‘Travelling with Darwin’: a flight into Science in Maricá, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil

Enrolments are open to the contest ‘Travelling with Darwin’, inviting approximately 10,000 students from the 1^st to 9^th grades (aged 6-15) from public education located in Maricá. The work selection aims to motivate the students to a scientific investigation related to the concepts that the English scientist Charles Darwin formulated on Human Evolution and its impacts nowadays. It also highlights the importance of the expedition that Darwin leaded to Maricá and to another eleven cities in Rio de Janeiro in the XIX century, studying the species for his most famous book On the Origin of Species.

According to schedule, the result will be released in next October, celebrating the five best works with a very interesting prize: a panoramic flight on Maricá. The five students will know the city from a different perspective taken by Darwin who arrived in Brazil in the Beagle ship almost 180 years ago. They will have the unique chance to know the place they live, observing the whole city: the geography, the Atlantic Forest, the sandbank, the lagoon system, the watershed and the ocean.

When preparing the work, the student must express the scientific creativity, choosing among different areas of knowledge: scenic arts, plastic arts, composition, mathematics, collection of biological and geological material concerned to the field research. There is also the possibility to relate Darwin with current issues as sustainable development, climatic changes, etc.

All students at the contest are allowed to present their works in Science and Technology week in October and during the week of ‘Darwin’s Paths’, in November, in a meeting with other cities visited by Darwin, reminding that moment.

The contest is organized by Department of Science and Technology and Maricá's Department of Education with the support of Ministry of Science and Technology, Science House (Federal University of Rio de Janeiro) and Aeroclub (Maricá).

Enrolment forms should be submitted until June 6. The school or the student interested in the contest must enrol at the following site: http://www.marica.rj.gov.br/viajandocomdarwin (you can check regulation, schedule and general information in the internet).

Contacts can also be made by phone and email: +55 21 2637-8817 (Code 28) or subcienciaetecnologia@marica.rj.gov.br

My translation to Saulo Machado based on his text in Portuguese

Studying English from Short Stories. Try it!

One way of improving English is reading. You can choose from a variety of short stories available in the internet.
Some sites:

http://www.short-stories.co.uk/  and http://www.online-literature.com/

This is my opinion about a Short Story that I wrote in my English course some years ago.
Its title is MACKINTOSH by W. Somerset Maugham. It can be found in the following address:
http://www.online-literature.com/maugham/the-trembling/2/

    Concerning to aspects of life and the way people get along to each other, this story conciliates both of them. It’s also possible to take lessons of how people usually judge others by just considering his own opinion relevant.  Walker, the administrator of the Pacific Island, is the type of person who thinks that his power can control people and their lives. He treats his assistant, Mackintosh, as a “machine” and gets him to write compositions that would be his task.

    Walker also tells people to be quiet and whenever possible, he makes criticism about how Mac likes to read. He judges everybody’s beliefs, ideas and manners. Notwithstanding his behavior, he manages the Island very successfully.

He also tries his best so as to improve its infrastructure, mainly providing a good access to all places in the Island through building roads. Walker is a very proud person who boasts about influencing the natives the way he did. Mac acts an important role in the story. His felling sorry for the workers that had gone on strike, making Walker seem to be the bad guy can explain a lot later. Actually, the workers deserved more for the work, but the way Mac wants to change the administration shows that he wants to displace Walker.

     As the story goes, we can infer that the occasion Mac visited Jervis, he realized that he would be the one to replace Walker’s administration in case of anything came about with Walker. In my opinion, he feared at this very moment. He ran so as to see if the revolver was at the place it should be. It was not. He started worrying about Walker’s life and he did not want to leave him alone. He insisted on that he could make company for him and avoid future problems.

     Manuma was there that night. Was it a coincidence? No, it was not. Everything had been planned before and Mac was the one to ask for Walker’s death. Then, after the revolver appeared Mac waited for news…And before, he had enjoyed his dinner in a way he had never before. He was an insensible person.  It is explicit that he was not the real killer, but Manuma. However, Mac ordered. Somehow, he tried to stop the murder and he was kind of regretted. Then, it was too late.

    Although Mac and Walker did not get along well, Walker felt horribly when everything came about. He started realizing that Walker was not exactly the person he imagined. Above of all, Walker wanted to be fair and every native to be treated in a just way. Walker told Mac to provide what the people on the Island to be treated nice and to finish the road. He was a “big daddy” for those people and Mac really regretted what he had done. Mac committed suicide because he could not bear the pain.

     A lesson from the story is that we never should judge people. Our point of view can change as we get to know somebody. We should not only give us this chance, but giving a better thought of somebody is a daily exercise for our human nature which is always ready to criticize and jeer about other mistakes.

Creation

What's about creation
That does not follow
the rules of recommendation?

And you endure sorrow
But at least you tried
Not leaving it for tomorrow

And you realize what is applied
Cause your lines from a perfecter
They can still be dignified

No thought can use any fetter
For the boundaries I once crossed
It only turns my practice better