Travel Adventures Guggenheim Museum–New York A Visit To
Posted by Travel Adventures on December 3rd, 2007 filed in
Travel Adventures Guggenheim Museum–New York A Visit To The Guggenheim Museum Delights Students and Teachers
It was an invitation to architect Frank Lloyd Wright from the art advisor to Solomon R. Guggenheim that put the wheels in motion toward the creation of the Guggenheim Museum, a place to hold the four-year-old Museum of Non- Objective Painting.
What occurred next was basically a struggle, with the architect going up against his clients, city officials, the art world, and public opinion. Both Guggenheim and Wright would die before the building’s completion in 1959, but students and teachers looking for a great educationally inspiring student tour have the lasting treasure known as the Guggenheim to visit on their next trip to New York City.
Indeed, the city was the first point of contention with Wright, who made no secret of his disenchantment with Guggenheim’s choice of the city for his museum. “I can think of several more desirable places in the world to build his great museum,” Wright wrote in 1949 to Arthur Holden, “but we will have to try New York.” Wright thought the city was overbuilt, overpopulated, and lacked architectural merit.
Still, Wright went with his client’s wishes, looking at locations on 36th Street, 54th Street, and Park Avenue (all in Manhattan), as well as in the Riverdale section of the Bronx, before settling on the present site on Fifth Avenue between 88th and 89th Streets. Being close to Central Park was key since the park afforded relief from the noise and congestion of the city.
Nature also provided inspiration, embodying Wright’s attempts to embed organic forms in architecture. Wright’s approach to the building started with how they would visit. He brought people to the top of the building via elevator and had them proceed downward at a leisurely pace on the gentle slope of a continuous ramp, dividing the galleries with self-contained yet interdependent sections. The open rotunda meant viewers could see several bays of work on different levels simultaneously and the spiral design recalled a nautilus shell, with continuous spaces flowing freely one into another.
Even as it embraced nature, the design put Wright’s unique stamp on modernist architecture’s rigid geometry. A symphony of triangles, ovals, arcs, circles, and squares, with forms echoing one another throughout, the museum uses various shapes to create an overall effect that keeps visitors returning for more. Wright’s vision took decades to be fulfilled. A large rotunda, for example, was to be accompanied by a small rotunda and a tower and a small rotunda (or monitor building, as Wright called it) was intended to house apartments but became offices and miscellaneous storage space. In 1965, the second floor of the building was renovated to display a growing permanent collection, and with the restoration of the museum in 1990?92, it was named the Thannhauser Building in honor of one of the most important bequests to the museum.
Wright’s original plan for having artists’ studios and apartments in the tower never occurred, mostly due to money.
During the restoration, a 1968 office/art-storage annex was replaced by the current structure. The tower provides four additional exhibition galleries.
Some people, especially artists, criticized Wright for creating a museum environment that might overpower the art inside. “On the contrary,” he wrote, “it was to make the building and the painting an uninterrupted, beautiful symphony such as never existed in the World of Art before.”
Wright conquered the static regularity of geometric design and combined it with the plasticity of nature, producing a vibrant building whose architecture continues to refresh.
The Guggenheim is arguably Wright’s most eloquent presentation and the most important building of his late career.
As a result, a student tour of the Guggenheim should be on any teacher’s list.
Visit www.traveladventures.com for more articles and resources on student travel.
Comment now »
Travel Adventures Guggenheim Museum–New York A Visit To
Posted by Travel Adventures on November 30th, 2007 filed in
Travel Adventures Guggenheim Museum–New York A Visit To The Guggenheim Museum Delights Students and Teachers
It was an invitation to architect Frank Lloyd Wright from the art advisor to Solomon R. Guggenheim that put the wheels in motion toward the creation of the Guggenheim Museum, a place to hold the four-year-old Museum of Non- Objective Painting.
What occurred next was basically a struggle, with the architect going up against his clients, city officials, the art world, and public opinion. Both Guggenheim and Wright would die before the building’s completion in 1959, but students and teachers looking for a great educationally inspiring student tour have the lasting treasure known as the Guggenheim to visit on their next trip to New York City.
Indeed, the city was the first point of contention with Wright, who made no secret of his disenchantment with Guggenheim’s choice of the city for his museum. “I can think of several more desirable places in the world to build his great museum,” Wright wrote in 1949 to Arthur Holden, “but we will have to try New York.” Wright thought the city was overbuilt, overpopulated, and lacked architectural merit.
Still, Wright went with his client’s wishes, looking at locations on 36th Street, 54th Street, and Park Avenue (all in Manhattan), as well as in the Riverdale section of the Bronx, before settling on the present site on Fifth Avenue between 88th and 89th Streets. Being close to Central Park was key since the park afforded relief from the noise and congestion of the city.
