our bones

physics and physiology meet

The last few days of our physics block with grade eight of East Bay Waldorf in El Sobrante culminated in a discussion about the human skeletal system. I had placed a real human skeleton on a table draped with a blue veil and a gray wool cloth. We gathered around the skeleton, and I felt it was important to have approached the learning with much reverence. I simply asked the students to make observations, prompting them to think about the shape and textures of the bones, and their distribution in the body. We then discussed the purpose and mechanics of the bones and joints.

force of attraction

week four of grade eight physics

The topic of electromagentism was covered in three days between the third and fourth week of the physics block with the grade eight students of East Bay Waldorf. We began by playing with permanent magnets (magnets that have been commercially produced or are naturally-occuring, and hold their magnetic field). We experienced the force of a magnetic field.

We then built an electromagnet using wire, a 9 volt battery, and an iron nail. Looping the wire created a solenoid, which multiplied the magnetic force present in the wire. The addition of an iron core, such as a nail, further amplified the magnetic force.

water and air

week three of grade eight physics




Physics for grade eight included four days spent on the properties of water and air. This week allowed for some exciting movement games with water and balloons! For instance, we played a game called life raft, a relay race where two teammates held a balloon between their backs in order to get the teammate across to the other side.

Liquids and gases are both fluids, and share similar properties. Volume, mass, and density were measurements we took of liquids such as glycerin, water, vegetable oil, and alcohol, and air.

I described what volume is, the space that is occupied by fluid and taking on the shape of the vessel. We measured 200 mL each of the liquids, then weighed and compared them. We then calculated for density (D=M/V). Once we had our figures, we predicted the outcome of putting all the liquids together in a tall beaker. I used food coloring mixed with glycerin and with the alcohol. Pouring each one carefully into the beaker containing water, the glycerin flowed to the bottom, the oil rested atop the water, and the alcohol rested on top of the oil. This demonstrated the different densities of each.

We also calculated for air. I filled a balloon with air and submerged it into an aquarium, marking the level of water before and after. We calculated for volume by measuring the height change multiplied by length and width of the aquarium (V=l x w x h). Then we measured the balloon filled with air on a scale, and again after I popped the balloon, and we got the weight of air in the balloon. By calculating D=M/V, we arrived at an answer. Unfortunately, our calculated result did not match the expected density (0.00013 g/mL)! I think there was too much moisture in the air I blew into the balloon (moisture reduces the density of air). It was a good lesson in learning how scientists need to be able to postulate and record where errors may occur in experimentation!

Additionally, the non-compressible properties of fluids allowed us to discuss the work of fluids, as with hydraulics and pneumatics. A typical piston assembly allows us to apply force in one area and transmit it as force exerted in another area.

path of light

grade eight physics


Grade eight at East Bay Waldorf completed their second week of physics, where we studied pathways of light and sight. The two main concepts discussed were REFLECTION and REFRACTION. Capitalizing on the double entendre of the word reflection, the students began with a a short paragraph, verse, or poem about their thoughts on light.

Day One: Reflection

We brought mirrors into the classroom to demonstrate how light is bounced off of a flat, reflective surface. Mirrors can reflect an image exactly as it is. Using yarn, I had the students follow one end of yarn, held by a classmate, as the incident ray, to the point in the mirror where the image is seen by the observer (the incident point), then to the observer's eye (the reflected ray). Doing this shows two physical laws of reflection:

1. The incident angle equals the reflected angle.

2. The incident ray, the normal line (the line perpendicular to the reflective surface and whose axis is placed at the incident point), and the reflected ray are coplanar.



Day Two: Refraction Observed

On day two, I set up the classroom with five stations with which to view the phenomena of refraction. The five stations allowed for smaller groups of students to experience each station and offer accurate observations and recordings of the phenomena. I rotated each group every 3-5 minutes.

Station 1: Viewing a beam from a laser light pen through an empty beaker and a beaker filled with water, and observing the resulting dot behind the beakers.

Station 2: Through a 600 mL beaker filled with cloudy water (I mixed in a bit of flour), viewing a flashlight beam as it is passed horizontally across the outside of the beaker.

Station 3: Observing a large diameter glass container with a quarter at the bottom. Students were asked to angle their vision so as not to be able to see the quarter at the bottom. Water was poured in, and they observed if the quarter became visible.

