Erik Demaine was home-schooled by 7, earned his bachelor’s degree by 14, and now at 29 years old is an associate professor at MIT. His critical and creative thinking abilities launched him through his education and along the way he left 3D mathematical art allowing us a unique look inside the mind of a mathematician. Have you ever wondered how to fold a polygon into a convex polyhedra and unfold to the reverse? Erik has. Click below to watch the Metamorphosis of the Cube.

Erik also shares his interest in puzzles and games by providing “folding puzzles” on his website, www.erikdemaine.org/puzzles. Can you turn the below 6-sided star into a complete beaver? Click on the picture below for a free print out.

LifeBound helps teenagers by addressing problem-solving techniques, imagination building activities, self-evaluation techniques, and more in CRITICAL AND CREATIVE THINKING FOR TEENAGERS. For a free sample chapter, click here. To learn more about Erik, visit his website www.erikdemaine.org.

According to a newly released study by the National Center for Education Statistics, “The Nation’s Report Card: Science 2009″:

• 1/3 of fourth graders and 1/5 of high school seniors scored at or above the level the federal Department of Education calls proficient.
• 1-2 students out of every 100 displayed the level of science mastery the department defines as advanced.
• 72% of fourth-graders, 63% of eighth-graders, and 60% of twelfth-graders performed at or above the Basic level in science, showing partial mastery of knowledge and skills needed to be proficient in the subject.

The test was given to 308,000 fourth and eighth graders and 11,000 high school seniors from private and public schools in 46 states. The test, referred to as the National Assessment of Education Progress, measured knowledge and abilities in physical sciences, life science and earth and space sciences. Below are examples of how the government tested a student’s proficiency:

Performance at the Basic level

• Explain the benefit of an adaptation for an organism (grade 4).
• Relate oxygen level to atmospheric conditions at higher elevations (grade 8).
• Solve a design problem related to the electric force between objects (grade 12).

Performance at the Proficient level

• Recognize that gravitational force constantly affects an object (grade 4).
• Relate characteristics of air masses to global regions (grade 8).
• Evaluate two methods to help control an invasive species (grade 12).

Performance at the Advanced level

• Design an investigation to compare types of bird food (grade 4).
• Predict the Sun’s position in the sky (grade 8).
• Recognize a nuclear fission reaction (grade 12).

Click here to see test scores broken down by gender, race and age, as well as state-to-state, regionally, and nationwide.
– Read the New York Times article, “Few Students Show Proficiency in Science, Test Shows”

Below is one of many activities from LifeBound’s CRITICAL AND CREATIVE THINKING FOR TEENAGERS Curriculum. To learn more about LifeBound, our library and teacher resources, visit www.lifebound.com.

Learning Goals:

• Compare and contrast different styles of music

• Connect music compositions from different eras

• Make connections between music and the world around you

Materials: music clips of Beethoven and the Beatles; paper and pen

This activity will enhance your ability to listen and make connections to your surroundings in ways you may have never considered.

• Begin by listening to Beethoven’s 9th Symphony and The Beatles “Hey Jude”.
• Compare the two styles of music and list three similarities you observe.
• Then, contrast the music styles and list three differences you observe.
• Finally, make connections between these selections of music and the world. You might consider the eras in which the songs were composed, the audiences they attracted, or the changes they reflected in society. These connections can reflect politics, changes in music theory, or cultural shifts. How does this process of connecting ideas lead you to deeper thinking about the music? Share your observations in the comment box below.

Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony

•

The Beatles: “Hey Jude”

In the recent New York Times article “To Really Learn, Quit Studying and Take a Test,” columnist Pam Belluck sheds light on a new study that’s having teachers question their teaching methods. According to new research by the journal Science, students who take tests retain 50 percent more information a week later than those who used methods like repeatedly studying (cramming) the material or drawing detailed diagrams. Researchers say these two methods are popular among teachers but only give students the illusion they know more material than they actually do.

The study included 200 college students in two experiments. Both were assigned to read several paragraphs about a scientific subject. The first experiment had the students divide in four groups. Group one read the text for five minutes, group two studied in four consecutive five-minute sessions, group three drew concept maps from the material in front of them, and group 4 took a “retrieval practice” test, where they were asked to free-write for 10 minutes after reading the passage, then reread the passage and free write again. A week later the four groups took a short-answer test that measured how well they recalled facts and were able to draw logical conclusions from those facts.

The other experiment measured the student’s ability to retrieve information after concept mapping and after retrieval practice testing. The initial test proved students who made diagrams remembered more detailed information. However, when the groups were tested again a week later, the students who used retrieval practice testing remembered significantly more information than their concept-mapping peers. They also did better when asked to draw a concept map from memory.

Researchers still aren’t sure why retrieval testing is a better learning tool but they believe it may be similar to how a computer retrieves information: “simple playback.” Another reason may be the struggle of memorizing information. The students taking the retrieval test weren’t confident they were going to do better than those who used other popular study methods. That struggle they felt was actually their brains working hard to remember the information, which can be confused with the frustrating feeling that no learning is taking place.

This study already has teachers ready to throw out their teaching approaches and make room for retrieval practice testing. After learning of this study, Howard Gardner, an education professor at Harvard who teaches with a constructivism approach wrote, the results “throw down the gauntlet to those progressive educators, myself included.   Gardner is the person who came up with the ground-breaking work on multiple intelligences.

One of the best ways to promote true learning instead of fast-food learning, is to test students early and often in a variety of ways—oral review, essay, true false, multiple choice and write your own test questions.   When students are engaged and encouraged to be ready for any kinds of on-the-spot self test, their preparation will improve and their rapid-fire ability to synthesize what they’ve learned can grow and develop.   All of the LifeBound curricula feature a number of ways to explore what students have learned so that they learn to understand, they learn to love challenge and they continuously ask themselves:  do I get this?  If not, what can I do to make sure I understand?