[WildRose]

Another thing - my biggest beef is awards in schools. In my experience, it's always the same kids getting awards for the same things.
Too often, a lot of kids are not recognized for things they do really well, and it's often art, music, creative writing, etc. that goes unrecognized. The awards are usually given to kids with the highest marks on tests, and as another poster wrote, there are long assemblies in school every month that everyone has to sit through. My kids received a few awards in school - citizenship awards (which I considered important), science fair and basketball MVP. I just think too much "awarding" is not necessary.

[Schmuto]

Wow, so much . . .


Jotapay - I'm an old man. I've been around far longer than I ever thought my sentence would require.

you wrote:

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('', '&')quot;Luckily, if I ever have kids, I live in a district with one of the top 100 rated high schools in the country. Anderson High School in Austin. I know it's still public school, but it's better than most in many ways."

[Windmills]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('Schmuto', 'F')inally, I can supply an AMEN to the notion that, at the end of the day, it's all or almost all on us parents.

The idiot factories are what they are for many reasons, but if every parent cared about their kid education, then most of the issues would subside tremendously."

[Roy]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('', 'I') have a couple for you, JJ. You'll probably notice, as your child goes through school, that birthday parties have reached new heights. I have been amazed at what parents will do for their kids' parties. It's very competitive. It seems like parents have a need to make their child's birthday celebration bigger than the last party they attended, and some spare no expense!

[Sixstrings]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('smallpoxgirl', '')$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('Schmuto', '2'). Daughter takes an 8th grade science class (top level) in which the teacher incorrectly teaches that a straight chain octane molecule has many structural isomers that can be formed by bending the bond angles to 90 degrees. I take the time to send in a correction for him, including all required citations. 2 years later I see that he is still handing out the same worksheet with the same gross error (he must be related to YesPlease).

[Windmills]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('Sixstrings', 'O')k lemme see if I can answer the plane in space question.

Gravity keeps the plane from escaping into orbit, and there is of course a further out point where one would escape even orbiting the earth.

More directly, a jet plane cannot enter the stratosphere (i think I have the write 'osphere there) because there isn't enough oxygen to power the engines. That's why the rockets have their own liquid oxygen supply, and it sprays out of nozzile below the engine, thereby creating the friction required for acceleration. And that's how vehicles are able to propel themselves in the vacuum of space.

I didn't google anything, did I get the answer right? Do I graduate kindergarten now?

[Sixstrings]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('Windmills', '')$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('Sixstrings', 'O')k lemme see if I can answer the plane in space question.

Gravity keeps the plane from escaping into orbit, and there is of course a further out point where one would escape even orbiting the earth.

More directly, a jet plane cannot enter the stratosphere (i think I have the write 'osphere there) because there isn't enough oxygen to power the engines. That's why the rockets have their own liquid oxygen supply, and it sprays out of nozzile below the engine, thereby creating the friction required for acceleration. And that's how vehicles are able to propel themselves in the vacuum of space.

I didn't google anything, did I get the answer right? Do I graduate kindergarten now?

[Blueberry]

I don't see any problem with K students graduating, personally.

I do see a problem with schools that are so underfunded (and focused on no child left behind) that they look like women's prisons.

[Schmuto]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('Windmills', '')$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('Schmuto', 'F')inally, I can supply an AMEN to the notion that, at the end of the day, it's all or almost all on us parents.

The idiot factories are what they are for many reasons, but if every parent cared about their kid education, then most of the issues would subside tremendously."

[smallpoxgirl]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('Sixstrings', 'O')k lemme see if I can answer the plane in space question.

Gravity keeps the plane from escaping into orbit, and there is of course a further out point where one would escape even orbiting the earth.

[Schmuto]

Man, you don't see so much when you're a kid.

I remember back in 6th grade getting completely pissed off because our gym teacher wouldn't let us start to play dodgeball until this one girl, who was uncoordinated, would catch a beach ball he threw in the air. It used to take her about 5 tries.

It occurred to me only much later, much more cynically in life that that girl was the only girl in our class with a womanly bosom already in place.

Sick bastard.

[Jotapay]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('Sixstrings', 'O')k lemme see if I can answer the plane in space question.

Gravity keeps the plane from escaping into orbit, and there is of course a further out point where one would escape even orbiting the earth.

[Jotapay]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('Windmills', 'A') rocket works through Newton's Third Law, or conservation of momentum. It doesn't need friction or air to push off. Equal and opposite reactions drive the ship one way and the exhaust the other way. You might think of it as those two things pushing off from each other. A rocket actually works better in space than in the Earth's atmosphere because of the reduced air friction and gravity.

[Jotapay]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('Sixstrings', 'B')ut you've got me thinking here. What exactly enables movement?.

[Jotapay]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('JJ', '')$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('Jotapay', 'L')uckily, if I ever have kids, I live in a district with one of the top 100 rated high schools in the country. Anderson High School in Austin. I know it's still public school, but it's better than most in many ways.

[Dawn]

I read the first two comments made on this topic. I will say that I graduated from Christian Academy about sheesh 32 years ago. These ceremonies are nothing new. And I will be attending my youngest daughters this Friday.

Now I'll go back and read all three pages of comments...

[AgentR]

Just a simpler clarification of something that does tend to confuse people.

Cars move because wheels turn and there is a "pushing off of" kind of thing going on, namely wheel turning against the unmoving pavement.

People make the mistake of carrying this "pushing off of" idea to where it doesn't apply. A rocket/jet does not push off of anything, instead it throws a mass one way, causing the "equal and opposite law" to cause it and what its attached to (the plane) to move the other way.

Orbital mechanics are almost always described in terms of delta-V(elocity); ie, there is a certain velocity (speed and direction) at which the acceleration due to gravity will be insufficient to return the object to rest (splat). So its not so much a question of how FAR up something is, but rather how fast (and what direction) is it moving in. The low earth orbit that the shuttle normally uses is the perfect example; people think there is "no gravity" there; but nothing could be further from the truth. Gravity at that low an orbit is almost exactly what it is on the surface of the earth; the shuttle isn't floating, rather its in constant free-fall. However, its forward velocity causes it to constantly miss going splat! That free fall produces the near weightless environment that you see. To return to earth, the shuttle does NOT fire its rockets to reduce altitude; they are fired against the current direction of travel, reducing its velocity below what is required to keep missing and making a return to rest inevitable (hopefully with less splat and some measure of control).

nb... NOTHING bank turns in space. Ever. (pet peeve, drives me nuts)

[coyote]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('AgentR', 'n')b... NOTHING bank turns in space. Ever. (pet peeve, drives me nuts)

[smallpoxgirl]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('coyote', '')$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('AgentR', 'n')b... NOTHING bank turns in space. Ever. (pet peeve, drives me nuts)

[Windmills]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('smallpoxgirl', '')$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('coyote', '')$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('AgentR', 'n')b... NOTHING bank turns in space. Ever. (pet peeve, drives me nuts)