Tuesday Quote #1

I've decided that every Tuesday and Friday I will post a quote on here and then analyze it a little. Today's quote is by Ralph Waldo Emerson.

"...None but he knows what that is which he can do, nor does he know until he has tried."

Ralph Waldo Emerson is saying that no one else can tell you what you can or can't do. Only you know your limits. Only you can tell the things that you can do, and even you don't know if you can do something until you've actually tried it. Don't be afraid to try something, as Nike says, "Just Do It" :D

If you have any quotes or any other topics that you would like to see me post about go ahead and comment and I'll get a post up for you.

~MIGZARELLI~

New Science Curriculum

Today I am going to analyze an article that I found on the internet and give my opinion about it.
http://www.newscientist.com/article/mg21328483.300-us-education-advocates-tackle-climate-change-sceptics.html
This article is talking about how several states and schools are thinking about changing the curriculum that is being taught in Science classes today. Some people are saying that we should begin teaching "Climate Change Skepticism" in our schools. This would be for students who do not believe in the theory of global warming and would also allow students to analyze the theory. I believe that we should teach students to think more independent and not just follow everything the teacher tells you. We should teach both sides of topics that are especially controversial in school. Such topics could be the Big Bang and evolution theories and the theory of global warming.

I think that once one school begins to teach something like this, then many others will follow their example. Today in schools the teachers are teaching only one side of a story. Look at evolution, do they ever tell you that there's a chance that creationism could be true? No. Is it really teaching if you're not helping students think about the topic? What you are really teaching students is that they should follow you and listen to whatever you tell them. Independent thinking is, in my opinion, one of the most important things that we can teach to the youth of America today; "Learning with thought is labor lost; thought without learning is perilous." Confucius.

Albert Einstein once said, "The only thing that interferes with my learning is my education. This is a good quote and in a way shows what is happening now. The schools are educating students on a topic, but are not allowing them to learn about the whole concept. They are not allowing us to see the other side unless we do the research on our own, and let's face it, almost no one is going to do that! The youth and a lot of adults are getting even more lazy, they don't let their minds wander, they don't think about subjects. We need more Socrates and Pato's today. We need more people that will actually go into a topic with an open mind and explore both sides of it, people that actually know how to think.

~MIGZARELLI~

Zombie Ants

Did you know that there's a fungus that will infect an ant and make it do it's bidding? This fungus will attach itself to an ant as it passes by and releases chemicals into its body that allows the fungus to control it. The fungus will direct the ant to an area where the fungus can thrive the best and spread its spores. Once the ant reaches the area it will clamp down on a leaf and die shortly after. Interestingly enough, researchers have found that the ant will only clamp down at high noon and die sometime in the evening. What's also interesting is that the fungus (Ophiocordyceps) seems to mostly infect Carpenter ants. the Ophiocordyceps lives and grows only in rain forests, mostly in Brazil and some in Thailand.

Now one thing that everyone loves and has become a huge craze lately is zombies. This causes me to think about something. What if scientists were able to somehow mutate this fungus and make it control humans? What if they could create true, human zombies? I wouldn't be surprised if some scientists were trying to figure out a way to create zombies right now. This may seem like a crazy thing to most people, but I happen to think that it's a very interesting topic.

To learn more about these zombified ants you can visit these sites-
http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2011/03/pictures/110303-zombie-ants-fungus-new-species-fungi-bugs-science-brazil/
http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2011/05/110511-zombies-ants-fungus-infection-spores-bite-noon-animals-science/
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-1386717/Why-zombie-ants-infected-mind-controlling-fungus-kill-high-noon.html
http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=fungus-makes-zombie-ants
http://www.guardian.co.uk/science/2010/aug/18/zombie-carpenter-ant-fungus

~MIGZARELLI~

Doing Your Work

As you may have read from my previous post, I don't really care for the education system. However, I still think that we must do well in school. Whether we like it or not, we must complete High School in order to get a good job. Unless of course, you decide you want to travel the world with no commitments getting whatever job you can at the time and making enough money to go on to the next place, which I have actually thought about and think might be interesting. I would love to just rough it, and backpack across the world getting a small job here and there and then just continuing. Anyways, I'm getting off the point here. I think that we should do well at something even if we don't like it. Just because you don't care for a subject at school doesn't give you the right to just fail it.

Last year I failed my history 1 class. I was Sophomore in High School, I'm now a Junior and I am paying for the mistake I made. I thought that I could just get away with turning in little to none of my assignments just because I didn't care for the class I was in. This year I now have to retake that History class which takes away one of my electives. If I had passed the class last year I would have an extra credit and get early release during my Senior year, but now I can't. Believe me, you should try your hardest whether you like it or not. I am still paying for failing a class.

~MIGZARELLI~

Education

Education....Everything revolves around education these days. You have twelve years of school and after that you have the choice to go to college for another four years or more. But it really isn't that much of a choice for most people. You're pressured into going to college;  Your parents tell you to go to college, your teachers tell you, colleges tell you, jobs tell you, everyone tells you to go to college! You're basically told that you wont go anywhere if you don't get a good degree. Teachers give you charts showing you how much you could make if you go to college and how much you would make if you didn't go to college. Ready for my big opinion? SCHOOL IS A WASTE OF TIME! Maybe not all of school, maybe not all of college, but a lot of it is. I think we should only have nine to ten years of school and then get to decide if we get our education. I think that instead of having to go to college and getting a degree, you should be able to go and just learn that trade. Why do you have to go to college to become a Veterinarian? Why can't you just go to someone who is already one and learn from them? Why do you need a license in order to help other people or animals? Education wasn't always a big deal, you could just go and learn a trade and then do it. Sure you need to know things about diseases that animals can get, you need to know some biology and other sciences, but haven't you ever heard of research? A person could get books from their local library; or read article is in magazines, newspapers, or online. They could do this and not have to pay for college! I actually learn better on my own, than having to listen to some teacher give a lecture on a subject. Different minds work different ways, so why force people to go to college in order to get the job they want? I say let people choose if they want to go to college or not.

~MIGZARELLI~