It takes a lot of nerve to destroy this wondrous earth

~Bowerbirds (In Our Talons)

In class today (oh yeah, by the way, I started student teaching 2 weeks ago! I'm keeping an anonymous blog detailing my experiences, so give me a shout if you'd like the url...), my mentor teacher tried to make acid/base equilibrium more tangible by relating it to acid rain and smog. Possibly something that should have been happening while teaching concepts the students were constantly wondering why they needed to learn, but interesting nonetheless.

While we were talking about the significant impact of the pH lowering of the ocean from 8.1 to 8.2 (a big deal, by the way) because of acid rain, the topic of crustacean shell dissolution arose. If you're not a chemist, you may not know that sea shells (crab, mussel, etc) are made of calcium carbonate (just like Tums), so act as a "base" to neutralize the acid rain that falls in the ocean...current end result = thinner shells, future end result = no tasty shrimps. So, just like everything in environmental chemistry, it's a HUGE ISSUE and steps must be taken to SLOW the damage (you cannot reverse it), but because it isn't life-threatening to us, we get complacent...especially the politicians who have to think about money too.

I could go on and on and on. Such important stuff.

Anyhow, the back-row crew in 3rd period (some of my favorite students...the witty, silly boys that are really capable but just need a little direction and a little less socializing) started discussing vegetarians on the topic of losing our pals in the oceans:

J: "No MEAT?! I love meat. I don't understand how ANYONE could be a vegetarian." (at which point I started paying attention for fun)
K: "Yeah, seriously."
J: "I mean, really. C'mon. I couldn't live!"
Me: (catching J's eye and pointing to myself and mouthing "I am")
J: "YOU ARE?! ... Guys, Ms Klug's a vegetarian!"
A: "No WAY! Klugster?! That surprises me."

Klugster. I love my students. Of course, I was outed as a pescatarian (while I was teaching the final period of the day so my mentor teacher could get some stuff done) when I said, "no shrimp would be so sad...they're so tasty."

I've noticed a few things already (that I sort of already knew, but I'm being reminded of more now that I'm in this weird limbo between grad school and actually having my own classroom): 1) I get along with/teach/relate to the boys way better than the girls and that's not a good thing, 2) I can't shove my ethics of environmental stewardship (or any other thing I'm passionate about) down these kids' throats. I mean, I can try to be a positive influence in this area, but ultimately these kids have to be convicted themselves, be that in my class or afterwards. I have to remember that I was a crazy conservative in high school and kids need time to think through what they "believe" as they grow up and mature.

I was even more convinced that my lack of land-animal eating is the right move when I researched today and found that each cow in the world releases roughly the same amount of greenhouse gases (through belching and farting) daily as the average car! Did you know methane is about 23% times more harmful of a greenhouse gas than CO2 (a main gas given off from our cars)?! Also, a funny but interesting fact: in 2003, New Zealand tried to implement a "flatulence tax," but it didn't go through. I love it.

Enough about gas...