Nature also provided inspiration, embodying Wright’s attempts to embed organic forms in architecture. Wright’s approach to the building started with how they would visit. He brought people to the top of the building via elevator and had them proceed downward at a leisurely pace on the gentle slope of a continuous ramp, dividing the galleries with self-contained yet interdependent sections. The open rotunda meant viewers could see several bays of work on different levels simultaneously and the spiral design recalled a nautilus shell, with continuous spaces flowing freely one into another.
Even as it embraced nature, the design put Wright’s unique stamp on modernist architecture’s rigid geometry. A symphony of triangles, ovals, arcs, circles, and squares, with forms echoing one another throughout, the museum uses various shapes to create an overall effect that keeps visitors returning for more. Wright’s vision took decades to be fulfilled. A large rotunda, for example, was to be accompanied by a small rotunda and a tower and a small rotunda (or monitor building, as Wright called it) was intended to house apartments but became offices and miscellaneous storage space. In 1965, the second floor of the building was renovated to display a growing permanent collection, and with the restoration of the museum in 1990?92, it was named the Thannhauser Building in honor of one of the most important bequests to the museum.
Wright’s original plan for having artists’ studios and apartments in the tower never occurred, mostly due to money.
During the restoration, a 1968 office/art-storage annex was replaced by the current structure. The tower provides four additional exhibition galleries.
Some people, especially artists, criticized Wright for creating a museum environment that might overpower the art inside. “On the contrary,” he wrote, “it was to make the building and the painting an uninterrupted, beautiful symphony such as never existed in the World of Art before.”
Wright conquered the static regularity of geometric design and combined it with the plasticity of nature, producing a vibrant building whose architecture continues to refresh.
The Guggenheim is arguably Wright’s most eloquent presentation and the most important building of his late career.
As a result, a student tour of the Guggenheim should be on any teacher’s list.
Visit www.traveladventures.com for more articles and resources on student travel.
Comment now »
Travel Adventures Guggenheim Museum–New York A Visit To
Posted by Travel Adventures on November 28th, 2007 filed in
Travel Adventures Guggenheim Museum–New York A Visit To The Guggenheim Museum Delights Students and Teachers
It was an invitation to architect Frank Lloyd Wright from the art advisor to Solomon R. Guggenheim that put the wheels in motion toward the creation of the Guggenheim Museum, a place to hold the four-year-old Museum of Non- Objective Painting.
What occurred next was basically a struggle, with the architect going up against his clients, city officials, the art world, and public opinion. Both Guggenheim and Wright would die before the building’s completion in 1959, but students and teachers looking for a great educationally inspiring student tour have the lasting treasure known as the Guggenheim to visit on their next trip to New York City.
Indeed, the city was the first point of contention with Wright, who made no secret of his disenchantment with Guggenheim’s choice of the city for his museum. “I can think of several more desirable places in the world to build his great museum,” Wright wrote in 1949 to Arthur Holden, “but we will have to try New York.” Wright thought the city was overbuilt, overpopulated, and lacked architectural merit.
Still, Wright went with his client’s wishes, looking at locations on 36th Street, 54th Street, and Park Avenue (all in Manhattan), as well as in the Riverdale section of the Bronx, before settling on the present site on Fifth Avenue between 88th and 89th Streets. Being close to Central Park was key since the park afforded relief from the noise and congestion of the city.
Nature also provided inspiration, embodying Wright’s attempts to embed organic forms in architecture. Wright’s approach to the building started with how they would visit. He brought people to the top of the building via elevator and had them proceed downward at a leisurely pace on the gentle slope of a continuous ramp, dividing the galleries with self-contained yet interdependent sections. The open rotunda meant viewers could see several bays of work on different levels simultaneously and the spiral design recalled a nautilus shell, with continuous spaces flowing freely one into another.
Even as it embraced nature, the design put Wright’s unique stamp on modernist architecture’s rigid geometry. A symphony of triangles, ovals, arcs, circles, and squares, with forms echoing one another throughout, the museum uses various shapes to create an overall effect that keeps visitors returning for more. Wright’s vision took decades to be fulfilled. A large rotunda, for example, was to be accompanied by a small rotunda and a tower and a small rotunda (or monitor building, as Wright called it) was intended to house apartments but became offices and miscellaneous storage space. In 1965, the second floor of the building was renovated to display a growing permanent collection, and with the restoration of the museum in 1990?92, it was named the Thannhauser Building in honor of one of the most important bequests to the museum.
Wright’s original plan for having artists’ studios and apartments in the tower never occurred, mostly due to money.
