"What-If" Answers Ridiculous Questions with Science

If anyone has not yet found the webcomic XKCD do yourself a favor and read all of it! Written by former NASA roboticist (seriously) Randall Munroe the comic is covers a wide range of themes including forensics, social networking, politics, weather and teaching. The comic even has a website dedicated to explaining the meaning behind some of the topics. I wouldn't hesitate to say that this may be one of my favorite comics of all time, including Calvin and Hobbes (XKCD is #2 and the first 20 years of Garfield would be #3 in case you are wondering, your not are you?). I have even posted one of XKCD's comics on this blog.

image credit: What-If logo

While I believe XKCD itself deserves recognition in a classroom (pre-read the comics before showing your students) Munroe recently started a new section on his site where he answers what-if questions with science, math, physics and a hefty dose of humor. The section is called "What-If" and more often than not leads to an "oh, wow!" moment. While reading some of the recent entries I realized what a great discussion some of these questions could start in a science or physics class. Questions like

What if everyone who took the SAT guessed on every multiple-choice question? How many perfect scores would there be?

and

What would happen if you tried to hit a baseball pitched at 90% the speed of light? 

These could make great thought experiment questions to end units on statistics, conservation of energy, weather systems, lightning or photosythesis. Imagine giving students an extra credit question that asks them what would happen if you detonated a nuke at the bottom of the Mariana Trench. Or put the students into groups and have them attempt to come up with an equation for how long it would take Michael Phelps to swim to the lowest point of the ocean and back if he could hold his breath indefinitely?

While there are currently less than 20 What-If's answers to new questions are posted every Tuesday.  You could even have students come up with their own questions and submit them to the site. Take a look around and see what your could use to liven up the mood in your classroom. You can even purchase posters to hang in your classroom. Be sure to give XKCD lots of attention. He makes physics look awesome!

Cross Curricular Awesomeness

Maybe it's because my first teaching job was in a vocational school. Maybe it's because I have always enjoyed learning about every aspect of everything I possibly can (I love Curiosity on the Discovery Channel). Maybe it's because I believe that a school should be a community, with teachers, administrators and students sharing and helping each other out. Whatever it is I have a strong belief that when designing a curriculum it should cross over through as many different subjects as possible.

@anainvancouver tweeted this great link to a custom marble run with ways to utilize it in a math class. The link also includes instructions on how to build the marble run. The first thing I thought of was the use of this in a math class after being built by a woodshop class. Then I started thinking;

• Science could use this as a entry to a discussion on cell distribution
• Computer science classes could program a digital pascals triangle
• Art classes could create designs based on the fibonacci sequence which is mathematically related to pascals triangle.

Not only would it get even more students involved in the lesson you could draw from each individual students knowledge from the other subjects to scaffold to greater understanding for all students.

I am sure that it would be difficult to get all of these subject to time out just right to make all of this work but imagine how long this lesson would stay with the students. A lesson like this could hit on all of the major cognitive levels and hit from all learning styles. Not to mention the fact that it shows students that knowledge from all subject is required to make an informed opinion or hypothesis on something.

One of the most important lessons I have ever learned is in order to truly understand something you must have a foot in so many different areas. I have always enjoyed working with computers, but until I learned a little about programming, engineering, production and marketing I never really understood anything about computers. Curriculums that touch on as many subjects as possible will show students that true understanding requires knowledge, and true knowledge requires a willingness to always learn more.

The College Creep

Is there a college degree for "Fireman"?

The "Christmas Creep". That time around mid-October when stores begin peddling their Christmas goods. It's annoying. I freak out every year when I go to pick out a Halloween costume and Rudolphs red lightbulb nose is glaring at me from the next aisle over. So it's no surprise that when I saw this banner hanging in one the elementary schools in my district I had a similarly negative feeling towards it. 

When I saw that banner my first thought was "Oh thats nice". Then I realized where I was. I was in an elementary school. A school where students as young as 4 walk through the halls where apparently they should be thinking, "What do I want to do with my life?". At 4 years old they shouldn't be weighing the options of Harvard and Stanford. Elementary school students should not be learning in order to write so they have a perfect college essay they should be learning to love writing. They shouldn't be learning that 2+2=4 so that they can eventually know how to solve 2x+4=10, they should be learning to love math. These kids should be learning to love learning.

In middle school we did a project where we were required to present on what we wanted to do when we grew up. I wanted to be an animator. I got it into my head that I wanted to go to the Art Institute and learn to make cartoons. The problem is that I began to idolize the school. I understood what I needed to do to get into that school and really didn't put forth much additional effort. My young mind had made the decision that I was going to this school and it was so set in my head that I didn't even think to deviate from it. If I had I may have realized that there are very few animation jobs in or around my home town (which I was very happy to remain in), or that Pixar hires almost exclusively from a select few colleges (not the one I was attending), or that I would be vastly better at another field entirely. How can I be okay with asking children under 10 what they want to do with their lives when I didn't now until I was in my early twenties?

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We are pushing kids down a path before we even show them how to navigate. My first child recently turned 6 months old. As a father who is deep in the world of #edreform and #edtech I can tell you that I am already worrying about what kind of education he is going to receive. Now I will be sure to do everything in my power to make sure that he gets a hefty dose of critical thinking and personal experience but I still worry that he will be in a school system that focuses on testing him until his mind becomes so numb that his body falls limp from his Virco 3400BR Solid Plastic Combo School Desk. I want to make sure that my son loves learning. I want him to be able to change his mind about what he wants to be as many times as he wants. I want him to feel safe with us if he says, "I dont' want to go to college". But most of all I want him to learn how to learn before he tries to decide what to learn.