Category Archives: Kids and science

Blogger Challenge 2007: the halfway mark.

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Still grading papers (different ones, but still) and I felt the sudden need to draw some bar graphs. Surely I’m not the only one who finds bar graphs soothing.
Am I?
In any case, we’re at the halfway mark for the 2007 DonorsChoose Blogger Challenge, and it seemed like a good time to check the ScienceBloggers’ progress. First, check out the progress-toward-goal graph:

We’ve taken some big strides — there are now four blogs (Deep Sea News, Retrospectacle, evolgen, and Signout) that have exceeded their goals. Five others (The Questionable Authority, Omni Brain, Pharyngula, Thoughts from Kansas, and Thus Spake Zuska) are more than halfway to their goals.
The other eleven blogs participating in the drive are less than halfway to their goals, though, and some could really use some love right about now.
A few more bar graphs with some top-5 lists:

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Friday Sprog Blogging: talking and listening

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A conversation yesterday as we were running home to get the elder Free-Ride offspring ready for a soccer practice:
Dr. Free-Ride: Do you want to change out of your “picture day” clothes before practice?
Elder offspring: Nah, I’m good. I’ll just change into shin guards, soccer socks, and cleats.
Dr. Free-Ride: Well, I want to change out of this suit.
Younger offspring: Why do you want to change? The suit looks nice.
Dr. Free-Ride: I’ve been wearing this grown-up costume all day. I’m ready to wear some clothes that are just clothes.
Younger offspring: Grown-up costume? You are a grown-up.
Dr. Free-Ride: Yeah, but that’s supposed to be a closely guarded secret.
Elder offspring: Don’t worry. I won’t tell anyone that you’re a grown-up.

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Blogger Challenge progress report (day 11) plus prizes from Seed!

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I know it’s been quiet here (I’ve been grading papers), but I wanted to give you a quick glimpse at the ScienceBloggers’ progress to date on the DonorsChoose Blogger Challenge. Here’s the bar graph:

You’ll notice that two blogs (Deep Sea News and Retrospectacle) have exceeded their goals and one (The Questionable Authority) is tantalizingly close.
And then there are the rest of us.
Do you suppose some additional prizes for donors would help? As it happens, Seed is offering some!

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Friday Sprog Blogging: more about matter.

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As mentioned earlier, the younger Free-Ride offspring’s first grade class is learning about states of matter. We continue to get reports back about the content of these lessons, and then the sprogs set about trying to extend them … in ways that suit their aesthetics more than their parents’ aesthetics.
Younger offspring: Today we poured water in lots of different containers, and the water always was in the same shape as the container.
Dr. Free-Ride: And you did this because … ?
Younger offspring: We were seeing that liquids can change their shapes depending on the container. Solids don’t do that. If I pour a marker from a cup to a bowl, it still has the shape of a marker. And if I pour it from the bowl onto the table, it still has the shape of a marker. That’s because a marker is solid, not liquid.
Dr. Free-Ride: It sounds like you’re ready to teach this lesson, huh?
Younger offspring: I was paying attention.

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Fun with numbers: Blogger Challenge update (day 4).

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We’re in the middle of the fourth day of the month-long DonorsChoose Blogger Challenge 2007, and thanks to his generous readers Mike Dunford has raised 100% of his initial goal, funding classroom projects that will impact 370 students.
The awesomeness of that is pretty breathtaking.
In light of Mike’s impressive milestone, I thought this might be a good time to check in on the progress of the other ScienceBloggers participating in the challenge. Here are some “Top 5” lists:

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Other bloggers offer (better?) incentives for Blogger Challenge donors.

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We’re in day 2 of the ScienceBlogs Blogger Challenge, during which we’re working with DonorsChoose to raise some money for classroom projects. The amount contributed by ScienceBlogs readers is creeping up on $4000, which is pretty impressive.
But it looks like the real competition may be for which blogger can offer readers the best incentive to donate.
I thought I was doing pretty well with my offer of poetry, sprog artwork, or a basic concepts post written to order. (Indeed, we’re already on the hook for an illustrated poem.) But my SciBlings have upped the ante:

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Special incentives for your donation to my DonorsChoose challenge.

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You know from my last post that we’re working with DonorsChoose to raise some money for public school teachers who are trying to give their students the engaging educational experiences they deserve. You also know that our benevolent overlords at Seed will be randomly selecting some donors to receive nifty prizes (details about this to be posted as soon as I get them).
But I’d like to sweeten the deal by offering some incentive to everyone who donates to my challenge. Here’s what you can get:

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