During the restoration, a 1968 office/art-storage annex was replaced by the current structure. The tower provides four additional exhibition galleries.
Some people, especially artists, criticized Wright for creating a museum environment that might overpower the art inside. “On the contrary,” he wrote, “it was to make the building and the painting an uninterrupted, beautiful symphony such as never existed in the World of Art before.”
Wright conquered the static regularity of geometric design and combined it with the plasticity of nature, producing a vibrant building whose architecture continues to refresh.
The Guggenheim is arguably Wright’s most eloquent presentation and the most important building of his late career.
As a result, a student tour of the Guggenheim should be on any teacher’s list.
Visit www.traveladventures.com for more articles and resources on student travel.
Comment now »
Travel Adventures American Museum of Natural History Headline:
Posted by Travel Adventures on November 25th, 2007 filed in
Travel Adventures American Museum of Natural History
Headline: NYC’s American Museum of Natural History Includes Great Dinosaur Exhibit
For teachers planning a student tour to New York City, one of the best choices for a truly educational experience is the American Museum of Natural History, located at Central Park West at 79th Street.
Among the many exhibits of the museum, which is open from 10 a.m. to 5:45 p.m., are Dinosaurs Alive!, a large- format film narrated by Academy Award-winning actor Michael Douglas. The film shadows museum paleontologists in a hunt for dinosaur remains in the Gobi Desert of Mongolia and at Ghost Ranch in New Mexico. The adventure includes the uncovering of evidence that the descendents of dinosaurs still walk (or fly) among us. The 40-minute film, which includes footage from the museum, features the earliest dinosaurs of the Triassic Period and the creatures of the Cretaceous Period. Realistic computer-generated animation helps bring these ancient creatures to life. Museum paleontologists Mike Novacek and Mark Norell travel with graduate students on an expedition to the Gobi Desert. They follow in the footsteps of museum scientist and adventurer Roy Chapman, believed to be the inspiration for the Indiana Jones character.
Andrews and his team uncovered hundreds of dinosaur remains, including the first Velociraptor and dinosaur nests with eggs.
Another good reason for including the American Museum of Natural History in a student tour is the Cosmic Collisions, a space show narrated by award-winning actor, director, and producer Robert Redford.
This theater experience launches visitors on a thrilling trip through space and time to explore cosmic collisions, hypersonic impacts that drive the dynamic and continuing evolution of the universe.
The show includes visualizations based on cutting-edge research developed by museum astrophysicists, scientists at the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), and other international colleague. Cosmic Collisions shows the dramatic and explosive encounters that shaped our solar system, changed the course of life on Earth, and continue to transform the galaxy.
Viewers will witness the violent face of the Sun, imaged by NASA satellites, that produces enormous ejections of material, with the resulting subatomic clashes producing the eerie glow of the aurora borealis and the aurora australis.
Cosmic Collisions also shows the creation of the Moon some five billion years ago when a wandering planetoid struck Earth.
Other collisions depicted include the violent meeting of two stars at the edge of the galaxy and the future collision of the Milky Way galaxy with Earth’s closest neighbor, the Andromeda spiral galaxy, a cosmic crash that scientists predict will produce a new giant elliptical galaxy billions of years from now.
Students and their teachers visiting the American Museum of Natural History will also be able to take in the display of a spectacular mineral specimen, a 1,000-pound stibnite with hundreds of sword-like, metallic blue-gray crystals sprouting from a rocky base. Stibnite (Sb2S3), a compound of the elements antimony and sulfur, occasionally forms nests of delicate, six-sided crystals, but examples this large and intricate are exceedingly rare.
The unique specimen on display was found by alert miners in an antimony mine in Jiangxi Province of southeastern China. Stibnite is most commonly pulverized and heated to extract the antimony and make flame retardants and engine bearings, so the fact that it survived is considered a miracle.
The museum’s stibnite specimen, the largest on public display in the world, was likely formed some 130 million years ago when water heated by volcanic activity dissolved antimony and sulfur from surrounding rocks and flowed between layers of limestone, leaving a dense band of stibnite and occasional pockets containing long, elegant crystals. Complete stibnite crystals as long as the ones this specimen exhibits are rare?they are typically found broken because of their extreme fragility and the industrial nature of modern antimony mining.
Other highlights of any tour of the American Museum of Natural History are the habitat group dioramas that are located throughout its halls. Featuring precise depictions of geographical locations and the careful, anatomically correct mounting of specimens, the dioramas are windows onto a world of animals, their behavior, and their habitats. Many of the environments represented have been exploited or degraded, giving students and teachers taking in the Museum as part of a student tour the ability to travel not only across continents, but through time.
Visit www.traveladventures.com for more articles and resources on student travel.
