Schoolhouse Rock

For those folks who were children in the 1970's and 80's, ABC Television's "Schoolhouse Rock!" was most likely a part of their education. The television series ran from 1973-85, and was then brought back from 1993-99, with both new and old material. Finally, new segments were released directly to video in 2009. Many versions of the videos are available online from numerous sources. 

We've been thinking about this show and its impact on generations of students since we heard about the death of Bob Dorough, who died on April 23rd at the age of 94. Dorough -- a jazz pianist and singer -- was approached by the father of a child who was struggling to learn multiplication, even though he had no trouble remembering songs. The initial song, "Three is a Magic Number" was the first one in the Schoolhouse Rock! series.

Not all the Schoolhouse Rock! videos were sung by Dorough, although he had a hand in almost all of them, either as writer or music director. And the series did not stick just to multiplication or even just to math. Grammar was one of the early topics tackled, and Dorough wrote (but did not do vocals) on "Conjunction Junction", which used trains to illustrate the role of conjunctions.

Music is a great way to learn, and Bob Dorough and his colleagues were able to reach children through a medium that got their attention and conveyed information that stuck with them. Dorough was a Grammy winner and was involved in all aspects of writing and recording music over a career that spanned more than 50 years. But the best way to appreciate his diverse and creative endeavors is to hear directly from him, as he explains his life and work, using song,  in a TED-X talk from 2017. Thanks, Bob. 

Tech to Combat Bullying

We've written a number of times about bullying - most recently about how influential students can help curtail bullying. But bullying continues to be a troubling issue, leaving kids and adults alike feeling hurt and bewildered. This is the age of the Internet, however, so never fear: Tech has come to the rescue yet again.

Parents may want to download KnowBullying, an app from the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration. The app provides users with starters for tricky conversations, shares warning signs to watch for, issues reminders to check in with kids, and provides numerous helpful tips. There is a section for educators, too, which is helpful because StopBullying.gov identifies school staff awareness as a key factor in prevention of bullying.

Kids who aren’t sure what to do about teasing will be relieved to discover an app called StopIt. Many young people don’t report bullying to an adult because they are embarrassed or fear being labeled a tattletale. StopIt allows them to report bullying to their school anonymously, straight from a smartphone. Currently, more than 80 schools in the United States use StopIt, and the number is growing. (StopIt is available to corporations, too, in efforts to curb unethical or illegal behavior and financial and reputational risks.)

One of the most effective ways to stop bullying starts with kids themselves. Even if your child is not a victim, he likely witnesses, or has witnessed bullying at school, and if he’s like most kids, he’s not sure what to do about it. StopBullying.gov’s video Be More Than a Bystander can help him understand bullying so he’ll be empowered to act the next time he sees cruel behavior.

Breakthrough Junior Challenge

There do not seem to be any shortages of exciting educational challenges lately. Our previous blog discussed the upcoming Global Math Challenge, sponsored by Sony Global Education. Also coming up is the Breakthrough Junior Challenge, another international competition. Contestants ages 13 to 18 have the opportunity to create short videos explaining a mathematical or scientific concept. Prize money will go to the winner as well as to his or her school, with a top individual prize of $250,000.

This initiative is supported by Breakthrough Prizes along with Khan Academy, a resource we often recommend to our students. Khan Academy offers instructional videos and practice exercises that students can use to bolster their understanding and skills. A contest encouraging students to create their own videos turns this learning modality on its head and offers a unique opportunity for rich academic engagement and creativity. Submissions are being accepted through October 7th and the winning video will be broadcast on the National Geographic Channel on November 8th.

TED-Ed Brings the Periodic Table to Life

Working with Dmitri Mendeleev's brilliant periodic table of elements, first published in 1864, has become a groan-inducing task for many students today. The organization of elements into a succinct and useful table was ground-breaking, and even more impressive was Mendeleev 's foresight: He left blank spaces on the table where he imagined elements would go when they were eventually discovered (and he was right!). However, the fascinating history of the table is often lost on frustrated students who find studying it boring and memorizing the properties of all those elements next to impossible.

Rather than memorizing, we suggest that students endeavor to understand the properties of the elements instead. And thanks to a partnership between TED-Ed and Periodic Videos, it's easy to do just that.

Periodic Videos is a series made by a team from the University of Nottingham. It is led by the star of the videos, an eccentric, bespectacled professor with a huge mane of white hair named Dr. Martyn Poliakoff. Actually, as of December 2014, he is Sir Martyn Poliakoff, having been knighted for his contributions to the field of inorganic chemistry. In collaboration with TED-Ed, Periodic Videos has made a short video lesson for each element in the periodic table). Some, like the video for krypton, are just over a minute long.

                                       

Others, like the video for scandium, take more than seven minutes. The lessons intersperse informational tidbits shared by Sir Poliakoff with experiments by his team that illustrate the elements' properties, bringing the periodic table to life. High school and college students and even chemistry-minded, precocious middle school students will enjoy this fascinating and helpful resource.

We would be remiss not to spread the word about the Periodic Videos YouTube channel  as well. If hydrogen bubbles that burst into fireballs or videos with titles like "Chicken in Acid Conclusion" (in which Sir Poliakoff discusses the results of an experiment in which chicken legs were dipped in hydrochloric and sulfuric acid) don't pique your interest, we're not sure what will.