Full Disclosure of Lensmaster Bias 

"Everything's connected to everything else." - Barry Commoner

As a K-20 student, life-long learner and professional educator,

I have always had, and continue to have,
a strong positive bias toward the importance and value
of interdisciplinary learning;
making interdisciplinary connections across the curriculum and life.

This lens is steeped in that bias.

Contents at a Glance or Table of Contents

Ways to Use this Lens: Curious Life Long Learners 

Select "Pencil" topics of interest from the table of contents. Topic clusters begin with a pencil topic. Most are followed by supporting/interactive modules.

Topics can be explored in any order.
Each is a self-contained collection of annotated links.

Many of the annotations will raise questions or cue you to content in the links.

While these elements are primarily for guiding student inquiry,
you might want to reflect on them in terms of
schooling as you experienced it and schooling today.

Click to jump to the Table of Contents or keep reading to see how teachers might use the lens.

Contents at a Glance or Table of Contents

Ways to Use this Lens: In Class, Online & Homeschool Teachers 

Use exploration of the topics as a point of departure for addressing your formal, local curriculum standards and benchmarks.

Topic content is drawn from the fields and disciplines for math, science, social studies and visual art.

Opportunities abound to develop and extend students' competencies in

communicating using a variety of modes,
for a variety of purposes, and
with a variety of audiences.

Wrap development and application of skill based learning from language arts and math around the content of appropriate topics.

Where a set of links have a common subtopic (ex. history) assign a link to a group, then have groups compile their comparative findings. ~ Determining categories of information can be done in advance or as part of the compiling process.

Select developmentally appropriate content and design developmentally appropriate interactions with the content and one another.

Provide the support needed for successful inquiry.

Printing
Use the printer icon in the right sidebar to create a "ready for printing" version of the lens.

If you only want to print a specific module (like Pencils as Inventions)

• use File - Print View to see a Print formatted view of the lens.
• Note the page range of the module and enter the page range into the appropriate Page Setup boxes.

Print and you will get just the pages you specified.

Contents at a Glance or Table of Contents

Imbuing the Wonder of Words 

Guidelines for Working with New, Novel & Playful Annotation Language

There are no such things a vocabulary words,
only concepts.
vocabulary development <=> concept development

Vocabulary/concepts is/are most efficiently developed
when authentic words/concepts
are encountered in authentic contexts and
learner's are provided
with a developmentally appropriate definitions, and
some conversation about the words/concepts.

Across the years (all learning is cumulative) a learner's
schema for a word/concept is thickened
when it is encountered in additional contexts and
given additional layers & shades of meaning.

Seize encounters with new, novel or playful
language & vocabulary/concepts
as opportunities to seed, nurture & imbue
a lifelong love of words & language!

Contents at a Glance or Table of Contents

Contents at a Glance 

Just the content modules, no supporting or interactive modules in this list.

• Pencils: What are they?
• Pencils as Tools
• Sharp Pencils Are as Sharp as Darts!
• Pencils as Inventions
• Pencils as Objects with Histories
• Pencils as Manufactured Objects
• Pencils as Objects of Scientific Inquiry
• Pencils as Game Components & Trick Props
• Pencils As Art
• Pencils as the Objects of Collections
• A Ubiquitous Object Challenge
• Guestbook for The Ubiquitous Pencil
• Duel on Use of a Concepts at a Glance + Table of Contents in a Lens

Pencils: What are they? 

What is pencilness?

ArtLex's Pas-Pe Page

Pencil, as defined in the ArtLex Dictionary

Merriam-Webster Online: pencil

Pencil, as defined by the online Merriam-Webster dictionary.
Note the etymology of the word.

Pencils as Tools 

What are tools?

A Pencil Is A Gardener's Best Friend

A pencil as a garden tool?
Consider the utility of a pencil as a garden tool.

The Double Pencil Technique

When are two pencils better than one?
Consider the calligraphic possibilities.

