The office photocopier can be a marvelous source of wisdom as well as of trivia. Sometimes one clears the scanner glass and learns what joys and revelations a fellowship / church / ministry / outreach / under the inspired leadership of Reverend Doctor Bishop Brother So-and-So has planned for the next Sunday.
Our lesson for today, however, is taken from a science quiz, the original of which was left in The Machine that knows all. Here are some of the many connected bits of knowledge our tenth-graders are expected to master systematically:
What substance releases hydroxide ions in solution?
What category of elements makes up Group 2 in the Periodic Table?
What are single-celled prokaryotes, organisms that lack a nucleus and membrane-bound organelles?
Define abiotic factors.
What is the biological mass in an ecosystem called?
What is a form of asexual reproduction in which the genetic material of the cell is copies and then the cell simply divides in two, forming two identical daughter cells?
What chemical substance slows or prevents the growth of bacterial microorganisms?
How many thanks do we owe Sister Thus-and-Such for playing the piano…wait…wrong document…
I conclude by making my own modest contribution: What is the predominant meter in Garth Brooks’ “Friends in Low Places?”
A. Iambic pentameter
B. Trochee
C. Anapest
D. Budapest
For us parents the most important question in September is this: do our children have a set place and time for study? Is their need to work to improve themselves respected by all in the household? Do they have a quiet corner and good sturdy table at which to work? A desk lamp? Pens and pencils and calculator and paper? A few basic reference books, beginning with an ordinary dictionary?
After all, life is not entirely about drunken movie starlets named after geographical features.
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