Barefoot Parks

Popular in Europe, barefoot parks are places where visitors can dispense with shoes and safely experience various landscape textures underfoot. Their well-maintained terrain affords visitors the opportunity to walk across different types of soil, wade through streams, and even practice climbing—all while barefoot. Some parks offer activities such as foot gymnastics, in which people can practice picking up objects with their feet. How might barefoot parks improve one’s overall comfort and health? Discuss

Equal Opportunity Day

At the dedication of the Gettysburg National Cemetery in southern Pennsylvania on November 19, 1863, President Abraham Lincoln delivered the Gettysburg Address. This 270-word speech is considered one of the greatest in American history. Equal Opportunity Day is observed at Gettysburg National Cemetery each year, where ceremonies commemorating Lincoln’s address are held under the sponsorship of the Sons of Union Veterans and the Lincoln Fellowship of Pennsylvania. Sometimes this day is referred to as Gettysburg Address Day. Discuss

Herbaria

A herbarium is a collection of dried and mounted plant specimens. Whole plants collected from the field are spread flat and dried, usually between absorbent sheets in a plant press. They are then mounted on stiff white paper and carefully labeled. Specimens are often poisoned as a precaution against insect attacks. Herbaria are said to be the “dictionaries” of the plant kingdom, containing the reference specimens essential to the proper naming of unknown plants. How are specimens organized? Discuss

trumpet

kazoo, bazooka – Dutch bazu, “trumpet,” gives us the words kazoo and bazooka, the latter originally being a form of kazoo that was a long sounding-horn. More…

jubilee – Comes from Hebrew yobhel, “ram’s horn,” which was used as a trumpet to proclaim the jubilee, a year of emancipation and restoration (every 50 years). More…

taratantara – The sound of a bugle or trumpet can be called taratantara. More…

tuba – The Latin word for “trumpet.” More…