from reading "Infectious Diseases Could Sweep Across Texas as Harvey Floods Houston" (Jessica Firger, Newsweek, August 28, 2017) and "The Looming Consequences of Breathing Mold" (James Hamblin, The Atlantic, August 30,
- [Needed Food Right Now After Hurricane Harvey](https://goldams.com/needed-food-right-now-after-hurricane-harvey/) - We have some natural, readily available foods and drinks in Houston and S. Texas -- though you have to know how to find them.But please obey the law!! And respect other people's property! And the food wildlife needs to survive! We have grocery stores; wildlife does not. Please read "Merriwether" 's Foraging Ethics.One edible wild
- [Hurricane Harvey Lost Dogs and Cats](https://goldams.com/hurricane-harvey-lost-dogs-and-cats/) - Finding Rover is an app that connects lost dog or cat to their owner and friend. We need it now in Texas!!They are also on Facebook.
- [Reasoning Well and Not Making a Fool of Yourself: A Reason To Study Geometry](https://goldams.com/reasoning-well-and-not-making-a-fool-of-yourself-a-reason-to-study-geometry/) - Abe Lincoln spent time in his 40s studying geometry. He studied and memorized Euclid's Elements to make himself a better reasoner to make himself a better lawyer to be able to support his family. Did he get a new career? No. Did he take a second job? No. Did he study law more? No. The
- [Blogs For Paleo Parents](https://goldams.com/blogs-for-paleo-parents/) - In the post "Get Busy Living or Get Busy Dying" on her blog Feasting on Fitness, Kristy A provides a list of blogs by parents who follow the paleo diet and lifestyle. Learn and enjoy! She says: For many overweight kids and adults, junk food and sweets aren't the only cause: it's starch. One reason
- [A Krauss Christmas](https://goldams.com/a-krauss-christmas/) - "Shimmy Down the Chimney (Fill Up My Stocking)" by the gorgeous voice of the beautiful Alison Krauss. Merry Christmas and Happy Winter Solstice!! Image from North-Pole-Christmas.com.
- [Marva Collins](https://goldams.com/marva-collins/) - In "Marva Collins’ Way" (Scott Holleran Blog, 5 September 2009), Scott Holleran writes: Chicago businesswoman Marva Collins brought logic to learning when she rocked the Windy City years ago with her radically rational approach to education, as Susan Crawford, RN, recently reminded readers on her Rational Parenting List (RPL). Like the basketball coach in one
- [The Fastest Muscles Alive](https://goldams.com/the-fastest-muscles-alive/) - In "The Evolution Of Super-Fast Muscles" (Scientific Blogging, July 8, 2008, 12:00 AM), they write: [Coen] Elemans, the study's first author, now is a postdoctoral researcher in biology at the University of Southern Denmark. He conducted the study with Franz Goller, a University of Utah associate professor of biology; and two University of Pennsylvania scientists:
- [More on the Death -- the Murder -- of Science Education](https://goldams.com/more-on-the-death-the-murder-of-science-education/) - In "Science Workshop: Building a Lifelong Love of a “Boring” Subject" (Core Knowledge Blog, August 30, 2009), Robert Pondiscio quotes a newspaper article: The Future of Science: ‘Science Workshop’ Approach Lets Students Learn What They Want The New York Times By Motoko Rich August 30, 2009 JONESBORO, Ga. — For years Lorrie McNeill loved teaching chemistry.
- [Anecdote on the Death of Writing...and Thinking](https://goldams.com/anecdote-on-the-death-of-writingand-thinking/) - In "What Should Colleges Teach?" (New York Times by way of EducationNews.org, August 25, 2009), Stanley Fish writes: A few years ago, when I was grading papers for a graduate literature course, I became alarmed at the inability of my students to write a clean English sentence. They could manage for about six words and
- [More Elton](https://goldams.com/more-elton-2/) - Doing "Philadelphia Freedom." (Live.)
- [Don't Do the "Math Dance"!!!](https://goldams.com/dont-do-the-math-dance/) - In "Do The Math Dance: Mathematicians And Choreographers Use Dance To Teach Mathematics" we learn how not to teach math, we learn how one might use "experience" in education so you cannot learn anything conceptual from it: May 1, 2008 — Combining math and dance concepts allows people to experience a physical sensation of the
- [Christmas in July](https://goldams.com/christmas-in-july/) - Elton John performing "Step Into Christmas." (From 1974.) Love that song...
- [Our Educational System is Broken: An Anecdote](https://goldams.com/our-educational-system-is-broken-an-anecdote/) - In "Arne Duncan, Among the Scientists" (Curriculum Matters Blog on Education Week; August 25, 2009 12:21 PM) Sean Cavanagh writes: [Secretary of Education Arne Duncan] also stressed the potential for the money to help states and schools recruit new teachers in math and science. Today, too many students are taught by educators who don't know
- [More Queen](https://goldams.com/more-queen/) - Doing "You're My Best Friend." (Music video from back when the song came out.)
- [Happy Father's Day!](https://goldams.com/happy-fathers-day/) - The History Channel says: The first known celebration of Father's Day was on July 5, 1908 in Fairmont, West Virginia, where it was commemorated at William Memorial Methodist Episcopal Church South – now known as Central United Methodist Church. Grace Golden Clayton is believed to have suggested it to her pastor after a deadly explosion
- [Upcoming "Meet Mr. Powell" Conference Call](https://goldams.com/upcoming-meet-mr-powell-conference-call/) - In an email to his mailing list, Mr. Scott Powell said: Greetings! Do you have questions about the HistoryAtOurHouse program or the new History Through Art for Adults program? Are you joining the program this year, and you'd like to see how easy the conference calls are? Are you thinking of joining the program this
- [Happy Birthday To...](https://goldams.com/happy-birthday-to/) - Johannes Brahms (1833) and Pyotr Il'yich Tchaikovsky (1840)!!!!! At Classical Archives (looks like a great site!! check it out!!!), they say of Brahms: The stature of Johannes Brahms among classical composers is well illustrated by his inclusion among the "Three Bs" triumvirate of Bach, Beethoven, and Brahms. Of all the major composers of the late
- [Some Queen](https://goldams.com/some-queen/) - Doing the melodic and nicely-constructed "Bohemian Rhapsody." That video, judging from the clothes and the "special effects," has to be from the 70s or 80s.
