Other kids may be convinced that Santa Claus uses some kind of Christmas magic to get the job done. Not the Free-Ride offspring.
They have told me that obviously, Santa is putting his trust in science. (And also technology. But the holidays are no time for ugly spats about disciplinary boundaries.)
From the younger Free-Ride offspring:
Category Archives: Kids and science
Fun drawing (by a sprog).
(Not the post title I’d have chosen, but the sprog in question is sitting right next to me.)
The younger Free-Ride offspring likes to draw, and seems to have a fondness for marine mammals. Today, we offer two drawings of otters.
Here’s an otter with a sea urchin.
I’m told the otter plans to eat that sea urchin.
This is an entirely different otter (which the younger Free-Ride offspring tells me is the baby of the otter in the first picture), and a dolphin:
Friday Sprog Blogging: swordfish.
The younger Free-Ride offspring’s third grade class is involved in some independent research about animals.
Friday Sprog Blogging: questions.
Today, the Free-Ride offspring have lots of questions. Maybe science can answer some of them.
Younger offspring: Why do the stars shine so bright?
Elder offspring: Why do snails come out on rainy days?
Younger offspring: Why does food taste so good?
Friday Sprog Blogging: photosynthesis.
Dr. Free-Ride: Any ideas for tomorrow’s sprog blog?
Younger offspring: I wanted to do how photosynthesis works.
Dr. Free-Ride: Did you do any research on that since last week?
Younger offspring: I don’t do research.
Friday Sprog Blogging: placebo effect.
Dr. Free-Ride: Do you know what a placebo is?
Elder offspring: A placebo is something that you think works but doesn’t really work.
Friday Sprog Blogging: checking in on last week’s experiments.
A bit of follow-up on the two experiments we described last week:
First off, the water cycle model.
Friday Sprog Blogging: getting information you can trust.
Dr. Free-Ride: I wanted to ask you guys a question. I think maybe I asked you this question (or something like it) some time ago, but you were a lot younger and, you know, you keep growing and changing and stuff. So the question is, when someone tells you something about science, how can you tell if that person knows what they’re talking about?
Younger offspring: No way.
Dr. Free-Ride: What? What do you mean, “no way”?
Responding to crises versus preventing them: what else can we do for the public schools?
In which I repeat what I said two years ago, because it seems even more relevant now (when state budgets have throttled school budgets and the current U.S. President has identified education as a national priority):