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Travel Adventures Yucatan Opportunities Abound For Students In
Posted by Travel Adventures on November 22nd, 2007 filed in
Travel Adventures Yucatan
Opportunities Abound For Students In Yucatan Students and teachers looking for a distinctive trip would be wise to put the Yucatan on their wish list, its unique combination of archeological, geological and natural biology translating into a rich educational experience, among them the Mayan pyramids and the amazing freshwater sinkholes known as cetones.
A visit to Chichen Itza must surely include seeing the famous Mayan pyramids, 1,500-year-old structures, located only 75 miles from Merida. The pyramids are divided into three sections, a North grouping of structures distinctly Toltec in style. The central group appears to be from the early period. The southern group is known as “The Old Chichen.” All three can be seen comfortably in one day.
The most famous of the Mayan pyramids, Chichen Itza has been studied extensively and is the most popular Mayan ruin in Mexico. An early morning or late afternoon visit will avoid the punishing midday sun. The main attraction is the central pyramid, El Castillo del Serpiente Emplumado, which means “Castle of the Plumed Serpent,” referring to a popular deity in Mesoamerican cultures. Among other names, the Mayans called this god Kukulk?n. While it is sometimes possible to visit the inside passageway of the pyramid, visitors who are claustrophobic may want to skip that part of the adventure.
Inside visitors will find a narrowly enclosed staircase that leads to a chac mool, an altar where offerings to the gods were placed. Climbing to the top of the pyramid is no longer allowed.
Just beyond El Castillo is a large ball court where Mayan men played a game called pok ta pok, the object of the being to hurl a ball through a ring that was mounted on a wall, seven meters above the ground.
At the entrance to Chichen Itza, there is an informative museum, a dining room, clean restrooms, a few gift shops and vendor stands.
Exploring the Cenotes These freshwater sinkholes are a true wonder. The Maya called them dzonot (ZO-note), which the conquering Spaniards translated as cenote (say? NO?tay.) Giraldo Diaz Alpuche, was a military commander in the 16th Century who was greatly impressed with these underground caverns and pools, and he tried to explain the meaning of the word cenote in the Spanish language as meaning “deep thing”. The Motul dictionary, a dictionary of Mayan hieroglyphics, defines dzonot as “abysmal and deep”.
In the Yucatan there are over 3,000 cenotes, with only 1,400 actually studied and registered.
These structures were once the only resource for fresh, sweet water in the local Yucatecan jungle. They were the sacred places of the Maya for that reason, but also because they represented the entrance to the underworld.
The Yucatan Peninsula is a porous limestone shelf with no visible rivers; all the fresh water rivers are underground. Being porous, caverns and caves formed where the fresh water collects. The water that gathers in these subterranean cenotes is a crystal clear turquoise color with a very pleasant temperature of 78 degrees.
Stalactites and stalagmites form inside the cenotes and in many, holes in the ceiling allow the sunlight to filter into the cenotes, giving the scene a magical feeling. The cenotes of Yucatan are a natural treasure that should be seen by all, keeping in mind that they should be protected so that man does not destroy in a few days what nature took millions of years to create.
There are four different types of cenotes - those that are completely underground, those that are semi-underground, those that are at land level like a lake or pond, like the one at Dzibilchaltun and those that are open wells, like the one in Chichen Itza. Some of them are accessible for swimming and cave diving, but only with a professional guide.
A day trip visit to Cuzama is a car trip of about 45 minutes from Merida and to the cenotes. Students visiting the cenotes will be able to enjoy the peace of the Yucatan countryside, and have a refreshing swim in three different cenotes. The first one, Chelentun (Chay-len-TOON), has the easiest access with cement stairs and handrails aking it easy to go down for a swim in the crystal clear water.
A second cenote, Chansinic’che (Chahn-seen-eek-CHAY), is a bit harder to get into. A hole in the ground and a ladder made out of railroad ties is the access, with visitors descending the ladder for about 10 meters or 30 feet for another swim.
The next and last cenote is Bolonchoojol (Bow-lawn-chew-HOLE), an impressive cenote that is the subject of many pictures used for publicity on cenotes in the Yucatan. The entrance is also a hole in the ground with a railroad tie ladder.
The hole may look narrow but inside is a huge, well-lit cavern with the crystal clear blue toned water of the cenote. In the middle of the cenote the stalactites have formed what looks like a huge tree.
A nearby restaurant at Hacienda Tepich (Teh-PEACH) serves international and Yucatecan cuisine using chicken, pork, beef or rabbit. Tepich is on the way back to Merida, after Acanceh, about 24 kilometers or 18 miles from Cuzama.