- [May 2nd Dance For Homeschoolers](https://goldams.com/may-2nd-dance-for-homeschoolers/) - From an email on TAFFIE-Announce: Get ready for "A NIGHT TO REMEMBER!" Triumph Homeschool Community is excited to announce the 2009 Spring Formal Banquet and Dance open to all members of the homeschool community aged 13 and above. This is a perfect date night for young parents, a great evening out for grandparents, an ideal
- [Swing Dancing: Back to Basics](https://goldams.com/swing-dancing-back-to-basics/) - Some people have been passing around via email a video of a young couple dancing swing. It's good...but how about taking things up a notch? Or two or three... We'll start off with a fun, fast dance scene (or see here for the "before"...and some awesome jazz!) of Lindy Hop from the movie "Hellzapoppin' "
- [Lorenzo's Oil](https://goldams.com/lorenzos-oil/) - The Myelin Project says: Lorenzo's Oil is a combination of a 4:1 mix of erucic acid and oleic acid, extracted from rapeseed oil and olive oil, respectively. I didn't know Lorenzo's Oil had olive oil and rapseed oil in it. Interesting. This fact is stated in the movie, but I did not pay any attention
- [Happy Birthday, Vivaldi!](https://goldams.com/happy-birthday-vivaldi/) - On NHU's Website, Mike Kirwin says: Antonio Vivaldi was born on March 4, 1678 in Venice. He composed baroque music. His father taught him how to play the violin at a young age. In 1693 he began studying to become a priest and in 1703 he became one. Later in 1703 he became the master
- [Happy (Belated) Birthday, Copernicus!!](https://goldams.com/happy-belated-birthday-copernicus/) - Copernicus' birthday was February 19th. He was born in 1473. Picture from Wikimedia Commons. Mr. Eric W. Weisstein, on his Eric Weisstein's World of Science, says of Copernicus: Polish astronomer and mathematician who, as a student, studied canon law, mathematics, and medicine at Cracow, Bologna, Rome, Padua, and Ferrara. Copernicus became interested in astronomy and
- [Today's EF Breakfast](https://goldams.com/todays-ef-breakfast/) - Ate a late breakfast at 10: 30 AM. Organic strawberries, blueberries and kiwi (aka star fruit update(11:38 AM): Not! I've just been informed by a reader, Helene, that star fruit is different). Hazelnuts, pecans, almonds. The white thing between the nuts and kiwi is a piece of Brie. Yum...with coffee...
- [Phonics Study](https://goldams.com/phonics-study/) - In "Lasting effects of phonics instruction" on the Teaching Effectively! blog, JohnL quotes what appears to be the abstract of a study: Thompson, G. B., Connelly, Vincent, Fletcher-Flinn, C. M. & Hodson, S. J. (2009). The nature of skilled adult reading varies with type of instruction in childhood. Memory & Cognition, 37, 223-234. Does the
- ["George Washington" by Gilbert Stuart (1783-1872)](https://goldams.com/george-washington-by-gilbert-stuart-1783-1872/) - Picture from the Art Renewal Center. Happy (belated) Birthday, Mr. Washington!! You can search through the papers of George Washington at the University of Virginia's The Papers of George Washington Digital Edition. There is a link to the Papers also at Mount Vernon Estate's A Brief Overview of George Washington's Life. There is a short
- [On Independent Thought](https://goldams.com/on-independent-thought/) - In "A Measure of Privacy," Diana Senechal writes at the Core Knowledge Blog: Can schools teach privacy or even honor it? For the most part, a school is not a private place, nor can it be. Students regularly submit their work to their teachers. Administrators visit classrooms and observe lessons in progress. Visitors come to
- [Happy Birthday, Mr. Lincoln!](https://goldams.com/happy-birthday-mr-lincoln/) - Frederick Douglas admired Mr. Abraham Lincoln. Mr. Lincoln studied Euclid's Elements until he had it memorized. He did so on purpose to make himself a better reasoner; it showed in his great political speeches and debates, in his writing, and in his understanding of individual rights as "axiomatic." On the Website of our White House,
- [98.6 Degrees of Nonsense](https://goldams.com/986-degrees-of-nonsense/) - A few days last week, my temperature was 98 or 99 degrees F in the morning -- no wonder: I had the flu; my temperature in the evening was 102.5 or 101. On a few days since getting better, my temperature has been 96 or 97 upon getting up in the morning, or within half
- [The Little Golden Books](https://goldams.com/the-little-golden-books/) - A post on the Core Knowledge blog, "Where Have You Gone, Poky Little Puppy?," reminded me of this series of childrens' books -- i.e., of the Little Golden Books. I read some of the books as a child, but I don't recall which ones. I'll have to ask family. Do you remember any of the
- [Happy Birthday, Thomas Paine](https://goldams.com/happy-birthday-thomas-paine/) - We know Paine as the writer of Common Sense. (Or we should.) But there is more. "While Paine was pre-eminently a publicist -- and in this he was unexcelled -- he also possessed a truly Jeffersonian versatility. His political writings overflowed political science, into economics, theology, and natural history. He showed talent as engineer and
- [The Darwin Festival (SM) 2009](https://goldams.com/the-darwin-festival-sm-2009/) - For those who are interested in biology, science, the philosophy of science, or the history of ideas: Salem State College's Department of Biology is going to have a Darwin Festival (SM) from February 9th to 13th to celebrate the 200th anniversary of Darwin's birthday: February 12th, 1809. Go to their site to see their schedule
- [Pedagogical Regifting](https://goldams.com/pedagogical-regifting/) - We have a case of the same old thing in a shiny new package. Caveat: I love modern technology. I love what it does for us and what it allows us to do; I value it; I appreciate the people who created it; I appreciate the freedom and reasoning behind it. I use technology in
- [Scott Powell's "History At Our House" Program](https://goldams.com/scott-powells-history-at-our-house-program/) - A good history curriculum for homeschoolers or parents wanting to add to their child's public or private education (watch the video showing what the student Theo learned!) is Scott Powell's History At Our House program. Mr. Powell says: This program, the first of its kind anywhere, is the only history curriculum in the world that
- [Unprepared For College; Untrained In Reasoning](https://goldams.com/unprepared-for-college-untrained-in-reasoning/) - In "Many Dallas-Fort Worth graduates struggle in college" (The Dallas Morning News, 08:36 AM CDT, Sunday, August 9, 2009), Holly K. Hacker writes: They passed their TAKS exit exams and collected their high school diplomas – yet a troubling number of Texas students struggle their first year in college. At some North Texas high schools,
- ["A Pupil Learning His Lesson" by Jean-Baptiste Greuze (1725-1805)](https://goldams.com/a-pupil-learning-his-lesson-by-jean-baptiste-greuze-1725-1805/) - Hat tip for painting to Scott Powell at History At Our House.

