Burgy,
Contrary to popular belief, ingesting plutonium with your lunch probably
would not make you sick; it would all depend on the chemical state of the
plutonium. Still it would be a dumb idea. ;-) Expensive, too! My guess is
that ingesting plutonium as a metal would have little or no effect and would
probably be no worse than swallowing a marble but would lie a bit heavier on
the stomach.
Chuck (plutonium free) Vandergraaf
-----Original Message-----
From: John W Burgeson [mailto:burgytwo@juno.com]
Sent: Monday February 19, 2001 4:43 PM
To: gmurphy@raex.com; asa@calvin.edu
Subject: Re: New Kansas Science Stds.
George posted:
"
1) I don't know if we can draw a pedagogic line at the point
where
actual danger might result
but there would be some truth in so doing. A student may kill him or
herself
if not convinced that standing under a tree in a thunderstorm is a bad
idea,
but is not immediately endangered by a belief that the earth is 6000
years
old."
I guess my point is that the resolution, as stated, tells the teacher he
may not teach any of the following as "dogmatic:"
1. Standing under a tree in a thunderstorm is a bad idea.
2. The earth is very old.
3. The color of your classmate's skin is not an indicator of 2nd class
citizenship.
4. The ingestion of plutonium with your lunch will make you sick.
5. Sticking a screwdriver into the outlet is a way to get fried.
6. The earth is definitely a sphere.
7. And on and on. I think we CANNOT draw a pedagogic line, even if the
resolution referred to one.
"
2) I used to tell students in my introductory astronomy class
that
if they answered exam questions about cosmological theories &
observations
correctly & then add "I don't believe this: I think God created the
universe
in 6 24 hour days", I'd give them credit. I don't think any of them
quite
took me up on that, though some did express religiously based doubts."
I am surprised. But I suspect you are a good teacher, and they recognized
you, and the material, as such.
Burgy (John Burgeson)
www.burgy.50megs.com
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