Author Archives: Kerry

About Kerry

http://kerrymagruder.com/bio/

Pond Life

Posted on October 11, 2011 by Kerry

What are these insects doing? This is a lesson plan for Unit 3: Pond Life (2 weeks). Mix and match: rearrange the days around as much as you please; they don’t need to be done in the order listed below, … Continue reading →

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In memoriam: Steve Jobs, 1955-2011

Posted on October 6, 2011 by Kerry

“Remembering that I’ll be dead soon is the most important tool I’ve ever encountered to help me make the big choices in life. Because almost everything — all external expectations, all pride, all fear of embarrassment or failure — these … Continue reading →

Posted in Apple | 4 Comments

Paper airplanes, bird wings

Posted on October 3, 2011 by Kerry

Compare different paper airplane designs with the wings and flight of birds. What similarities in wing shape and flight pattern do you see? What features make a paper airplane more like a duck or goose than a falcon, or more … Continue reading →

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Classification

Posted on October 3, 2011 by Kerry

Animals and plants are classified in hierarchical groups, similar to nesting Matryoshka dolls placed within each other. The biggest Matryoshka doll we’ll consider for now is “Kingdom.” Plants, animals and protists comprise different biological kingdoms. The smallest Matryoshka doll we’ll … Continue reading →

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Missouri School of Dentistry & Oral Health

Posted on October 3, 2011 by Kerry

Congratulations, Dad, to you and to all your amazing staff who worked so diligently and effectively to bring about the approval, by the ATSU Board of Trustees on Saturday, of a $26 million bond issue for constructing a new facility … Continue reading →

Posted in Family | 3 Comments

Tolkien Quotes

Posted on October 1, 2011 by Kerry

Lisa Shafter, at The Traveling Mandolin, is at it again. I formerly linked to her intriguing accounts of her travels, but now she’s been writing a remarkable series of reflections on her favorite quotations from J.R.R. Tolkien. Check out A … Continue reading →

Posted in Art-Music-Lit, Family | Tagged | Leave a comment

Synergy and life

Posted on September 29, 2011 by Kerry

One of the reasons I love birds is because they prove, for anyone who has eyes to see and ears to hear, the limitations of mechanistic philosophy and the impoverishment of reductionist perspectives in science. Paul Klee, “The Twittering Machine”(Die … Continue reading →

Posted in Art-Music-Lit, Nature | Tagged , , | 1 Comment

Don’t allow evil-mail to steal productivity

Posted on September 29, 2011 by Kerry

Yesterday my university Exchange account delivered no email, and a sense of unexpected, pervasive peace descended upon my office. I was strangely productive. Today Exchange is back to normal, so I’m playing catch-up, as seems often to be the case. … Continue reading →

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Getting started with bird identification

Posted on September 25, 2011 by Kerry

Use your copy of Peterson’s Field Guide to Birds (see previous introduction) to identify the bird described in each numbered question below. This exercise will help you become more familiar with the contents and layout of Peterson’s Guide. Tip: Look … Continue reading →

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Nature journal advice for perfectionists

Posted on September 25, 2011 by Kerry

“If a thing is worth doing, it’s worth doing badly.” – G.K. Chesterton

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Christmas Bible Studies

Posted on September 19, 2011 by Kerry

Index of Christmas posts | Christmas Nights at Home Read the opening chapters of Matthew, Luke and John in various familiar and unfamiliar translations. Listen to them in audio or dramatic readings. Explore your Bible dictionaries, Bible maps, and Study … Continue reading →

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Christmas Fiction

Posted on September 19, 2011 by Kerry

Index of Christmas posts | Christmas Nights at Home Favorite holiday fiction for leisure reading Charles Dickens, A Christmas Carol George MacDonald, Adela Cathcart George MacDonald, “The Christmas Party,” from Annals of a Quiet Neighborhood. John Grisham, Skipping Christmas Dorothy … Continue reading →

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