Wasteful Spending? US Gov Spends $2M, Finds Out Kids Like Food Un-Sneezed On

Senator Questions the Value of Scientific Research

 (Getty Images/mammamaart)

https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/powerpost/wp/2016/11/30/should-the-u-s-spend-200000-on-how-500-year-old-fish-bones-relate-to-tanzanian-social-status/?utm_term=.6218dd1cef44#comments

1)  Which numbers are used as evidence in this article?  What evidence is used by politicians as "appropriate" or "too much" spending?

2)  Why might a scientist have a different opinion on this than that of a builder?  Whose perspective is left out?

3)  In what ways is this connected to sports?  Instagram?

4)  How might this be different if it was written by a scientist?  What would happen if the government did not fund scientific research in the non-STEM related field?

5)  What are some basic assumptions about government?  The role of science in society?  How are those assumptions reinforced in this article?  How are they undermined?  

Extension Activities:

1)  Students can research the history of breakthroughs/inventions that have their roots in seemingly trivial experimentation and create a top ten list.

2)  Students can research Bell Labs/Raytheon and NASA/NSF for the various ways the government and the private sector approach research and development.  

AoK:  Natural Sciences

WoK:  Emotion

Texting Mistake Leads to New Plans for Thanksgiving

Grandma With Wrong Number Makes Holiday Miracle


(Twitter)

http://mashable.com/2016/11/16/grandma-texts-wrong-teen-thanskgiving/?#JSfFo5r7VEqU

1.  In what ways did questions of evidence come up in this story?  How do we know what is true on social media?  What evidence would you need to verify someone's identity from a number you didn't know?    

2.  Whose perspective is represented in this story?  Whose is left out?  In what ways is your perspective limited when reading this story?  With whom do you identify most?  Why might a teenager have a different perspective than a senior citizen?

3.  In what ways is this connected to history?  In what ways is this connected to transportation?  Star Wars?

4.  How might this be different if the gender roles were reversed?  If this was in India?

5.  What are the basic assumptions of the role of a grandmother?  The Thanksgiving holiday?  In what ways is this significant to you?

Extension Activities:

1)  Students can research the term "doxxing" and decide if this falls under the definition and debate for their viewpoint.

2)  Students can invite someone they normally wouldn't invite to a celebration and reflect on the experience from planning to implementation.

AoK:  Ethics, History

WoK:  Reason, Imagination, Emotion

Single Mother Returns Money from Broken ATM

Bank Customer Lauded for Honesty

(Getty Images)

http://www.delcotimes.com/general-news/20161005/cop-shop-woman-does-the-right-thing-after-gift-from-atm

1)  What could be used as evidence that this story is a fabrication?  What are the limits of financial records as evidence?  What are the limits of video evidence?

2)  Whose perspective is represented?  Left out?  In what ways is your perspective limited on this story?  Why might the CEO of Wells -Fargo feel differently about this story today than 3 years ago?

3)  In what ways is this connected to social media?  Marvel Comics?

4)  How would the story be different if it was a man?  A woman of a different race?  A larger amount of money?  A smaller amount?  A bank teller was responsible?

5)  To whom might this be significant?  What are some basic assumptions about honesty in financial dealings?  

Extension Activities:

1)  Students can rank which items are the most immoral to steal  a. a car  b.  a painting  c. pirated music  d.  bread for a hungry family.  and then research Kant's categorical imperative and re-rank

2)    Students can write a short story of a character who one day finds $133,000 dollars was deposited into their bank account.

AoK:  Ethics

WoK:  Emotion  

UK Girl Makes Money Naming Chinese Babies

16 Year Old Has Helped Name 200,000 Children

http://www.bbc.co.uk/newsbeat/article/37255033/a-16-year-old-british-girl-earns-48000-helping-chinese-people-name-their-babies

1)  What numbers are of significance in this article?  What evidence would be helpful to the clients that their name is appropriate?  If you were seeking a Chinese-influenced name?

2)  Whose perspective is represented in this article?  Whose is left out?  In what ways might a mother's perspective be different than a child's?

3)  In what ways is this connected to the culinary arts?  Sports?

4)  What might happen if a Chinese young woman is discovered doing the same for Europeans?

5)  In what ways is this significant?  What are some basic assumptions about naming children?

Extension Activities:

1)  Students can research popular names over time and analyze frequency charts to make predictions about the likelihood of people of different ages having certain names.

2)  Students can read the chapter of Freakonomics discussing names and how they are connected to social status and predict the names of the future indicating education level or relative wealth.

AoK:  Human Sciences

WoK:  Language, Imagination

Canandian Teenager Calls 911 on Her Parents

Teen Upset With Vacation Spot

(Wikimedia Commons/By P199)

https://www.thestar.com/amp/news/gta/2016/08/20/teen-girl-calls-911-after-parents-forced-her-to-vacation-with-them.html


1)  What evidence would help the teen prove her point?  What evidence would help the police convince the teen that her use of 911 was inappropriate?    

2)  Whose perspective is represented in this story?  Whose is left out?  In what ways might your perspective be different than your teacher's about this story?

3)  To what degree is this connected to math?  Geography?    

4)  How might this have been different if it occurred in the U.S.?  About Disneyland?  If the young woman was 9?  19?