Carpenter's Pencils

"One of these pencils is not like the others..."

How is a carpenter's pencil the same as other pencils?
How is a carpenter's pencil different from other pencils?

A carpenter's pencil is not merely "a pencil used by a carpenter." It is a specialized tool, designed to help a carpenter complete task's more efficiently.

Which tasks?
How does a carpenter's pencil increase efficiency?

Slatepen

A tool is some thing used to accomplish a task.
A pencil is a tool.

An artifact is something created by humans for a practical purpose.
We call those "somethings" tools.

Artifacts are usually ancient, and certainly no longer in use!

This link looks at a pencil that is an artifact.
What does that mean?

Pencil Point Punctures

Use of tools can help us do work more efficiently.
Careless use of tools can cause injuries.

Pencils are tools.
Pencils are sharp.
Careless use of sharp tools can cause injuries.
[Just ask around about pencil punctures, eh?]

Sharp Pencils Are as Sharp as Darts! 

Practice Preventitive Pencil Puncture Prudence!

Sharp Pencil! 

Pencils as Inventions 

People keep inventing better pencils! Will you be next?

The Invention of the Pencil

Plumbago, Conte & Graphite
It's not a law firm.

Click in and grab some scintillating dinner conversation!

The Recipe for a Pencil

You read that correctly!
This link has a recipe for making pencils.
Yes, a recipe for actual pencils!

I wonder if Martha Stewart has seen this?

Did you say birthday party?
I'm thinking I might
write the information up on a recipe card,
make a few substitutions and
make some edible pencils
for a birthday that's coming up.

Build a Better Pencil!

Be Amazed!

This is the purpose of the learning activities clustered at this link:

To plan, make, evaluate and modify simple designs;
to develop an awareness of constraints such as safety, time, cost, space and availability of materials.

Do you like the sound of that?
Get this: it's Kindergarten-Grade 2 material!*

Can you look back and say,

"I remember when I did things like that in school?"
Is this what learning is like for children you know today?

Includes links to Crayons, Silly Putty, Hula Hoops and Frisbees

*Don't restrict the excitement to K-2. It's adaptable for any age & simulation gaming.

Pencil Inventions

This is an excellent set of "encouraging" strategies for

• stimulating the thinking and
• supporting the process of inventing.

Supplemental "pencil" links are included.

Ever seen chopsticks that look like pencils?

Creative Pencil Modifications

What if, instead of inventing a whole new pencil, you simply modified an existing pencil?

Hmmm...!

Pen Again

Pen Again is the latest invention/improvement in pen/pencil design.

It is ergonomically designed to keep your hand uncramped.

While the advertising is primarily for the pen, a pencil is available in the same body.

Does it work?
I haven't had a chance to try one yet.
If you do, let us know what you think in the Duel that follows!

The New PenAgain Pencil & Pens 

Get one (or more) where you live, or get one (or more) here!

Ergo Sof PenAgain

Red Ergo-Sof PenAgain Pen...

ERGOSLEEK METAL PENAGAIN...

TWIST N' WRITE PENAGAIN C...

Original PenAgain - Blue

PenAgain by Pacific Writing Instruments 

Available as a pen or pencil

PenAgain is the latest attempt to design a better pen and pencil.
Ergonomics played a big part in its design.

There are actually, pens of assorted colors, a yellow highlighter, a black chisel marker and pencils.
Can dry-erase and chalk be far behind?

You can find PenAgains with pens & pencils in any of the major office supply stores, Wal-Mart or on-line right here!.

