Sunday, October 07, 2007
Digust
I found an interesting link on Kevin Donovan's "Bumblin' Along" blog. I always find good links there. Kevin really gets around on the internet.
Anyway, this link is to an online test in the Science & Nature section of the BBC. The test, which is easy to take - and, to be honest, pretty fun - is to discover what makes us feel disgusted. You run through a series of pictures and rate your level of disgust from high to low. When the test is over, each picture is explained in relation to how most people feel in terms of disgust. The point is that humans should naturally feel disgusted over things that are potentially disease-producing. When my husband and I went through it, we strangely were not as disgusted as the average person over most of the pictures. I can attribute this to a couple of things. We have three children and have seen pretty much every illness-related disgusting event you can see - poop, snot, gushing blood, etc., etc. - and as a parent, you just have to get over the disgust and deal. Also, we are adventurous eaters, being willing to try most any kind of new food. (It helps to watch Anthony Bourdain and Andrew Zimmern.) Hubby is more adventurous than I am with food, but I, at one time, considered becoming a naturopath and have long been fascinated with medicine, so I must have a stomach that can take the gross.
Anyway, this link is to an online test in the Science & Nature section of the BBC. The test, which is easy to take - and, to be honest, pretty fun - is to discover what makes us feel disgusted. You run through a series of pictures and rate your level of disgust from high to low. When the test is over, each picture is explained in relation to how most people feel in terms of disgust. The point is that humans should naturally feel disgusted over things that are potentially disease-producing. When my husband and I went through it, we strangely were not as disgusted as the average person over most of the pictures. I can attribute this to a couple of things. We have three children and have seen pretty much every illness-related disgusting event you can see - poop, snot, gushing blood, etc., etc. - and as a parent, you just have to get over the disgust and deal. Also, we are adventurous eaters, being willing to try most any kind of new food. (It helps to watch Anthony Bourdain and Andrew Zimmern.) Hubby is more adventurous than I am with food, but I, at one time, considered becoming a naturopath and have long been fascinated with medicine, so I must have a stomach that can take the gross.
Labels: andrew zimmern, anthony bourdain, bbc, blog, children, disease, disgust, husband, kevin donovan, test
Saturday, April 21, 2007
Minnesota's Basic Skills Tests
All of our children have undergone state testing lately. Our oldest two had writing tests as part of Minnesota's Basic Skills Tests. The children have to pass all of these tests (writing, math & reading) in order to graduate from high school. Thus far, no problems there - everyone has passing scores.
The writing test involves a prompt to which students have to write an essay. Our son's prompt was this: "Think of a time when a person you know did something you admired. Describe what this person did and explain why you admired it. Include details so your reader can understand the situation."
Scoring falls on a six-point scale, with six being the highest possible score. To get a six, the paper has to meet the following guidelines:
"Related to the assigned topic, consistently focused on a central idea, evenly & richly developed with ample supporting detail to clarify & expand central idea, containing a purposefully crafted beginning, middle & end with an overall sense of wholeness, demonstrating a consistent control of language enhancing overall qualtiy, demonstrating a command of the rules of sentence formation, word usage & mechanics."
Here's what I want to do. Let's get a bunch of accomplished writers - Margaret Atwood, J.K. Rowling, Neil Gaiman, Stephen King, Joyce Carol Oates, etc. - and have them take the test. I'd love to see how they'd score. What might that tell us about the test?
The writing test involves a prompt to which students have to write an essay. Our son's prompt was this: "Think of a time when a person you know did something you admired. Describe what this person did and explain why you admired it. Include details so your reader can understand the situation."
Scoring falls on a six-point scale, with six being the highest possible score. To get a six, the paper has to meet the following guidelines:
"Related to the assigned topic, consistently focused on a central idea, evenly & richly developed with ample supporting detail to clarify & expand central idea, containing a purposefully crafted beginning, middle & end with an overall sense of wholeness, demonstrating a consistent control of language enhancing overall qualtiy, demonstrating a command of the rules of sentence formation, word usage & mechanics."
Here's what I want to do. Let's get a bunch of accomplished writers - Margaret Atwood, J.K. Rowling, Neil Gaiman, Stephen King, Joyce Carol Oates, etc. - and have them take the test. I'd love to see how they'd score. What might that tell us about the test?
Labels: children, j.k. rowling, joyce carol oates, margaret atwood, minnesota, neil gaiman, prompt, son, stephen king, test, writing
