The Twin Cities PBS "Ready to Learn" project focuses on the building of science and literacy skills of diverse students ages 5 to 8. It also promotes equity for historically underrepresented children in science (race-ethnic minorities, low-income children with disabilities, English Language Learners). The Transformative Transmedia…

This article describes the authors' use of three game shows--"Survivor," "The Biggest Loser," and "Deal or No Deal?"--to determine to what degree students engaged in mathematical thinking: specializing, conjecturing, generalizing, and convincing (Burton, 1984). Student responses to the task of creating winning strategies to these shows were…

This essay uses the recent victory of an IBM computer (Watson) in the TV game, "Jeopardy," to speculate on the abilities Watson would need, in addition to those it has, to be human. The essay's basic premise is that to be human is to behave as humans behave and to function in society as humans function. Alternatives to this premise are considered…