Thinking mathematically: Man vs. Machine

My first mathematics assignment was an essay on the role of calculators as teaching tools (not just a computing device) in middle years classrooms. From this, I have been able to adapt a few of the techniques I researched into lessons and activities for my year 8s.

Man vs. Machine is a lesson I adapted from an activity from Creative Mathematics Teaching with Calculators (Amazon). Essentially a flashcard quiz, students have to solve the problems as quickly as possible. Some problems require a calculator, some can probably done faster in their heads.

I created a fancy-pants activity sheet for this lesson*. I think activity sheets appear to work very well to scaffold students in this age group. There are still several students who take a long time to write stuff down and draw up charts – this is from either lack of ability and tools, or a need to make it look pretty and perfect. That said, there are some problems with activity sheets that I might mention in another post.

For the lesson summary click through.

That’s no energy drink

Please tell me this was made up for the Russian Tabloid.

A 14-year-old Chinese boy in Szechuan Province thought that the best way to be like his idolized transformer heroes was to start drinking petrol every day for five years.

A 14-year-old boy, from the town of Yibin in Sichuan, first saw the animated saga about robots from outer space – able to transform into vehicles, electronic items or weapons – when he was nine years old.

The youngster was so impressed that he began drinking fuel on a daily basis to “obtain energy” and become a mighty warrior like the Transformers.

He started out with lighter fuel, then upgraded to siphoning gas from his parent’s motorcycle. When his parents locked that up, he started stealing from neighbours.

Sadly (but not unsurprising), the young boy did not develop the superpowers he was looking for, and instead appears to have damaged his brain.

Honestly, does this make any sense? I don’t remember transformers actually requiring fuel? I thought they  ran on sunlight, or nuclear, or the energy released during the reduction of children into mindless consumers.

GraphJam: Child’s Estimate of Parents’ IQ

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Dapper dolphins dealing crack to children

And they think it’s just one big joke.

Why parents aren’t allowed on the internet

I have one friend’s Mum who keeps trying to friend me on facebook. It started even before I met her in person, and even then, I’ve met her maybe twice.* Now, thankfully, it will be a cold day on Venus before I have to deal with my own mother on facebook … but yet parents and elder extra-generational family members on social networks is a bit creepy.

Not only does it feel as if a bit of your privacy is being invaded – but it also means you have a bunch of adults interacting with children in unfamiliar territory without clear guidelines. Adults do not play nice when there are no rules.

In an attempt to win a prize for Lori Drew of 2009, when Margery Tannenbaum’s daughter started arguing with another girl at school – she decided to list the other girls mobile number on Craigslist as a phone sex chat line. The girls were nine years old.

According to Suffolk County authorities, the mother of the girl intercepted calls before her daughter answered. She said she received 22 calls in one day, in all around 40 calls from various men who saw the ad, including some seeking an escort service. After Craigslist was issued a subpoena, authorities said they were able to track the account to Tannenbaum.

…

She said, “This is her mother. Can I help you?” The male replied, “Oh. Hot lady lives with foxy mamma?”

There are actually several groups dedicated to getting parents of facebook altogether. I can’t bring myself to actually fan that movement, I do find facebook a useful tool for keeping in touch with my Dad and Canadian relatives (or at least theoretically useful for this purpose).

Image credit: unknown – somewhere on teh interwebz

*Ye knoweth who thou art

Surf safe strategy #8

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Original picture: mine from flickr. Taken at Bondi Beach, Sydney.

Swine flu brain pop

Rather good UK children’s animated production explains the current swine flu novel Mexican A/H1N1 influenza outbreak.

Some innacuracies, but its hard to tell exactly how dated this might be. Still, definitely good enough at explaining key concepts effectively for schoolchildren

Hattip: Malaysia SMS

Child Labour: Cheaper by the dozen

This is a very interesting development in the ethical debate of using children in reality family TV – does it constitute a violation of child labour laws?

Jon & Kate Plus 8 has garnered the biggest ratings in it’s four-year history due to the tabloid brouhaha over the couple’s marriage. It has also attracted the notice of the Pennsylvania labor department, who are investigating whether the show complies with the state’s child labor laws.

