Cool Globes

five foot diameter globe depicting wind speeds around the earthAn amazing object arrived at Chickering School on October 23, 2013, 9:10 am. We were surprised to see that the globe was 5 feet in diameter and 6 ½ feet tall. We thought it was made of clay, but when we heard the man hit it with his fist, it sounded like hard hollow plastic. Colors show the wind speed around the world; here are some of the colors: red, pink, dark blue, light blue, white, yellow and many other colors. For example, red shows very high wind speed and light blue show a light wind speed.

Four boys have a blog that is called Cool Globes – Kids. We talked to four boys about their blog. Two boys, Charlie and Ian, are in third grade and two are in fifth grade, Nico and Aidan.  All of the boys said that they have been blogging for about half a year and started in March or April.They said that they would be blogging till the end of the exhibit or longer. Their oldest brothers were blogging and it looked fun, explained Nico, Charlie, Ian, and Aidan. We asked them how they got their ideas for the blog. They either looked up some idea’s on the Internet or in books and magazines. We asked them how long are you going to be blogging. The answers were, about a couple months or longer said Ian and Aidan, until the end of the exhibit said Charlie, or until Cool Globes ends in Boston said Nico.

Cool Globes has been traveling around the country and the world. Cool globes is a public art exhibition designed to raise awareness of solutions to climate change.  Cool Globes grew out of a commitment at the Clinton Global Initiative in 2005, and was incorporated as a non-profit organization in 2006. The idea was to put sculptures on the sidewalk, each depicting a solution to global warming, forcing people to confront the issue, but in a non-threatening manner.

The globe’s arrival was a spectacular moment. It was an amazing place to be and to get it all on Cool Globe depicting wind speeds around the earthvideo! It was a long time wait in the brisk wind for the globe to arrive. We had our cameras ready and video tapes to watch the globe being put down by the forklift. We took a lot pictures and then headed back inside.

Our globe is a wonderful way of showing people the  wind speed around the world and reinforcing the use of wind power. The globes are traveling the world, but last August – October 2013 they were in Boston. It was a fabulous exhibit with lots of conversations on the sidewalk.

Reported by Sara and Eddie