## Pages

- [Gold Academy: Excellence in Education](https://goldams.com/) - Hello! Welcome! For private tutoring, education consulting, corporate training -- you are in the right place. Having a degree in Mathematics, a degree in Philosophy, Teacher’s Credentials, a MovNat Level 2 Fitness Trainer Certification -- and decades of experience teaching, tutoring, training, thinking, learning, and improving -- I am here to help you achieve. To start
- [Logic](https://goldams.com/thinking-skills/) - Logic & Critical ThinkingDeep. Practical. Effective. Valuable. Whether your needs are corporate, group, or personal, I can help you or your team think better and be more logical to communicate better, make better quality and more-informed decisions, and be more productive, efficient, and effective. For tailored personal or group training in logic or critical thinking,contact
- [Summer Classes & Tutoring](https://goldams.com/services/summer-classes-tutoring/) - Interested in reviewing math or getting ahead during the summer?In preparing for the SAT or ACT?In improving your thinking skills and learning logic?In really digging into science? Take some summer courses! Currently, I am teaching summer classes via the live, online learning platform Outschool. Please visit my page there to see course offerings. For more
- [About](https://goldams.com/about/) - I am passionate about education and about empowering students and professionals with the content knowledge, logic, and critical thinking skills they need to excel. I have 20+ years experience as a teacher, tutor, trainer, and mentor. Michael Gold received his B.S. in Mathematics and B.A. in Philosophy (and the equivalent of a minor in Physics)
- [Testimonials](https://goldams.com/about/testimonials/) - "More just math, I learned to reason and use logic to solve things in everyday life, and to find root causes and to find and fix problem at work. You teach people how to THINK!"--Dylan T, ex-high school student Click on the links to read more testimonials. Logic & Thinking Skills Academics & Education Academic
- [Academics](https://goldams.com/services/) - We offer individual and group rates for academics & education. Payments can be made via PayPal, Venmo, Zelle, cash, or check. Sessions can be held via such services as Zoom, Wyzant, or Outschool.Sessions can be 1-on-1 sessions or your own private group classes. We offer tutoring in: Mathematics Science Logic and Thinking Skills Sentence Diagramming Philosophy Test Prep:
- [Contact Form](https://goldams.com/about/contact-michael-gold/) - To find out more about my services or to ask a general question, please use the form below. You may also call me at 281-770-2276 or email at michaelgold@goldams.com.
- [Social Media](https://goldams.com/about/social-media/) - LinkenIn YouTube Gold Academy Odysee Gold Academy YouTube Total Human Fitness Odysee Total Human Fitness Instagram Critical Thinking Instagram Education X/Twitter iNaturalist Facebook Gold Academy Facebook Total Human Fitness Facebook CCERP (Ecology and Nature)
- [Podcasts: Nature/Ecology and Education](https://goldams.com/about/podcasts-nature-ecology-and-education/) - Both podcasts are available on many, many podcast apps, as well as free on Audible, Amazon, YouTube. The ReasonRx Podcast is full of guests and discussions about all things education for everyone all through life: teaching, learning, physics, chemistry, language, literature, fitness, coaching, philosophy, logic, epistemology, the philosophy of education, education, pedagogy, culture, nutrition, sleep,
- [Pricing](https://goldams.com/pricing-for-all-services/) - For individual, group, or corporate rates -- to start on your path to optimal thought and optimal movement mastery in math, science, fitness, logic or thinking skills -- contact Michael Gold at at 281-770-2276 or at MichaelGold@GoldAMS.com. Individual and group rates for academics & education, fitness training, and logic & thinking skills are found on
- [Standardized Test Prep](https://goldams.com/services/standardized-test-preparation-tutoring-and-classes/) - Gold Academy can help prepare you or your child do well and be confident on standardized tests. Our test-prep program helps individuals understand the structure of a test, manage time effectively, know what the test-makers are thinking, master test content, master test-taking strategies and techniques, and learn how to maximize their strengths and shore up
- [Science](https://goldams.com/services/science-tutoring-and-classes/) - Science tutoring is available for IPC, physics, chemistry, and biology, for all students from children through adults. We use the books and materials followed by your teacher and school. Some science courses I offer are described below. Contact Michael today: by email at MichaelGold@GoldAMS.com or by phone at 281-770-2276. “My daughter truly enjoyed the class
- [Mathematics](https://goldams.com/services/math-tutoring-and-classes/) - Math tutoring and math classes are available for elementary arithmetic through college calculus and statistics, for all students from children through adults. We can use the books and materials followed by your teacher and school, or use ones I select and recommend. Contact Michael today: by email at MichaelGold@GoldAMS.com or by phone at 281-770-2276. “Never
- [The Logical Hierarchy of Our (Conceptual) Knowledge](https://goldams.com/thinking-skills/short-classes/the-logical-hierarchy-of-our-knowledge/) - Schedule: This is a 1-hour class. Format: Lecture with some class participation. No grading; homework is optional. Cost: $20 per person for a group class of 4 or more students; $80 for one-on-one tutoring. Payment options: Payments can be made via PayPal, Venmo, Zelle, cash, or check. Materials: Pencil and paper. For more details or
- [Pricing for One-on-One Sessions and Private Groups](https://goldams.com/pricing-for-all-services/pricing-for-in-person-and-for-online-tutoring-classes/) - Payments can be made via PayPal, Venmo, Zelle, cash, or check. Individual Tutoring For 1 student: $80 per hour. For prepaid blocks of 5, 10, 15, or 20 hours of tutoring: A prepaid block of five (5) hours is $387. A prepaid block of ten (10) hours is $750. A prepaid block of fifteen (15)
- [Thinking Skills Camp: Logic Essentials](https://goldams.com/services/summer-classes-tutoring/summer-thinking-skills-camp-logic-essentials/) - Schedule: We will meet for two weeks, five days a week, 1.5 hours per day. (15 hours total.) Format: An intro to fundamentals of logic, with lots of lecture to cover concepts, and as much class interaction and individual practice during class that we can get. We will learn concepts and practice them to attain
- [Sentence Diagramming Grammar Camp, Session 2](https://goldams.com/services/summer-classes-tutoring/sentence-diagramming-grammar-camp-session-2/) - Schedule: We will meet for two weeks, five days a week, 1 hour per day. (10 hours total.) Contact us for other scheduling options. Format: A course in basic grammar, with lecture to cover concepts, and lots of class interaction and individual practice. We will learn concepts and practice them to attain mastery. No grading;
- [Sentence Diagramming Grammar Camp, Session 1](https://goldams.com/services/summer-classes-tutoring/sentence-diagramming-grammar-camp-session-1/) - Schedule: We will meet for two weeks, five days a week, 1 hour per day. (10 hours total.) Contact us for other scheduling options. Format: A course in basic grammar, with lecture to cover concepts, and lots of class interaction and individual practice. We will learn concepts and practice them to attain mastery. No grading;
- [Precal Review/Preview, Session 2](https://goldams.com/services/summer-classes-tutoring/precal-review-preview-session-2/) - Schedule: We will meet for two weeks, five days a week, 1.5 hours per day. (15 hours total.) Format: An intro course to prep for a semester of precal, with lecture to cover concepts, and lots of class interaction and individual practice. We will learn concepts and practice them to attain the mastery we can
- [Precal Review/Preview, Session 1](https://goldams.com/services/summer-classes-tutoring/precal-review-preview-session-1/) - Schedule: We will meet for two weeks, five days a week, 1.5 hours per day. (15 hours total.) Format: An intro course to prep for a semester of precal, with lecture to cover concepts, and lots of class interaction and individual practice. We will learn concepts and practice them to attain the mastery we can
