Exploring American History, Wednesday, October 2, 2024

[heroic_jawline]

It was a cool, crisp autumn day today for the class's trip to Monticello in Charlottesville, Virginia. "Welcome to Thomas Jefferson's home," Steve began. "He designed it and built it himself beginning in 1769, tweaking it and adding to it until it was completed in 1809. The name Monticello means 'little mountain', which makes sense given its location."

"For those of you you might not know, Thomas Jefferson is one of the founding fathers of this country, having been part of writing the Declaration of Independence that announced our separation from England. He served later on as the third president. He was also a massive hypocrite who spouted freedom and democracy while at the same time owning enslaved people," Tony added. "Something we can't forget while exploring the history of this location."

Steve nodded. "He didn't actually mean 'all men' when he wrote 'all men are created equal' in the Declaration of Independence, or he was using the limited vision of his time period. But that doesn't mean we can't interpret the document in the most generous terms to include everyone. It's important to come to places like this and be reminded that the Founders were just like us, with talents and flaws. They aren't perfect and attempts to make them seem so does a disservice to them and to our actual history."

"You have the run of the place, within reason," Tony made sure to tack that last part on quickly. Because Pepper was coming this weekend and he'd never live it down if he let students destroy this place. "But feel free to walk and pick whatever strikes your fancy here."

"And since you've been enjoying trying out different foods while we've been touring, we arranged for boxed lunches for everyone," Steve said. "Jefferson himself was quite a foodie. He helped popularize ice cream in the United States. Gourmet Magazine named him as one of the 25 most influential food figures in American history. He introduced the country to French cuisine as well as macaroni and cheese, champagne, Parmesan cheese, olive oil, and waffles. Monticello continues to work preserving heirloom seeds and varieties, so if you're interested in the non-fast food treat part of learning about gastronomy, this is a good place to wander around."

He made a shooing motion. "Go. Explore. Learn."

Fandom Library, Wednesday, October 2nd

[afraid_of_marshmallows]

A bunch of gremlins had been sullenly kicking around the library today, clearly bored with nothing to do. How that was possible when they were in a library of all places was beyond her comprehension, but there was no denying it. Not when they were all heaving loud sighs and drumming their fingers on the tables and ostentatiously watching the clock tick the minutes. It was when one or two of them started giving her sidelong looks that Arden decided that this was, actually, her problem.

One gremlin bite had been enough, thank you.

"Stay right there," she said in her sternest voice, and then ducked into one of the aisles to grab an armload of books. Back to the circulation desk for more supplies, and finally she was unloading a bunch of papercrafting books and colored papers and scissors and stuff on the tables for them.

"Look at that," she said. "A bunch of Halloween crafts for you to try." The gremlins looked dubious. Arden didn't like that, at least not when it was in regards to her odds of not being bitten. "...And the best crafts will be used to decorate the library!" she added quickly.

That got them interested, and a small tussle broke out as they scrambled for the 'best' books and supplies.

"Ahem," she said sharply. "Anyone who get in trouble for fighting or rowdiness will be disqualified from participating in the contest."

The gremlins were suddenly very polite and mild-mannered.

"Great," she said. "We'll, uh, have the determination at the end of my shift."

...Did the library decorate for Halloween? Well, it did now.

Morality of Action, Wednesday Afternoon

[despisestheforce]

Today, they would find themselves back in a regular classroom. Kreia sat at the front, on the floor, in the traditional meditation pose.

"Great men must do great deeds, or so many believe," she said. "A hero strikes the villain with their sword, and the villain perishes, and we are all saved."

She looked up - in a manner of speaking - and let out a scoff. "The reality, of course, is not nearly so simple," she said. "We are all heroes and villains both, and our greatest acts can be the smallest of gestures. You pass coin to a beggar that he has not earned, and you inspire others to take that which they have not earned: you deprive him of a chance to prove himself capable of doing something worth that coin, while others fail their own moral tests as they choose to take from him what they cannot earn themselves."

Her mouth set in a thin line. "I have also seen the reverse, of course. A man sees a lesser reduced to their knees, and strikes them merely because he can. He thinks himself strong, when he is weak. And perhaps his lesser endures, and becomes stronger for it. Wiser. In such small choices, our fates are written. I suppose if there is any lesson I hope you take away from this journey this semester, it is to be thoughtful of what you do, to whom, for what reason."

She rose to her feet.

"Too often we mistake the actions that make us feel good for actions that are good," she said. "One must be wary of these things. Consider the point of view of those you are acting towards. That does not mean you must act to their benefit, mind you. But one must be mindful of what-- dominoes, I believe is the term used here, one tips over."

"Could you conceive of a course of action that would help this beggar, knowing now what you know?" she asked. "That violence will be enacted on him, that he will be stripped of whatever you have given him, if you simply hand him this coin? That to enact violence on him would diminish you as much, if not more, as him? Would you ignore him, and hope there is a better test waiting for him? Would you give him greater aid, knowing that in doing so, you are choosing to lift up one man when so many others suffer? I am interested in your choices."

Introduction to Fossils - Wednesday Period 1

[itsananomaly]

“Good morning,” Cutter began that week’s class, Connor was still busy helping Phillip and he was trying to stay focused enough on class even though he still worried, “this week we’re going to be looking at evolution and what we know about species evolution through fossils, which is currently explored through the timeline of the evolutionary history of life and this outlines major events of life on Earth and this is from evidence provided by fossils,”

“Radiometric dating indicates that Earth was formed 4.5 billion years ago. The earliest fossils resemble microorganisms such as bacteria and cyanobacteria, the oldest of these fossils appear in rocks 3.5 billion years old Numerous fossils belonging to many living phyla and exhibiting mineralized skeletons appear in rocks about 540 million years old.”

“In biology, evolution is any change across successive generations in the heritable characteristics of biological populations. Evolutionary processes give rise to diversity at every level of biological organisation, from kingdoms to species and individual organisms and molecules such as DNA and proteins, The similarities between all present day organisms imply a common ancestor, from which all known species, living and extinct have diverged. More than 99 percent of all species that ever lived, over five billion, are estimated to be extinct,” he explained.

“Species go extinct constantly as environments change, as organisms compete for environmental niches, and as genetic mutation leads to the rise of new species from older ones. At long irregular intervals, Earth's biosphere suffers a catastrophic die-off, a mass extinction, often comprising an accumulation of smaller extinction events over a relatively brief period.”

“For the rest of the class I would like you to complete these activity sheets on the evolution from dinosaurs to birds,” Cutter finished, “and as always if you need any help or have any questions I’ll be happy to help answer them,”