If you get one and give it a try, tells us what you think, in the Duel that follows.

a%3A10%3A%7Bs%3A8%3A%22approval%22%3Bs%3A4%3A%22auto%22%3Bs%3A10%3A%22blurbCount%22%3Bs%3A1%3A%225%22%3Bs%3A7%3A%22option1%22%3Bs%3A28%3A%22Things+I+like+about+PenAgain%22%3Bs%3A7%3A%22option2%22%3Bs%3A34%3A%22Things+I+don%27t+like+about+PenAgain%22%3Bs%3A6%3A%22period%22%3Bs%3A1%3A%221%22%3Bs%3A8%3A%22question%22%3Bs%3A44%3A%22How+do+you+like+writing+with+%28a%3F%29+Pen+Again%3F%22%3Bs%3A12%3A%22requireLogin%22%3Bs%3A5%3A%22false%22%3Bs%3A9%3A%22sendEmail%22%3Bs%3A2%3A%22no%22%3Bs%3A10%3A%22showPhotos%22%3Bs%3A3%3A%22yes%22%3Bs%3A9%3A%22stripHTML%22%3Bs%3A2%3A%22no%22%3B%7D

How do you like writing with (a?) Pen Again?

Fetching blurbs now... please stand by

Things I like about PenAgain

Susan52 says:

I love my PenAgain and promote it on one of my baby boomer lenses. It took a little bit of getting used to, but now I much prefer it to tightly grasping a regular pen or pencil. It has become my new writing instrument of choice.

Posted April 02, 2008

Things I don't like about PenAgain

 

 

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Pencils as Objects with Histories 

Thinking About Pencils in Terms of Continuity & Change

Concord's Sharp Pencil Makers Write Themselves Into History

Some history of the American pencil from a Concord, Massachusetts perspective.

The History of Pencils

Meet some of the big name companies of pencil history.

Pencil (1)

Just the facts, from the fact-index

Pencil (2)

Just the facts, from Wikipedia

Pencil (3)

Just the facts, from the 11th edition
of the Encyclopaedia Britannica (pub. 1911)

Pencil (4)

Just the facts, from eSSORTMENT

Pencil Anatomy & History

Some history of the pencil perspective, from the General Pencil Company, Jersey City NJ, founded in 1889.

Pencils as Manufactured Objects 

Understanding Pencil Manufacturing in Terms of Continuity & Change

How Pencils WERE MADE at Derwent

How Derwent made pencils.
Derwent provides a British perspective.

How Pencils ARE MADE at Derwent

How Derwent makes pencils today.
Derwent provides a British perspective.

How Pencils ARE MADE at Forest Choice

What makes Forest Choice, based in Stockton CA, unique?

How Do They Get Lead in a Wooden Pencil?

Then & Now
and what's 14 billion all about?

The History of the Manufacture of Pencils

From an article. by the same name in in Transactions of the Newcomen Society, 1949-51 Vol 27. This is a British perspective.

Check out the changes in costs and
the three pencil assembly diagrams.

Massed-Produced Pencil Leaves Its Mark

Decisions are made and actions are taken with specific results in mind.

Decisions and actions often have unintended consequences.

The advent of massed produced pencils has produced what intended and unintended consequences?

How a General Pencil Company Pencil Is Made

They tell the story with twelve pictures.

The Saga of Short Pencils 

Pencils as Objects of Scientific Inquiry 

Different Sciences Look at the Same Pencil Differently

Geology: The Unleaded Pencil

Is there lead in a pencil?
Is there clay in a pencil?

What is graphite?
What is plumbago?

The contributions of three persons who significantly contributed to the development of today's pencil are noted in this article.

Chemistry: What Is That Stuff?

See what the American Chemical Society has to say about that stuff in pencils.

There are times when the way of geologists and chemists inquire and work overlap.

Chemistry: Thoreau's Pencils

There's more to Henry David Thoreau than a cabin on a pond!

Physics: Tests of Pencil Leads

This page shows a very simple summary chart of information gathered on the Diamagnetic Properties of Graphite Pencil Leads.

The summary chart is an excellent

example and reminder
of the importance and value
of gathering and recording data
in systematic and organized ways.