- [Geometry Preview/Review, Session 2](https://goldams.com/services/summer-classes-tutoring/summer-geometry-preview-review-session-2/) - Schedule: We will meet for two weeks, five days a week, 1.5 hours per day. (15 hours total.) Format: An intro course to prep for a semester of geometry, with lecture to cover concepts, and lots of class interaction and individual practice. We will learn concepts and practice them to attain the mastery we can
- [Geometry Preview/Review, Session 1](https://goldams.com/services/summer-classes-tutoring/summer-geometry-preview-review-session-1/) - Schedule: We will meet for two weeks, five days a week, 1.5 hours per day. (15 hours total.) Format: An intro course to prep for a semester of geometry, with lecture to cover concepts, and lots of class interaction and individual practice. We will learn concepts and practice them to attain the mastery we can
- [Calculus Review/Preview, Session 2](https://goldams.com/services/summer-classes-tutoring/summer-calculus-review-preview-session-2/) - Schedule: We will meet for two weeks, five days a week, 1.5 hours per day. (15 hours total.) Format: An intro course to prep for a semester of calculus, with lecture to cover concepts, and lots of class interaction and individual practice. We will learn concepts and practice them to attain the mastery we can
- [Calculus Review/Preview, Session 1](https://goldams.com/services/summer-classes-tutoring/summer-calculus-review-preview-session-1/) - Schedule: We will meet for two weeks, five days a week, 1.5 hours per day. (15 hours total.) Format: An intro course to prep for a semester of calculus, with lecture to cover concepts, and lots of class interaction and individual practice. We will learn concepts and practice them to attain the mastery we can
- [Algebra 2 Review/Preview, Session 2](https://goldams.com/services/summer-classes-tutoring/summer-algebra-2-review-preview-session-2/) - Schedule: We will meet for two weeks, five days a week, 1.5 hours per day. (15 hours total.) Format: An intro course to prep for a semester of algebra 2, with lecture to cover concepts, and lots of class interaction and individual practice. We will learn concepts and practice them to attain the mastery we
- [Algebra 2 Review/Preview, Session 1](https://goldams.com/services/summer-classes-tutoring/summer-algebra-2-review-preview-session-1/) - Schedule: We will meet for two weeks, five days a week, 1.5 hours per day. (15 hours total.) Format: An intro course to prep for a semester of algebra 2, with lecture to cover concepts, and lots of class interaction and individual practice. We will learn concepts and practice them to attain the mastery we
- [Mastering SAT/ACT Math! A Crash Course](https://goldams.com/services/standardized-test-preparation-tutoring-and-classes/mastering-sat-act-math-a-crash-course/) - Schedule: This is a 2-week course that meets five times per week, 1.5 hours each session. (15 hours total.) Format: Lecture to cover concepts, with lots of class interaction and individual practice during class. No grading; homework is optional but recommended. Cost: $300 per person for a group class of 4 or more students; $930
- [SAT Test Prep](https://goldams.com/services/standardized-test-preparation-tutoring-and-classes/sat-test-prep/) - “With Mr. Gold’s help I managed to get a golden SAT score!!! My SAT score increased from a 1630 to a 1970!” —Tia Z, high school student (when the test was out of 2400; the 1970 got her into Rice!) Schedule: This is a 6-week course that meets twice per week, 1.5 hours each session.
- [ACT Test Prep](https://goldams.com/services/standardized-test-preparation-tutoring-and-classes/act-test-prep/) - "I wanted to thank you again for the ACT prep class. I got a 30 on the ACT on my first try. Your classes really prepared me — there’s no way I could have gotten that without your help. So THANK YOU!” —Jessica P, homeschool high school student Schedule: This is a 6-week course that
- [The Science of Heliocentrism: How We Know](https://goldams.com/services/science-tutoring-and-classes/the-science-of-heliocentrism-how-we-know/) - Schedule: This is an 8-week course that meets three times per week, one hour each session. Format: Lecture to cover concepts, with as much class interaction and individual practice during class that we can get. No grading; homework is optional but recommended. (We can have some grading upon request.) Text optional. Cost: $499 per person
- [Inquiring-mind Science: How Franklin Discovered Lightning Was Electricity](https://goldams.com/services/science-tutoring-and-classes/science-short-courses/inquiring-mind-science-how-franklin-discovered-lightning-was-electricity/) - Schedule: This is a 1-hour class. Format: Lecture with some class participation. We will learn concepts and practice them to attain the mastery we can in a short time. No grading; homework is optional. Cost: $20 per person for a group class of 4 or more students; $70 for one-on-one tutoring. Payment options: Payments can
- [Inquiring-mind Science: How Far is the Sun? How Far are the Planets?](https://goldams.com/services/science-tutoring-and-classes/science-short-courses/inquiring-mind-science-how-far-is-the-sun-how-far-are-the-planets/) - “Excellent class.” –Margaret S., parent, about the Outschool class “Inquiring-mind Science: How Far Is the Sun? How Far Are the Planets?,” 17 Apr 2020 Schedule: This is a 1-week course that meets three times, one hour each session. (Three total hours.) Format: Lecture with some class participation. We will learn concepts and practice them to
- [Inquiring-mind Science: How Far Is the Moon?](https://goldams.com/services/science-tutoring-and-classes/science-short-courses/inquiring-mind-science-how-far-is-the-moon/) - “My son (13yo) loved this class, he loved learning math he had not learned before, the instructions were very clear and he enjoyed them a lot. He loved learning the historical context and is already looking for other classes with this teacher. He really enjoyed the class! Thank you!”–Judith V., parent, about the Outschool place
- [Inquiring-mind Science: How Did Kepler Discover Elliptical Orbits?](https://goldams.com/services/science-tutoring-and-classes/science-short-courses/inquiring-mind-science-how-did-kepler-discover-elliptical-orbits/) - “My daughter truly enjoyed the class and has motivated her further study in science. She also appreciated Mr. Gold’s passion and excitement for science!” –Chigusa, parent, about the Outschool class “Logic Corner: What Is Science?,” 12 Feb 2020 Schedule: This is a 1-week course that meets twice, one hour each session. (Two total hours.) Format:
- [Inquiring-mind Science: How did James Joule Help Prove Heat Was a Form of Motion?](https://goldams.com/services/science-tutoring-and-classes/science-short-courses/inquiring-mind-science-how-james-joule-helped-prove-heat-was-a-form-of-motion/) - Schedule: This is a 1-hour class. Format: Lecture with some class participation. We will learn concepts and practice them to attain the mastery we can in a short time. No grading; homework is optional. Cost: $20 per person for a group class of 4 or more students; $70 for one-on-one tutoring. Payment options: Payments can be
- [Inquiring-mind Science: How Big is the Earth?](https://goldams.com/services/science-tutoring-and-classes/science-short-courses/inquiring-mind-science-how-big-is-the-earth/) - “My son (13yo) loved this class, he loved learning math he had not learned before, the instructions were very clear and he enjoyed them a lot. He loved learning the historical context and is already looking for other classes with this teacher. He really enjoyed the class! Thank you!”–Judith V., parent, about the Outschool class
- [Ecology (Chp 3 by John Tester): Principles of Ecology](https://goldams.com/services/science-tutoring-and-classes/science-short-courses/ecology-chp-3-by-john-tester-principles-of-ecology/) - Start to understand the ecology of the world around you -- and to understand science -- by studying what ecology is. Schedule: This is a 6-class course that meets six times, one hour each session. We could do this three days per week for two weeks, or two days per week for three weeks. Format:
