At least “Burning Man” has an art component to it, “burning dolls”, not so much.
This is so stupid, so inane, so grade B movie “Plan 9 from Outer Space” level that all you can do is laugh at it. It is the latest effort from Al Gore’s “Climate Reality Project”. I suppose after this exercise in child brainwashing, anything goes. Watch:
From the YouTube Description:
The science girl takes a comedic look at the differences of climate vs weather. Created for the live broadcast of 24 Hours of Reality: The Dirty Weather Report.
Even more bizarre are the comments from the faithful on YouTube.
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Lubos Motl says:
November 23, 2012 at 9:24 am
“This clip is a combination of all kinds of political correctness. Not only we hear the politically correct pseudoscience about the dirty weather and the man-made climate but the ultimate “scientist of the future” who explains it just happens to be a black girl. It’s not impossible, just very unlikely, that a black girl would really have the best ideas about the climate, weather, and their relationship among her contemporaries.”
You use black girls/women in the US so you can always play
a) the race card
b) the feminism card
when somebody dares to criticize the black girl/woman. See Susan Rice.
I wrote a long detailed answer to Pamela’s misstatements. Rigor is a defined term created by Lauren Resnick, not a dictionary term.
It is also ludicrous to say this CCSSO release is not tied into the initiative.
CCSSO says it is. They are the creators of CCSSI. Briefly the President says it is a ruse. Ed Week refers to the Standards for Teching and Learning as the common core, not CCSSI.
And the actual curriculum mirrors the 21st century skills program, not the CCSSI language.
Oh, and the Hewlett Foundation says CCSSI was just a means to get new measuring assessments.
Hopefully my missing comment will come up. http://www.invisibleserfscollar.com/second-order-change-why-reform-is-a-misnomer-for-the-real-common-core/ is based on actual implementation documents on Sustainability and the Common Core implementation.
The creator of CCSSI was even a speaker at Camp Snowball and I have the presentation. He clearly sees Sustainability as integral to what is coming to classroom.
Anthony-I believe you have NEA reps monitoring your site. Is the other comment in filter?
From Pamela Gray on November 23, 2012 at 10:35 am:
Seems like the same “rigor” I faced forty years ago. “Multiplication facts thru 12” was learning multiplication tables. “Subtraction facts” also sounds like rote learning. Why 1 thru 5 instead of simply single-digit subtraction?
However kindergarten still is not mandatory in Pennsylvania, same as in most states, and traditionally is only a half-day anyway, so your standards get bumped to the end of first grade.
These are the minimum expected math skills of adults these days. Well, they should be, when you have pencil and paper handy. In reality adults mainly only have to know how to correctly punch the numbers into a calculator. Which has been a built-in function on cell phones for years so adults can always do needed math. Anyone else remember calculator watches, saving you from having to lug around a bulky pocket calculator?
Plus it’s become expected that math skills will deteriorate, if it is even expected anymore that you will learn the manual methods. Calculators are allowed for the SAT’s. I learned how to calculate square roots with a method resembling long division. Just found out I almost remembered all of how to do it, the internet filled in the last missing bit. How many adults are aware the method exists? Will the kiddies learn that method under these new standards?
It’s sad how back in the ’70s clean fossil fuel burning meant to burn the fuel so completely that all that was emitted was clean Co2. Now that we can pretty much do that; we are told Co2 is now dirty. These people will never be happy.
The “Science Girl” is perfectly qualified to work for the new non-science NASA. She starts off with a premise of a problem, never bothering to verify if there really is a problem, and uses Main Stream Media and Alinsky style tactics to call for an unnecessary and unverified solution. Yep, no doubt “Science Girl” will make a perfect Space Cadet at the new politically correct NASA.
Steve says: “Wow…if this was the Onion, it would make me laugh. As it is, it’s scary how we abandon reality to pursue propaganda.”
More worrisome is their use of children, coupled with human history of a twisted dictator successfully using children to further his ambitions. Toss in Heir Gore instructing children not to listen to their parents, and it becomes disturbing.
At Ryan:
Looks like a match to me:
http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&gbv=2&q=Yara%20Shahidi&biw=1024&bih=574&um=1&ie=UTF-8&tbm=isch&source=og&sa=N&tab=wi
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yara_Shahidi
The ‘girl’ is a professional actress.
From the you-tube comments “Seems the girl is actress Yara Sayeh Shahidi who starred alongside Eddie Murphy in Imagine that.”
Google the name.
The whole scenario shown on Gore’s program was a total set-up.
Utterly and completely disgusting. The use of a child, no matter how pushed by her family (agent?) in this sort of blatant propaganda ought to be actionable at Law.
I remember quite well when the new math became the new thing. I also remember 4th grade as the division grade and learning facts by 5th grade. These new standards are tougher, earlier, and include problem solving at much earlier grades than ever before in US public school systems. Private schools are now locking onto these standards. Again, read the standards. It is NOT about rote learning. To say so reveals the lack of knowledge about the standards and what they say and dont say.
Pacing deep learning is a key concept of the new standards. By that I mean that more in depth time is spent on eaxh concept, aka Japanese style. Pacing allows this deep understanding to develope.
So, is the “take-away” supposed to be that CAGW advocates believe driving or making power with coal will cause the weather to be so hot that people will catch fire, or that arson is the solution to CAGW?
Or is it just more sick, twisted propaganda aimed at children, as usual?
Pamela-the private schools are having the standards forced on them by the accreditation agencies. I heard from private school parents from all over much of last week upset about the changes.