Station 4: Observing a beaker with a straight rod in the water.

Station 5: Viewing objects passed across the back of a water-filled beaker.




Day Three: Refraction Explained

We returned to the previous day's demonstrations and discussed the results. I explained the phenomena of refraction, the bending of light as it passes from one medium into another. The direction of the bend required careful explanation. I did an exercise with the students outdoors to better illustrate the phenomena:

The students lined up in three rows of five holding hands. They stood on the asphalt at an angle to the grassy lawn. The asphalt represented air and the grass represented water. I asked the students to skip on the asphalt, and walk slowly on the grass (to show the speed of light is slowed in water).
Coming in at an angle from asphalt to grass, the first student to touch the grass will walk, while the others will still skip until they also touch the grass. It demonstrated a physical law of refraction: a ray of light hitting another medium at an angle will change its course as the ray hits the medium at an uneven speed. In the case of air to water, the angle becomes steeper. From water to air, the angle becomes less steep. (This really has to be demonstrated in steps in class!)



Day Four: Magnification

Just as our knowledge of the properties of heat (radiation, conduction, and convection) allows us to control heat, our knowledge of light refraction allows us to control light, useful in magnifying glasses, telescopes, and corrective lenses. We viewed different lenses and noted the distortion of image sizes, depending on the shape of the lenses.




Day Five: Recap and Intro of New Topic

On day five, we revisited magnification. I introduced the new concepts for next week: water and air. I decided to make it an extra fun day. We had a few water games that pit one tribe against another. They did a relay race with heavy, water-filled jugs. They passed cups of water along to see which tribe would be first in filling a container. Two warriors from each tribe even dueled with water syringes to decide the fate of their nations!

heat energy

grade eight physics

Continuing the science blocks at East Bay Waldorf school, I am teaching physics for grade eight. Physics in the upper grades begins in grade six, and continues on as a sequence of advancing concepts through grade eight. In grade eight, the concepts covered are thermal dynamics, refraction, hydraulics, and electromagnetism.

Our first week of physics, we learned about heat energy. Heat energy travels via radiation, conduction, and convection. I organized our week according to these three principles. The approach to physics in Waldorf is phenomena-based, meaning, the instruction is designed to be experiential, and not abstracted through lecture or texts. Through direct experience and observations of demonstrations, the children live in the phenomena of physics.

The beauty of physics is that, unlike learning about Renaissance art, or the American Revolution, physics is experienced in the everyday. The physics block can be regarded as a way of simply giving a vocabulary and elucidation of what the children already know and experience.


Day One: Heat Experienced in the Everyday, and Radiation

On our first day, I had the students write a paragraph on their experience of how heat and cold are experienced in their everyday lives. It was a way for them to give thought to their actions and their feelings as they wake in the morning and feel the coldness of a bare floor, the warmth from a robe or a cup of hot chocolate. They become active in feeling warmth in standing close to their friends, and the sun as it filters into the classroom space.

In observing the effects of the sun on dark and light materials, and in experiencing the heat from a radiant heater, the students learned about RADIATION, the transfer of heat energy through space. The key observations were that dark objects tend to absorb heat, while lighter objects tend to reflect heat.



Day Two: Conduction

The rhythm of the main lesson is such that the students are engaged in some movement exercises and mental acitivities to synchronize the class as a whole, followed by a review of material introduced the day before, then the new material, and work in their main lesson books.

In day two, I had the students form two lines and, joining hands, formed a wave. Good for their physical beings, and also had demonstrated for them how radiated heat travels (through waves).

We observed the phenomena of CONDUCTION. I used a heating plate with a baking stone set on top, and placed various materials on top of that: a piece of marble, a metal cup, cork, rubber stopper, a beaker of water, a shell, wood block. The students touched the materials after the baking stone had heated, and also after the heat was turned off.

Conduction is the transfer of heat energy between materials that are in direct contact with each other. We witnessed that different materials behave differently to applied heat: the metal cup seemed to have heated up the fastest, the marble heated to the highest temperature, and the marble also retained the heat the longest.

Day Three: Convection, Part I

Our movement exercise included two lines of students who demonstrated the wave, and they also passed a ball from one person to the next, showing that "direct contact" is required for conduction. Each line of students raced one another - let's see who can conduct heat the fastest!