Teachers planning a student tour to the Yucatan will want to include the Mayan pyramids and the cenotes on their itinerary.
Visit www.traveladventures.com for more articles and resources on student travel.
Comment now »
STUDENT GROUP TRAVEL IMPACTS STUDENT ACHIEVEMENT By Dr.
Posted by Travel Adventures on November 20th, 2007 filed in
STUDENT GROUP TRAVEL IMPACTS STUDENT ACHIEVEMENT
By Dr. David Thompson, retired Middle School Principal Educational Coordinator ? Travel Adventures, Inc.
Many middle schools have an annual trip to Washington, D.C. where seventh and eighth graders focus on U.S. history connections to the social studies curriculum. Fifteen years of student travel experience have convinced me that these travel opportunities provide substantial benefits to both the individual and the school as a whole.
While acting as a middle school trip sponsor, I have seen tremendous growth in students who have participated in a student travel program. They become excited about learning. They not only develop new skills, but they become more involved in their everyday classroom experiences. I?m convinced that educators can truly impact a young adolescent?s education when they include student travel ? whether it?s domestic or international ? in their curriculum.
Initially, students gain a greater understanding of the geography of the portion of the country they are visiting. Teaching geography is a traditional challenge, but geography comes alive when young people see it with their own eyes instead of looking at a map hanging from the classroom wall or a textbook photo. I recommend that student tour groups try to take full advantage of this by having students ride on motor coaches rather than flying. It may take longer to reach your destination, but every moment of the trip can be a learning experience.
A second benefit is the valuable knowledge you gain about the specific region being toured. Each area has local customs and historical areas that capture the past and are rich in educational value. I believe it?s wise not to rush to a destination, but to take time to experience the unique qualities of communities while passing through, whether it?s an authentic Eastern European meal in Chicago or visiting the cradle of liberty in Philadelphia.
Students can also be exposed to the arts and culture through educational travel. For example, I always scheduled a dinner theater production when our school visited Washington, D.C. The experience was often the initial exposure to a live production and a meal of this nature. Our teachers also made a big deal of the event by asking the students to dress up for the occasion.
When traveling to large cities, students are able to visit art museums and see, for example, the Impressionist paintings. One advantage to traveling with a student group is that the group can attend special activities such as mini-lectures by museum personnel to prepare them for what they are about to see. An opportunity of this nature at such an early age is invaluable to the overall development of the individual. The experiences we have in our formative years help prepare us for adulthood.
While students clearly gain from educational travel, so does the school. The students learn about the tradition of educational travel and look forward to the grade level experience for years prior to their actual trip. In addition, they continue to talk about it for years following the trip. A high school counselor once told me that the two most memorable middle school experiences seniors recalled were their eight grade trip to Washington, D.C. and the academic honors they achieved during their middle school careers. The school also builds positive relationships with the parents who serve as trip chaperones, and they share their enthusiasm. I always selected chaperones from my PTO, teachers in the district or neighboring districts, or school board members. Once they went on a successful trip, they became ambassadors for youth educational travel.
In my experience educational trips lead to greater academic achievement in the classroom. A traditional yearly trip certainly provides an incentive to those students wishing to participate. The travel experiences also turn on some students who cannot be reached in the traditional classroom setting. School Boards view student travel as an extension and enrichment of the curriculum. Therefore, the attendance and behavioral guidelines in effect during the academic year can also be used to select the participants and guide behavioral expectations throughout the trip.
?Travel brings the classroom curriculum alive, inspiring students to learn through first-hand, interactive experiences. It teaches understanding of other people, their history and customs. Travel also motivates students to achieve in their classrooms.? Michael Palmer, Student Youth Travel Association Executive Director.
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Spanish Immersion: Hands-On Learning By Dr. David Thompson,
Posted by Travel Adventures on November 17th, 2007 filed in
Spanish Immersion: Hands-On Learning
By Dr. David Thompson, retired Middle School Principal Educational Coordinator ? Travel Adventures, Inc.
Imagine taking your group of high school Spanish students to Latin America or Mexico to learn firsthand the culture and way of life in cities and rural areas. This could be a trip-of-a-lifetime experience for many students.
Consider how much more they could get out of a trip like this if they practiced their Spanish skills while interacting with locals in the region. When you move the classroom from the school building to the real world and immerse the students in the environment, the learning potential is amazing.
Travel Adventures, Inc. of Lapeer, Michigan has developed a series of Spanish Immersion trips specifically for teachers looking for these hands-on learning opportunities. The company is staffed by former educators who recognize the importance that student travel can play in the lives of young people. All Spanish immersion programs have an educational focus and are designed to truly engage the students in learning.
?Culture was definitely the foundation of this trip. Everything was based on Spanish and Art. This unique experience was loved by teachers and students alike.?