I have no idea what diamagnetic properties are
but we don't need to
to appreciate the elegant simplicity of this summary.
(I'll have to look diamagnetic up.)

Physics: The "Broken" Pencil

A simple, animated explanation of refraction.

Physics: The Rubber Pencil - Simple Explanation

How can your computer monitor make your pencil turn squishy?

Do you need a computer monitor to do this?

Physics: The Rubber Pencil - Complex Explanation

The vocabulary of physics and psychology are used to describe and explain the "rubber" pencil phenomena.

Botany: Your Pencil Is Encased In What?

Botany
Is your pencil encased in

incense-cedar?
plastic?
tropical rain forest wood?

Texture
is the element of Art that we use to describe the look or feel of a surface.

Without the language of texture,
you won't be able to say what you see!

Human Biology
particularly our senses of sight, smell and touch will be important data gathering and analytical tools for determining the material in which your pencil is encased.

Recycled Pencils

You say your pencil isn't encased in incense-cedar, plastic or rain forest wood?

Hmmm...!

Then it may be encased in

denim
recycled paper
old money
...?

Pencils as Game Components & Trick Props 

Pencils are Sometimes Just for Fun!

Three Paper & Pencil Games

Of the three games, Sprouts, Pipelayer and Capture,
Sprouts is one of my all-time favorites!

(It's also a great game to play on a chalkboard or whiteboard.)

Show Sprouts to a math teachers and they will smile and say, "That's a topology game!"

Does it really matter who starts?

The Rubber Pencil & Four Other Pencil Tricks

Each of the five pencil tricks includes

Steps
Tips
Warnings
Things You Will Need
Related WikiHows

!!!!! The reader/trickster/magician needs to bring safety consciousness and common sense to these activities. !!!!!

DO NOT practice or do these tricks with sharpened pencils, under any circumstances!

Pencil Spin Tutorial  

Learn how to spin a pencil in less than 1 minute then

Pencils As Art 

The Tool Becomes a Component, Medium & Subject

72 Pencils

Here are three different views
of a geometric construction,
assembled from 72 pencils.

Can you say, "rhombic dodecahedron?"

I'd like to know how he kept it from falling apart!
See if you have any ideas about that.

"Japanese Men Carve Insane Miniature Sculptures"

Have you ever seen a walking stick with a bearded head carved into the side of the top? (Sort of like a Santa head)

Okay, now imagine the same head carved into the side of a pencil.

When you see the other pencil carvings on this page, you'll know why I'm saying, "That's nothing...!"

Rube Goldberg's Simplified Pencil Sharpener

Rube Goldberg (1883-1970) was an award winning American cartoonist, best know for designing complex machines to do simple tasks.

One source suggests that the simplified pencil has
1,999,090,923,749,237,432,974,201 steps.
Perhaps that's a Goldbergish estimate.

Rube Goldberg was a cartoonist.
Was he an inventor?

The Largest Pencil Photo Gallery

Hmmm...
Will this be

the Largest Pencil Photo Gallery?
or
the Largest Pencil Photo Gallery?

Pencil Bench

This bench is made up of 1600 pencils.
Any pencil can be taken out and used!

Pencils as the Objects of Collections 

Do You Know Any Pencil Collectors?

The American Pencil Collectors Society

Did you have a pencil collection?
If yes, do you still have it?
If yes, but you no longer have it, what happened to it?

What do you think you'll find on the website of the American Pencil Collectors Society?
Don't miss their LINKS!

Pencil Pushing

While Peter Piper is picking a peck of pickle peppers -- the president of the APSC is posting pencil collection particulars to his Pencil Pushing page, on the web!

Ordinary Pencil

This is the website of Russian pencil collector
Dmytry Orzhekhovsky

At the time of this writing, he had
1506 pencils in his collection!

He provides a link to a spreadsheet for organizing pencil collections.

You can see pictures of his pencils.
They are organized by country and some by date.