- [Ecology (Chp 2 by John Tester): Climate & Weather](https://goldams.com/services/science-tutoring-and-classes/science-short-courses/ecology-chp-2-by-john-tester-climate-weather/) - Start to understand the ecology of the world around you -- and to understand science -- by studying climate and weather! Schedule: This is a 4-class course that meets four times, one hour each session. We could do this four days in one week, or two days per week for two weeks. Format: Lecture with
- [Ecology (Chp 1 by John Tester): Landscape and Geologic History](https://goldams.com/services/science-tutoring-and-classes/science-short-courses/ecology-chp-1-by-john-tester-landscape-and-geologic-history/) - Start to understand the ecology of the world around you -- and to understand science -- by studying how geologic history creates the present landscape! Schedule: This is a 3-class course that meets three times, one hour each session. We could do this three days in one week, or one day per week over three
- [Sine, Cosine, and Tangent Basics](https://goldams.com/services/math-tutoring-and-classes/short-courses/math-lab-sine-cosine-and-tangent-basics/) - Schedule: This is a 1-hour class. Format: Lecture with some class participation. We will learn concepts and practice them to attain the mastery we can in a short time. No grading; homework is optional. Cost: $20 per person for a group class of 4 or more students; $70 for one-on-one tutoring. Payment options: Payments can
- [Proving the Pythagorean Theorem](https://goldams.com/services/math-tutoring-and-classes/short-courses/math-lab-proving-the-pythagorean-theorem/) - Schedule: This is a 1-hour class. Format: Lecture with some class participation. We will learn concepts and practice them to attain the mastery we can in a short time. No grading; homework is optional. Cost: $20 per person for a group class of 4 or more students; $70 for one-on-one tutoring. Payment options: Payments can
- [Deriving the Basic Volume Formulas](https://goldams.com/services/math-tutoring-and-classes/short-courses/math-lab-deriving-the-basic-volume-formulas/) - Schedule: This is a 1-hour class. Format: Lecture with some class participation. We will learn concepts and practice them to attain the mastery we can in a short time. No grading; homework is optional. Cost: $20 per person for a group class of 4 or more students; $70 for one-on-one tutoring. Payment options: Payments can
- [Deriving the Basic Area Formulas](https://goldams.com/services/math-tutoring-and-classes/short-courses/math-lab-deriving-the-basic-area-formulas/) - Schedule: This is a 1-hour class. Format: Lecture with some class participation. We will learn concepts and practice them to attain the mastery we can in a short time. No grading; homework is optional. Cost: $20 per person for a group class of 4 or more students; $70 for one-on-one tutoring. Payment options: Payments can
- [Calculating Pi](https://goldams.com/services/math-tutoring-and-classes/short-courses/math-lab-calculating-pi/) - Schedule: This is a 1-hour class. Format: Lecture with some class participation. We will learn concepts and practice them to attain the mastery we can in a short time. No grading; homework is optional. Cost: $20 per person for a group class of 4 or more students; $70 for one-on-one tutoring. Payment options: Payments can
- [Sentence Diagramming Grammar Course, Session 2](https://goldams.com/services/language-and-literature/sentence-diagramming-grammar-course-session-2/) - Schedule: This is a 6-week course that meets twice per week, one hour each session. Contact us for other scheduling options. Format: Lecture to cover concepts, with as much class interaction and individual practice during class that we can get. No grading; homework is optional but recommended. Cost: $199 per person for a group class
- [Sentence Diagramming Grammar Course, Session 1](https://goldams.com/services/language-and-literature/sentence-diagramming-grammar-course-session-1/) - Schedule: This is a 5-week course that meets twice per week, one hour each session. Contact us for other scheduling options. Format: Lecture to cover concepts, with as much class interaction and individual practice during class that we can get. No grading; homework is optional but recommended. Cost: $175 per person for a group class
- [Sentence Diagramming: Lesson 6](https://goldams.com/services/language-and-literature/language-and-literature-short-courses/sentence-diagramming-lesson-6/) - Schedule: This is a 1-hour class. Format: Lecture with some class participation. No grading; homework is optional. Cost: $20 per person for a group class of 4 or more students; $70 for one-on-one tutoring. Payment options: Payments can be made via PayPal, Venmo, Zelle, cash, or check. Materials: Pencil and paper. For more details or
- [Sentence Diagramming: Lesson 5](https://goldams.com/services/language-and-literature/language-and-literature-short-courses/sentence-diagramming-lesson-5/) - Schedule: This is a 1-hour class. Format: Lecture with some class participation. No grading; homework is optional. Cost: $20 per person for a group class of 4 or more students; $70 for one-on-one tutoring. Payment options: Payments can be made via PayPal, Venmo, Zelle, cash, or check. Materials: Pencil and paper. For more details or
- [Sentence Diagramming: Lesson 4](https://goldams.com/services/language-and-literature/language-and-literature-short-courses/sentence-diagramming-lesson-4/) - Schedule: This is a 1-hour class. Format: Lecture with some class participation. No grading; homework is optional. Cost: $20 per person for a group class of 4 or more students; $70 for one-on-one tutoring. Payment options: Payments can be made via PayPal, Venmo, Zelle, cash, or check. Materials: Pencil and paper. For more details or
- [Sentence Diagramming: Lesson 3](https://goldams.com/services/language-and-literature/language-and-literature-short-courses/sentence-diagramming-lesson-3/) - Schedule: This is a 1-hour class. Format: Lecture with some class participation. No grading; homework is optional. Cost: $20 per person for a group class of 4 or more students; $70 for one-on-one tutoring. Payment options: Payments can be made via PayPal, Venmo, Zelle, cash, or check. Materials: Pencil and paper. For more details or
- [Sentence Diagramming: Lesson 1.5, Prepositional Phrases](https://goldams.com/services/language-and-literature/language-and-literature-short-courses/sentence-diagramming-lesson-1-5-prepositional-phrases/) - Schedule: This is a 1-hour class. Format: Lecture with some class participation. No grading; homework is optional. Cost: $20 per person for a group class of 4 or more students; $70 for one-on-one tutoring. Payment options: Payments can be made via PayPal, Venmo, Zelle, cash, or check. Materials: Pencil and paper. For more details or
- [Sentence Diagramming: Lesson 2](https://goldams.com/services/language-and-literature/language-and-literature-short-courses/sentence-diagramming-lesson-2/) - Schedule: This is a 1-hour class. Format: Lecture with some class participation. No grading; homework is optional. Cost: $20 per person for a group class of 4 or more students; $70 for one-on-one tutoring. Payment options: Payments can be made via PayPal, Venmo, Zelle, cash, or check. Materials: Pencil and paper. For more details or
- [Sentence Diagramming: Lesson 1](https://goldams.com/services/language-and-literature/language-and-literature-short-courses/sentence-diagramming-lesson-1/) - Schedule: This is a 1-hour class. Format: Lecture with some class participation. No grading; homework is optional. Cost: $20 per person for a group class of 4 or more students; $70 for one-on-one tutoring. Payment options: Payments can be made via PayPal, Venmo, Zelle, cash, or check. Materials: Pencil and paper. For more details or
- [A Primer On the Parts of Speech](https://goldams.com/services/language-and-literature/language-and-literature-short-courses/a-primer-on-the-parts-of-speech/) - Schedule: This is a 1.5-hour class. Format: Lecture with some class participation. No grading; homework is optional. Cost: $20 per person for a group class of 4 or more students; $80 for one-on-one tutoring. Payment options: Payments can be made via PayPal, Venmo, Zelle, cash, or check. Materials: Pencil and paper. For more details or
- [Pricing for Summer Classes](https://goldams.com/pricing-for-all-services/pricing-for-summer-classes/) - Summer classes vary in price depending on the number of sessions and duration of each session. Payments can be made via PayPal, Venmo, Zelle, cash, or check. Classes meeting daily for one hour for four weeks (20 hours) will be $300 per person. PayPal link.
