59th Minute

I grew up watching the National Film Board short films like every other Canadian of my vintage. I remember them for their short, compelling films; some of them entertaining, others educational. "The Hockey Sweater", "The Cat Came Back" and many others.

My first teachers' convention that I remember was when David Suzuki came and spoke to us. It was there that I first heard the "how to boil a frog" story. I'm not sure it was his analogy, but it had a great deal of influence on my thinking over the years. I gave my first speech at a graduation based on what I heard Suzuki say at that convention.

The NFB and David Suzuki are a natural and winning combination. He has done a short interactive NFB film about exponential growth and the 59th minute. As usual, he says in 2.5 minutes what may take me a much longer time in my classroom.

I plan on using this to teach math and science. I have put the link on our math wiki page along with other great links, many of which are from Dan Meyer's blog. I have also got a cells wiki page and I thought it would be a great way to introduce that whole unit.

Hope you can use it. Thanks David.