I have never watched the new series Are you smarter than a 5th grader? but I understand it’s turned out to be quite a popular hit. For fun, the Contra Costa Times in Walnut Creek, CA (east of San Francisco and Berkeley), recently asked two fifth-grade teachers to come up with a quiz for its readers. Their fifteen questions are not difficult, but—well, that was a few years ago! See for yourself, and take the quiz (don’t look at the answers accidentally—they are at the bottom of the page). The questions came from the regular curriculum, and the teachers revealed that a score of ten would earn a gold star. I’ll confess to earning only nine!

I’ve always liked silver better, anyway . . .

Just an aside, but this article in the Washington Post (Thursday, February 1, 2007; page A-1) alleges that few folks know about (or remember) the extension of Daylight Saving Time that was approved by Congress in August 2005. The article’s author, Charles Babington, includes some history and a little trivia about this “American institution” while introducting us to the headaches that are involved in making this simple act happen. Assuming that the world doesn’t end in a Y2K-ish stimy, the important thing to remember, is that we’ll now spring ahead on the second Sunday in March, and fall back on the first Sunday in November.