- [My Teaching Philosophy](https://goldams.com/about/my-teaching-philosophy/) - Education must also train one for quick, resolute and effective thinking. To think incisively and to think for one’s self is very difficult. We are prone to let our mental life become invaded by legions of half truths, prejudices, and propaganda. At this point, I often wonder whether or not education is fulfilling its purpose.
- [Testimonials: Academic Classes on Outschool](https://goldams.com/about/testimonials/testimonials-academic-classes-on-outschool/) - "My son has enjoyed this class and made friends as well as broadened his understanding of Calculus. I recommend this class."--Xaidie C., parent, "Calculus, Semester 1," 14 Jan 2022 "Never before was my son as motivated and interested in a course. It was a delight to see and fun to hear him share about the
- [Our Natural Heritage: An Ecological Perspective](https://goldams.com/services/science-tutoring-and-classes/our-natural-heritage-an-ecological-perspective/) - Schedule: This is a 17-week course that meets three times per week, one hour each session. (51 hours total.) Format: Lecture with some class participation. You will learn how well you know things by interaction with the teacher: questions, optional assignments, class discussion. No grading, but we can arrange for grading, if you'd like. Homework:
- [Logic For Teachers and Future Teachers](https://goldams.com/thinking-skills/logic-for-future-teachers/) - "Michael introduced me to thinking about problems as a whole and inductively (a thought process which has helped in every form of learning). To this day, 7 years later, I still use this method to help me solve problems and learn, in work and in life, more effectively. I highly recommend Michael to anyone looking to not
- [Logic For Scientists and Future Scientists](https://goldams.com/thinking-skills/logic-for-scientists-and-future-scientists/) - Schedule: This is a 14-week course that meets three times per week, one hour each session. (42 hours total.) Contact us for other scheduling options. Format: Lecture with some class participation and individual work. No grading; homework is optional. Cost: $1100 per person for a group class of 4 or more students; $2750 for one-on-one
- [Logic Essentials: How To Think Well](https://goldams.com/thinking-skills/logic-essentials-how-to-think-well/) - "Michael introduced me to thinking about problems as a whole and inductively (a thought process which has helped in every form of learning). To this day, 7 years later, I still use this method to help me solve problems and learn, in work and in life, more effectively. I highly recommend Michael to anyone looking to not
- [Introductory Logic: Thinking Skills That Matter](https://goldams.com/thinking-skills/introductory-logic-thinking-skills-that-matter/) - "Michael introduced me to thinking about problems as a whole and inductively (a thought process which has helped in every form of learning). To this day, 7 years later, I still use this method to help me solve problems and learn, in work and in life, more effectively. I highly recommend Michael to anyone looking to not
- [Critical Thinking: The Wisdom and Precise Thought of Abraham Lincoln](https://goldams.com/thinking-skills/critical-thinking-the-wisdom-and-precise-thought-of-abraham-lincoln/) - Schedule: This is a 10-week course that meets three times per week, one hour each session. (30 total hours, or more.) Contact us for other scheduling options. Format: we will use a combination of lecture, interactive discussion, examples, exercises, Q&A, and in-class work. Cost: $600 per person for a group class of 4 or more
- [How To Be Healthy](https://goldams.com/services/physical-education/pe-short-courses/how-to-be-healthy/) - “My 13 year old was slightly reluctant – as I signed him up without his input. He thought the session was beneficial and was happy that he participated. I’ve been looking at the follow up information from Michael, and it is very impressive.”–Tc C., parent, about the Outschool class “Physical Fitness: How To Build It,”
- [Physical Fitness: How To Build It](https://goldams.com/services/physical-education/pe-short-courses/physical-fitness-how-to-build-it/) - “My 13 year old was slightly reluctant – as I signed him up without his input. He thought the session was beneficial and was happy that he participated. I’ve been looking at the follow up information from Michael, and it is very impressive.”–Tc C., parent, about the Outschool class “Physical Fitness: How To Build It,”
- [Good Running Technique](https://goldams.com/services/physical-education/pe-short-courses/good-running-technique/) - “My son, who loves running and doing track really enjoyed this class and was excited to share some of the new tips that he learned.”–Amanda R., parent, about the Outschool class “Physical Fitness: Good Running Technique,” 28 Mar 2020 Schedule: This is a 1-hour class. Format: Lecture with some class participation. No grading; homework is
- [PE Short Courses](https://goldams.com/services/physical-education/pe-short-courses/) - “My 12-year-old grandson considers functional fitness to be enjoyable and useful. He particularly appreciates this instructor’s approach.”–Donna K., grandparent, about the Outschool class “Functional Fitness (One Hour Group Class),” 19 Jun 2020 “My son loved this class! It is a very different type of exercise using functional movement. He thought it was very creative and
- [Concepts: Our Units of Knowledge](https://goldams.com/thinking-skills/short-classes/concepts-our-units-of-knowledge/) - Schedule: This is a 1-hour class. Format: Lecture with some class participation. No grading; homework is optional. For more details or to schedule a class, contact Michael by email at michaelgold@goldams.com or by phone at 281-770-2276. Cost: $20 per person for a group class of 4 or more students; $80 for one-on-one tutoring. Payment options: Payments can
- [Deduction: Unleash Your Inner Sherlock Holmes](https://goldams.com/thinking-skills/short-classes/deduction-unleash-your-inner-sherlock-holmes/) - Schedule: This is a 1-hour class. Format: Lecture with some class participation. No grading; homework is optional. Cost: $20 per person for a group class of 4 or more students; $80 for one-on-one tutoring. Payment options: Payments can be made via PayPal, Venmo, Zelle, cash, or check. Materials: Pencil and paper. For more details or
- [Definition: A Means Of Efficient Thinking and Learning](https://goldams.com/thinking-skills/short-classes/definition-a-means-of-efficient-thinking-and-learning/) - Schedule: This is a 1-hour class. Format: Lecture with some class participation. No grading; homework is optional. Cost: $20 per person for a group class of 4 or more students; $80 for one-on-one tutoring. Payment options: Payments can be made via PayPal, Venmo, Zelle, cash, or check. Materials: Pencil and paper. For more details or
- [Generalization: Its Nature, Its Rules, Its Deep Importance](https://goldams.com/thinking-skills/short-classes/generalization-its-nature-its-rules-its-deep-importance/) - Schedule: This is a 1-hour class. Format: Lecture with some class participation. No grading; homework is optional. Cost: $20 per person for a group class of 4 or more students; $80 for one-on-one tutoring. Payment options: Payments can be made via PayPal, Venmo, Zelle, cash, or check. Materials: Pencil and paper. For more details or
- [Understanding vs. Knowing](https://goldams.com/thinking-skills/short-classes/understanding-vs-knowing/) - Schedule: This is a 1-hour class. Format: Lecture with some class participation. No grading; homework is optional. Cost: $20 per person for a group class of 4 or more students; $80 for one-on-one tutoring. Payment options: Payments can be made via PayPal, Venmo, Zelle, cash, or check. Materials: Pencil and paper. For more details or
- [What is Logic?](https://goldams.com/thinking-skills/short-classes/what-is-logic/) - “My teenage son enjoyed this class. A lot of material was covered. The instructor was very passionate about his subject.”–Jean, parent, about the Outschool class “Logic Essentials: How to Think Well,” 19 Dec 2020 Schedule: This is a 1-hour class. Format: Lecture with some class participation. No grading; homework is optional. Cost: $20 per person
- [Logic Short Classes](https://goldams.com/thinking-skills/short-classes/) - These classes are 1-3 hours long, depending on the needs and context of the students. “My teenage son enjoyed this class. A lot of material was covered. The instructor was very passionate about his subject.”–Jean, parent, about the Outschool class “Logic Essentials: How to Think Well,” 19 Dec 2020 “Really enjoyable class from a teacher
- [MovNat and Our Methods](https://goldams.com/fitness/movnat-and-our-methods/) - We follow the methods of MovNat, which derive from human nature, human biology, human biomechanics, and human history. MovNat is a system of physical education based on modern science and on what our ancestors had to do to survive and thrive. It is eminently practical. It is a scientific, technique-based, skill-based system that does not
- [What Is Science?](https://goldams.com/services/philosophy/philosophy-short-courses/what-is-science/) - “My daughter truly enjoyed the class and has motivated her further study in science. She also appreciated Mr. Gold’s passion and excitement for science!” –Chigusa, parent, about the Outschool class “Logic Corner: What Is Science?,” 12 Feb 2020 Schedule: This is a 1-hour class. Format: Lecture with some class participation. No grading; homework is optional.
