Paul referenced the special features on the Bender’s Game DVD, and the guys talked about a number of math-specific inside jokes.

Presented below are some links which highlight and build upon the math in Futurama that Paul and the guys discussed.

• Dr. Sarah’s Futurama Math – http://mathsci2.appstate.edu/~sjg/futurama/
• List of Mathematical References on Futurama – http://theinfosphere.org/List_of_mathematics_references
• Got Futurama – http://www.gotfuturama.com/

The topics include menstruation, malaria, smoking, drug abuse, and sexually transmitted diseases. Most Perspectives readers will have seen “Donald Duck in Mathemagic Land” before, but the other 5 may be new to you.

Now, as un-Disney as these videos may seem, we are sure that at the time they seemed completely appropriate. Disney was (and still is) a trusted source of entertainment for children. Educational films were quite common through the late 70s, and Disney’s animation studios is one of the more respected production houses.  The videos may be made by disney, but they are generally mature and serious in tone, and it is certainly easy to see why someone would feel like producing, purchasing, or sharing these would be a good idea.

Like the actor who made zit cream commercials before becoming an action hero or the rapper who was class president back in the sixth grade, Disney has these videos in their past.

Are they not what we’d expect from Disney today?  Sure. Are they a bit odd, of course… but, no more so than those big bow ties and strange hair cuts from the 50s.

Check out the article at io9.com when you have a chance.

http://io9.com/5830596/dwarves-vs-malaria-and-cartoon-menstruation-the-weirdest-disney-educational-films

• All 7 families allowed their children to eat “bars” (a category we defined to include “milk and cereal bars”, “granola bars”, and “health/diet/protein bars”).
• Only 2 of the families gave their children health/diet/protein bars. The reasons both families gave was that these bars were “healthier”.
• 5 of the 7 families said they regularly bought only 1 flavor, and all 5 of those included chocolate in some form.
• All 7 families said they would allow their child to have one bar a day if the children so desired.
• 6 of the 7 families said they would NOT allow their child to have one chocolate bar a day if the children so desired.
• 2 of the 7 families said that they considered a peanut bar such as Payday to be a healthy alternative.

There is surprisingly little advertising for “bars” on television. The popularity of the bars seems to come from word of mouth or print advertisements directed at adults, touting the nutritional aspects.

The fact remains, however, that the bars are far less healthy than most adults believe.

What were your experiences with and feelings with bars as snacks and meal substitutes?  Please share your thoughts below.

• 9 of the 12 families said they planned to assist their children with the acquisition of their first car.
• Of those 9, 4 expected to pass on or sell to their child a vehicle the familiy currently owned. 3 planned to assist with the purchase of a used car, and 2 planned to assist with the purchase of a new car.
• Of the 5 intending to help their child obtain a vehicle, safety and cost were the two most highly rated factors in choosing a vehicle.

This topic became the subject of an unScientific Study when some of our staff, with a 12 year-old child, mentioned that they were looking to buy a new car and were factoring into the purchase the expectation that it would become their child’s car in 5 years. This caused them to rule out certain types of cars, and they find themselves shopping for a fairly conservative sedan instead of the more “fun” vehicles they might have purchased. Similarly, their anticipated passing on of the vehicle is a factor in the options they are selecting.

What were your experiences with and feelings about a child’s first car?  Please share your thoughts below.

• 4 of the 13 families are done with their back to school shopping
• 6 of the 13 famlies have begun shopping but are not finished yet
• 3 of the 13 famlies have not begun shopping for school supplies at all
• 5 of the 13 have not yet received a formal “supply list”, and 4 of those 5 have begun shopping already.
• 10 of the 13 famlies expect to spend more money on school supplies than last year, even though 8 of the 13 plan to buy less items and/or reusue items purchased in past years.

What are your family’s shopping habits?  Do your children reuse most supplies? Do you shop at a single store? Do you use a school issued supply list?

Please share your thoughts below.

