You’re never too young to start being a nerd
Many of you know my fondness (Isn’t it really a strange and dangerous obsessive love? – Ed.) for charts and graphs. Turns out there’s a now an animated video — from PBS! — to hook kids on the crack cocaine of the geek set. Watch it with care.
(Via
Hi Daniel,
As a proud member of Free Agent Nation, I’ve always enjoyed reading your stuff. These days I like the travel tips best. My wife and I have tried the Bacitracin tip.
Thought you might want to change the first “to” in the title to “too.”
Tom LaForce
LaForce Teamwork Services
@ Tom — Good eye. Just made the change. Sometimes when I write headlines I’m in two much of a hurry. Thanks for reading.
That’s evil and wrong. LOL.
Tu Funny!
Actually, get ready for some more geek-love. This isn’t a stand-alone video. Rather, it’s part of the new preschool science series SID THE SCIENCE KID. It’s a really clever way to look at some early science building blocks! http://pbskids.org/sid/#/playground
You might enjoy Matt Jones presentation on Data as Seductive Material, http://www.slideshare.net/blackbeltjones/data-as-seductive-material-spring-summit-ume-march09 . Very geeky, way over my head but strangely and seductively appealing.
Excellent – and drives home a point you make in New Mind.
In a right brain driven culture, people are allowed to think and process in paragraph mode, rather than in word and sentence mode. Right brains see the picture from a wider point of view – charts instead of cells on a spread sheet.
A couple of years back, I had the privilege of hearing Atoosa Rubenstein speak at a conference, just after leaving Seventeen Magazine. She tried to explain to a room of middle-aged white males what she had learned about communicating with seventeen year-old girls.
“When we show an outfit in Seventeen that came from Macy’s,” she said, “we show a picture of the Macy’s logo, instead of the letters M-A-C-Y-S. Not because the reader is illiterate, but because that’s the language she speaks.”
This little video about charts is the same premise. Thanks Dan.
Ahh, sweet nerdity! It’s so subversive.
And I agree with Ray on the song. I still have the theme song from Authur bouncing around in my brain and it’s been eons since I’ve watched that show.
This is great! I have to get the series – thanks for all the hints from other commenters…. I also need to get some pbskids for the kids as well ( we don’t have a TV but this stuff is great)!
@kirsti – Don’t forget The Magic School Bus! Another terrific learning ‘toon for kids of all ages. Everyone needs a teacher like Ms. Frizzle at least once in their lives
Great post, thanks for passing that along. I’m a teacher (in Vermont, saw you speak in August) and will be sharing that w/ some students.
as a child i had trouble understanding charts, and if kids could use this kind of information it could explain it better, and be taught more efficiantly.
~colleen!