Debate--Tori

Winter! For some, the above word is a horror. For others, it’s a blessing. This week’s debate question addresses the season right around the corner. From bustling malls to gently falling snow, winter is most certainly a unique season. I suggest you look at [|pros and cons of winter] (Keep in mind this site was written in London, so the traditions may be slightly different) Allow me to put in my two cents. The frigid air my be bothersome, but is it really as annoying as summer’s extreme humidity? I must say that winter is my favorite season. Christmas is my favorite holiday, so I evidently have something to look forward to. I also enjoy snow days, nestling under a warm blanket after spending time outside, snow, sledding, fire in the fireplace, hot coco, gingerbread men (and other Christmas cookies), winter break, giving and receiving presents, Christmas dinner and foods, and many more. There are some downsides to winter, though. Besides the unavoidable biting cold, there is the shopping in a jam- packed mall, ice, slippery roads, eggnog and Figgie pudding (yuck), alcohol consumption, tedious Christmas specials, decorating the house, putting the lights up, holiday stress, ect. While preparing a comment for this post, I suggest you all factor in things that are important to you. For example, if you enjoy biking, does winter put a damper on it? That being said, this week’s debate question is: Is winter your favorite season? Please elaborate in your response as much as possible. Neat topic Tori. It's not my favorite, but I still enjoy having changing seasons. On another note, I put your other post on the blog and I need to know where you saved the chart for your Greenie post. Is it in the T Drive folder? That is a great topic! Thanks for all the thought you put into your work! Ms. Darga

Personally, I am not a big fan of winter, other than Christmas and spending time with family. I think that winter can sort of get boring when there is no snow but slush. That weather is crappy! I like summer better because I am more of a person who likes to go for bike rides or go outside and play with friends. In the winter it's not always nice out so you can get stuck playing video games and board games inside. I know that I don't like winter but there are many people who do. So maybe I can get advice from them on what winter things they like to do and try them myself. Drew

Actually, I don't //love// winter, but I do like it. I enjoy looking out the window every morning and seeing a fresh layer of white over everything. Snow makes everything seem brighter, and it seems to lighten up my mood. The holiday season makes everyone cheery. I //don't// like winter for one reason though- I absolutely hate slush and slipping on it. Besides, who doesn't like snow days? You can't get those in any other season. My favorite season has to be spring. It's amazing how the world seems to "wake up" and get ready for the most busy time of year- summer. - Linda =)

Hey Tori! I like winter, but don't at the same time. I enjoy going sledding down big hills with my friends. I like hot chocolate in the cold winter morning. Christmas is my favorite holiday in the winter season. You get presents and get to spend time with family you don't get to see a lot. Like Linda said, "who doesn't like snow days." You get to sleep in and don't have school. How fun is that?! In winter I don't like that it is cold all the time and you have to wear a big winter coat everyday. Great post! -Hannah

Do not comment in reply to the question. Comment on what you think can be changed. I want to see where I have room for improvement on wikispaces- that is what it’s for, after all. The BLOG is for commenting in response to the question. Tori

1. Analyze the contents of the wordle made from all of the posts in your category. Remember that this includes all the posts on your topic...not just your own. What are the common ideas that are being discussed and debated? What trends do you see? The words 'School', 'cell phones', and 'debate' were the largest on this wordle. 'Kids', 'People', and 'parents' were also rather large.

2. Go to Wordle and make a word cloud of just YOUR posts. To do this, open a new wordle space and then copy and paste all of the text from your posts into the space. Create the word cloud. 3. Compare the two. What is similar? What is different? My wordle's most used words are 'winter', 'students', and 'question'. 4. Right before break, your assignment was to search the internet for blogs about your topic. Include the links to the blogs you found as the response to this question. Be sure to give the title of the blogs as well. [|www.globalwarming.org] By the way, I ran across many other websites while searching for a blog alike this one. I created a page filled of them, and if you wish to see them, I can show them to you. 5. Compare your ideas to the those in the blogs that you found. What is similar? What is different? I agree that Al Gore is somewhat hypocritical and agree with some posts that oppose global warming. I do not, however, find myself agreeing with the posts that support global warming. 6. Begin to brainstorm about the topic of your next post. What research do you need to do? Where will you find the info that you need? __ **VACCINES** __ “OUCH!” It’s the typical reaction of a child receiving a shot. But should the child be getting a shot in the first place? -[|Pros and cons of vaccines] -[|Startling vaccine info] The references above seem to agree that some vaccines are unnecessary. Harmful, even. And not just when the shot is given. Some parents take the word of others rather than researching vaccines themselves. The parents that do research vaccines will find that this subject is actually widely debated. It is not known for sure if autism has some sort of a relation to vaccines, but it does have good evidence to back it up. -[|vaccines and autism] -[|vaccines and autism] -[|thimerosal and austism]

Also, deaths have been linked to vaccines, however, these deaths are questionable have been hotly debated as well. -[|SIDS] -[|H1N1 vaccine] Another article I read questioned the efficiency of the chicken pox vaccine due to the number of adverse reactions reported. -[|chicken pox vaccine and adverse reactions] Yet another website looked into thimerosal in vaccines. Thimerosal is about fifty percent mercury and is often used as a preservative. It’s presence in vaccines is questionable, yet not one to dismiss. Thimerosal has the potential to be highly dangerous and could be the cause of autism in vaccinated children. -[|thimerosal in vaccines]

CARBON DATING Let me start off by explaining in simpler terms what carbon dating is. Radiocarbon dating, or carbon dating, is a method often used by scientists that determines the age of an ancient item by measuring the amount of carbon 14 within the item. (For an extended version of the definition of carbon dating, visit [] ) Now, hopefully you all understand how widely used this method is. It is usually assumed that the results of the carbon dating are right, as some of the dates it turns up are included in our science textbook. There are, however, some skeptics of this particular way to find the date of an ancient object. Faults and problems with carbon dating are not largely publicized, but through extensive research, I was able to uncover a few problems and little known facts. “**Geologist [|Dr. Steve Austin] sampled basalt from the base of the [|Grand Canyon] strata and from the lava that spilled over the edge of the canyon. By evolutionary reckoning, the latter should be a billion years younger than the basalt from the bottom. Standard laboratories analyzed the isotopes. The rubidium-strontium isochron technique suggested that the recent lava flow was 270 Ma //older// than the basalts beneath the Grand Canyon—an impossibility. ** ” - [|http://www.christianansw] [|ers.net/q-aig/aig-c007.html] This issue was brought up in multiple websites, but this site said it best. One scientist used carbon dating to determine age of the rock from the bottom of the Grand Canyon and rock from the top of the Grand Canyon. The result was the top of the Grand Canyon being OLDER than the bottom. Because the rock would form bottom up, this result is scientifically impossible! Another site ( [] ) believed that carbon dating was not as accurate as some make it out to be because there is much we do not know, such as Earth’s change in magnetic field. Without these unknown things calculated into the formula, the carbon dating method is inaccurate. What do you think? Should we trust the dates in our science textbook? I hope that you will try to scrape up little known facts or come up with some ideas of your own when answering my debate question. This week’s question is: Is carbon dating truly efficient?

If you blogged about vaccinations, what would it be about? What would the main idea be? Zico 123