Meeting Notes, Meeting #2

Part 1
Meet in group to discuss the choice topic (as voted on in previous meeting): Aliens.

Part 2
Short lecture/discussion on the presentation topic: Research Methods (you can view the .pdf of our meeting agenda). In the research methods lecture, we discussed traditional research methods, and alternative research methods.

A brief transcript of topic discussion

Question: What do we already know about aliens?

Responses from group:
They live on other planets.
If they are on Earth they are ghosts.
Crystal Skulls can go in an alien’s head.
I saw an alien at home at night (rattled the radiator, the books, looked like a tail).
I don’t know.
I know there are probably lots of different kinds of aliens. They must speak a different language, so we probably can’t communicate with them.
Aliens live on Mars. They are Martians.
They can be furry and have skins.
They look different then us.
I’m pretty sure that since mankind doesn’t know of aliens then they must be really (really) far away. They must have a different time zone. Like because they are so far away their time zone is probably hundreds and hundreds of time away from ours. Like either years ahead or years behind. Either way more advanced or way less advanced. Like still living in caves or flying hovering cars.
Aliens must look different because they live in different atmospheres. They wouldn’t survive on our planet probably because they are (built) for different atmospheres (Like climates, hotter and colder? Yes. From student: Like an air-conditioned galaxy?)
Aliens are technically ghosts.
I’ve seen a shadow alien. One time I looked up at my 3rd floor ceiling and saw a shadow that was from nowhere. And it had antennae.
Aliens are like magnets.
In the pupil of your eye you know everything.

Question: What do we want to know?

Responses from group:
Could aliens really be a red rose?
Is there moon aliens?
What do aliens look like?
Do they have different voices?
Where do they go when they disappear?
Why do they have to be in outerspace?
Are they real or are they not?
What kind of stuff do they have in their world; Colleges? Trees? Cars? …
Do they have stuff we don’t for words, like guooarhagijifr?
I have a question that’s inexplainable. Like, what the heck are they?
Do aliens go to the bathroom?
Do aliens even want to talk to us?
(For aliens) Is “a” was really meant “aleegcalligofurrsha” ?

Part 3
Independent research and thought time, they could either begin to formulate their research direction in more detail, or elaborate on today’s group topic. Here are excerpts from the children’s notebooks (the first few notebooks below are from children who chose to continue our discussion of alien in their research time, the later notebooks are children who started on their own topics):

This is Ellie’s introduction to her two interests: Meta-tateing (Meditation) and Alens (Aliens). As described by her: the left side is a picture of Ellie on a table, meditating to talk to her ancestors (with her in the upper right bubble). Her dad is looking on, because he wants her to get off the table. On the right side is an initial picture of the classifications of Aliens, type one is Land, type two is Merene (marine). She has drawn the kinds of aliens she believes to be present in those types, as well as what planet they may live on.

Abigail decided to discuss the group topic today, aliens. On the left side it reads (as dictated to Heidi): Questions about aliens: Do aliens have the same things that we do? Do they have wagons? trees? colors? suns? plants? caves? ceilings? doors? fans? tables? money? fountains? carriages? beds?
How to answer these questions: #1 Ask the shadow on the third floor (not a human shadow because it has an antennae), #2 Go the moon and find an alien. Take him home to see if the alien is like the shadow.

Spencer found an ‘alien’ plant while taking a break out side. On the left side, he says, “This plat (plant) is a alien plat (plant). It keeps gating (getting) buds!” He discussed how he believes the plant was an alien plant because Earth plants can’t grow buds once they are picked, but alien plants can. On the bottom it says (as dictated to Heidi): “I think alien plants get buds after you pick them. I don’t think all plants are aliens. Alien plants are made out of the same thing as butterfly wings: juice, dust & squishy scales. If you eat an alien plant you’ll probably become infected! Your skin will turn green.” Thus, the right side images are a back, right side (happy), left side (mad), front side (medium) view of a person who as eaten an alien plant.

Clara drew what she thinks alien communities might look like (left side). Her question is “Are aliens real?” Her own answers are, “I think they are real. I think they have pets, taxis (that fly and are submarines), and cave homes.”

Sylvie, too, chose to draw what alien communities might look like. She says, “Aliens live on any planet. These are foo foo phats. There is a grown up alien, she can grab the other aliens and puts them where they go. I think aliens have special powers, like transforming aliens into other aliens. Aliens are nice, I think, I don’t know….”

Warner chose to develop his choice topic introducing us to his theory of “Stage to Human Spirit.” It reads:
“Creatshon (Creation), Mother Belly, Birth, Baby, toddler, child-mind form-me!, pre-teen-social self, teen-start thinking about money, pre grown-up-Super Social Self, grown-up-lost right mind, 45-55 – focused too much on money, retiering (retiring), Grampa/Grama – regain half of mind, Died – relizing (realizing) life, re-creashon (re-creation), do (re-creation) 2-10000 (so on and so forth) til relizing (realizing) all you can!, become different inner inner inner inner spirit and do it (infinity).”

Lilah drew an image of a cat being carried up to the sky by ballons. I did not have a chance to discuss this more with her, whether this was related to the alien topic, or her own.

Annika decided to address her questions for her own topic, astro projecting (astral projection). She asks, “What is Astro-Projecting?” Her own answers are: “Our spirits going out of our body. Going other places! (The Actual). Having adventures. Finding out about things.” She also asks, “How do we astro project?” and answers: “Saying La Ra SS. Concentrate.” On the right side, she drew what she thinks astral projection looks like. The picture is her with a rocket going to planet Earth in her mind while saying “La Ra Ss”.

Lia started asking her question of her topic, Mythology. She says, “I think I want to know more about Mythology because my books say the same thing over and over again.” (Meaning, they say the same thing over and over and don’t answer her questions.) What the books don’t tell her, “how gods are born, how magical creatures are born, why or how ancient people became kings, the plants that are in the gods’ lands, they don’t tell me the details of what really happens.” Below her questions she drew some possible plants that are in the lands of the gods, including a “a living fruit plant that when it dies they eat it.”

—

Children present: Annika, Warner, Lia, Clara, Ellie, Lilah, Spencer, Abigail and Sylvie. (9)
Research assistants present: Devon Deimler
Next week: independent research for the entire meeting.

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