Thursday, May 05, 2005
But It's "Science" Class
Apparently the last bastion of objective truth in our educational system is not as objective as it used to be. The Weekly Standard has a piece on the decreasing standards of science textbooks. (HT: Holy Coast) Here's a doozy:
Oh, and while we're at school, check out this story.
Thus, a chapter on climate in a fifth-grade science textbook in the Discovery Works series, published by Houghton Mifflin (2000), opens with a Native American explanation for the changing seasons: "Crow moon is the name given to spring because that is when the crows return. April is the month of Sprouting Grass Moon." Students meander through three pages of Algonquin lore before they learn that climate is affected by the rotation and tilt of Earth--not by the return of the crows.Climate modeling has been one of the greatest drivers of incresing computer power. There is an enormous amount of very hard science behind weather prediction. Good scientists have died in order to gather data useful in severe weather prediction - and students have to hear about Indian lore? Here's another:
Affirmative action for women and minorities is similarly pervasive in science textbooks, to absurd effect. Al Roker, the affable black NBC weatherman, is hailed as a great scientist in one book in the Discovery Works series. It is common to find Marie Curie given a picture and half a page of text, but her husband, Pierre, who shared a Nobel Prize with her, relegated to the role of supportive spouse. In the same series, Thomas Edison, inventor of the light bulb, is shown next to black scientist Lewis Latimer, who improved the light bulb by adding a carbon filament. Edison's picture is smaller.Al Roker? Al Roker? The guy is a professional goofball, not a scientist. The article goes on from there, read it for yourself. And then contact your local school board and make sure these textbooks are not used in your school system.
Oh, and while we're at school, check out this story.
A local woman went 'through the roof' when a deputy took his anti-drug message to high school.I have no doubt about this. I was doing jury duty down by LA City Hall years ago and on lunch happened by a press conference on the steps where then Mayor Bradley was demonstrating "how easy it is" to make crack cocaine. I asked him if he realy thought it was wise to conduct such a demonstration in front of television cameras and let's just say that's the last time I ever had access to the mayor.
She says he showed students how to make methamphetamines, and she has the video to prove it.