Some of the country and pencil names you will know, some you won't.

This link is to the British English version of the site.
Click the site's Home link and you can view the site in Russian.
The Russian alphabet uses Cyrillic characters, so the writing will look quite different.

Pencil Talk

This is a pencil blog!

Mug Boss ~ Just Like Bucket Boss, Only Smaller! 

Not Your Plastic Pencil Organizer!

MUG BOSS
This is one of my favorite ways to keep my pencils and related writing tools organized. The canvas holder fits right over and into any standard coffee mug.

Bucket Boss Brand 99981 Mug Boss

Everyone has mugs they're not using, eh?
So, one year, for Christmas we...

(That was only because
Mother's Day & Father's Day were already over.)

Amazon Price: $5.13 (as of 10/06/2008)

Usually ships in 24 hours

A Ubiquitous Object Challenge 

"The Ubiquitous _____"

Putting Pencils to Paper, Purposefully & Proudly! 

Sometimes all it takes to get over the hump is a little push (of the pencil.)

I've handpicked these three books to help you develop your visual-spatial intelligence.

We all have the capacity to see & say things more visually.
It's just usually un(der)developed!

I've used each of these books, since their first publication, with elementary-adult learners.
These books will have a positive effect on the
confidence & competence with which you will
see & say things visually!

Used copies will work just fine!

Mark Kistler'S Draw Squad

by Mark Kistler

Children & adults, alone or together, will enjoy the satisfaction of visible growth resulting this program.

A sequence of 30 time-tested "lessons" provide a fret free context for developing competence & competence in visual thinking & communication through freehand (pencil) drawing.

This was Kistler's first (and I think best) book. I've been using it with learner's of all ages, since 1988. It builds a solid visual vocabulary and a "Look what I can do!" disposition.

Amazon Price: $12.24 (as of 10/06/2008)
Used Price: $1.31

VizAbility (with CD-ROM)

by Kristina Hooper Woolsey, Scott Kim, Gayle Curtis

This resource was a decade ahead of its time, in 1996, when I built my first (primitive) online course around it. The CD is filled paper & pixel based exercises, games and puzzles that will build the ways in which you see, draw, diagram, imagine & communicate visually.

" The CD will be fun for the whole family," would not be a cliche. Additionally, the role & importance of work environments, prototyping cycles & visual thinking cultures are explored.

Amazon Price: $52.95 (as of 10/06/2008)
Used Price: $2.60

I See What You Mean: Children at Work With Visual Information

by Steve Moline

For children & adults alike, there is great value in exploring visual & design thinking, in a simple manner. Even those with expertise can growth through viewing simplicity.

Six types of diagrams, two types of graphs, time lines, three types of maps, tables and some simple principles of graphic design & layout--with children's pencil sketched examples. No one is too old or wise for this!

Amazon Price: $20.25 (as of 10/06/2008)
Used Price: $9.32

Guestbook for The Ubiquitous Pencil 

I hope you've found at least one good idea or useful piece of information!

Graceonline Wow. You've taken an ordinary, everyday object and made it absolutely fascinating. Thank you for an educational and entertaining read. This is going on my lensroll. Posted April 08, 2008

KimGiancaterino This lens is just amazing... Blessed by a Squid Angel today! Posted April 02, 2008

adez7 This is a great lens, probably the most thorough and complete lens ever made on pencils. ***** Posted April 02, 2008

