Sixth Graders Smarter than Congress
by Big Dog on Mar 23, 2007 at 22:55 Uncategorized
A sixth grade class held a mock court and the two opposing sides argued whether or not humans caused global warming. The children were required to do their own research and then present their case to the class where some of the students acted as jurors.
After the trial and closing arguments were completed the jury deliberated and found that humans do not cause global warming. This in and of itself is no big deal and it could have gone the other way. What makes these children smarter than Congress is that they used science and research in order to debate the issue. One side was not allowed to walk in and say that it was a foregone conclusion so now let’s debate how to fix it.
Instead, they were able to look up information and use that information to present a case and to counter the claims made by the other side. This is how science is supposed to work. A group of scientists get together with a hypothesis and they set up experiments and gather data that either supports the hypothesis or refutes it. Based upon how those things come out, they can conduct more experiments and use the results to form a conclusion. The children were able to accomplish this where as the people who are involved in this debate in the real world mold facts to prove an already predetermined conclusion.
Bravo to these kids for doing things the right way and bravo to the teacher for expanding their minds with challenging and fun teaching methods.
Source:
Longmont FYI
Tags: Commentary
Smart kiddos! They’ve actually learned how to think for themselves. Good job:)