- [What Is Science?](https://goldams.com/services/science-tutoring-and-classes/science-short-courses/what-is-science/) - “My daughter truly enjoyed the class and has motivated her further study in science. She also appreciated Mr. Gold’s passion and excitement for science!” –Chigusa, parent, about the Outschool class “Logic Corner: What Is Science?,” 12 Feb 2020 Schedule: This is a 1-hour class. Format: Lecture with some class participation. No grading; homework is optional.
- [Science Short Courses](https://goldams.com/services/science-tutoring-and-classes/science-short-courses/) - These courses are 1-3 classes long of 1-1.5 hours each. For more details or to schedule a class, contact Michael by email at michaelgold@goldams.com or by phone at 281-770-2276. “We really enjoyed the Ecology class with Michael Gold! He chose a wonderful textbook for my daughter to use: “Minnesota’s Natural Heritage.” He made it interesting, relevant, and
- [Language and Literature](https://goldams.com/services/language-and-literature/) - We offer courses in sentence diagramming, some aspects of writing, and analysis of some works of literature. For more details or to schedule a class, contact Michael by email at michaelgold@goldams.com or by phone at 281-770-2276.
- [Physical Education](https://goldams.com/services/physical-education/) - We offer one-hour short classes as well as longer multi-class courses. For more details or to schedule a class, contact Michael by phone at 281-770-2276 or by email at michaelgold@goldams.com. We could have multi-class courses in Good Running Technique, How to Be Healthy, Physical Fitness: How To Build It. “My 12-year-old grandson considers functional fitness to
- [Fitness](https://goldams.com/fitness/) - Whatever your needs and background -- high school or college athlete, adult wanting to get back into shape without getting broken, youth wanting to get set for life with a good program, high school or college coach, military, police, fire -- I can help you be fitter and be a better mover. If you're a
- [What is Logic?](https://goldams.com/services/philosophy/philosophy-short-courses/what-is-logic/) - Schedule: This is a 1-hour class. Format: Lecture with some class participation. No grading; homework is optional. Cost: $20 per person for a group class of 4 or more students; $80 for one-on-one tutoring. Payment options: Payments can be made via PayPal, Venmo, Zelle, cash, or check. Materials: Pencil and paper. For more details or
- [What is Philosophy? Why Do You Need It?](https://goldams.com/services/philosophy/philosophy-short-courses/what-is-philosophy-why-do-you-need-it/) - Schedule: This is a 1-hour class. Format: Lecture with some class participation. No grading; homework is optional. Cost: $20 per person for a group class of 4 or more students; $80 for one-on-one tutoring. Payment options: Payments can be made via PayPal, Venmo, Zelle, cash, or check. Materials: Pencil and paper. For more details or
- [Language and Literature Short Courses](https://goldams.com/services/language-and-literature/language-and-literature-short-courses/) - For more details or to schedule a class, contact Michael by phone at 281-770-2276 or by email at michaelgold@goldams.com.
- [Philosophy Short Courses](https://goldams.com/services/philosophy/philosophy-short-courses/) - These courses are 1-3 classes long of 1-1.5 hours each. For more details or to schedule a class, contact Michael by phone at 281-770-2276 or by email at michaelgold@goldams.com.
- [Philosophy](https://goldams.com/services/philosophy/) - We can cover classes in individual topics or individual philosophers, or have a course on the history of philosophy. For more details or to schedule a class, contact Michael by email at michaelgold@goldams.com or by phone at 281-770-2276.
- [Math Short Courses](https://goldams.com/services/math-tutoring-and-classes/short-courses/) - These are 1-1.5 hour classes about some topic in mathematics. For more details or to schedule a class, contact Michael by email at michaelgold@goldams.com or by phone at 281-770-2276.
- [Upcoming MovNat Elements Workshops](https://goldams.com/fitness/upcoming-elements-workshops/) - The next MovNat Elements Workshop is on 12 March 2022! Sign up to reserve your spot! In the summer, plan for the MovNat Elements Workshop on 16 Jul 2022! Sign up to reserve your spot! Learn the basic building blocks of MovNat, such as ground movements, get ups, and crawling patterns. Plus, the most fundamental
- [MovNat in Videos](https://goldams.com/fitness/movnat-in-videos/) - Here is a sample. Lots more available on the Internet, including at YouTube MovNat, YouTube Total Human Fitness, YouTube Gold Academy, and Odysee Total Human Fitness. MovNat is powerful indoors or out: wherever we humans move to survive and thrive.
- [Interviews and Discussions about MovNat and Fitness Training](https://goldams.com/fitness/movnat-and-fitness-training-reasonrx-and-ccerp-podcast-episodes/) - To find out more about what Gold Academy can do for you, your children, your team, or your company, see the Fitness Training page. Below are some ReasonRx and CCERP episodes on MovNat, fitness, fitness training, coaching, fitness programming, biomechanics, our movement culture, and more. Visit the podcasts for more! ReasonRX Podcast. CCERP Podcast.