Table of Contents for The Ubiquitous Pencil 

An Annotated Collection of Links & Interactions for Learners of All Ages

• My Favorite Pencil - An EBONY Pencil
• Full Disclosure of Lensmaster Bias
• Ways to Use this Lens: Curious Life Long Learners
• Ways to Use this Lens: In Class, Online & Homeschool Teachers
• Imbuing the Wonder of Words
• Pencils: What are they?
• Pencils as Tools
• Sharp Pencils Are as Sharp as Darts!
• Sharp Pencil!
• Pencils as Inventions
• The New PenAgain Pencil & Pens
• PenAgain by Pacific Writing Instruments
• Pencils as Objects with Histories
• Pencils as Manufactured Objects
• The Saga of Short Pencils
• Pencils as Objects of Scientific Inquiry
• Pencils as Game Components & Trick Props
• Pencil Spin Tutorial
• Pencils As Art
• Pencils as the Objects of Collections
• Mug Boss ~ Just Like Bucket Boss, Only Smaller!
• A Ubiquitous Object Challenge
• Putting Pencils to Paper, Purposefully & Proudly!
• Guestbook for The Ubiquitous Pencil
• Duel on Use of a Concepts at a Glance + Table of Contents in a Lens

Duel on Use of a Concepts at a Glance + Table of Contents in a Lens 

What do you think?

I'm experimenting with placement of the Table of Contents
at the bottom of the lens, like you find in some blogs.
The Table of Contents lists every module in the lens.

I've placed a Contents at a Glancetoward the beginning of the lens, following the series of Lens Orientation modules.

I'm thinking Contents at a Glance might be more useful there.
A full Table of Contents much be more unobtrusive and useful here.

There is a link to both the Contents at a Glance and the Table of Contents in the Introduction.

Each "Pencils as..." content module has a link to the Contents at a Glance and the Table of Contents.
The links is

Use this Duel to post your thoughts on the Pros & Cons of using & positioning a Contents at a Glance + Table of Contents the way they have been in this lens.

a%3A10%3A%7Bs%3A8%3A%22approval%22%3Bs%3A4%3A%22auto%22%3Bs%3A10%3A%22blurbCount%22%3Bs%3A1%3A%226%22%3Bs%3A7%3A%22option1%22%3Bs%3A34%3A%22Pros%3A+Things+to+keep+doing+and+why%22%3Bs%3A7%3A%22option2%22%3Bs%3A45%3A%22Cons%3A+Things+to+stop+doing+or+improve+and+why%22%3Bs%3A6%3A%22period%22%3Bs%3A1%3A%221%22%3Bs%3A8%3A%22question%22%3Bs%3A135%3A%22What+do+you+see+as+the+Pros+%26+Cons+of+Using+%26+Placing+a+Contents+at+a+Glance+%26+a++Table+of+Contents+the+way+its+been+done+in+this+lens%3F%22%3Bs%3A12%3A%22requireLogin%22%3Bs%3A5%3A%22false%22%3Bs%3A9%3A%22sendEmail%22%3Bs%3A2%3A%22no%22%3Bs%3A10%3A%22showPhotos%22%3Bs%3A3%3A%22yes%22%3Bs%3A9%3A%22stripHTML%22%3Bs%3A2%3A%22no%22%3B%7D

What do you see as the Pros & Cons of Using & Placing a Contents at a Glance & a Table of Contents the way its been done in this lens?

Fetching blurbs now... please stand by

Pros: Things to keep doing and why

Graceonline says:

I got it immediately, uptop, when you gave us links to the two navigational tools. I have avoided using the ToC because it is so ugly and can be long. I miss the "What's here" we used to find in the sidebar, which was so easy to use. Putting the ToC at the bottom of the lens, with a link uptop for those who want to pick and choose is brilliant. I may have to copy your idea for some of my lenses. Unless, of course, the new max lens coming out tomorrow solves the problem more elegantly.

Posted April 08, 2008

KimGiancaterino says:

I've seen TOC modules used at the end of a few other large lenses, and it seems to work well as a memory refresher. I like the way you've done it here.

Posted April 02, 2008

Cons: Things to stop doing or improve and why

Susan52 says:

I think it's confusing having the table of contents as far down as you have it. I'd rather see it just below the intro module. I do, however, like the contents at a glance and think that would be just fine to show at the top with the full TOC at the bottom.

Posted April 02, 2008

 

 

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