High School Trip Sponsor
Capac, MI
?Culture of Costa Rica? and ?Yucatan Adventure? tours are 8-9 day excursions focusing on the natural environment and culture of the region. Travelers visit prestigious national parks, nature preserves, jungles, and caves, as well as small towns and cities. A local guide is with the group throughout the trip and special ?step-on? guides and/or naturalists are added whenever the learning opportunity can be enhanced.
?Spanish Immersion: USA? extends the curriculum beyond the classroom with visits to culturally-rich cities such as Chicago, New York, San Antonio and New York. A majority of these excursions are 2-3 days and feature visits to Mexican and/or Latin American museums, shops and galleries.
The most popular US immersion program is ?Fiesta Latina? held each spring in Chicago. Fiesta Latina is a festival of Latin music, dance, art, history and folklore. A typical itinerary will include a tour of Little Mexico, the Mexican Fine Arts Museum, Latin street dancing lessons, and an authentic ?Fiesta? featuring a Latin-style meal, Flamenco and Latin dancers, live music, a Mercado, games, and contests.
?This was our 5th year. We enjoy the trip so much that we have made it a part of our Spanish Program. It?s a great enrichment to the class.?
High School Trip Sponsor
Dearborn, MI
It?s the teacher who plays the most important role in making the trip a reality. Travel Adventures understands this and provides support to teachers in areas such as receiving permission to travel, promoting the trip, organizing a fundraiser, and preparing pre-trip educational materials for the students.
Spanish teachers who take advantage of one of these immersion programs provide an educational benefit for their students that exceed what can be learned in the classroom and will impact their lives forever.
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Travel Adventures Yucatan Opportunities Abound For Students In
Posted by Travel Adventures on November 15th, 2007 filed in
Travel Adventures Yucatan
Opportunities Abound For Students In Yucatan Students and teachers looking for a distinctive trip would be wise to put the Yucatan on their wish list, its unique combination of archeological, geological and natural biology translating into a rich educational experience, among them the Mayan pyramids and the amazing freshwater sinkholes known as cetones.
A visit to Chichen Itza must surely include seeing the famous Mayan pyramids, 1,500-year-old structures, located only 75 miles from Merida. The pyramids are divided into three sections, a North grouping of structures distinctly Toltec in style. The central group appears to be from the early period. The southern group is known as “The Old Chichen.” All three can be seen comfortably in one day.
The most famous of the Mayan pyramids, Chichen Itza has been studied extensively and is the most popular Mayan ruin in Mexico. An early morning or late afternoon visit will avoid the punishing midday sun. The main attraction is the central pyramid, El Castillo del Serpiente Emplumado, which means “Castle of the Plumed Serpent,” referring to a popular deity in Mesoamerican cultures. Among other names, the Mayans called this god Kukulk?n. While it is sometimes possible to visit the inside passageway of the pyramid, visitors who are claustrophobic may want to skip that part of the adventure.
Inside visitors will find a narrowly enclosed staircase that leads to a chac mool, an altar where offerings to the gods were placed. Climbing to the top of the pyramid is no longer allowed.
Just beyond El Castillo is a large ball court where Mayan men played a game called pok ta pok, the object of the being to hurl a ball through a ring that was mounted on a wall, seven meters above the ground.
At the entrance to Chichen Itza, there is an informative museum, a dining room, clean restrooms, a few gift shops and vendor stands.
Exploring the Cenotes These freshwater sinkholes are a true wonder. The Maya called them dzonot (ZO-note), which the conquering Spaniards translated as cenote (say? NO?tay.) Giraldo Diaz Alpuche, was a military commander in the 16th Century who was greatly impressed with these underground caverns and pools, and he tried to explain the meaning of the word cenote in the Spanish language as meaning “deep thing”. The Motul dictionary, a dictionary of Mayan hieroglyphics, defines dzonot as “abysmal and deep”.
In the Yucatan there are over 3,000 cenotes, with only 1,400 actually studied and registered.
These structures were once the only resource for fresh, sweet water in the local Yucatecan jungle. They were the sacred places of the Maya for that reason, but also because they represented the entrance to the underworld.
The Yucatan Peninsula is a porous limestone shelf with no visible rivers; all the fresh water rivers are underground. Being porous, caverns and caves formed where the fresh water collects. The water that gathers in these subterranean cenotes is a crystal clear turquoise color with a very pleasant temperature of 78 degrees.
Stalactites and stalagmites form inside the cenotes and in many, holes in the ceiling allow the sunlight to filter into the cenotes, giving the scene a magical feeling. The cenotes of Yucatan are a natural treasure that should be seen by all, keeping in mind that they should be protected so that man does not destroy in a few days what nature took millions of years to create.