- [Testimonials: Logic and Thinking Skills](https://goldams.com/about/testimonials/testimonials-logic-and-thinking-skills/) - "Michael introduced me to thinking about problems as a whole and inductively (a thought process which has helped in every form of learning). To this day, 7 years later, I still use this method to help me solve problems and learn, in work and in life, more effectively. I highly recommend Michael to anyone looking
- [Testimonials:  Fitness Training](https://goldams.com/about/testimonials/testimonials-fitness-training/) - “I’m so grateful to you. I feel STRONG as I move through space. I’ve never felt this strong!”--Elizabeth M, teacher and a (MovNat) fitness client I’ve worked with for about two months, Jan 2022 "Michael was truly a gem as an instructor! I loved the methods that were taught, his patience, and the simplicity to
- [Interviews and Discussions about Logic and Thinking Skills](https://goldams.com/thinking-skills/reasonrx-podcast-episodes-on-logic/) - For more information about logic and thinking skills for you, your children, your school, your team, or your company, see the Logic and Thinking Skills page. Some ReasonRx Podcast episodes about logic, thinking skills, science, the scientific method, and epistemology.
- [Outschool](https://goldams.com/services/outschool-classes-and-tutoring/) - Looking for academic excellence and rational education? You can find me on Outschool. where I teach mathematics, physics, science, logic and thinking skills, SAT/ACT prep, fitness, sentence diagramming, philosophy, and more. Sample classes: Summer Geometry Preview/Review, Session 1 Summer Geometry Preview/Review, Session 2 Logic Essentials: How to Think Well High School Geometry, Semester 1 High
- [Testimonials: Academics & Education](https://goldams.com/about/testimonials/testimonials-academics-education/) - "I really did learn more than geometry and math taking classes with you. I learned to reason and use logic to start solving things in everyday life. It’s pretty useful at work when I use reasoning to find root causes, and to find and fix problems. You teach people how to THINK!"--Dylan T, ex-high school
- [Policies and FAQs](https://goldams.com/about/policies-and-faqs/) - Policies Payments We accept cash, checks, PayPal, Venmo, Zelle, and money wires. We might arrange credit card payments, if you wish. You may pay on a class-by-class basis, pay by the week, or pay by the month. Some people choose to pay ahead for a month or six, some pay by the class. We have
- [Philosophy of Education](https://goldams.com/about/philosophy-of-education/)
- [Client Information](https://goldams.com/about/tutoring-and-homeschool-students-information/) - If you have not yet registered please do so here to access private content. If you have already registered then you may log in using the link in the right margin to access student and client information. Manage your profile / Change your password View your Private Posts Send Michael a Question
- [Thank You For Purchase](https://goldams.com/pricing-for-all-services/thank-you-for-purchase/) - Thank you for trusting in my ability to enhance your or your child's education, thinking skills, or fitness. I look forward to our upcoming sessions and on building a long-lasting relationship. Best Regards, Michael Gold
- [Login Page](https://goldams.com/about/tutoring-and-homeschool-students-information/login-welcome-page/) - Welcome to Gold Academy. Click here to Log In.
- [Client Registration and Login](https://goldams.com/about/tutoring-and-homeschool-students-information/membership-options-page/) - To access private content you must first register and log in. Click here to register. Click here to Log In.
- [Worksheets](https://goldams.com/services/worksheets/) - Here are some worksheets by subject.
- [Videos](https://goldams.com/services/videos/)
- [Our Future and Our Goals](https://goldams.com/about/business-plan/executive-summary/our-future-and-our-goals/) - After developing business for two years, we will expand over the next three years to two more tutoring centers in metropolitan Houston. Further down the line, we will produce videos, ebooks, and courses in writing, math, thinking skills, and logic. Our fundamental goal is not to tutor as many people as we can or to
- [Financial](https://goldams.com/about/business-plan/executive-summary/financial/) - We are seeking investment capital of $100,000 to start up. Capital will be used for furnishings, electronics, advertising, rent, supplies, professional services, and initial operating expenses. In year one, total expenses are estimated at $255,000 and total revenues at $300,000, giving us a gross profit of about $50,000. In year two, total expenses are estimated
- [The Market](https://goldams.com/about/business-plan/executive-summary/the-market/) - Our first tutoring center will open in the River Oaks-Memorial-West University area, which encloses or is close to the homes and schools of about 300,000 elementary, secondary, and college students. We seek to capture a segment of the individual and group tutoring market. Market segments include students struggling to pass, students seeking to improve from
- [How We Differ](https://goldams.com/about/business-plan/executive-summary/how-we-differ/) - Integration: all knowledge is an integrated whole; every item of knowledge has connections and interconnections with numerous other items of knowledge. Making such connections is not automatic; it must be learned and trained. Hierarchy: all conceptual knowledge is built upon prior knowledge; we must learn one thing before we learn another — e.g., arithmetic before
- [Arithmetic 5th/6th Grade](https://goldams.com/services/worksheets/arithmetic-5th-6th-grade/) - Arithmetic Word Problems In Division Arithmetic Word Problems Buy-Loss Arithmetic Word Problems (Multiplication-Addition-Division) Arithmetic Word Problems (Multiplication-Addition-Division) 2 Order of Operations Worksheet With Internet Video Order of Operations 1 Order of Operations 2 Division Algorithm
- [Teaching](https://goldams.com/services/videos/teaching/)
- [Geometry](https://goldams.com/services/videos/mathematics/geometry/)
- [Arithmetic](https://goldams.com/services/videos/mathematics/arithmetic/)
- [Algebra 1](https://goldams.com/services/videos/mathematics/algebra-1/)
- [Mathematics](https://goldams.com/services/videos/mathematics/)
- [Fun](https://goldams.com/services/videos/extracurricular/extracurricular-fun/)
- [Fitness](https://goldams.com/services/videos/extracurricular/extracurricular-exercise/) - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mIpwpyjqkY8 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UbDttLLUVtY https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xeE8VD4TUZk https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-Yq2QjLwPhE https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I37bIr0LQ4k https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f8DJ7BelXzE https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ofdMTJYDhpc https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QJ1FkmMCEDM https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0gXGppiv_cc https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=djPno36lXbE https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VLREfGT-PLc
- [Extracurricular](https://goldams.com/services/videos/extracurricular/)
- [Everyday Physics](https://goldams.com/services/videos/everyday-physics/)
- [Client Profile Management](https://goldams.com/about/tutoring-and-homeschool-students-information/client-profile-management/) - [s2Member-Profile /]
- [Private Posts](https://goldams.com/about/tutoring-and-homeschool-students-information/private-posts/)

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- [CCERP Podcast](https://goldams.com/category/ccerp-podcast/)
- [ReasonRx Podcast](https://goldams.com/category/reasonrx-podcast/)
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- [Physical Education](https://goldams.com/category/physical-education/)
- [Leadership, Management, and Administration](https://goldams.com/category/leadership-management-and-administration/)

## Tags

- [heirarchy](https://goldams.com/tag/heirarchy/)
- [nature of human knowledge](https://goldams.com/tag/nature-of-human-knowledge/)
- [Van Damme Academy](https://goldams.com/tag/van-damme-academy/)
- [Lisa Van Damme](https://goldams.com/tag/lisa-van-damme/)
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