More Teaching Ideas To Add To Toolbox

Here are a couple of interesting exercises for children:
Car Parking Studies
1. Research in a large parking lot to find out how much time and gas people spend looking for parking spots in busy times. How many hours, days, years, etc. is that if x number of cars in the city are doing the same thing? How much gas is wasted doing this?
2. How can we get people to enjoy paying for parking? e.g. have signs that indicate that the money will be used to develop and enhance the immediate street and area.
3. What are the alternatives to parking as it exists today? Is there a better way?
4. How much money could be saved if roads, streets, etc. were not designed to include parking lanes? Where would you put the parked cars instead?
5. How much should people really be paying for parking? Work out the math to find the optimal price of parking that fills the spots except for just a few empty emergency spaces but still keeps people parking. This should establish the fine balance between supply and demand.
Don’t miss this! Wonderful man! Wonderful study! MANY ARTICLES ON THE TOPIC!
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PARAPROSDOKIANS (invent your own)

“Figure of speech in which the latter part of a sentence or phrase is surprising or unexpected; frequently used in a humorous situation.”

“Where there’s a will, I want to be in it,” is a type of paraprosdokian.

1. Do not argue with an idiot. He will drag you down to his level and beat you with experience.

2. The last thing I want to do is hurt you. But it’s still on my list.

3. Light travels faster than sound. This is why some people appear bright until you hear them speak.

4. If I agreed with you, we’d both be wrong.

5. We never really grow up, we only learn how to act in public.

6. War does not determine who is right – only who is left.

7. Knowledge is knowing a tomato is a fruit. Wisdom is not putting it in a fruit salad.

8. Evening news is where they begin with ‘Good Evening,’ and then proceed to tell you why it isn’t.

9. To steal ideas from one person is plagiarism. To steal from many is research.

10. A bus station is where a bus stops. A train station is where a train stops. On my desk, I have a work station.

11. I thought I wanted a career. Turns out I just wanted paychecks.

12. Whenever I fill out an application, in the part that says, ‘In case of emergency, notify:’ I put ‘DOCTOR.’

13. I didn’t say it was your fault, I said I was blaming you.

14. Women will never be equal to men until they can walk down the street with a bald head and a beer gut, and still think they are sexy.

15. Behind every successful man is his woman.. Behind the fall of a successful man is usually another woman.

16. A clear conscience is the sign of a fuzzy memory.

17. I asked God for a bike, but I know God doesn’t work that way. So I stole a bike and asked for forgiveness.

18. You do not need a parachute to skydive. You only need a parachute to skydive twice.

19. Money can’t buy happiness, but it sure makes misery easier to live with.

20. There’s a fine line between cuddling and holding someone down so they can’t get away.

21. I used to be indecisive. Now I’m not so sure.

22. You’re never too old to learn something stupid.

23. To be sure of hitting the target, shoot first and call whatever you hit the target.

24. Nostalgia isn’t what it used to be.

25. Change is inevitable, except from a vending machine.

26. Going to church doesn’t make you a Christian any more than standing in a garage makes you a car.

27. A diplomat is someone who tells you to go to hell in such a way that you look forward to the trip.

28. Hospitality is making your guests feel at home even when you wish they were.

29. I always take life with a grain of salt. Plus a slice of lemon, and a shot of tequila.

30. When tempted to fight fire with fire, remember that the Fire Department usually uses water.

Words of Wisdom “The early bird may get the worm, but the second mouse gets the cheese.” ~ Jon Hammond


More of these zany things! http://www.paraprosdokianfun.com/

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Gas Drips Study (get students tuned in to the small but important things in life)
When people fill their cars with gas, notice that there are always a few drops that land on the ground on your shoe. If that happens to pretty well everybody that fills up, how much gasoline is wasted in this way?
(DON’T MISS THIS! you will be amazed and astounded.)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_WK8VQ3thkk

Thanks Otto Schmidt, Gifted Programming Consultant, Toronto, Canada www.AccentonSkills.com, www.InventorsCollege.org, www.EdGO.ca

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