al-mofhariz

A few weeks ago, in the wake of the Snowden Affair, I announced a contest to write a new social contract modeled on terms of service. Terms of service are, of course, the things most of us click through without reading when either signing up for a web-based service or installing a piece of software. There was doubtless something sarcastic, even cynical, about this contest.

Today, I would like to announce the winner: Tall White American Male (Twitter: @TallWhiteMale), a resident of Chicago, who penned a proposed US Terms and Conditions. So, congrats to Tall White American Male. As spelled out in the contest announcement, he'll receive this remarkable shirt.  I have pasted his winning entry below, but before we come to that, I want to discuss why I held the contest in the first place.


Some people have asked me what this contest has to do with the history of science and technology, or science and technology studies (STS) more broadly, and whether it is a symptom of my resignation to ub…

Where to start? Where to start?  
When moving into our new STEAM plan, we felt VERY comfortable with our Science and Math curriculum.  We have been using TERC's Investigations for math and Delta Education's FOSS for science.  The rest...is still a work in progress.  Still, we have found some great resources, websites, and curricula.

Resources: Children's books

Head over to Amazon.com and check out some books we have found:  Engineering the ABC's by Patty Novak.  This book talks about everyday materials that engineers have helped create and how they effect our everyday lives.

Engineering Elephants by Dr. Emily Hunt is really good for early childhood K-2.  The book is told in rhythm and rhyme.  You can look through it at Amazon and take a sneak peak!

Websites: 
www.manufacturingiscool.com This is a really great place for you to use with the whole class or for students to explore one-on-one.  Start with a bunch of pictures of items that engineers have helped to create in catego…