Those who know me know how much I like the iSeismo app for the iPhone. The phone as a built-in accelerometer and the iSeismo app uses it to show the movement of the phone in three dimensions. The app show three graphs (seismographs), the first two show horizontal motions and the third vertical motion. So, if you put the phone on the table and hit the table the third line should jump up and down.
You can also export the data from the phone (or iPod Touch), and since the phones’ times should be synchronized pretty well, there should be a way to use two phones to triangulate the location of an impact, say on the floor in a room, in the same way that seismologists use seismographs to locate earthquakes. That would make a great demo if it was easy enough to do.
With a national unemployment rate of 10%, most students are aware of the current recession. When they ask about what the government is doing about it, the answer is that they’re following the advice of a man who died over 60 years ago, John Maynard Keynes.
Keynes wrote the textbook on how to manage economies, particularly in response to recessions. If the economy is in a recession because people are not spending money, then his solution was for the government to spend the money instead. Friedrich Hayek, however, disagreed.
Hayek’s disagreement with Keynes is a disagreement about human nature. This is after all what economics is all about, how people behave. Hayek though that recessions are necessary for economies and societies adjust to changes. Economies go into recession because as things change, such as technology, some businesses will fail because their products are no longer necessary. Eventually new companies and industries will replace these, but as that transition occurs, there will be the general hardship of a recession.
So, if the government spends money to support the economy all it’s doing is preventing necessary change, which means that in the long run, the economy will be worse off than if the government just let the change occur. Necessary adjustments will have to occur sooner or later.
The thing which is most needed to secure healthy conditions is the most speedy and complete adaptation possible of the structure of production. – F. Hayek
Even today are ongoing arguments either way. The government, specifically the heads of the Federal Reserve and the department of the treasury, Ben Bernanke and Tim Gethner, is dealing with the current recession by following Keynes’ prescription. They are adding more money to the economy. Other economists disagree.
The video illustrates the differences between Hayek’s and Keynes’ view of the economy using a music video and a rap. It is a wonderful example of how serious issues (and you can see the sincerity of the creators) can be explained in a way that catches the attention. I like how the authors give the same message in two modes: the words explain the concepts and the video illustrate them (look out for Tim and Ben).
The Call of Duty video games are pretty popular among the boys in my class (the gender stereotypes hold up very well with this one). Last week they tried to convince me that there was enough educational value in the games to allow them to bring it in for their overnight at school. They even created a PowerPoint presentation to convince me. Unfortunately, for them, it was not particularly effective. While there was a lot of information about the missions and the types of weapons there was not so much in the way of facts or concepts they learned (Subsequently, however, one student mentioned that he learned about favellas in the game. Though I don’t want to think about what they were doing in the flavellas).
I would really have liked to have had them talk about “Duty”, as in the title, and moral responsibility. I dropped a lot of hints but too no avail. They were not successful in their petition, but we did have a good discussion about the purpose of warfare (if any), and how to make a convincing presentation (consider your audience). I may let them try again next time.
As a side note, The Onion, has a great video on the next version of the game which will be even more realistic (you spend most of the time in the game sitting around and then you get shot in the back unexpectedly and the game is over.) The video may not be appropriate for middle schoolers however, because there is a scene where the soldiers are sitting around bored and talking about what soldiers often talk about.
This intelligently done history of Auto-Tune is wonderful for several reasons. First, it has a simple, elegantly executed story arc, where it describes the trajectory of a fad from introduction to over-exposure to parody/remix and finally to a new equilibrium. And it discusses these concepts in a clear and entertaining way.
Second, Auto-Tune is a great example of something that was created for one purpose but finds a new life in a completely different discipline. The technology was created for analyzing seismic signals in petroleum exploration before being applied to music. It is amazing what can come from working with people of diverse backgrounds, and having a broad appreciation of the world. Group work is important.
Third, in touching on parody, it brings up an issue that adolescents, in particular need to understand; parody is not just a cheap joke, it has something important to say. It uses humor to address significant issues:
While making fun of something is easy [mockery], parody requires a study of both technique and form, before creating its own recontextualization.
Third, the overexposure stage of fads and memes is something everyone should be aware of. The meme infiltrates so many aspects of the culture that it becomes irritating. As a Middle School teacher I see it primarily in the language my students use. By introducing this concept to my student, we now have a common language for talking about at least one type issues in the classroom.
Finally, equilibrium. An important concept in natural and social science, the concept is neatly encapsulated in how the fad starts off small, overshoots and gets smaller but does not disappear as there remains some lower level of use.
How to make silk using the traditional method, by the American Museum of Natural History.
I’ve loved Barry Hughart’s novel, “Bridge of Brids” from the first time I read it a number of years ago. It is the story of a peasant boy, Number Ten Ox, who, with the assistance of the drunken sage Master Li, has to save the children of his village by unraveling the mystery of the powerful Duke of Chin. Not only is it beautifully written, with a poetic story arc and engaging characters, but it also has a wonderful description of initial stages of the silk making process, even though the book describes itself as, “A novel of an ancient China that never was.” The descriptions of Chinese traditions are accurate and detailed enough that you learn a lot about the country. Pulling apart what is historically accurate and what is fiction makes and interesting challenge but is not too difficult.
