Did you actually see "An Inconvenient Truth" or not?

[ReefHound]

Pretty soon Iran will have control of the entire Missle East...

Hehe, at first I though that was a typo.

 

[Wayward Son]

I have no desire to be a vegetarian. I am unabashedly a predatory carnivore. Veggies make great side dishes for the meat.

 

[Bill51]

Oh, oh – some more of those crackpot people find the movie to be one sided and politically motivated enough to keep it out of schools unless there is some balance offered. And BTW, some of those crackpot organizations raising doubt are NOAA and NASA again. Someone should jerk all their funding if they’re all that stupid (oh, they tried that a few years ago).

http://www.theolympian.com/112/story/60302.html

 

[Cacia]

We have to ensure that our schools are not being used to politically indoctrinate anyone,"

whew.

 

[archman]

Most scientists would probably agree (I certainly would) that Gore's movie should not be shown in the classroom. Although the film is applauded for making some very good points, it is viewed to be rather exaggerative. And from what I've heard, highly selective.

It is not what we would consider a wholly objective piece. But then, I thought its primary purpose was not to be purely educational, but to serve as a *shock* work to get peoples' attention.

Nothing wrong with that, if it's used that way.

 

[H2Andy]

Oh, oh – some more of those crackpot people find the movie to be one sided and politically motivated enough to keep it out of schools unless there is some balance offered. And BTW, some of those crackpot organizations raising doubt are NOAA and NASA again. Someone should jerk all their funding if they’re all that stupid (oh, they tried that a few years ago).

http://www.theolympian.com/112/story/60302.html

from that article:

"The information that's being presented is a very cockeyed view of what the truth is," Hardison told the Seattle Post-Intelligencer. "The Bible says that in the end times everything will burn up, but that perspective isn't in the DVD."

Board President Ed Barney told The News Tribune of Tacoma on Wednesday that he'd received about a half-dozen complaints from parents.

"We have to ensure that our schools are not being used to politically indoctrinate anyone," said board member Dave Larson, who with Barney and board member Charlie Hoff voted Tuesday for the requirements.

None has seen the movie. District policy, however, requires that an opposing view be aired whenever a controversial issue is examined in school.


six people complain, and the film gets yanked? oy vey

they have to show an opposing view whenever a controversial issue is examined in school. hmmm... so i guess that means they need a film: "God's Plan for Global Warming: It's GOnna Be Hot as Hell"

and does that mean they have a film called "The Holocaust: WHy the Jews Are Lying and it NEver Happened" which they show whenever the HOlocaust is taught?

i love this country... ban a movie you've never seen on the basis of six complaints... and then they say liberals are whiners

 

[archman]

Very specific issues like global warming aren't typically supposed to get extended class time in pre-college science classrooms. There's far too much *general material* that needs to be kept in the base science curriculum. Normally, the only related mention for global warming would be explaining the principles of the greenhouse effect in a general biology class. And that shouldn't take up more than half of one class period. Sometimes there are cool experiments with saran-wrap and windowsills... those are the better teachers.

It might be valid to have an extended discussion in an environmental science elective. Not many high schools offer those classes, though. But if you're going to do that, it would be more appropriate to show something from The Learning Channel or PBS.

 

[H2Andy]

obviously some education professionals disagreed with you, archman

and they know their student body, which you don't

and they know what they want to accomplish in their particular classes, which you don't

i used to teach Full Metal Jacket (the movie) in my Advanced Composition class

not a single administrator ever got why i did that; every single semester i had to fight to keep it in my syllabus

hire competent teachers; let them teach; stay out of their classrooms

 

[archman]

obviously some education professionals disagreed with you, archman

Yes, I know. Which is why I've spent over a decade training future biology high school teachers to teach properly. Science education in the U.S. is a joke in most states. The Pacific Northwest particularly stands out in the use of risky tactics, which have more to do with poorly qualified instructors and budgetary problems than with trying to be innovative.

In many states, the only qualifications a high school biology teacher needs is a couple lousy life science electives at the undergraduate level. At many (heck, I'll argue most) universities, the electives chosen are lightweight, fluff garbage not even sanctioned for use except for education majors.

and they know their student body, which you don't

and they know what they want to accomplish in their particular classes, which you don't

Neither of these is true. This is exactly what I do, and do very well. Evaluate and teach biology lessons at both the high school and college level. Train high school teachers and biologists. Critique curriculum content, and fix problems, if necessary.

hire competent teachers; let them teach; stay out of their classrooms

Yes. And I'm the guy that has the "joy" of making sure they are competent. I'm such a scary *******.

 

[H2Andy]

ah... i kind of fire teachers as a job... (if they are tenured)

it's not fun

(i also fire policemen and firemen... what a happy job i have)

when i was teaching at the University of Florida, i was a third rate instructor.

when i went to Santa Fe Community College, suddenly i was the avant garde doing things nobody there had heard of ... it's all relative