Invasive species have been something of a pet peeve of mind ever since I found about them several years ago. Who knew that the honeysuckle I enjoyed as a child actually belonged in Japan? While some invasive species have proven more harmful than others (snakehead fish vs. brown trout, for example)- and some can more correctly be called "non-native species"- in general, they are a huge headache.
So of course I was shocked to find a small study showing that science teachers are releasing lab organisms into their local environments. Since I am a science teacher myself, I feel comfortable asking how any self-respecting science teacher could do such a thing. Of course, the article states that "many teachers were mortified" when the consequences of their actions were pointed out to them- well, they should be! It appears that this is yet another area where a little extra teacher education is needed.
And yes, I did once spy an iguana crawling along the side wall of a suburban mid-Atlantic school while on an outside expedition with my students. I was struck speechless at the time, but boy did they get an earful about invasive species during the next class!
So of course I was shocked to find a small study showing that science teachers are releasing lab organisms into their local environments. Since I am a science teacher myself, I feel comfortable asking how any self-respecting science teacher could do such a thing. Of course, the article states that "many teachers were mortified" when the consequences of their actions were pointed out to them- well, they should be! It appears that this is yet another area where a little extra teacher education is needed.
And yes, I did once spy an iguana crawling along the side wall of a suburban mid-Atlantic school while on an outside expedition with my students. I was struck speechless at the time, but boy did they get an earful about invasive species during the next class!
One of the Indian Institutes of Technology (probably like many of them, indeed) is situated on a large partly wooded campus where monkeys live in the trees.
One morning, they came in to one of the departments to find one of these monkeys sitting at the HoD’s desk, chewing a pencil. I was tempted to ask:
“How long before they spotted the difference?”
And for another example of Robert’s transcultural humour:
From India comes a name which we could well apply over here to that person in Admin who is always throwing a spanner in the works:
Bandarji = “The Honourable Monkey”.