The phenomena demonstrated on day three was CONVECTION, the transfer of heat energy through air or liquid by a moving current. I demonstrated for them how heat from a candle produces a current of warmed air that rises. This rising heat can be used to do work - thermal dynamics. I showed them how to make tiny pinwheels that balance on bent paper clips. They held their pinwheels over the candle, and the pinwheels turned!

Day Four: Convection, Part II

We continued the concept of convection. This time, using a large glass container, I showed them how a red dye placed at the bottom of the water-filled jar would begin to move towards a corner that was being heated by a candle. It showed how heated liquid rises, and as the water cools with an ice cube placed at the opposite end, the cooled water sinks, creating a convection current.

In their main lesson books (MLBs), the students would write a paragraph and draw a picture that would help them synthesize their learning. Following a two-day rhythm, the material that I introduced one day would be become their MLB work the following day.

Day Five: Designing an Eco-Friendly Home

The knowledge gleaned from the week's work is connected with practical application. In designing homes that are energy-efficient, and eco-friendly, which is a growing industry, knowing how to regulate temperature of a home with efficiency and with resource conservation is very important to the comfort of its occupants. I put the students in small groups and gave them the following exercise: they are an architectural firm who a client is asking to design an energy efficient home that uses heat energy wisely, so innovative use of materials and design elements is essential in winning the bid. The students took the exercise whole-heartedly and came up with some creative solutions such as grass rooves, rain catchment systems, gray water, radiant-heated floors, solar energy, wind energy, and use of materials that have good thermal retention and are eco-friendly.

To keep things fun, and help them with remembering concepts and terms, I had them draw little cartoons associated with the concepts. With radiation, they drew a surfer enjoying heat from the sun, saying "Radical, dude!" With conduction, they drew a duck whose feet are in direct contact with an icy pond, "Quack, my feet are cold!" With convection, they drew a conveyor belt, where heat was actually being moved from one place to another, "More heat, coming right up!"

happy now year

living fully present



In the New Year, we are thrilled with the idea of facing new endeavors. The new stuff of tomorrow we promise ourselves we will meet head on. Certainly, the New Year gives us a sense of courage and hope for the future.

Equally important is the Now Year. In the now year, it is about being fully present in the everyday, about appreciating the stuff we already have, about the steady completion of tasks already begun. I read somewhere that a new journey does not always mean traveling to a new place, a new journey could be seeing the same old place with new eyes.

I wonder if anyone has ever taken an old item from their home, wrapped it, and re-gifted it to himself? It seems silly, but I am going to try it! Instead of the excitement of newness, I want to foster the excitement of nowness!

The image above is a close-up picture of a pregnant belly cast we took of Jennifer when she was pregnant with Wilson. We decorated it with colorful glass stones embedded in mortar. The sculptural piece sits peacefully in the bamboo in the back yard. We see it everyday, coming and going from our daily activities. By using fresh eyes (with the help of a digital camera), it helped me stop for a moment to appreciate how the children had pressed these stones into the mortar, and I see its beauty again.

To see our old stuff with a new perspective, a renewed sense of reverence, it expands the spirit of the thing. We then transcend the materiality of the world. Things don't lose their value. In the era of eco-friendly and green, this represents true resource conservation, a spiritual sustainabilty.

Sustaining our spirits, the Now Year has begun.

winter blessing

a wish for the new year

I was sitting at the dining table yesterday afternoon, and the winter sun cast a soft glow on our nativity that rested quietly in the middle of the table. The table runner is of hand spun yarn that the family together had woven. Baby Jesus, Mary, and Joseph were felted by Jennifer and the children. The transparency scenes were created by Ricky and Joey. The twig house was made by me a couple of years ago. A family's heart and hands.

While the Christmas items around the house will soon be stored or transformed for other uses, the image of the nativity will remain with me as the new year approaches. The spirit by which it was created continues to live on. The blessing of family bridges the seasons and the years. Our creative striving and our love for each other continue to sustain our souls for all eternity.

My new year blessing to you:

year to year

season to season

morning, noon, and eve

with creative souls

and giving hearts

love does a family weave.

winter rain

december in fair oaks

rain drop on a maple branch

oak leaf on a wet deck

I wanted to capture the mood of this morning. It had rained while we slept, and this morning, the sky is gray, the ground is damp, and it is quiet and still except for the gentle sound of the creek.

winter snow

painting with salt

The kids and I made wet-method paintings of a winter scene. Using table salt (rock salt would also give an interesting effect), we sprinkled a bit onto the sky, which absorbed some of the pigment, creating the look of falling snow. On Wilson's, the sky appeared like far away snow-capped mountains - magical!