• 8 of the 9 families plan to view fireworks between July 2 and July 4.
• 3 of the 9 famlies plan to view fireworks between July 5 and July 10 (2 of the families will be viewing fireworks a second time)
• 4 of the 9 famlies plan to launch “fireworks” of their own at some point in July.
• 5 of the 9 famlies live in states where the law permits the launching of fireworks.
• 0 of the 9 famlies had ever been inovled in a “fireworks-related accident”.
• 3 of the 9 families said concerns about potential fireworks-related accidents weighed on their minds at this time of year.
• 6 of the 9 famliies said firework displays were made less special by how prevalent they are on other occasions.

Not too many surprises in this week’s unScientific study. It’s good to know people are keeping fireworks safety in their minds, and that all the families plan to celebrate in some way.

What were your plans and experiences this holiday weekend? Please share them below.

• 5 of the 7 parents said their children were assinged summer work by their local school district.
• 4 of  those 5 said they felt the schoosl’ assignments were poorly designed.
• 3 of the 5 called the schools’ assignments “not worthwhile”.
• Only 1 of the 7 parents said they planned to have their students do any formal academic work beyond the summer assignments given by their local school district.

Apparently families are not buying into the “use it or lose it” mantra when it comes to academics.

Unfortunately, there is little consequence for taking the summer “off” or not coming into school at your peak form. Most schools spend quite a bit of time shaking the rust off, and all it takes is a small group of unprepared students to hold the whole class back.

Educators we spoke to mentioned concerns about trying to enforce summer work, and several said they were required by their districts to provide an adequate amount of September time for students to complete any required summer work.  Still others say they are told not to grade the quality of the work, only whether it is completed or not.

We wrote earlier about the wasted time at the end of the school year. Here too, we are seeing a chance to improve student understanding and achievement that is not being well utilized.

There has to be a better way.

What were your experiences with summer work?  Please share your thoughts below.

1+1+1+1+1+1+1+1+1+1-1+1+1+1+1+1+1×0 =?

As of noon PST on Tuesday June 14, the correct answer was NOt the most popular answer.

781,143 people believe the expression is equal to 0.

[These people are forgetting their order of operations. The 0 is multiplied by the final 1 and this takes place before any addition or subtraction.]

185,218 people belive the expression is equal to 16.

[These people are simply being careless and not noticing that there is a minus sign mixed in with the addition signs.]

34,805 people believe the expression is equal to 17.

[We can only assume these people miscounted the number of ones or counted all the digits. Either way, the answer is wrong.]

Only 663,922 people (barely 40% of the sample) would make their math teachers proud because they recognize the correct answer to be 14.

The most troubling part to us is the fact that the question is treated as an opinion problem as opposed to having a single correct answer.

• 6 of the 10 teachers said they had stopped recording new grades for their students by May 20
• 8 of the 10 teachers said they had stopped teaching new material by Memorial Day
• When given asked to identify the least academically productive month of the year, 10 of the 10 teachers chose “June”.
• 4 of the 10 teachers included comments in their responses saying they felt the wasted month(s) were justifiable because “it’s too hot to get anything done,” “the kids are shot,” “we covered everything anyway,” or “it’s always that way.”

If an employee spent 10% of his workday browsing the internet instead of working, he would likley be fired. If a store manager shirked her responsibilities every other Friday and let the employees just hang out and play instead of working, she would be fired. Why is our elementary education system allowed to waste 10% of the school year.

Add to this the time spent remediating weaknesses at the start of the next school year and you have to wonder what might be if time were used more efficiently in schools.

We recognize that recognition assemblies, field trips, spelling bees, science fairs, etc., have some educatoinal value; however, it would be difficult for any objective person to look at the difference in productivity during October and June and not question what more could be done.

What were your experiences with what goes on in schools during the final weeks of the year? Please share your thoughts below.

Today, Sea Shephard shared this video interview.

Whether you agree or disagree with Sea Shephard’s efforts and methods, we felt it was important to share this because it seems to lend some credence to Parent X’s concerns.

What are your feelings about letting the internet create a record of your child’s beliefs, causes, and interests?