Fw: [MathingOff] link: Lost Ladybug Project
Letty
Friday, July 4, 2008, 12:06 PM
Here's a link from the science list that I thought folks here might be
interested in as well:
The Lost Ladybug Project
http://instruct1. cit.cornell. edu/courses/ icb344/Lost_ Ladybugs. htm
Sounds like a fun summer project! As has been mentioned here before,
nature surveys are good way to have fun with "real life" math (in this
case, counting and measuring ladybugs and identifying them by the
number of spots they have).
Enjoy!
[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
Here's a link from the science list that I thought folks here might be
interested in as well:
The Lost Ladybug Project
http://instruct1. cit.cornell. edu/courses/ icb344/Lost_ Ladybugs. htm
Sounds like a fun summer project! As has been mentioned here before,
nature surveys are good way to have fun with "real life" math (in this
case, counting and measuring ladybugs and identifying them by the
number of spots they have).
Enjoy!
[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
Joanna Murphy
> Sounds like a fun summer project! As has been mentioned here before,This could be a fun project for some families, but if we did it we wouldn't do it because
> nature surveys are good way to have fun with "real life" math (in this
> case, counting and measuring ladybugs and identifying them by the
> number of spots they have).
it's a way to have fun with "real life" math. We'd do it as a way to spend enjoyable time
together, spend some quiet time out in nature, feel like we were "helping" in some way,
maybe as a way to observe with different eyes, or other reasons that I'm not even thinking
of right now--but the math stuff would certainly be incidental to the experience.
Joanna
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[email protected]
In a message dated 7/4/2008 2:25:46 PM Eastern Daylight Time,
ridingmom@... writes:
<<<This could be a fun project for some families, but if we did it we
wouldn't do it because
it's a way to have fun with "real life" math. We'd do it as a way to spend
enjoyable time
together, spend some quiet time out in nature, feel like we were "helping"
in some way,
maybe as a way to observe with different eyes, or other reasons that I'm not
even thinking
of right now--but the math stuff would certainly be incidental to the
experience.>>>
This has been enlightening-I'm just getting an inkling that I may have had
some school/teaching trauma somewhere in my life! When I heard about the
Ladybug Project, my thoughts were the same as yours: fun, time together, helping
the scientists (and the ladybugs!) and I was really excited about it. When I
read "project" I went, "Eyew!" and my enthusiasm dimmed greatly. Then when I
read your post, something clicked and I realized that happens a lot when I hear
of/read/see something fun boxed up into an "educational opportunity" and
started wondering where that came from. I get so aggravated with the twisting of
something into something else to "make" it "educational", that I have a hard
time, if I can even find it possible, to even look at the "educational"
thing. Hmmm... I'll be mulling that for a while. Thanks for the catalyst!
**************Gas prices getting you down? Search AOL Autos for
fuel-efficient used cars. (http://autos.aol.com/used?ncid=aolaut00050000000007)
[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
ridingmom@... writes:
<<<This could be a fun project for some families, but if we did it we
wouldn't do it because
it's a way to have fun with "real life" math. We'd do it as a way to spend
enjoyable time
together, spend some quiet time out in nature, feel like we were "helping"
in some way,
maybe as a way to observe with different eyes, or other reasons that I'm not
even thinking
of right now--but the math stuff would certainly be incidental to the
experience.>>>
This has been enlightening-I'm just getting an inkling that I may have had
some school/teaching trauma somewhere in my life! When I heard about the
Ladybug Project, my thoughts were the same as yours: fun, time together, helping
the scientists (and the ladybugs!) and I was really excited about it. When I
read "project" I went, "Eyew!" and my enthusiasm dimmed greatly. Then when I
read your post, something clicked and I realized that happens a lot when I hear
of/read/see something fun boxed up into an "educational opportunity" and
started wondering where that came from. I get so aggravated with the twisting of
something into something else to "make" it "educational", that I have a hard
time, if I can even find it possible, to even look at the "educational"
thing. Hmmm... I'll be mulling that for a while. Thanks for the catalyst!