Wilson, 6 years old

Joey, 10 years old

Ricky, 12 years old

Daddy, not too old

east bay waldorf

happy holidays to staff and students

in the kindergarten play area at East Bay Waldorf with my kids

Three weeks at East Bay Waldorf School with the seventh grade and eighth grade classes went by quickly - I suppose we must have been having fun! I just wanted to wish all students and staff at East Bay Waldorf a truly blessed winter season. Much gratitude for your warmth and dedication to the art of teaching and learning.

reproductive system

for the seventh grade boy and girl

The following blog has content meant for parents and children 12 years of age and older. If you are younger than 12, do not read on without your parents' consent. (Of course, now that I said DO NOT READ ON, you might be tempted even more to do so...!)

My seventh grade physiology block at East Bay Waldorf in El Sobrante, CA, culminated in a week's discussion of puberty and human sexuality. I was so pleased with how well the students received the material that I am considering turning it into an ebook or a short published unit for Waldorf teachers!

Here are a few highlights of how the week unfolded.

Day One: Reproduction and Relationships

Humankind's experience of sexuality is truly of a dual nature. I pointed out to the students that the cycle of life has two complementary turning circles: reproduction and relationships, or biology and biography. And it starts with the duality of genes and jeans!

On the biological side, our genes, our DNA, are key to the passing on of the human design. On the biographical side, our jeans, which I used to represent the social aspect of ATTRACTION, are key to the turning on of human desire.

Attraction leads to HOPE. On the reproduction side is the male SPERM, and its complementary symbol on the relationship side is a STAR, which I used to represent the wish (wishing upon a star!) or hope for partnership, after attraction.

Hope leads to LOVE. The female EGG, the reproductive side, complements the EARTH, representing oneness, the love formed in partnerships.

Love leads to FAMILY. On the reproduction side, FERTILIZATION. The concept here is that our reproductive capacity to create Life is complemented by the relationships needed to nurture Life.

This dual concept of reproduction and relationship I believe is so important in laying the foundation for the seventh grader in making happy, healthy choices (which is the umbrella theme for the entire physio block). As they undergo puberty, knowing what is going on with their reproductive organs is obviously important. But at 12 and 13 years of age, even though they are capable of having children biologically-speaking, are they ready for the relationship side, for nurturing offspring? I made it clear that creating life is one miraculous human achievement, but nurturing life, having the maturity to be in a partnership with another human, to dedicate oneself to taking care of a child, requires many more years of growth. (My anti-teen pregnancy talk!)


Day Two: The Parts and Counterparts

The second day, I introduced the reproductive organs to the students. (A sidebar: as a teacher, I was sensitive to the delivery of the material. When we talked about digestion, I showed huge drawings on the board. With reproduction, I sensed that the material needed to be delivered on a more intimate scale, so our discussion occured in a small circle of chairs, with no board work. I instead made drawings on handouts.) I had the students make observations on the male and femal parts that I had drawn side by side, and they also labeled the parts. The students could easily see that parts had counterparts, such as with the male testes and female ovaries. I would point to the part and say it, such as PENIS, or VAGINA. Delivered in this way, they got used to hearing the words objectively, removing some of the giggle factor!


Day Three: Puberty and the Menstrual Cycle

The menstrual cycle allowed us to talk about female puberty. The signal for reproductive maturity in females is the period, along with other changes to the female body. In the 28-day cycle, we talked about the developing egg, the endometrium, and the hormones invovled.

I wrote a song (sung to Jingle Bells, since 'tis the season):

In the ovary,
The follicle does grow,
Inside there is an egg,
And soon it will explode.
If unfertilized it stays,
The egg it travels on,
Through the tube and uterus,
And with the blood it's gone!

Ohh,
FSH, estrogen, LH, progesterone,
FSH, estrogen, LH, progesterone,
FSH, estrogen, LH, progesterone,
FSH, estrogen, LH, progesterone!