And I do not know who your “rote learning” comment is addressed to but I would agree that it is not rote learning. In fact it is very difficult to find the words knowledge or know used at all except in the sense of knowing how to perform a given generic skill.
The term “understand” is the common word used but it is not understand in the common meaning of knowing a great deal of information on a concept and how it all fits together and cause and effect. It is understand in an emotional sense. Hence the use of the phrase “Relevance makes rigor possible” in connection with the common Core (paging Willard Daggett). If something is relevant to your personal life, you can relate to it from your everyday experience and try to puzzle out a solution.
Over and over again the insistence that CCSSI is not about the transmission of knowledge comes out. Which to get back to the point of post and the video means that no student and then adult will know enough to dispute the nonsensical assertions.
How sad.
Once again fail. The standards expect students to develope multiple strategies to solve math based problems and expect students to persevere when solving problems. Gone r the days when a math problem gives u all the necessary components. Few real life math problems provide such conveniences. This new struggle focused strategy depends on fluency in basic math algorithms. Students will be asked to plan for and collect the data they need to solve the problem. Once again read the standards. The bulk of the comments r filtered by pet beliefs instead of the knowledge that is only gained by reading thru the entire ccss documents.
Remember when proofs were required in high school math? That is now a middle school expectation. It will no longer be enough to know how to do an algorithm. Students will have to explain why it works.
4.RIT.8 Language arts standard for grade 4. Read it.
Pamela–I have been on the insider distribution lists for the last several years. The sort that say “Only intended for curriculum creators.”
I do not need you to tell me to read documents I know backwards and forwards and have proven to be irrelevant. I know it is frustrating that people who know what’s really going on with CCSSI are alerting people whose main focus is CAGW on the common linkages.
We are just being interdisciplinary. You should be pleased that we are not keeping to our individual silos. Except we are sharing with Axemaker Minds and deep reservoirs of knowledge.
Oops. There went the political storyline of just trying to make content requirements consistent state to state.
I think Pamela’s insistence further shows just how important CCSSI and Sustainability are to the true goal of reorganizing an economy around them and being able to use education to create predictable behavior.
There’s a reason I refer to CCSSI as a “Look Squirrel!” gambit.
I haven’t had the time to read the previous comments but I watched the video. My nephew was shown it in the 6 th grade. That’s scary and I’m pissed.
I’ll stop with that.
Okay, so the bottom line is that this was a professionally produced skit with a fairly well known professional child actress (undoubtedly paid), and an expensive set. Wonder who paid for it? Big Oil? No? How about Big Green?
It had nothing to do with a Science Fair, or even what a six or seventh grade student has been taught about, or thinks about, CAGW. The script (which she delivered very well) was written by adults. But yes, the message probably was for that age group.
The box they all have to fit in.
Please show me where the word or concept regarding “sustainability” is located in the entire text of the ccss.
…mind pollution. Are there any kids anywhere that actually care or believe in such pathetic mindlessness.??? As long the ipad is holding a charge they could care less about AL GORIAN Dirty Climate or whatever he calls it this week. It would be interesting to poll a group kids her age to watch this video to get a feel for videos legitimacy among them.
Robin, are you saying that the standard for informational text which includes earning how to question the author’s pont of view beginning in 4th grade is somehow evidence of CAGW agenda? How so? Rather it reminds me of a graduate level course that instilled in me a very sceptical and critical eye towards research.
Pamela & Robin: I read some of the CCSSI @ur momisugly
http://www.corestandards.org/assets/CCSSI_Math%20Standards.pdf
Being from an “older” class, this appears as if written by math “professors”. I can see where it might apply to students for which advanced science studies are possible. However I would think that the common student would be more in need of the ability to balance a check book, work house hold problems in budgets and know enough to prevent being cheated by a car dealer ship or mortgage company (ah ha, NOW I see WHY all those protective & pesky government regulations are needed to protect these people from themselves). I would think that providing the fundamentals for coping with life’s necessities would be more important, up front, than having to also prove the theory. To me the standards look as if set up for “advanced” students (and please correct me if your experience says this is wrong) and is only going to provide disappointment, confusion and failure for the rest.
I have assisted students (kin) who were having a hard time with algebra using the “new” methods on problems that were very easy to solve with the “old fashioned” methods that I learned. However, my procedures were many times not permitted, I assume for the reasons given by you all.
Too me this does seem a big step backwards, more like the “Philosophy of Mathematics” than plain “Arithmetic” which is what most of us actually need in real life until and unless specializing later in a career choice. If these standards have been broadened to include other areas, then our functional educational future may be even bleaker. It is a shame that the curricula do not provide more useful instruction about real living issues starting with a firm grounding in basic logic.
Pamala Gray,
I started reading the comments in reverse order. Yours rang a bell. I will comment much later but you may not like it.
jaycurrie says:
November 22, 2012 at 10:49 pm
“If this video convinces anyone, well, 50% of the population are below average”
No. 50% are below the mean, and 50% are above the mean. The mean is always at the point of a set where half of the set is above and half is below.
People get that confused with average and median, which are two terms for exactly the same thing. To calculate the average you add all the numbers of a set then divide that by the number of numbers in the set.
Find the average of a group of 100 numbers, 75 of which are 100 and 25 of which are 50. The average is 87.5 but 75% of those 100 numbers are above average.
The mean of such a group is 100 because that’s the number in the middle, or on either side of the middle because 100 splits into two even groups so there is no middle number.
So please, everyone stop making jokes about people saying more or less than half of something are above or below average or median. Chances are the speaker or author is correct, even if they don’t know they’re using the right word.
Rake them over the coals if they say more or less than half of something are above or below the mean, because that’s mathematically impossible.