There has recently been some controversy about a question appearing on the Scholastic Aptitude Test this year. It’s an essay question that asks the test taker this question about reality shows, “Do people benefit from forms of entertainment that show so-called reality, or are such forms of entertainment harmful?” Of course, the question goes into…. read more
Man Buying Apples Problem
An old bit from Sesame Street. As multimedia becomes more prevalent in classrooms, this is a great video to share with classes of all grade levels. Besides the entertainment value, you can use this as a springboard for additional exercises: Can students write an expression to model all the man is saying? If the price…. read more
A Most unScientific Study: R-rated Movies
An informal survey of 5 parents revealed that at least 4 of the 5 had allowed a child under the age of 13 to watch an R-rated movie on cable or DVD (the fifth parent could not recall whether any of the films their child watched before age 13 had been rated “R”). We found…. read more
Encouraging Youth to Read Classic Literature
As a youth growing up in Salinas, CA, birthplace of John Steinbeck, it was generally expected that every high school student would read at least 5 of Steinbeck’s published works. In fact, it was mandatory to read East of Eden by graduation. Because Steinbeck frequently mentioned Salinas and the surrounding areas in his novels, it…. read more
A Tale of Two San Diego Charger Fans
For the last couple of years, the San Diego Chargers have been a Super Bowl contender. Led by the league’s #1 passer at quarterback and the game’s best tight end, the Chargers have one of the most explosive offenses in the NFL. This past season the team’s star wide receiver held out for more money,…. read more
A Most unScientific Study: The Busy Signal
Last weekend, we conducted an informal survey of 5 couples with a total of 11 pre-teen children. We were shocked to learn that 9 of the 11 children have NEVER heard a busy signal. (The other two both thought the telephone was broken when they heard their first busy signals) We were reminded of Jean-Christophe…. read more
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