Freud would probably say that there are times when a hand-turkey is just a hand-turkey.
Freud, however, isn’t writing this post.
Would this kind of plumage only work on a domesticated bird? (What kind of ecosystem would make such wild feathers an advantage for any bird but one widely recognized to be yucky tasting?)
This post is dedicated to a donor to my Blogger Challenge who prefers to remain anonymous. The donor actually asked for artwork on the subject to which this discussion eventually turns; I hope the dialogue is an acceptable substitute.
* * * * *
Even though certain elements of the U.S. early grade school curriculum seem thoroughly ossified, some of them still end up sparking fresh thinking. For instance, in anticipation of Thanksgiving the younger Free-Ride offspring’s first grade class learned about how Squanto helped the pilgrims learn how to grow corn in the challenging terrain of Massachusetts — something we were taught a hundred years ago when I was a first grader.
But I don’t recall having a follow-up discussion like this one:
I just found out about something cool for which the window of opportunity closes in eleven days:
Through November 26, the One Laptop Per Child project has a Give One Get One deal (in the U.S. and Canada) wherein you can donate a spiffy new and super-cool XO laptop to a child in a developing country and get one to give to a child in your life (although, presumably, your inner-child might persuade you to keep it for yourself if you aren’t acquainted with any kids).
The XO laptop is an impressive feat of engineering, and distributing these beauties is part of a plan that really speaks to me:
OLPC’s mission is to provide a means for learning, self-expression, and exploration to the nearly two billion children of the developing world with little or no access to education. While children are by nature eager for knowledge, many countries have insufficient resources to devote to education–sometimes less than $20 per year per child (compared to an average of $7,500 in the United States). By giving children their very own connected XO laptop, we are giving them a window to the outside world, access to vast amounts of information, a way to connect with each other, and a springboard into their future. And we’re also helping these countries develop an essential resource–educated, empowered children.
The Give One Get One offer won’t fit everyone’s budget — it’s $399 to donate an XO and to get your own (although $200 of that is tax deductible), which means that you’re actually paying for two of the laptops rather than magically scoring a freebie. But, in the event that it does fit your budget, it strikes me as an opportunity to help a kid’s possibilities get bigger while (paradoxically) making the world a little smaller and more interconnected.
The results of our drive to raise funds for teachers and students with DonorsChoose are, in a word, astounding. Ginny reported the morning-after stats:
The younger Free-Ride offspring seems to have developed a contrarian streak that’s about a kilometer wide. I haven’t given up hope that logic might be an effective antidote to it, but some days those heels dig in rather deep …
Younger offspring: There are lots of interesting animals that are mammals.
Dr. Free-Ride: Yes, there certainly are.
Younger offspring: And humans are mammals.
Dr. Free-Ride: That’s true.
Younger offspring: But humans aren’t animals.
Dr. Free-Ride: Say what?
Sometimes it feels to us like the parent’s role in a child’s education is one of eternal vigilance.
It is possible, however, that the Free-Ride offspring are more actively engaged in messing with their parents’ heads than are most kids their age.
Dr. Free-Ride: Did you learn anything interesting today?
Younger offspring: Uh huh. We learned about the quack and the moo.
Dr. Free-Ride: About the duck and the cow?
With just over 10 hours left in our ScienceBlogs/Donors Choose Blogger Challenge 2007, it’s time to think about what happens next. Supporting classroom teachers with your funds is a noble gesture, but it’s just a start.
To really get math and science literacy (and enthusiasm) to the levels we’d like to see, your time and personal involvement can do an awful lot. In this post you’ll find ideas from ScienceBloggers about how to turn your good intentions into action.
It looks like you get 1440 extra minutes. And you can blame Presidential candidate (in South Carolina) Stephen Tiberius Colbert. From the DonorsChoose blog:
…our site was flat-out overwhelmed by the massive traffic that resulted from Stephen Colbert and Craig Newmark’s announcement around midnight on Thursday, October 18.
As we scrambled to increase capacity, we continued to receive big spikes in web traffic from the re-airings of that Colbert show on Friday, October 19 in the morning, afternoon, and early evening, and across US time zones.
Since no new Colbert episodes were airing last week (October 22-26), Comedy Central re-ran the previous week’s episodes! These additional re-airings generated many more big spikes in web traffic, mostly in the 24 hours starting on last Wednesday at midnight: between daily re-airings and the staggered showings across time zones, we think the Colbert show that introduced DonorsChoose.org may have aired between 3 – 9 times during that 24 hour period. Amazing.
This was GREAT news for the teachers who use DonorsChoose.org to get much-needed resources for their classrooms. But not so great for our web servers.
The DonorsChoose tech team think they have a healthy, happy system again. And it’s looking like the “last minute” of the 2007 Blogger Challenge is being moved to the very last moment (11:59:59 PM) of November 1, Eastern time.
In light of this new information, I leave it to you to decide what to do. I’ll just point out that even hard-core procrastinators are not required to wait until the last possible moment.
The 2007 DonorsChoose Blogger Challenge ends tomorrow, and ScienceBlogs readers have met (and exceeded) 10 of the 20 challenges we mounted, raising $47,705.
Here’s who’s left:
As this is published (about 10 AM Eastern time) there are two hours left before the noon deadline for the last of the drawings for T-shirts, books, mugs, and subscriptions to Seed to thank you for your donation to our DonorChoose Blogger Challenge.
All you have to do is make a donation to one (or more) of those challenges, then forward your email confirmation from DonorsChoose to scienceblogs@gmail.com. I’m told that at present, the chances for each entrant in the drawing of being drawn for a prize are very, very good.
Haven’t made a donation yet? Here are three challenges that are within $100 of meeting their goals. Wrap them up and get your chance at a nice reward from Seed:
Aetiology needs $24
On Being a Scientist and a Woman needs $83
The Questionable Authority needs $88
The clock’s ticking — why are you still here?