Blog has moved!

 Because I don't know exactly where my worlds will be, I have moved to a new blog, Clowey's Worlds. Currently my regions are being built/rebuilt on the virtual world Kitely. 

Please click and visit the new blog. If you are new to virtual worlds, there's a nifty slide show to walk you through the basics. 

CLOSED? Well sort of but maybe not or we will see...

 Biome4Kids and all the VIBE grids are, at least temporarily, closed. I am moving some of them to the Kitely grid. The others may move there or they may move to a separate server. For now there will be a security change. Here's how that goes:

I will no longer be maintaining security to the same extent as before. I may lock down some of the areas so only people who are allowed can enter - similar to 

Anyone 16 or over can make an account for free. Under 16 they must be able to demonstrate they are supervised by an adult (parent or teacher).

As always, supervision is up to the teacher, the school and the parents. 

There is an option for me to purchase an organization from Kitely. That would provide much more security and our own domain name. But it would cost a minimum of $250 a month and I would have to charge people. So I'm not going to do that unless I have enough schools committed to working with me and paying $20 to $40 a month each. 

😢😢😢😢

EEEK - Coronavirus stuck in home - time to visit B4K

So you are quarantined? So you are stuck at home? Don't stay home. Visit B4K! Log in, make an avatar and wait for me to let you off the main island. I am logging in daily according to the posted schedule. Be there!

New Office Hours

I took the summer off most of the time but I'm restarting office hours. I will be "inworld" in Biome4kids regularly. Check the calendar to the right for times. Otherwise send me an email at drclowe@gmail.com and I will meet you there.

Latest and Greatest Updates! Guinea Pigs Read On!

ADULTS (including parents) can join us at VWBPE (Virtual Worlds Best Practices in Education) conference in the virtual world Second Life where the Biome4Kids folks (Clowey Greenwood and Elsie Ocello) will be presenting "If They Build It, They Will Come!" The presentation is about how kids can learn science by creating in a virtual world (i.e., Biome4Kids). For information on how ADULTS (ages 18 and up) can log in to the conference, email me at drclowe@gmail.com or go to http://secondlife.com, create an account, download the program, search for VWBPE Lecture Area A and choose <teleport>.  Be sure to get there a little early because there are a lot of folks there. Warning: Some of them may look really strange like dragons, robots or really crazy women. No problem. They are almost all educators and are all dressed (no adult only type content).

KIDS! I need some guinea pigs (maybe I need to make a guinea pig avatar) to log into Biome4Kids and do some building for the presentation. I will take snapshots of you building your first creations to use on my slide show. How fun is that! But to get you into the Biome4Kids virtual world, you can either follow the directions or I will walk you through step by step in a live presentation using the zoom app on your phone or tablet, or http://zoom.us on your browser. I will post the times and code in the calendar. I will also record it for you to look at later and post it in a blog post here.

On another note, Clowey was part of a virtual world talk show where Biome4Kids is discussed. See it here:

I had really awesome platinum hair updo and a purple pants suit but they wouldn't teleport to the show. I ended up bald with an invisible body. So I had to change at the last minute. I really hate my hair! I'm the one with the short red hair. Vanity, vanity. In Biome4Kids I'm usually a panda.

Biocaching!

There's a new fun activity for kids of all ages (differential assignments for different ages). I call it Biocaching. You get a set of coordinates and you have to find the animal. For example there's an animal on the Biome4Kids Island with coordinates 233.5, 99.5, 30.2. Once you find that animal (pictured below) you would list either a) the name, or b) the name and basic classification, or c) the name and complete classification or d) all of the above plus the scientific name (if you can figure it out).

So the answer to this one would be:

a) Frog

b) Frog, amphibian

c) Frog: Kingdom Animalia, Phylum Chordata, Subphylum Vertebrata, Class Amphibia

d) All of the above plus the scientific name and I'm not sure what kind of frog this is. Good luck with this one (some of the others are much easier)

Get Ready for Some FUN!!! PARTY!!!!

Put this on your calendar! On Saturday November 7 from 4pm to 7pm EST* we will have a Biome4Kids party. There will be meeting others, learning, a building exhibit (kind of like a competition but not), and other fun activities. I plan on having some new avatars available then - it's a secret - not telling you what. If you are a teacher in B4K find some kids to bring in! Make sure to fill out an application so I know who is who.

* be sure to convert to your timezone.