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Sunday, April 20, 2014

4-20-14 The Answer Sheet

The Answer Sheet:








Who is mucking up science education?
Who is mucking up science education? Scientists or politicians? Wyoming Gov. Matt Mead’s education policy adviser, Mary Kay Hill, has sent a letter to John Friedrich, senior campaigner for Climate Parents, a group dedicated to preserving the Earth’s changing climate, saying that Mead has been concerned that scientists are mucking around with science education. The scientists, it seems […]

Blowing up Peeps: An experiment in thermodynamics
Here’s a video showing a lesson in thermodynamics with Peeps. Yes, Peeps. (If you don’t know what Peeps are, they are marshmallow candies in animal shapes. They used to appear in stores at Easter time but now are found year-round.) Carl Nelson, chief scientist and exhibits director at Imagination Station, a nonprofit science center in Toledo, does […]


A defense of public education against ‘the wolves of Wall Street’
Sara Stevenson is the librarian at O. Henry Middle School in Austin, Texas, who is sick and tired of assaults on the very notion of public education. Here are her reflections on the value of public education and what is being done to it in the name of  ”‘reform.”   By Sara Stevenson As a lifelong […]




All Week @ The Answer Sheet 4-19-14
The Answer Sheet:All Week @ The Answer SheetArne Duncan dismisses critics: ‘Lots of drama, lots of noise’There he goes again. Education Secretary Arne Duncan went to New York recently and introduced state Education Commissioner John King at a function at New York University, calling him “a remarkable leader” and “as smart and as thoughtful as anyone working in this space.” As for the growing numbe