Some of my students asked me about a Web site they’d been on recently. They seemed pretty excited about it and about the cool but inexpensive gadgets they found for sale, but they also seemed a little unsettled. It looked good, but was it reliable? Was it real? Were the good deals honest, or was it some kind of scam?

I felt bad that I didn’t have time for them to show me what had them abuzz with excitement and at the same time leery. They filled my bucket, though, by asking those questions. We’ll be asking a lot more of them as we develop our literacy and critical thinking.

In the mean time, they reminded me of a very interesting site with some information about an endangered species, Octopus paxarbolis, from the temperate rain forests not far form here. I thought we ought to find out more about what we should do to try to save this critter and protect the area’s biodiversity. Theses students are showing they’ve got savvy; now it’s time to get good at using it.