Wednesday, August 22, 2007

How Gullible Are We?

A student at Eagle Rock Junior High won first prize at the Greater Idaho Falls Science Fair. He was attempting to show how conditioned we have become to alarmists practicing junk science and spreading fear of everything in our environment.

In his project he urged people to sign a petition demanding strict control or total elimination of the chemical "dihydrogen monoxide."

And for plenty of good reasons, since:
  • it can cause excessive sweating and vomiting
  • it is a major component in acid rain
  • it can cause severe burns in its gaseous state
  • accidental inhalation can kill you
  • it contributes to erosion
  • it decreases effectiveness of automobile brakes
  • it has been found in tumors of terminal cancer patients.
He asked 50 people if they supported a ban of the chemical.
  • Forty-three (43) said yes,
  • Six (6) were undecided,
  • Only one (1) knew that the chemical was water.
The title of his prize winning project was, "How Gullible Are We?"

He feels the conclusion is obvious.

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Dear All,

Welcome!!!

I started this blog last year for my J1 students. On this blog, I mostly post links to interesting videos, podcasts, newspaper & magazine articles, web pages, online audio programmes etc that I come across for my students. When I have the time, I also try to add in my few cents worth.

If you explore the sidebar apart from a rich variety of links, you will also find hyperlinks to my GP & Lit wikis. It also has a link to my online sharing folder. If you have any notes, ppts or any other resources which you think is interesting or useful for GP or Lit students, please email me. I will upload it either on the GP online sharing folder or one of the two wikis (as appropriate) so that others can download and use them. (Please do keep in mind copyright issues.)

If you follow the GP & Lit wiki links, you will find that apart from resource pages I have also setup online discussion forums for these two subjects. The aim of these forums is to facilitate asynchronous online discussions (AODs). If you have any new topic threads to suggest, email me and I will create it on the forum for your class or group. (I will need forum moderators if this forum grows in future, so volunteers are most welcome).

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Since this project is still very much in its experimental stage, I welcome your great ideas & suggestions for improvements.

Cheers!!

Mr. Wangyal

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