Ed's Scribbles

Insults by Shakespeare “You’re a fishmonger!” By taking a closer...

Fri, 11 May 2012 09:59:01 -0400

Insults by Shakespeare

“You’re a fishmonger!” By taking a closer look at Shakespeare’s words—specifically his insults—we see why he is known as a master playwright whose works transcend time and appeal to audiences all over the world.

Fixed Mindset vs. Growth Mindset A growth mindset will help you...

Thu, 10 May 2012 22:34:00 -0400

Fixed Mindset vs. Growth Mindset

A growth mindset will help you achieve more, according to Stanford psychologist Carol Dweck.

Challenges: embrace them

Obstacles: persist in the face of setbacks

Effort: see it as the path to mastery

Criticism: learn from them

Success of others: find lessons and inspiration in others’ success

explore-blog: The storage capacity of the brain and its...

Thu, 10 May 2012 10:22:29 -0400

explore-blog:

The storage capacity of the brain and its artificial extensions, alongside a fascinating read on how emotional weight alters the stickiness of human memory.

Also see why memory is not like a recording device.

A magnetic field visualized

Thu, 10 May 2012 10:11:29 -0400

A magnetic field visualized

Photos: If All of Earth’s Water was put into Single Sphere This...

Wed, 09 May 2012 23:48:55 -0400

Photos: If All of Earth’s Water was put into Single Sphere

This picture shows the size of a sphere that would contain all of Earth’s water in comparison to the size of the Earth. The blue sphere sitting on the United States, reaching from about Salt Lake City, Utah to Topeka, Kansas, has a diameter of about 860 miles (about 1,385 kilometers) , with a volume of about 332,500,000 cubic miles (1,386,000,000 cubic kilometers). The sphere includes all the water in the oceans, seas, ice caps, lakes and rivers as well as groundwater, atmospheric water, and even the water in you, your dog, and your tomato plant.

What's Up With the Oxford Comma?

Sun, 06 May 2012 10:12:24 -0400

girlwithalessonplan: Oh, so, since this was promoted, maybe I...

Sun, 06 May 2012 10:09:03 -0400

girlwithalessonplan:

Oh, so, since this was promoted, maybe I should explain it better?

I teach freshmen English, but this is a safe way to start any paper:

Introduce the text and who wrote it
Give a very simple concept of what the text is about
Merge into your prompt, it’s likely a more specific aspect of the text
Give your main points
End with the thesis (because it’s the point of the whole essay)

SO:

One of the most famous novels of all time is “Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone” by J.K. Rowling. Her story about a young man who discovers he’s a wizard and is swept off to a whole new world of adventure has captured imaginations. This book is also a great example of Joseph Campbell’s hero and quest pattern, as outlined in his book “Hero with a Thousand Faces.” Harry’s story follows this in that he sees a call to adventure, faces temptation, and faces a road of trials. Rowling’s story is another modern example of the archetypal quest pattern.

Photo

Fri, 04 May 2012 12:06:08 -0400

Why Floundering Is Good

Fri, 04 May 2012 10:31:00 -0400

Why Floundering Is Good:

Call it the “learning paradox”: the more you struggle and even fail while you’re trying to master new information, the better you’re likely to recall and apply that information later. The learning paradox is at the heart of “productive failure,” a phenomenon identified by Manu Kapur, a researcher at the Learning Sciences Lab at the National Institute of Education of Singapore […]

Kapur has identified three conditions that promote this kind of beneficial struggle.

First, choose problems to work on that “challenge but do not frustrate.”
Second, provide learners with opportunities to explain and elaborate on what they’re doing.
Third, give learners the chance to compare and contrast good and bad solutions to the problems.

And to those students and workers who protest this tough-love teaching style: you’ll thank me later.

Code Academy

Thu, 03 May 2012 09:38:47 -0400

Code Academy:

Learn to code

Codecademy is the easiest way to learn how to code. It’s interactive, fun, and you can do it with your friends.

Harvard and MIT Announce edX EdX is a not-for-profit joint...

Wed, 02 May 2012 22:43:00 -0400

Harvard and MIT Announce edX

EdX is a not-for-profit joint venture between Harvard University and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology to offer online versions of their classes and those of other universities. At the same time, edX will support Harvard and MIT faculty in conducting research on teaching and learning on campus through tools that enrich classroom and laboratory experiences. The goal of this initiative is to create a global community of online learners while improving education for everyone. To learn more about edX, visit http://www.edxonline.org.

arkanxiltmm: Hard Problems is a feature documentary about the...