Day Four: Puberty and Spermatogenesis

Our circle of chairs became the lining of the testes. Using bean bags, I described the maturation of the sperm as it traveled from the edges to the center on the testes to become mature sperm. Spermatogonia to spermatocyctes to spermatids to spermatozoa. They then moved to the epididymis for storage, and mixed with seminal fluid from the glands and prostate, and ejaculated upon stimulation of the penis.

If you are wondering, the mechanism of bringing egg and sperm together was in fact briefly discussed. I simply said that the act of intercourse, when the male penis is erect and stimulated, releases the seminal fluid into the vagina where the sperm, all 500 million of them, needs to travel to the Fallopian tubes, and just ONE sperm fertilizes the egg, quite a journey!

The Guy Talk

On the fourth day, we had a break out session, I spoke with the boys, and Mrs. Nelson, my partner teacher, spoke with the girls. I was really impressed that the boys were very open and candid with the guy topics!

The week went very well, and I was glad to have been involved with this crucial stage in the lives of these dear children.

say yes

to hugs, no to drugs




For the seventh and eighth grade students at East Bay Waldorf, I brought an anti-drug presentation that reminded them of the things in their lives to say YES to. Then, they can say NO to drugs with conviction. I had made it interactive to engage them in heart, head, and hands!

I posed to them that it will be the actions of love that will keep them safe from the harmful effects of drug abuse.

I gave each of the students a paper circle with a street name of a drug written on it, and we grouped them into the common illicit drugs such as marijuana, cocaine, and methamphetamine. We also discussed smoking, alcohol, and steroids. I began with how the drugs are taken and how they enter the bloodstream to affect the brain and other organs of the body. I listed many of their effects, which I hoped had painted a fairly graphic image of the physical consequences such as convulsions, hallucinations, organ damage, irreversible brain injury, and death. Additionally, I touched on the legal consequences of manufacturing, distributing, possessing, and using illegal drugs.

The paper circles that each student held allowed me to do interactive statistics with them. For instance, with 35 of the students in my class, I had 7 stand to show the percentage of eighth graders who will smoke marijuana for the first time. Quite effectively, I had students stand to show how many would start smoking tobacco by high school, and who would end up dying as a result of it.

We also did an impromptu play about peer influence and peer pressure. The students really enjoyed it, as I had four with purple bean bags try to convince two friends to start playing with the cool bean bags. I commended the students who resisted, despite the pressuring and pushing of their peers!

Despite knowing about the consequences of illegal drug use, some people still cannot say no. I posed to the the students that perhaps these people do not have in their lives the things to say YES to. I had the students close their eyes and bring into their hearts the people in their lives who support and love them, and the activities they engage in that fill them with passion and strength. All the things that give us a natural high on life.

On the board, the students one by one placed the drug names in an arch around children I had drawn to show the pressure of negative influences bearing down on them. Then, I had asked each one to tell me what it was in their hearts. I wrote those on the board between the drugs and the boy and girl I had drawn. These things, hobbies, music, sports, family, all provided a supportive barrier against drug use. And if you look closely at the picture, you can see that I had written in yellow chalk the word LOVE - the actions of love that keep them safe from harm!

What are they keeping safe, I asked. Their self-identity, self-respect, self-worth, their health, their spirits.

And finally, I ended the discussion with a verse I had written for them:

My body is a sailing vessel
I am captain of its course
A voyage of wish and wonder
To the magic of distant shores.

North, South, East, and West
I am guided by sun and moon
Waves may batter at my hull
Yet I remain strong and true.

The journey moves my spirit
Love of life and Self drives me,
Joyfulness expands in my wake,
I sail on towards destiny.

circulatory system

more physiology with grade seven

Grade seven and I spent three days on the circulatory system, or cardiovascular system (CVS). The transition from the digestive system was seamless, as we followed the absorbed nutrients from the small intestine to the bloodstream. The circulatory system distributes necessary nutrients, energy stores, and oxygen throughout the body.

Day One: THE BLOOD
We discussed that there is about 5 liters of blood in an average sized adult. Going to the microscopic level, we thought about what is really in blood. If we were to examine a given sample of blood (I simply drew a test tube on the board), it shows about 50% fluid, the plasma, which contains the sugars and proteins floating around in it. About 4% are the platelets, which help our blood clot, and 1% white blood cells, essential against germs. The most important element in our discussion was the red blood cells at 45%. Using a clear vase, I poured water into it, put in an apple to represent a red blood cell, an orange to represent a white blood cell, a chestnut for the platelet, and an assortment of stones and shells to show the other stuff in the plasma. I wanted to show the students that a sample of blood contains a number of individual cells, with the RBCs giving the red color of blood. How many red blood cells can fit on the head of a pin? Five million!

