Snap. Crackle. Pop. After the first few weeks of class, I was sitting on my couch enjoying a lazy Saturday. The morning news was playing in the background and the porch door open. I could feel the balminess of a typical New Orleans day settle its way into the living room. Continue reading Strategy Share: Engaging the Five Senses for Lasting Impact
GEOGRAPHY Urban smellscape researcher Kate McLean travels the world mapping scents: Edinburgh smells of the brewery and penguin poo, New York’s summer is ripe with garlic and spilled beer, while Amsterdam smells of … damp? (Guardian) Chart your own “smellscape” and other geography adventures with Mission: Explore! Teachers, scroll down for a quick list of key resources in our Teachers’ Toolkit. “My process of smellmap … Continue reading Sniffing out Cartography
BUSINESS Vanilla isn’t plain to product developers. It’s the x-factor in most fragrances, conjuring feelings of craving, warmth and familiarity. Other scent trends come and go, but vanilla shows no sign of waning popularity, fragrance experts say. That is fueling a chase to find new iterations. (Wall Street Journal) Meet a spice buyer from the biggest vanilla dealer in the world—McCormick&Company. Teachers: Scroll all the … Continue reading Sweet Smell of Vanilla’s Success
ENVIRONMENT Warmer air and water temperatures, combined with overseas tropical storms, delivered an ecologically desirable but olfactory disagreeable gift to the shores of Laguna Beach, California, this summer—copious amounts of kelp. (Los Angeles Times) Use our resources to see how kelp holds fast. Teachers: Scroll all the way down for a short list of key resources in our “Teachers’ Toolkit.” Discussion Ideas Laguna Beach, California, … Continue reading Kelp Has Arrived . . . and It’s Raising a Stink
SCIENCE A dead blue whale washed up on the shore of a small fishing town in Newfoundland last week. A bloated, beached, blubbery bomb of a blue whale. As of Thursday morning, the carcass is still intact, but onlookers are worried that it might soon explode. Literally. (The Atlantic) Use our resources to learn more about the life and death of blue whales. Discussion … Continue reading Beached. Blue. Bloated.
