Try Not to Die, Monday, September 18, 2023

[sith_happened]

Inspired by the party on Friday, today's diplomacy class would find themselves in the Danger Shop surrounded by hundred of computer-generated party guests. Anakin strode through the crowd, Jedi cloak swirling around his boots. "It's not all fun and battles in the life of a diplomat," he said, gesturing around at the party with a slight wrinkle to his nose.

Because Anakin would prefer a firefight to passed appetizers, the weirdo.

"Sometimes you have to go to these...contact-building exercises, where everyone has their own agendas and information they are trying to retrieve from others. Today you'll practice that." He held up a pile of business cards. "I have created these for each of you. Your goal today is to retrieve two from your classmates, demonstrating that you have engaged in small talk. I will be making my way through the party. My job will be to waste your time so you cannot use the party in an effective manner."

Because there was always someone at the party would stayed in a conversation entirely too long.

He waved his hand and music started. "You may begin."

Practical Folklore, Monday 2nd period

[intheeyeofthebeholding]

"I'd like to begin by apologising for last week," Jon said, fidgeting at the front of the room. "Something came up, and... Well, never mind. But we're back this week, and I thank you all for coming. So, I thought we'd start with something fairly simple. Not the name of the class, that's probably a bit more nuanced. But there are plenty of other creatures out there. So, let's begin with vampires."

He rolled his eyes. "For one thing, they may not all be what you're thinking of. We've got one...well, at least one, anyway...here on the island. So some of them are certainly capable of both complex thought and self control. The ones in my world have neither of those, really. They're more like leeches than anything. And they don't talk - they just sort of project their thoughts to you and make you think they are. So that's one thing to watch out for, I suppose.

"All of the ones I'm aware of or that have passed through here do have one thing in common, and that's the need for blood. So if you spot someone focused on that, that might be a clue," he said wryly. "And there are weaknesses most of them have in common, too - sunlight is usually a good one, although apparently that's not quite true for all of them, so be aware of it but don't rely on it."

He stepped up to the whiteboard. "I thought we could begin by brainstorming weaknesses and dead giveaways, and then we can discuss how you might go about dealing with one. So, who would like to begin?"

Evolutionary Science for Beginners - Monday, 1st Period

[itsananomaly]

“Welcome back,” Cutter began that week’s class, “this week we’re going to be covering evolutionary theory, we’ve touched on what evolution is and how it impacts many different scientific fields and this week we’re going to look in depth about what the actual theory is,” he said, “evolution is the change in heritable characteristics of biological populations over successive generations and evolution occurs when evolutionary processes such as natural selection and genetic drift act on a genetic variation and that this in turn results in certain characteristics becoming more or less common within a population over successive generations,” he smiled over at Connor and nodded at him that he could take over the lecture then.

“There’s a lot of complicated words and terms there so let’s break it down with some simpler examples” Connor said with a nod as he continued. “Evolutionary changes come in many forms and there are many examples of it in the world. Even the existence of mankind as we know it today is thanks to evolutionary changes. The process of moving from early primates to modern humans is an example of evolution. The diversification of the different breeds of dogs and cats, each with unique characters and traits that separate them from one another, is an example of evolution at work. Nearly every species today, both plants and animals, has an evolutionary lineage that can be traced back thousands or even millions of years.” Connor nodded at Cutter as he handed the lecture back over to him.

“Evolution can occur if there is a genetic variation within the population and it comes from mutations in the genome, or genetic material of an organism,” Cutter continued, “even though most of the genome remains very similar in a species despite constant introduction of variations, most of the genome will remain in the same in individuals however in evolutionary developmental biology for example, it has been demonstrated that even relatively small differences in genotype can lead to dramatic differences in the phenotype both within and between species and a notable example of this can be seen in the peppered moth between the white and black peppered moths,”

Cutter paused, “and that’s a good segue into today’s activity, we’re going to be taking turns to using the computer and completing both the simulation and the answer sheet about peppered moths, if you need any help please feel free to ask myself and Mr. Temple and we’ll be able happy to assist you,” he nodded to the first person, “why don’t you get us started,”