3/21 Butler Act, Solar Week, and Poison Prevention Week

Butler Act enacting prohibiting teaching of evolution (1925)
The Butler Act which prohibited the teaching of Evolution Theory in all the Universities and public schools in Tennessee went into effect on March 21, 1925.  The law made it unlawful for any teacher to teach any theory that denies the story of the Divine Creation of man as taught in the Bible, and to teach instead that man has descended from a lower order of animals.  Teacher John Scopes in Dayton Tennessee was charged under this act and was involved in the famous Scopes-Monkey Trial argued by William Jennings Bryant and Charles Darrow.  The law remained in effect until it was repealed in 1967.

Celebrating Solar Week March 21 – 25, 2011
Celebrating the Sun-Earth connection in the Classroom

The theme for Monday March 21 is the Sun as a Star.  Activities associated with this theme are designed to introduce the Sun to your students before going on to more specific topics on subsequent days. The “Sun as a Star” area contains a basic description of the Sun, while the “Stellar Fingerprinting” area describes how we classify stars in general, and the “Solar Facts” page gives vital statistics of the Sun—information that will be useful when playing the game. All these activities concentrate on some particular property of the Sun which might be new to you and your students; each activity has its own set of teacher notes. (description of activity from www.solarweek.org)

Poison Prevention Week: March 20 – 26, 2011
National Poison Prevention Week raises awareness of poison prevention nationwide during the third full week of March every year. The week is an opportunity to highlight the dangers of poisonings for people of all ages and promote community involvement in poisoning prevention.

Learn what you should do in an emergency if you or someone you know is poisoned.  You should also review the emergency checklist before you need to use it.

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