Posted on 02/02/2011 12:02:17 AM PST by Daffynition
Is this creature capable of exposing shocking internet illiteracy?
Donald Leu, a researcher from the University of Connecticut, conducted a U.S. Department of Education-funded study of internet literacy among so-called “digital natives,” fabricating the tree octopus to test students’ ability to evaluate information they find on the internet.
Researchers asked students to find out information about the endangered Pacific Northwest tree octopus. Students had no problem locating a Web site dedicated to the cause, http://zapatopi.net/treeoctopus/ “but insisted on the existence of the made-up story, even after researchers explained the information on the website was completely fabricated,” according to a press release.
(Excerpt) Read more at blog.mysanantonio.com ...
Sometimes tree octopuses hitch a ride in Christmas trees harvested from farms on the Olympic Peninsula. When its tree is being jostled violently, a tree octopus will hunker down deep inside the branches near the trunk and camouflage itself to look like bark. This is a defensive mechanism to protect it from wind storms and sasquatch trying to shake octopuses to the ground. They may stay hidden like this for days after a particularly violent shaking, such as experienced by Christmas trees when they are chopped down and transported.
Many octopuses have a natural instinct to decorate their lairs with attractive baubles, and O. paxarbolis is no exception. When it finally comes out of hiding and explores its tree, finding it covered in shiny ornaments and sparkly lights, it will become so mesmerized by the baublely abundance that it’ll hardly notice that its tree is sitting in some human’s living room.
Scandinavian immigrants considered it good luck to find a tree octopus in their Christmas tree. Granted, that’s because they like to eat them. But for us more enlightened cephalopodophiles, we can consider it a sign of good luck that the species hasn’t yet gone extinct.
And to keep it that way, please remember to remove any octopuses you find before disposing of your Christmas tree. They can be put in a shoe box — with a bit of moist branch to make them feel comfortable and some tinsel to keep them distracted — and taken to your nearest chapter of the Friends of the Pacific Northwest Tree Octopus for reintroduction into the wild.
Dang it! Now I don't even know if THIS story is true or not...
Where do I go to find that out?!
What is going on there is that the previous music teacher was lazy and did not demand accademic (or musical) excellence from the children. The kids expect easy As and don’t turn in their work and expect to get rewarded just for singing. The Principal is backing up my daughter on her grades. She has a rubric for each assignment and grades down when certain criteria are not met — such as not putting your name on your paper!
For instance, one assignment was to attend a concert (not a school concert) that they were not performing in and write a review of the concert. One girl critiqued a concert she performed in (clearly the opposite of the assignment), waxing on about how she felt about each stanza she sang! My daughter gave her half credit, and the mother assailed my daughter with 5 abusive emails — each one worse than the one before.
One student learned her lesson, however. In their conference at the end of the semester, she said that she’d learned to put her name on her paper, to follow the assignment, to provide references, etc. Clearly that child learned something that will be valuable in the future. I think she got a B. (These classes were Music Theory).
As someone with no extra money for concert tickets, and little access to babysitting for the kids not involved, I would have been apalled if my child brought home an assignment like that. That is, unless you forgot to mention a school field trip was involved or you were allowed to review a concert CD....
Got jackalope?
Wait a minute. Are you telling me those pictures of cats with machine guns aren’t real!?
Aren’t jackalope antlers different than those in the picture?
That might be a new species. Perhaps something elk related?
“Truly hilarious and creative:”
So true: look at the very bottom of the page for a link to
People for the Ethical Treatment of Pumpkins
Someone had a really good time putting up this bogus site.
It sounds like your daughter is an excellent teacher. Having standards and sticking to them. Having a principal back her up is fortunate too....these are *old school* values. Neat! Most administrators take the easy way out and want all the children to *feel good* about themselves. Good for her! She has my admiration. Well done!!!
The one in that post was still in velvet.
Around September, the antlers will harden and the velvet will come loose. Jackalopes will use brush & small trees to assist in removing the remaining velvet.
During in the period of 'rut' (late Novermber-early January) mature jackalopes will use their antlers to fight for dominance and the right to breed the does. It is common during this time to see some with broken tines or worse, two jackalopes locked together until one or both are dead.
The antlers fall off around late February through March. The adult males will begin growing new antlers in late May.
I am living in the middle of jackalope country and have been here for fifty years. The sitings of the male jackalope are quite rare as they are smart, wily, and blend in with the environment well. The female jackalope does not have horns and is not near as smart and is much more abundant so it is spotted quite often out on the prairie.
In the spring and summer the males bunch up together for stag parties while the females raise the recent litters of young that come in late spring or early summer. Come fall, the males start the mating ritual and will collect their “harems”, sometimes up to 30 females in one batch. It is true that the males will sometimes fight for the females, but with the overabundance of females this is very rare.
Reminds me of the “Spaghetti Tree” film broadcast by the BBC in the ‘50s:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spaghetti_tree_hoax
Yikes! Now I’ll never want to walk in the woods again.
Dang it! Now I don’t even know if THIS story is true or not..
= = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = =
Much the same dilemma as when coming into Havre de Grace MD where they advertise the decoy museum.
How do you know when you are at the right place?
Also on Rte 28 about 5 miles from Point Of Rocks MD there is a ‘shop’ on the corner that sells bird houses.
There must be 50 (give or take) bird houses in a field there and I have yet to see the first bird in any of them.
Not good for advertising is it?
I named my consulting business after that gem of wisdom!
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.