{"id":69,"date":"2008-01-04T02:28:00","date_gmt":"2008-01-04T07:28:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/stager.tv\/?p=69"},"modified":"2020-07-25T19:06:16","modified_gmt":"2020-07-26T00:06:16","slug":"shame-on-national-geographic","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/stager.tv\/?p=69","title":{"rendered":"Shame on National Geographic"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a>
Wesley Fryer<\/a> shared information about a new contest for teachers and kids sponsored by The National Geographic on his blog, Encourage Hands-on Science Inquiry<\/a>! Winners get a trip to Australia, my second home.<\/p>\n

Cool, right?<\/p>\n

Not so fast!<\/p>\n

I read Wes’ post and then the National Geographic site. I have no idea what sort of “experiment” or “exploration” a kid might do to win this contest. I know of few teachers who can do justice to the spirit of the subject matter.<\/p>\n

Perhaps the contest is really just a sweepstakes or a lottery.<\/p>\n

The first rule of project-based or problem-based learning is that the learner must have a reasonable chance of getting their head around solving the problem, or taking a reasonable swipe at solving the problem. We frequently fail by asking students to solve problems too adult, abstract or large for them to tackle. The other common mistake is posing a problem that is overly vague. The National Geographic contest offers no clues for what a kid might do. This invariably advantages kids whose parents or teachers direct the activity.<\/p>\n

How many teachers know what hands-on geography is? How many kids can figure this out alone? What has National Geographic done to help?<\/p>\n

Is hands-on science\/geography merely collecting stuff? Is it experimental? How does collecting American flora or fauna connect to “understanding” Australia?<\/p>\n

If one of my graduate students authored this challenge, they would be at serious risk of failure.<\/p>\n

Oh yeah, be sure to wash your hands with hand sanitizer. (That’s one of the few details offered by The National Geographic)<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Wesley Fryer shared information about a new contest for teachers and kids sponsored by The National Geographic on his blog, Encourage Hands-on Science Inquiry! 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