Welcome

Jai Hale explores the inside of a computer.

Trinity examines a seed under magnification.

We have already had a GREAT year in Science studies.
I would like to use this newsletter to share some of those adventures with you.

My goal is to continue to raise the quality of science education at Cambridge school and prepare our students with the tools needed to be assets in the 21st century job market. There are enough unfilled jobs in the sciences to drive down the unemployment rate and provide secure and meaningful jobs for our children. Once more, they don't need to be inventors or ground-breaking chemists. They just need an education that prepares them for the work.

Deja and Khalil experiment with genetics.

So here we are at, what President Obama called, a "Sputnik Moment" where the challenges we face are outstripped by our students preparation to meet them. It is my mission to transform Science from a memorization of facts to the adoption of an attitude (curiosity) and method (Scientific Inquiry).

Solomon employes a luster test to identify a rock sample

In light of that, you will be noticing an evolution in the type of study we'll be doing and the content of our assessments. The last quarter was a transition period of primarily fact learning. In the second quarter, the ability to store facts will become less important and the ability to think critically will come to the forefront.

That means that the flash cards will become less useful and my test and quizzes will become "cram-proof". Either I will be successful in teaching the skill or we will have to approach it again. Memorizing random information on Wednesday only to for get on Thursday will not work in this class. This is a bad habit, that unfortunately, an inferior school system supports.

Tyler dissects a flower to learn about plant reproduction

As always, to the left are some parent resources that I encourage you to explore.

Since I am convinced that the bulk of my parents DO NOT read my newsletters, I am going to do an experiment. I will give 10 pts. extra credit to any student whose parents e-mail me with an answers to these questions:
Why is Science an important subject?
What can you do at home to promote Science learning?

email your answers to araines@cambridgechicago.com

Look forward to talking with you again.

-- Mr. Raines
 

The Madman

This blog is simple. It's job is to be a forum for the "God Questions". A place to examine the question of God and all of the implications associated. All are welcome, both believers and atheists.

The journal takes it's name from a parable written by Kahlil Gibran, The Madman. We come to this place free of our masks and preconceptions, our naked faces turned to the sun and basking in the light of Truth. In doing so, we become alienated from our peers in the academy or at the church and wander as madmen.

The only rules require that we find a different paradigm for the conversations here.

While you are encouraged to be judgmental (doomed is a culture where "judgement" has fallen out of fashion), you must respect all questions as pathways to truth. No question asked in sincerity should be dismissed. It should be answered with all of the care, research, and sincerity in which it was asked. No Jesus Saves, God is Dead, John 3:16, or any other cliched arguments. If you must bring up Hitler, Nazis, or Rosa Parks, you better have a REAL good argument. Again all parties would agree that these troupes are often over-used and under-served. Intellectual and rhetorical laziness is not appreciated here.

Be civil. No cursing or name calling. Not because the Bible says so, but because these are the tools of mean thought and ordinary thinkers. Our thoughts are extra-ordinary. Be aware that the internet often gives us license to behave in ways that lessen our thoughts and our selves. Resist the temptation.

Bring your intellect. Although I respect an individual's emotional, spiritual, and cultural reasons, this is a forum designed to answer the intellectual questions that often go un-examined. This forum recognizes that, for many of us, faith is not enough. It also recognizes that, whether you consider yourself a  believer or not, faith is all we have.

So I will post questions and meditations here. Feel free to comment.

The first question is one of the most basic ones. Is there a God? If so, what is the nature of that God. 

-- Aurelius Raines II