The Elements of Friendship, Thursday, Period 3

[locointhecoco]

The Danger Shop was set up as a barnyard this week for Pinkie's class, though there were fortunately no animals in sight. There was a pile of fabric, a ring of watering cans on the ground and a few tables off to the side covered in old fashioned canning jars, and what looked like cans of paint and brushes by the barn itself, but no animals.

Pinkie was standing off to one side as the students gathered, wearing a rather fetching bonnet. She stood next to a much older green and white pony napping in a rocking chair.

"Welcome back, students!" Pinkie said. The green and white pony snorted and woke up long enough to holler "lima beans!" before resuming her loud snoring. Pinkie started again, in a quieter voice this time.

"Welcome back! This week, I've got an extra special treat for you! We're going to learn how to make zap-apple jam! Zap apples are magical rainbow apples that only grow for four days out of each year back home in Equestria, and ponies come from all over to sample some of the amazing jam made only by my good friend, Granny Smith Apple." Pinkie gestured to the snoring pony beside her. "Luckily for you, she's decided to share her recipe with us! Isn't that amazing?"

As Pinkie waited for the students to tell her it was, indeed, amazing, the howling of distant wolves echoed over the class. Granny woke again, sitting bolt up right this time, and started smacking a cast iron skillet with her hoof.

"The timber wolves are howling! The timber wolves are howling!"

"That's right, Granny Smith," Pinkie said. "And you know what that means!"

Granny probably did -- but she'd fallen back asleep.

"We'll just let her sleep for awhile," Pinkie decided. "We've got lots of preparation to do before the zap-apple harvest!"

[ooc: and we're live!]

Ethics [Thursday, January 19, 2012, 1st period]

[sith_happened]

When the class arrived, they would find their names on desks--Anakin had come up with a seating chart for the rest of the semester.

He was holding a giant mug of (decaf, Rory could tell if he was sneaking caffeine while she couldn't have any) coffee as he entered the room and gave his TAs papers to pass out, then went to the board and wrote out: "Utilitarianism: it is the greatest happiness of the greatest number that is the measure of right and wrong," then turned to face his students. "Do you think this is true? If what gives the majority pleasure is watching Christians getting eaten by lions, or a four-day-marathon of that show about the orange people who live in New Jersey, does that make it right? What will protect the rights of the individual in a society ruled by utilitarianism--who in this example might be a Christian who enjoys PBS--or do those really matter?"

Library, Thursday [01/19]

[selfhelphero]

Technically, Billy was where he was supposed to be, settled in behind the front desk in the library. The fact that he was sitting on the floor, wrapped up in a blanket with a stack of comic books was just a result of the week he'd had so far. There'd been intoxication and thievery from hot Mounties and half-ownership of a penguin and look, it was his shift, and he could build himself a blanket fort if he wanted to.

Life of the Sea, Thursday, Period 2

[takesaftermom.livejournal.com]

Summer had sent out a handwaved e-mail, letting her students know they were meeting in the Danger Shop today. Upon entering, they'd find the room set up like a laboratory, with tanks of various sizes set up throughout the room.

"Today's topic of discussion, if you couldn't tell from the tanks, is on coral reefs," Summer explained. "Reefs are known as the rainforests of the oceans because they are a component of a larger ecosystem, a collection of biological communities. Corals are actually tiny animals that are stationary; they stay fixed in one place," she added.

"All reef-dwelling corals have a symbiotic relationship with algae called zooxanthellae. The plant-like algae live inside the coral polyps and perform photosynthesis, producing food which is shared with the coral. In exchange the coral provides the algae with protection and access to light, which is necessary for photosynthesis," Summer continued, moving over to one of larger tanks. It was filled with brightly colored coral and various types and sizes of fish, swimming in and out of the coral.

"Coral reefs provide habitats for a large variety of organisms. These organisms rely on corals as a source of food and shelter. Besides the corals themselves and their symbiotic algae, other creatures that call coral reefs home include various sponges; molluscs such as sea slugs, nudibranchs, oysters, and clams; crustaceans like crabs and shrimp; many kinds of sea worms; echinoderms like star fish and sea urchins; other cnidarians such as jellyfish and sea anemones; various types of fungi; sea turtles; and many species of fish," she added, watching a group of clown fish chase each other through the coral.

Summer grinned and turned back to her students. "Feel free to study the tanks and if you have any questions, don't hesitate to ask."

[OCD coming up]

Superheroing 101, Thursday, Period 4

[electrocynic]

Another week, another class with Electroclash standing in front of the students with a sour-ish look on her face. This time, though, they were meeting in the Danger Shop, which meant there really was no reason for their teacher to look so annoyed, since she didn't actually have to do much beyond verbally telling the room what to do.

But she was annoyed just on principle, thank you very much.

"Okay rugrats, my teaching outline says today you'll be introduced to practical heroing," she announced once everyone had arrived. Or most of them, at least. She wasn't keeping count that closely. "So, you're all gonna put on your costumes, assuming the sidekick is present and has lived up to his name and acquired them for you, and then you're going to do simulations of some heroics. You can do them by yourself, or you can partner up, I don't care. Power usage is encouraged. And afterwards, I'm supposed to ask you for your thoughts on the tasks or whatever. So that might happen."

She gestured to the dressing rooms to the side. "Well, get on it."

[Wait for the OCD! OCD up!]