There are four different types of cenotes - those that are completely underground, those that are semi-underground, those that are at land level like a lake or pond, like the one at Dzibilchaltun and those that are open wells, like the one in Chichen Itza. Some of them are accessible for swimming and cave diving, but only with a professional guide.
A day trip visit to Cuzama is a car trip of about 45 minutes from Merida and to the cenotes. Students visiting the cenotes will be able to enjoy the peace of the Yucatan countryside, and have a refreshing swim in three different cenotes. The first one, Chelentun (Chay-len-TOON), has the easiest access with cement stairs and handrails aking it easy to go down for a swim in the crystal clear water.
A second cenote, Chansinic’che (Chahn-seen-eek-CHAY), is a bit harder to get into. A hole in the ground and a ladder made out of railroad ties is the access, with visitors descending the ladder for about 10 meters or 30 feet for another swim.
The next and last cenote is Bolonchoojol (Bow-lawn-chew-HOLE), an impressive cenote that is the subject of many pictures used for publicity on cenotes in the Yucatan. The entrance is also a hole in the ground with a railroad tie ladder.
The hole may look narrow but inside is a huge, well-lit cavern with the crystal clear blue toned water of the cenote. In the middle of the cenote the stalactites have formed what looks like a huge tree.
A nearby restaurant at Hacienda Tepich (Teh-PEACH) serves international and Yucatecan cuisine using chicken, pork, beef or rabbit. Tepich is on the way back to Merida, after Acanceh, about 24 kilometers or 18 miles from Cuzama.
Teachers planning a student tour to the Yucatan will want to include the Mayan pyramids and the cenotes on their itinerary.
Visit www.traveladventures.com for more articles and resources on student travel.
Comment now »
Travel Adventures United Nations Great Place For Students
Posted by Travel Adventures on November 12th, 2007 filed in
Travel Adventures United Nations Great Place For Students To Visit While In NYC
As the site of many of the most significant events in recent world history, the United Nations Headquarters is a great stop for students visiting New York City. The United Nations is officially considered international territory, with the land not being part of either the city of New York or the United States, the host country.
When visitors pass through the gates of the United Nations Headquarters, they enter 18 acres of international territory, extending from 42nd street to 48th street and from First Avenue to the East River. Officially the land belongs to all countries who belong to the UN, now 192 member states. The United Nations has its own security and fire forces, issues its own postage stamps and conducts business in its six official languages: Arabic, Chinese, English, French, Russian and Spanish.
The history of the organization includes a number of milestone events, from the adoption of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights in 1948 to the unprecedented Millennium Summit in September 2000 that brought together about 150 heads of state and government.
The name “United Nations” was coined by United States President Franklin D. Roosevelt and first used in the “Declaration by United Nations” of January 1, 1942, during the Second World War. It was then that representatives of some 26 nations pledged their governments to continue fighting together against the Axis Powers.
While the UN is an organization that covers a range of international issues, other organizations designed to cooperate on specific matters predate the UN. Among them are the International Telecommunication Union, which was founded in 1865 as the International Telegraph Union, and the Universal Postal Union, which was created in 1874. Both are now United Nations specialized agencies.
In 1899, the first International Peace Conference was held in The Hague, its goal being to prevent wars and to establish rules of warfare. It adopted the Convention for the Pacific Settlement of International Disputes and established the Permanent Court of Arbitration, which began work in 1902.
A forerunner of the United Nations was the League of Nations, which established in 1919 under the Treaty of Versailles “to promote international cooperation and to achieve peace and security” but disbanded when it failed to prevent World War II.
In 1945, representatives of 50 countries met in San Francisco at the United Nations Conference on International Organization to draw up the United Nations Charter, which was signed on June 26, 1945 by the representatives of all 50 countries. Poland, which was not represented at the conference, signed it later and became one of the original 51 member states.
The United Nations officially came into existence on October 24, 1945, when the Charter had been ratified by China, France, the Soviet Union, the United Kingdom, the United States and a majority of other signatories.
Today, visitors to the UN can count themselves among 37 million others who have paid a visit since 1952. Every year nearly a million visitors from all over the world come through the gates to see the place where world leaders meet and international issues are discussed.
As one might imagine, the people who conduct the UN tours are reflective of the cultures and ethnicity of its members. Young women and men from approximately 30 countries conduct tours in over 20 different languages including Arabic, Croatian, Danish, English, French, German, Greek, Hebrew, Italian, Japanese, Korean, Mandarin, Polish, Portuguese, Russian, Spanish, Swahili and Swedish.