Mon, 30 Apr 2012 23:19:08 -0400

arkanxiltmm:

Hard Problems is a feature documentary about the extraordinarily gifted students who represented the United States in 2006 at the world’s toughest math competition—the International Mathematical Olympiad (IMO). It is the story of six American high school students who competed with 500 others from 90 countries in Ljubljana, Slovenia. The film shows the dedication and perseverance of these remarkably talented students, the rigorous preparation they undertake, their individuality, and the joy they get out of solving challenging problems. Above all, it captures the spirit of math competitions at the highest level.

Although American students on the whole rank well behind many countries in mathematics, American math Olympiad teams regularly finish among the top teams. While aiming to inspire and entertain, Hard Problems provides an insightful and thoughtful look at the process that produces successful teams, and ultimately, great mathematicians of the future.

Hard Problems takes a close look at exceptional students who make it to the highest levels of high school math, asking teachers, parents, siblings, the students themselves to shed light on what produces mathematical genius and how to nurture it. As we get to know them, the students in Hard Problems shatter many stereotypes and clichés about the mathematically gifted.

For more info visit http://www.hardproblemsmovie.com/synopsis.html

kobak: Nature by Numbers (by etereaestudios)

Mon, 30 Apr 2012 23:09:06 -0400

kobak:

Nature by Numbers (by etereaestudios)

assureconsulting: A real maths problem……a real time problem...

Mon, 30 Apr 2012 23:06:31 -0400

assureconsulting:

A real maths problem……a real time problem which we go through every day…

Courtesy leanne ingram

Photo

Mon, 30 Apr 2012 23:01:33 -0400

A Mathematician's Survival Guide

Mon, 30 Apr 2012 23:00:34 -0400

A Mathematician's Survival Guide:

edwardm-pearce:

An 18-page anecdotal corollary on living as a mathematician in public. An excellent read.

Birthday Maths

Mon, 30 Apr 2012 22:47:43 -0400

Birthday Maths:

psychlist:

…here are a few birthday / age-related math riddles for you to ponder. I didn’t write any of them. The first is modified from the March 2012 edition of the New England Math League competition; the second is from an old newspaper clipping (source unknown); the third is the most confusing and the most difficult Algebra I word problem I’ve ever encountered (Algebra: Structure and Methodby Brown, Dolciana, Sorgenfrey, and Cole; p.449).

Enjoy!

1. Dad and his two children were all born on March 18, but in different years. Today (their birthday!), the sum of their ages is 40, and the age of each is a prime number. How old is dad?

2. A man says to you: ”Two days ago, I was 28 years old. Next year, I will be 31 years old.” How is this possible?

3. A man is three times as old as his son was at the time when the father was twice as old as his son will be two years from now. Find the present age of each person if the sum of their current ages is 55 years.

The History of English in 10 Minutes A compilation of ten videos...

Sat, 21 Apr 2012 00:06:08 -0400

The History of English in 10 Minutes

A compilation of ten videos on the history of the English language.

Video source: http://www.open.edu/openlearn/history-the-arts/culture/english-language/the-history-english-ten-minutes?track=378501f80b

Coursera: Free Courses from Princeton, Stanford, UMich, Penn

Fri, 20 Apr 2012 23:56:00 -0400

Coursera: Free Courses from Princeton, Stanford, UMich, Penn:

Coursera Founders: Andrew Ng and Daphne Koller, Stanford computer scientists

Foucault pendulum Named after the French physicist Léon...

Thu, 19 Apr 2012 09:57:48 -0400

Foucault pendulum

Named after the French physicist Léon Foucault, it is a simple device conceived as an experiment to demonstrate the rotation of the Earth.

The experimental apparatus consists of a tall pendulum free to swing in any vertical plane. The actual plane of swing appears to rotate relative to the Earth; in fact the plane is fixed in space while the Earth rotates under the pendulum once a sidereal day. The first public exhibition of a Foucault pendulum took place in February 1851 in the Meridian of the Paris Observatory.

Bottom: Animation of a Foucault pendulum at the Pantheon in Paris (48°52’ North), with the Earth’s rotation rate greatly exaggerated. The green trace shows the path of the pendulum bob over the ground (a rotating reference frame), while the blue trace shows the path in a frame of reference rotating with the plane of the pendulum.