If no violation is found, could this be a gateway to a number of child sweatshops installing extra security cameras and then claiming it’s really a groundbreaking new reality show, Kids, Inc.

Katrina tried to poison children with fun and games

A natural disaster has cut off your power supply. Luckily you have a generator. What is your priority?

• Keep the refrigerator running. Who knows when you’ll next be able to buy milk?
• Keep your fan/heater/air conditioning going. It’s gonna be a long hard night ahead. It’ll be even longer if your freezing or sweating to death.
• Television and radio. You need to pay attention to news reports.
• The playstation or nintendo. Get those children out from underfoot.

Apparently in the wake of Hurricane Katrina, 37 Texans were treated for carbon monoxide poisononing caused by generator emissions. 20 of these were aged under 20. Of those interviewed, 75% were using their generator for video games (granted only 9 families were interviewed).

Does this still fall under the category of catassing?

Kid’s consciences say the darndest things

I love this comic from SnowFlakes (click through for entire panel and final gag)

Yes, I’m sure I want to work with children for the rest of my life, maybe, sort of, oh no…

[Tidbit: One of the creators of this webcomic is Zach Weiner from SMBC)

Babies hate your marriage

Research from the University of Denver on 218 couples, showed that in 90% of couples, having a baby accelerated deterioration of their marriages.

The researcher “cautions against concluding that children damage overall happiness in life” – but just look at those cold hard statistics.

I think what it most likely shows is that having a baby, or getting married, is not a suitable recourse in a failing relationship.

The research appeared to focus solely on partners relationships with each other, not the relationship between parents and their kids. Perhaps their isn’t enough love to go around.

Lying to children is good for them

Somone often tells me:

Adults you know and trust will not only lie to you, but they’ll do it because its fun.

There’s stories about the bogeyman, Santa Claus giving presents, zombie Jesus, the Tooth Faerie trading scheme, and of course, what exactly really did happen to Rover when Mummy forgot to check her rearview mirrors.

Is fun the only reason why we befuddle the youth in this way?

Well, now scientific studies have given us another reason: It works!

When 186 four-year olds were given carrots called “X-ray Vision Carrots” ate nearly twice as much as they did on the lunch days when they were simply labeled as “carrots.”

Early carrot-marketing studies conducted with standard animal models were halted by Cornell’s ethics commitee

…Oh… dear…

I think that might fall under “false and misleading claims” line found in in most advertising codes.

I don’t think this quite matches up with calls to improve schoolyard scientific literacy by not only promoting the concept of “X-ray vision” (that’s not how x-rays work!) but also that eating lots carrots is good for your eyes.

You can’t try to promote good nutrition and make children more aware of how the food choices they make affect them by just simply to get them to follow the whizz-bang empty marketing jargon that got us here in the first place.

Lying to children is NOT good for them.

Image: Carrots! by marmotto (CCbyA-NC)

There is no “alternative” to medicine

Unless you consider horrible agonising pain and death an “alternative”.

That’s why in my country if you don’t take your kids to the doctor when they are sick we will send you to prison.

It’s called “criminal neglect”.

Too bad it had to reach the stage where an eleven year old girl had to reach a stage where a paediatrician at Brisbane Mater called her “the sickest person I’ve ever seen in 35 years of practicing medicine”.

The girl’s condition had worsened “to the stage she was hallucinating, could not stand or walk unassisted, suffered from diarrhoea and had a temperature of up to 42C.”

She had a heart infection. She had to spend a year in hospital. She suffered significant brain damage and is not expected to be able to walk unaided ever again.

This isn’t about Big Pharma trying to steal your money. This isn’t about trying to outlaw your vitamins. This isn’t about pumping your body full of chemicals. It’s about avoiding easily preventable tragedies like this happening.

Alternative medicine kills.

Be a good vampire and die

I think this Cracked.com summary of Twilight (10x shorter, 100x more honest) summarises what is wrong with youth fiction today (Yes it’s a cranky old-timer post from a 20-something).

It looks set to be Harry Potter all over again. Yes JK Rowling you killed children’s fantasy. Eragon ruined dragons. And now Twilight is set to ruin vampires.

Unseemly rant kept at bay under the fold.

Meat, my hero

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Steak is AWESOME!

This kid would get an A+ from me.