Others working at the UN include not only the representatives of the 192 member states, but 4,500 staff members from nearly 200 countries. Numerous visitors come each day to take a guided tour of the complex or to view exhibits in the visitors’ lobby.
Guided tours of the UN are conducted seven days a week, except in January and February when the United Nations is closed to the public on weekends. Tours are run from 9:30 a.m. to 4:45 p.m. Monday to Friday; Saturday and Sundays from 10 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.
Tours in English normally leave every half hour and last for approximately 45 minutes to one hour.
The building is closed on some holidays including Thanksgiving Day (usually fourth Thursday in November), Christmas Day, and New Year’s Day. A limited schedule may be in effect during the general debate of the General Assembly (mid-September to mid-October), between Christmas and New Year, and during special conferences and events.
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Travel Adventures American Museum of Natural History Headline:
Posted by Travel Adventures on November 10th, 2007 filed in
Travel Adventures American Museum of Natural History
Headline: NYC’s American Museum of Natural History Includes Great Dinosaur Exhibit
For teachers planning a student tour to New York City, one of the best choices for a truly educational experience is the American Museum of Natural History, located at Central Park West at 79th Street.
Among the many exhibits of the museum, which is open from 10 a.m. to 5:45 p.m., are Dinosaurs Alive!, a large- format film narrated by Academy Award-winning actor Michael Douglas. The film shadows museum paleontologists in a hunt for dinosaur remains in the Gobi Desert of Mongolia and at Ghost Ranch in New Mexico. The adventure includes the uncovering of evidence that the descendents of dinosaurs still walk (or fly) among us. The 40-minute film, which includes footage from the museum, features the earliest dinosaurs of the Triassic Period and the creatures of the Cretaceous Period. Realistic computer-generated animation helps bring these ancient creatures to life. Museum paleontologists Mike Novacek and Mark Norell travel with graduate students on an expedition to the Gobi Desert. They follow in the footsteps of museum scientist and adventurer Roy Chapman, believed to be the inspiration for the Indiana Jones character.
Andrews and his team uncovered hundreds of dinosaur remains, including the first Velociraptor and dinosaur nests with eggs.
Another good reason for including the American Museum of Natural History in a student tour is the Cosmic Collisions, a space show narrated by award-winning actor, director, and producer Robert Redford.
This theater experience launches visitors on a thrilling trip through space and time to explore cosmic collisions, hypersonic impacts that drive the dynamic and continuing evolution of the universe.
The show includes visualizations based on cutting-edge research developed by museum astrophysicists, scientists at the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), and other international colleague. Cosmic Collisions shows the dramatic and explosive encounters that shaped our solar system, changed the course of life on Earth, and continue to transform the galaxy.
Viewers will witness the violent face of the Sun, imaged by NASA satellites, that produces enormous ejections of material, with the resulting subatomic clashes producing the eerie glow of the aurora borealis and the aurora australis.
Cosmic Collisions also shows the creation of the Moon some five billion years ago when a wandering planetoid struck Earth.
Other collisions depicted include the violent meeting of two stars at the edge of the galaxy and the future collision of the Milky Way galaxy with Earth’s closest neighbor, the Andromeda spiral galaxy, a cosmic crash that scientists predict will produce a new giant elliptical galaxy billions of years from now.
Students and their teachers visiting the American Museum of Natural History will also be able to take in the display of a spectacular mineral specimen, a 1,000-pound stibnite with hundreds of sword-like, metallic blue-gray crystals sprouting from a rocky base. Stibnite (Sb2S3), a compound of the elements antimony and sulfur, occasionally forms nests of delicate, six-sided crystals, but examples this large and intricate are exceedingly rare.
The unique specimen on display was found by alert miners in an antimony mine in Jiangxi Province of southeastern China. Stibnite is most commonly pulverized and heated to extract the antimony and make flame retardants and engine bearings, so the fact that it survived is considered a miracle.
The museum’s stibnite specimen, the largest on public display in the world, was likely formed some 130 million years ago when water heated by volcanic activity dissolved antimony and sulfur from surrounding rocks and flowed between layers of limestone, leaving a dense band of stibnite and occasional pockets containing long, elegant crystals. Complete stibnite crystals as long as the ones this specimen exhibits are rare?they are typically found broken because of their extreme fragility and the industrial nature of modern antimony mining.
Other highlights of any tour of the American Museum of Natural History are the habitat group dioramas that are located throughout its halls. Featuring precise depictions of geographical locations and the careful, anatomically correct mounting of specimens, the dioramas are windows onto a world of animals, their behavior, and their habitats. Many of the environments represented have been exploited or degraded, giving students and teachers taking in the Museum as part of a student tour the ability to travel not only across continents, but through time.
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