Teaching Induction and Deduction with Candy Bars

With the Georgia High School Graduation test just around the corner for my 80+ juniors, I decided that now would be a fortuitous time to work on a review of persuasion. Today we focused on logical persuasion, specifically inductive and deductive reasoning.

As I love to have my students collaborate, I divided them into six small groups. Groups 1-3 received snack-sized Snickers bars while groups 4-6 received snack-sized Twix bars. I asked each small group to come up with a Top 10 list to promote their respective bars. They were to make observations about their bars based on size, taste, smell, ingredients, nutritional value, packaging, or even promotional advertising for the bars. Then the groups wrote their Top 10 on the board. (Of course they were allowed to eat their bars).

Then we discussed the differences between deduction and induction. I gave them several examples of each. For example, if I were a CSI working a crime scene and found a pool of blood, spent casings from a missing gun, and a dead body, I can come to the conclusion that a murder has occurred (induction). I reminded them that when they were writing to an audience that was not likely to agree with their position, then induction is a good type of reasoning to use.

Understanding syllogism for a deductive argument was a little more difficult. The idea of a major and minor premise was more difficult for me to explain. We again used some examples: Major premise: Dogs usually have four legs and can bark. Minor premise: Rover has four legs and barks. Therefore, Rover is a dog.

After I assured them that they were already experts at arguing (or at least their parents might say they were), I reminded them that they use this type of reasoning all of the time without even being aware of it. How do they know they will receive detention if they are tardy to class? They know that they must be in class before the bell rings. They know that if the bell rings and they aren't in class, they have to see an administrator for a pass. They also know that they only get one warning for tardies, so any tardy after that results in punishment. Therefore, if a student has already had one tardy, he/she will be assigned detention on the second tardy (inductive reasoning).

Now, back to the candy bars. I asked them to again return to their small groups and come up with one argument about their candy bars using inductive reasoning and one argument using deductive reasoning.

1. Deduction:
Major Premise I: Some people are allergic to peanuts.
Major Premise II: Some Snickers bars have peanuts. (Others have almonds.)
Conclusion: People who are allergic to peanuts should not eat Snickers bars.

2. Induction: (This one made me smile.)
Observation: Snickers bars contain milk and peanuts.
Observation: Milk has calcium, and peanuts have protein.
Conclusion: Snickers bars are nutritional.

Dust Bowl Video Compliments of New Deal

I started doing a little research on background information to help my students understand the historical context of The Grapes of Wrath. This semester one of my classes is an "Ag Academy" class filled with students who are pursuing a career pathway in agriculture. I teach the same curriculum with these students but try to choose reading selections that are appealing to their love of agriculture; thus, The Grapes of Wrath seemed a natural choice. Students have knowledge of the Great Depression, but the impact of the Dust Bowl is not as well known.

Sometimes the Internet takes me on a circuitous research route--I go in search of one thing and find a different gem altogether. Tonight I was searching for a children's book on the Dust Bowl, and I came across a 25 minute video about the Great Plains called "The Plow that Broke the Plains." It is a documentary sponsored by the Resettlement Administration, a New Deal program. It has more video and music than dialogue and vintage farm machinery going all the way back to a horse-drawn plow. It essentially gives the agricultural history of the Great Plains leading up to the Dust Bowl. Scenes from dust storms are effective. Best of all, I found it on Google--not YouTube or another site. On good ol' Google. I'm embedding it in the blog for you to see. Now I have to research the films that Google has available online to see if there are any others I can apply to my curriculum. Another plus is that the video can be broken down into segments, so I can choose which segment I want to play if I do not have enough time to watch it all in class.




I also found the film on another website, the Prelinger Archives, and it has a better picture than the one I saw on Google.

Crying over Gran Torino

I watched the first Clint Eastwood movie that made me cry today. He was gruff, tough, and rough. He was typically Clint, albeit elderly. And I cried like a baby. For those of you who have already seen Gran Torino, then you know why I cried. For those who have not, well, your loss. Go rent it at your local video store.

Clint plays a widower, Walt, with children and grandchildren too busy to spend time with him. Their father/grandfather is not the most lovable man, but Walt's family prefers to live self-centered lives only popping in or calling when he can do something for them. Walt argues with his priest (not always a bad thing) and talks like a bigot. He has his own ideas about manhood, parenting, race, and religion. He is old enough that he says what he thinks without saving one's feelings.

