What Darwin Saw Out Back

Fri, 25 Apr 2008 19:29:24 GMT

clipped by: arifsali

IN 1860, while studying primroses in the garden of Down House, his home in Kent, England, Charles Darwin noticed something odd about their blooms.

While all the flowers had both male and female parts — anthers and pistils — in some the anthers were prominent and in others the pistils were longer. So he experimented in his home laboratory and greenhouses, cross-pollinating some plants with their anatomical opposites. The results were striking.

“He determined that if they cross-pollinate, they produce more seed and more vigorous seedlings,” said Margaret Falk, a horticulturalist and associate vice president at the New York Botanical Garden. The variation is evolution’s way of increasing cross-pollination, she said.

Now the Botanical Garden is replicating this work, and more of Darwin’s Down House experiments, in a stunning, multipart exhibition called “Darwin’s Garden: An Evolutionary Adventure.”

Tags: darwin, evolution, plants

What do teachers make?

Fri, 25 Apr 2008 18:55:04 GMT

clipped by: arifsali
clipper's remarks: I make them apologize and mean it. I make them have Respect and take responsibility for their actions. I teach them to write and then I make them write. Keyboarding isn't everything.

I make them read, read, read. I make them show all their work in math. They use their God given brain, not the man-made calculator. I make my students from other countries learn everything they need to know about English while preserving their unique cultural identity. I
make my classroom a place where all my students feel safe.

I make my students stand, placing their hand over their heart to say the Pledge of Allegiance to the Flag, One Nation Under God, because
we live in the United States of America.

Finally, I make them understand that if they use the gifts they were given, work hard, and follow their hearts, they can succeed in life.

(Bonnie paused one last time and then continued.)

'Then, when people try to judge me by what I make, with me knowing money isn't everything, I can hold

Clip Source: viewer.zoho.com

The dinner guests were sitting around the table discussing life. One

man, a CEO, decided to explain the problem with education.

He argued, 'What's a kid going to learn from someone who decided
his/her best option in life was to become a teacher?' He reminded the
other dinner guests what they say about teachers: 'Those who can, do..

Those who can't, teach.'

To stress his point he said to another guest; 'You're a teacher,

Bonnie.

Be honest. What do you make?' Bonnie, who had a reputation for
honesty and frankness replied, 'You want to know what I make? (She
paused for a second, then began...) 'Well, I make kids work

harder than they ever thought they could. I make a C+ feel like the

Congressional Medal of Honor winner. I make kids sit through 40
minutes of class time when their parents can't make them sit for 5

without an I Pod, Game Cube or movie rental.

You want to know what I make?' (She paused again and looked at each
And every person at the table.) I make kids wonder

Tags: teachers, teaching

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What Darwin Saw Out Back

What do teachers make?