Fifth Principle of the Earth Charter

Earth Charter Principle 5. Protect and restore the integrity of Earth's ecological systems, with special concern for biological diversity and the natural processes that sustain life.

As our awareness of Earth and the impact our species has had on our environment slowly creeps into our social awareness, principle #5 has become pivotal to groups with interests ranging from Science to New Age. Principle #5 is one of the longest principles of the Earth Charter’s sixteen principles and addresses the heart of the matter. Unless we protect and take action to restore Earth’s ecological systems we may destroy the very home that gives all Earth’s species shelter, food and rest.
This principle speaks to us about principles we value on other levels as well, namely diversity and complementarity. I find it interesting that the definitions of these terms span the spectrum from Physics to social action. For example, complementarity is defined as:
o noun1. a relation between two opposite states or principles that together exhaust the possibilities 2. the interrelation of reciprocity whereby one thing supplements or depends on the other; "the complementarity of the sexes" 1
o The concept that the underlying properties of entities (especially subatomic particles) may manifest themselves in contradictory forms at different times, depending on the conditions of observation; thus, any physical model of an entity exclusively in terms of one form or the other will be necessarily incomplete. For example, although a unified quantum mechanical understanding of such phenomena as light has been developed, light sometimes exhibits properties of waves and sometimes properties of particles (an example of wave-particle duality) 2
Diversity is defined as:
o The fact or quality of being diverse; difference.
1 complementarity. (n.d.). WordNet® 3.0. Retrieved November 01, 2008, from Dictionary.com website: http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/complementarity
2 complementarity. (n.d.). The American Heritage® Science Dictionary. Retrieved November 01, 2008, from Dictionary.com website: http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/complementarity
o A point or respect in which things differ.
o Variety or multiformity: "Charles Darwin saw in the diversity of species the principles of evolution that operated to generate the species: variation, competition and selection" (Scientific American).3
Diversity’s definition too illustrates the various ways we can think about diversity from diversity of thought to biological diversity. This type of thinking across sciences and integrated into the whole of life is a challenge for us as we move into a more complex and complicated world view and consciousness. Yet we are being called to such thinking from various voices that make up our lives. From our Acts of Chapter which urge us to, “urgent concern for Earth and the survival of its life systems” and to “recognizing the urgency of working to protect and restore Earth’s healthy living systems in these next years” to our country’s and our world’s concern about affordable non Earth threatening sources of energy as we journey into the future, “Climate change is real. And it’s happening much faster than was predicted just a few years ago. The good news is that we can solve this crisis. We can switch 100% of America's electricity to clean energy sources – within 10 years. To make the switch, repowering America must be a priority for our leaders. If leaders know you care, they will take action. Join us today and be a voice for solutions.”( from www.wecansolveit.org)
We may feel a small part of the solution or that we not able to have much of an effect at all. However small steps can be taken on our part from awareness of our local ecology to research on the web where our fingers can help us take action to be part of the solution. I close with this thought that I read a few days ago from Thomas Moore’s Book “The Re-Enchantment of Everyday Life, “ Enchanted ecology is the work of religion more than science, love more than understanding, and ritual more than heroic action. It is rooted in both a love for home and a willingness to let the place where we live set limits on our lives, define our personalities, and shape our values. This kind of ecology is concerned not simply with the natural world but with our place in the human environment as well, and it has as much to do with meaning and emotion as with the protection of literal nature.”
3 diversity. (n.d.). The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition. Retrieved November 01, 2008, from Dictionary.com website: http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/diversity

Audio Editing - Free and Easy?

This was no free and easy task but here you have it. In combo with MP3 Direct Cut and Free WMA to MP3 Converter you are all set.

I needed the mp3 converter because my audio file was a wma file and MP3 Direct Cut was the best free software I could find.

Steps

• download both programs and install
  
• open WMA to MP3 converter (if you need it)
• edit audio with mp3 Direct Cut
  

So, I offer it here - the fruits of the morning.

MS Office 2007 and 2003 - Plays well with others

I've been asked this question twice in the same week so thought it well to document. Here's some further info about how to do this but with a little foresight it's quite obvious.

Lilies

Learning from the flowers..

Prayer Resources

I love surfing the net finding interesting prayer resources. I have used for a few years a site called "Inspiring Thots". It's free and most of the movies are beautiful, though some I personally find to be a little preachy. Go there...

