Well, slightly better than last time. Thirty five students got an A, including 25 who got 100% (though no one got everything right). The remaining grades break down as A-, 17; B+, 15; B, 16; B-, 17; C+, 12; C, 10; D, 24; Fails, 23, including 10 no-shows. Average score ignoring the no-shows: 81%.
Category Archives: PB&J
Nobel gold
Peter Agre, Nobel Prize Chemistry 2003, came to talk to the class.
Calming chickens
I spent the morning on chicken farms. We have an EEID grant to look for Marek’s disease virus in Pennsylvania. MDV has evolved to become seriously nasty. We’re working on the possibility that vaccines made it so. To me, it’s a fascinating question (although I have no deep understanding of why). And the context is fabulous. The efficiency of the poultry industry is mind blowing. It is incredible what smart people and market forces can achieve. Chickens used to be more expensive than oysters. Now… If humans can make chickens dirt cheap, and go to the moon, how come we can’t do simple things, like Middle East peace?
The thin blue line
I showed this in class today, in the PB&J slot.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FG0fTKAqZ5g
Its best on high def, with surround sound LOUD.
The Responsibility
This is the time in semester when I still have the energy and enthusiasm to really feel the burden of this course. The students are busy writing their introductory blog entries, where they have to explain why they are not science majors, and why they are doing my course. The main goal of the exercise is to make sure they can work the blog, but what gets revealed are woeful tales of the failure of K-12 science education (some particularly disturbing examples: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5).
PB&J
We roll into Thanksgiving week, and then there are just two weeks left. Hard not to ruminate on course failings. Did we do poorly on transmitting the Passion, Beauty and Joy? Damn. Might be the most important.