This Land is Our Land

Happy Martin Luther King, Jr. Day. Enjoy.

My Favorite Web Things

1. Google: Love it. Love it. Love it. I had a conversation with another teacher one day, and decided that a) Google was going to take over the world one day, and b) we would both gladly submit to its' rule.

2. iGoogle: If Google is the ice-cream sundae, then iGoogle is the cherry on top. Everytime I start up my browser I'm greated with my favorite search engine, customized weather, current news headlines, e-mail, favorite bookmarks, and a variety of customizable tickers, games, newsfeeds and other widgets. So not only can set back and let the Internet make me lazy, but now I actually don't have to take the time and energy to navigate through different pages and sites.

3. Digg: If you're not "Digging", then you should check it out. It allows you to submit websites, stories, blogs, videos, flickr photos, etc. to a social site where others can view them. By establishing networks of friends and fans, you can see what other people are reading. It's a lot of fun, and a great way to find content that doesn't always make the front pages. (By the way, if you're registered with Digg, feel free to click the "Digg" button on any of my posts to submit them.)

4. Facebook: Okay, I admit that at 30-something I'm not really the target demographic for the king of all social networking sites. But for people my age this site is a great way to re-establish contact with, and keep in touch with, old friends. BTW...I don't accept friend requests from students.

5. Google Reader: Another part of the Google Universe. Google reader allows you to subscribe to RSS feeds from frequently updated websites. What this means, in simple terms, is that when your favorite websites or blogs are updated, the new information is sent directly to your Google Reader page. This makes it possible to keep track of dozens of websites without constantly clicking through a list of bookmarks. And, if you have an iGoogle start page, your Google reader updates can be read directly from there!

Just for fun

Since it's Friday...check out this toy available from Amazon.com. Make sure you read the customer reviews...

Construction Update

Last week our local board of education approved the architectural plans for the additions to the high school. You can see them here. They are definitely scaled down versions of what was originally proposed, but should give us some much needed addition facilities, especially in the science department.

Evolution Legislation

As the new legislative year gets underway, most of the discussion is about budgets and how to balance them. Lost in the economic talk, though, are the first two anti-evolution bills of 2009.

Oklahoma Senate Bill 320 would require state and local authorities to:

endeavor to create an environment within public elementary and secondary schools that encourages students to explore scientific questions, learn about scientific evidence, develop critical thinking skills, and respond appropriately and respectfully to differences of opinion about controversial issues.

That doesn't sound too bad, if it was preceded with:

The Legislature further finds that the teaching of some scientific subjects, such as biological evolution, the chemical origins of life, global warming, and human cloning, can cause controversy, and that some teachers may be unsure of the expectations concerning how they should present information on such subjects.

As one of my science heroes (you know you're a geek when you have science heroes) likes to point out, encouraging critical thinking and thoughtful questioning is a good thing in science class. In fact, the ability to ask questions and think critical about the natural world are extremely important tools for a scientist. However, when certain theories of science are singled out for special treatment, we start to run into problems. Probably the biggest is that the statement above gives the impression that scientific questions and evidence should only be explored, critical thinking skills should only be used, and differences of opinion should only be respected when discussing evolution, the origins of life, global warming, or human cloning. If you're studying something like, say, gravity, then there's no need to ask questions. If you're discussing the extinction of wildlife due to overhunting or habitat depletion, don't worry about recognizing or respecting that other people might have a different view than you do. And if you're learning about quantum mechanics, don't bother with looking for evidence.

I'll have more on this later. In the meantime, the amazing folks at the National Center for Science Education have an informative post on this piece of legislation.