**************Gas prices getting you down? Search AOL Autos for
fuel-efficient used cars. (http://autos.aol.com/used?ncid=aolaut00050000000007)
[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
Joanna Murphy
==When I read "project" I went, "Eyew!" and my enthusiasm dimmed greatly. Then when I
read your post, something clicked and I realized that happens a lot when I hear
of/read/see something fun boxed up into an "educational opportunity" and started
wondering where that came from.==
SchooI/institutionalized, standardized learning
==I get so aggravated with the twisting of something into something else to "make" it
"educational", that I have a hard time, if I can even find it possible, to even look at the
"educational" thing.==
Yes! I agree. I think so much of the fun is sapped out of things when there's a hidden
agena--or I guess not always "hidden"--but so often with homeschooling families, it
seems like there is this sneaky kind of "Mom's pulling one over on them and it's actually
educational" kind of attitude.
And I don't mean that I think things can't be done for the sake of their educational value,
but it's the sneaky vibe that's been buggin' me lately. For instance, we checked out a
game that was created for learning multiplication. There is nothing hidden about the
agenda. I asked my son, who enjoys thinking about numbers and patterns, if he'd like to
try this game that could be a fun way of learning the multiplication tables. I didn't sidle
up to him and ask innocently if he'd like to try this new game--you know the attitude I
mean. It was all simple and straight-up.
But I've definitely been in on the other kind of conversation in which the moms are
comparing notes about what their children learned that they didn't know they were
learning with a conspiratorial attitude. Blech!! It just feels disrespectful and
condescending to me. I guess that's what got triggered for me with the project post.
Joanna
read your post, something clicked and I realized that happens a lot when I hear
of/read/see something fun boxed up into an "educational opportunity" and started
wondering where that came from.==
SchooI/institutionalized, standardized learning
==I get so aggravated with the twisting of something into something else to "make" it
"educational", that I have a hard time, if I can even find it possible, to even look at the
"educational" thing.==
Yes! I agree. I think so much of the fun is sapped out of things when there's a hidden
agena--or I guess not always "hidden"--but so often with homeschooling families, it
seems like there is this sneaky kind of "Mom's pulling one over on them and it's actually
educational" kind of attitude.
And I don't mean that I think things can't be done for the sake of their educational value,
but it's the sneaky vibe that's been buggin' me lately. For instance, we checked out a
game that was created for learning multiplication. There is nothing hidden about the
agenda. I asked my son, who enjoys thinking about numbers and patterns, if he'd like to
try this game that could be a fun way of learning the multiplication tables. I didn't sidle
up to him and ask innocently if he'd like to try this new game--you know the attitude I
mean. It was all simple and straight-up.
But I've definitely been in on the other kind of conversation in which the moms are
comparing notes about what their children learned that they didn't know they were
learning with a conspiratorial attitude. Blech!! It just feels disrespectful and
condescending to me. I guess that's what got triggered for me with the project post.
Joanna
>
>
>
> **************Gas prices getting you down? Search AOL Autos for
> fuel-efficient used cars. (http://autos.aol.com/used?ncid=aolaut00050000000007)
>
>
> [Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
>
Rebecca Boxwell
Is the Lost Ladybug Project still ongoing? I couldn't find any current
dates.
--Rebecca
On Fri, 4 Jul 2008 09:28:22 -0700 (PDT), "Letty" <lapalapaus@...>
said:
dates.
--Rebecca
On Fri, 4 Jul 2008 09:28:22 -0700 (PDT), "Letty" <lapalapaus@...>
said:
>
>
> Friday, July 4, 2008, 12:06 PM
>
>
>
>
>
>
> Here's a link from the science list that I thought folks here might be
> interested in as well:
>
> The Lost Ladybug Project
> http://instruct1. cit.cornell. edu/courses/ icb344/Lost_ Ladybugs. htm
>
> Sounds like a fun summer project! As has been mentioned here before,
> nature surveys are good way to have fun with "real life" math (in this
> case, counting and measuring ladybugs and identifying them by the
> number of spots they have).
>
> Enjoy!
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
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>
>
>
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>