Day Two: THE VESSELS



Transporting the blood all over the body are the blood vessels. I showed that the capillary beds (those web-like areas on the diagram above) were the sight of oxygen and carbon dioxide exchange, and nutrient movement to the tissues and organs. From arteries arose smaller diameter tubes called arterioles, to capillaries, then widens to form the venuoles (carrying deoxygenated blood), and to veins. Capillaries are just wide enough in diameter to allow one RBC (1/3500 inches in diameter) at a time to travel. Its walls are thin, which allow for gases like oxygen to pass from the lungs to the blood, and oxygen in the blood to muscles and organs. I had the students act as RBCs and they had to squeeze in between desks I arranged in the room and travel in single file.

The diagram shows the circulation of the blood in the body and into the heart. This super highway of blood vessels cycles blood at about 5 liters per minute. You can follow the path on the diagram above.

Day Three: THE HEART


We then discussed the pumping station of the system that keeps that blood going and going, the heart. It has four chambers that act in concert to receive and eject blood. The diagram above represents the cycle of the heart, showing the "lub-dub" of the heart. The two heart sounds are when the valves in the heart close. The LUB is in the beginning of ventricular contraction, forcing the valves between atria and ventricles to close. The DUB is when the ventricles just finish contracting, and the blood from the exiting vessels (the aorta and pulmonic artery) push the aortic and pulmonic valves close. The kids enjoyed the stethoscope I allowed them to use to listen to their heart beats!

digestive system

physiology block for grade seven

still life by Paul Cezanne

This first week of Advent, I began teaching as a guest teacher the physiology block on the digestive system for grade seven at East Bay Waldorf in El Sobrante, CA. While the rhythm of the week included preparations for an Advent assembly, my grade seven students and I had a wonderful week learning about the journey of food through our bodies.

Here is a brief recap of our week:

Day One

I introduced the topic of digestion by bringing samples of food to the classroom - a good place to start! Food is valued by us as humans for several reasons. I cut an apple in half and showed the children the five-pointed core. From it, I created a drawing on the board to show the five "Apple Core Values of Food." At each point of the apple star, I worte: Combustion, Nutrtion, Tradition, Recreation, and Inspiration. Food is important to us because we use it for energy (combustion), for nutrients (nutrition), for culture and family (tradition), for social gatherings (recreation), and to inspire art such as in Cezanne's still life of fruit (inspiration). I said that the balance of these core values of food leads to happy, healthy lives.

I also posed an idea for them to think about: in going from origin to table, the less steps in food processing it takes, the healthier the food is. We compared an apple, a potato, a bag of trail mix, and a Lunchable. Just in attempting to read the ingredients on the Lunchable box was enough to convince us that some of those chemicals listed should not be ingested! We figured it took lots and lots of step to bring the Lunchable to the table. In contrast, the apple simply was planted from seed, grown, picked, washed, and eaten!

Day Two

The second day of the lesson we started with a discussion of how we engage our senses to start the process of digestion even before we take the first bite. Not only is this important physiologically, but it brings the whole human into the realm of the lesson (the core values of food also brings this holistic approach). Then I drew the anatomy of the human as I talked about the path of the food.

Day Three

On this day, I traced for children the path of the food using a schematic diagram of the digestive tract I drew on the board, and talked about what was happening to the food as it passed through the different parts. As a visual aid, I put some crushed crackers in a sandwich bag to show how the food looks in the mouth, then I added some water and flour to show how it looks as a bolus, then chyme, then took some water out to show undigested matter.

Day Four


For their main lesson book, I had them copy this table to show the functions of each part and organ. This tabular form helped to recap the lecture from the day before. The colored bars represent the five processes: motility, digestion, secretion, absorption, and elimination.

Day Five

On the last day, I emphasized some important points. I also brought the material back out of the parts to the larger picture of our place in the world. I commented that I believed how truly amazing it is to know that our bodies have been designed to perfectly break down the foods that are available to us from our earth. We are of this world, made of this world.