You can tell from the get-go that Walt does not like change. Why stay in the same neighborhood for forty years when everyone else just like him, a retired Ford autoworker, has moved away? He is surrounded by Asian neighbors. The family next door has a big-mouth daughter and wimpy son who is doing his best to avoid gang life. When the young man is forced to participate (half-heartedly) in a gang initiation by attempting to steal Walt's 1972 Gran Torino, Walt catches him. The friendship begins.

Walt, who was a soldier in the Korean War, has to confront his prejudices, and his neighbors have to confront their fears. The film is just tough enough and just real enough to interest you in the everyday lives of the characters, wondering how the decisions they do or do not make will affect their lives the next day. Wait on the ending; the last five minutes are the most important.

When I turned off my DVD, I wondered if I could ever make the decision Walt made to loyally stand by his friend and stand up for those who are unable to defend themselves. I was reminded of John 15:13: "Greater love hath no man than this..."

This film is not intended for young children, and I do not know many teens mature enough to understand the tensions in the film. It is rated R for a reason. One final caveat--if you cannot contextualize offensive language, then do not watch this film.

Technology Miscellany

For my friends who are educators (and those who love to read--see #4 & #5), some Web 2.0 tools and online sites that you might enjoy:

1. http://www.polleverywhere.com/
You can create an online poll where respondents use either their cell phones or twitter.com to respond.

2. http://historicaltweets.com/
Fun, fun, fun! You can read interesting tweets from historical figures or get creative and come up with your own. There is a Photoshop template you can use or just send in your ideas to the historicaltweet crew. It would be really easy to come up with an interesting student activity that crosses content areas.

3. http://www.bookglutton.com/
Book Glutton is an interesting way to read online with others. Many books are free and can be inserted into blogs as a widget. You can see Alice in Wonderland on my blog on the left hand side at the top. I haven't read much lately but hope to finish it soon and put another on my blog before the end of July.

4. http://www.librarything.com/
I've been on Library Thing for a while and have posted some of my books. You can hook up with other book lovers who share similar tastes in reading. A lot of media specialists are on this site. They also have book reviews and give away hundreds of books each month. You can sign up to be an Early Reviewer and hope to receive one of the books. I try every month but haven't been lucky enough to snag one yet. But someone has to!

5. http://www.goodreads.com/
Good Reads is similar to Library Thing in that you can catalogue your own books online, but this website is more for avid readers than librarians, though usually they are one and the same. I just find this site much more user friendly than Library Thing, and it has a slicker look. It is a social networking site, and you can find friends on this site who also post info on what books they have read, are reading, and want to read. There are groups you can join, and some of these groups also have podcasts where they talk about authors.

6. http://www.diigo.com/
Ever wondered what to do with all of those really cool websites, online articles, videos, blogs, images you find online while you're away from your personal computer? Or maybe you want to access your personal bookmarks when you're away from home? Diigo is an option that I've just begun using. I am more familiar with #7.

7. http://delicious.com/smartmedia8
This should take you to my homepage on delicious. It is a social bookmarking site. My main problem with bookmarking is that I forget to do it and then regret not remembering the site I wanted to remember. Bottom line, use a bookmarking tool and you'll never forget where you saw something online again.

Seven seems like a good place to stop. After spending three and a half weeks writing and posting to a blog, I plan to stay in the habit. I'll post more about Web 2.0 online tools for learning, so check back.

Please share your own experiences with these tools that you use to improve your performance as a teacher, help your students, or to have fun.

If you'd like to look at some other Web 2.0 tools, here are some educational bloggers with some suggestions for you:

Larry Ferlazzo's Best Web 2.0 Applications for Education 2008

Jane Hart's E-Learning Pick of the Day--once you go to her blog, you will want to click on the Learning Tools link on the left of her page. She keeps a running list of online tools to use in the classroom.

Science Poem: Ode to Precipitation

Learning Science through Poetry at BWP
(Poem draft is a collaborative effort between Stephanie, Nikki, and Julie)

Water, you can change
from solid, liquid, to gas.

You're controlled by the air currents,
traveling where they blow you.

You create natural wonders:
glaciers, ice burgs, and canyons.

It takes time for you to boil over
and even more time for you to freeze.

You can have quite a temper,
causing hurricanes, monsoons, and tsunamis.

You provide for us
supplying electricity and nourishment.