5)  To whom might this be significant?  What are the short term effects of this? Long?  What are the basic assumptions about emergency management services?  Teenagers?

Extension Activities:  

1)  Students can research vacation spots and write a series of diary entries from the perspective of a disgruntled teenager to describe the major features and landmarks of thee location.

2)  Students can research emergency management and create a frequency spectrum of likely scenarios and responses based on statistical information available for your hometown.

AoK:  Human Sciences, Ethics

WoK:  Imagination, Language

Umpire Ejects a Heckling Fan

Ump Stops Game to Throw out Unruly Fan

http://ftw.usatoday.com/2016/08/umpire-bob-davidson-ejects-phillies-fan-heckling-mlb-giants

(USA Today)

1)  What numbers are used in this article as evidence?  What evidence would a judge need to determine if the umpire acted accordingly?      

2)  Whose perspective is left out of this article?  Why might the owner of the team feel differently than the child of the umpire?

3)  To what degree is this connected to education?  Economics?

4)  In what ways would this story be different if it happened during an Olympic event?  

5)  What are the short term consequences of this ejection?  To whom might this be most significant?

Extension Activities:

1)  Students can create a continuum of fan behavior from the positive to the negative.

2)  Students can research the history of booing or cheering from a cultural perspective and write a small guide of do's and don't's for first-time visitors.   

AoK:

WoK:

The Case for Critical Thinking in an Election Year (WARNING-POLITICAL POST)

I live in a world where I have access to unlimited information and limited time.  It seems as if all news, opinions, tweets, posts are given equal priority in my social spaces and it is easy for me to default to quick “gotcha” talking points on breaking events (all events seem to be breaking lately) and wallow in the satisfaction of an old-fashioned game of meme one-upmanship .  This may be entertaining but it doesn’t necessarily encourage deep reflection on inherently complex issues.  I often struggle with distinguishing between that which is worth my attention and that which is worth letting drift by.  It is easy to get cynical or hopeless about my individual agency in changing seemingly intractable systemic problems in economic inequality, the environment, or my big one- education.  But one of the things I’ve decided I can do on a personal level is start exercising good judgment about what I allow into my thoughts and how I let it affect me. 

          

Thinking is a privilege.  To have the free time to sit back and deliberate about my current situation and how it is a result of my past and how it will shape my future is a gift for which I am thankful.  I try not to judge those who may not have grown up in an environment that supported strategic thinking or are constantly reacting to the micro- decisions that can take up a disproportionate amount of cognitive bandwidth.  But for someone like me who has enough time enough to post on social media, I’ve found an exercise (not THE, or the ONLY exercise)  that seems to help in maintaining some kind of equilibrium when it comes to the constant barrage of 1’s and 0’s I experience.  I’ve been practicing using a method of questioning for the last few years in interactions with my students, colleagues, friends and family (often to their chagrin, I’m sure).  The 5 Habits of Mind is a framework promoted by two of my educational heroes that encourages asking questions of 1) evidence 2) perspective 3) connections 4) alternatives and 5) significance about the information we encounter.  Here’s how it might work when I look at a shared post at the top of my newsfeed with the headline “It is Undeniable:  Candidate X is the Most _________ Candidate in History”.  (edit:  obviously I don’t do this for every post or completely for any post, it’s just a series of suggested questions I might ask):

1)      Evidence:  What evidence is being presented here?  Do I find this evidence credible?  What counts as evidence in this field?  Do I even know enough to know what counts as evidence in this field?  Is this based on the opinion of an expert or the feelings of someone who doesn’t have a background in the topic?  Could one’s expertise make their opinion even more entrenched in bias?  

2)     Perspective: Whose perspective is represented here?  Whose perspective is left out?  Why am I attracted to this particular perspective?  In what ways might this perspective be valid?  Why do I discount some perspectives as illegitimate?  Have I always had this perspective?  Is my current personal viewpoint on this topic worth keeping or tossing?  How can I avoid confirmation bias informing my perspective?

3)     Connections:  How is this connected to what I already know?  How is it connected to what I don’t know?  In what ways is this connected to what I read yesterday?  How might it be connected to what I will read tomorrow?  How is it connected to my favorite artist?  Book?  Vacation spot?  Child? 

4)     Alternatives (Supposition):  Would I believe this if some of the major points were switched (i.e. black to white, male to female, theist to humanist)?  Would I accept this if it was about another country?  What would I do if I was in their place?          

5)     Significance:  What are the long term effects of this?  Is this significant to me?  If it’s not significant to me, to whom might it matter?  Why might it be significant to them?  (This last one throws it back to “Perspective” and you can start the whole process again. 

       

           Why did I say this was a political post if I don’t mention my allegiance to one candidate or distaste for another?  Democracy requires discussion, but not all discussions are equal.  Talking at someone with no intention of considering their side of the story is not useful to changing minds and attitudes.  While some of the most condescending and reactionary posts have helped me sharpen my ideas, the posts inspiring honest debate by demonstrating respect for diversity of thought have been most beneficial to me.  My hope is that practice with the 5 Habits can lead to a more compassionate understanding of another person’s lived experience, which is the bare minimum I can extend to those with whom I agree…and especially to those with whom I don’t.