Do kids really know math today?

I saw this story from Right on the Left Coast: Views from a Conservative Teacher. He went to a fast food restaurant with some friends and, for some reason, the tax rang up too high. The young cashier failed to notice that the tax was 30% of the bill. I've had similar situations at fast food eateries, which seem to employ a lot of teenagers, when a glitch or something has happened and they have no idea how much change to give me. Is this due to a lack of math skills, calculator dependence, or teenage apathy?

I suppose we'll never know for sure!

Another fun and educational video site...

The web site is Travel Films Archives. Although these films wouldn't be of much use in showing how things are today, they are of historical value and entertaining as well. Their web site description says this:

Travel back in time and around the world with The Travel Film Archive. The Travel Film Archive is a collection of travelogues and educational and industrial films – many of them in color - that show the world the way it was between 1900 and 1970. Our holdings include archives of the renowned travel filmmakers Burton Holmes, Andre de la Varre, and James A. FitzPatrick, as well as footage shot by many other intinerant cameramen.

Click here for the index of films.

Dimensions - Splendid Geometry videos!

I found out about the Dimensions web site through a blog called 10 Minute Math.

Dimensions has videos to do with the subject of geometry. There is a lot of historical information. Each video highlights a partiular mathematician and what they accomplished. They are presented in the first person, as if you are listening to the historical figure tell you about themselves, and it is very engaging.

I would say these videos are suitable for middle school and up, as well as maybe some late elementary students who are interested in geometry or history. Just about any age would enjoy watching the videos (especially the one on Escher). I have posted the first two below. The first one is on Hipparchus (the father of geometry) and the second is on Escher (one of my favorite artists!). There are about ten videos in this section. You can also subscribe to their RSS feed and get videos sent to you that way.

There is a toggle button for a full screen version. These videos are free to download and embed. They also sell them in DVD form.