Windows Movie Maker

From time to time I am asked how to take some pictures, add a little music and burn a dvd. One of the easiest ways I think to do just that in a windows environment is Windows Movie Maker which is packaged with Windows XP. I once took a class (about two hours long) on this topic and found the program so intuitive that I finished a movie (undercover) while the instructor carried on… So, I’ve collected here some tutorials on the topics for those who would like to learn this themselves, today.. Have fun and see you on YouTube.

• If you have nine minutes and want an overview, check this out. I would start here if I were teaching a class. This talks about clips but keep in mind you can add still pictures as well.

• Atomic Learning – Free Tutorial – really it is free and my favorite. Here’s their write up:
o Welcome to our FREE tutorial series on Windows® Movie Maker 2.

Windows Movie Maker 2 lets you create, edit, and share your movies right on your PC. It's easy to use, yet it provides powerful capabilities that rival those of expensive computer editing packages.

You can download the software FREE from Microsoft®. It works with both Windows XP Home Edition and Windows XP Professional Edition.

Have a good day..

Saving PDF Files

I found this about a month ago and it seems to work well. Good for poor people liek me. Decided to share it with friends and to post it here. I also added it to my igoogle page.


100% free PDF-Software

The 100% free PDF-Software provided to you by PDF24.org works with all Windows-Programs und has a lot of features that you wouldn’t expect from a free software: create PDF files from almost every Windows-application, re-order pages, merge, split, and password-protect your existing PDF-files. Download now!

Hint: If you have your company’s logo or any other picture file at hand you can create your own personalized version.
Online PDF-Converter for your Website

Using our online PDF converter you can convert the most common file-formats into a PDF without installing any software. The only thing you have to do is upload your file to our website and the resulting PDF will be emailed to you shortly afterwards. You can even integrate the online PDF converter into your own website. More...
Plugins and Widgets providing PDF-converting functionality

PDF24.org provides free Widgets and Plugins for your Blog, your Bulletin Board and your Website. More...

Bookmark plugin
Please bookmark the following link to convert websites into pdf-files. All you have to do is to visit a website, click your link in the bookmark area, enter your e-mail address into the form and send it. You'll receive a pdf-file of the website by e-mail.

Smart Board Lesson Plans

I am finding some wonderful smart board lesson plans which makes being alive in 2008 so much fun. Here are some links. Great to share.

Notebooks, Activities and Templates

More lesson plans

Smart Gallery

Smart Board and Airliner Templates

Check out these templates for K-12 learning.

Smart Board Templates

Designing an Igoogle Page

I've been dabbling with igoogle these past few weeks. I have a personal tab, an ed tech tab, an exploring tab, justice tab, spirituality tab and now an elementary tab. Some news things I learned:

1) How to add my blog to my igoogle page.
2) Use feed burner
3) About MSN Encarta RSS Feeds for educators

Gen Yes and Tech Yes

I've been here for two days now learning about Gen Yes and Tech Yes.

GenYes - Student lead technology support in the school
TechYes - Student - Peer to Peer - Tech Literacy

Great ideas and resources.

Check it out!

Editing Audio Clips

Have you ever wanted just a piece of an audio to play at a presentation or to insert into a movie or PowerPoint Show? I was addressing just this issue last week and found MP3 Direct Cut, a freeware program. It worked wonderfully and did just what I wanted - simply. Try it yourself!

New Blog Skins

I wanted my blog to look original and not like everyone else's blog on blogger - so today I found this great blogskin courtesy of Final Sense. The biggest thing you need to know is if you are a new or old blogger - meaning is your blog using xml or html. Once you determine that, cut and paste the code into your blogger template and vola! I like the categories and the organization of these templates too! Blog On with style..

Pesty Startup Issues

Pesty start up issues – Do you start your computer and then make coffee, water your plants, sort your paperwork and rearrange your furniture all in the hopes that when you return to your desk you r computer will have booted up. Probably you have approached your IT department or other knowledgeable techie friends about your tortoise PC only to be assured that you have the latest and greatest. This was the scenario I was faced with by my Mom the other day. Her computer just took forever to start. The fix I would need to apply from over 2000 miles away. I wasn’t sure of my ability to walk her through removing startup programs from XP and was surfing for a simple program that would basically walk her through the process in a matter of minutes. I was pleased to find, download and use a handy little program called “Startup Master” at This free ware program downloads quickly and it easy to use. For more information go to Startup Master.

Download here

Purpose of this blog

This blog is dedicated to the idea and the practitioners world wide who choose to learn something new each day. This blog on a whole will deal with those things technical especially in relationship to education. At worse it will remain a digital diary of exploration and at best a community of learners. So blog on and comment freely. Share what you learn and be part of contributing to the vastness of community learning and networking.