{She Said} Ahh the Joys... Moon Whimsey and Questionable Decisions

I did a simulation in class the other day where the students were being offered the opportunity to go to space and live in a meteor-proof glass dome on the moon. The simulation was eventually compared with Spanish settlers choosing to come and live in missions in Texas. These concerns were shared with the students to aid in their decision to go to the moon or not:

• It will be a primarily vegetarian diet
• There is danger in travelling to the moon, 14 people have died over the course of building on the moon
• You have to give 2/3 of your life’s savings to go
• Medical care will only be available in a limited capacity
• You will have to stay there for a minimum of 5 years
• Unidentified footprints have been found near the glass dome

Interestingly enough (or not if you regularly work with 7^th graders) the majority wanted to go to the moon, despite no positive arguments being made for doing so.

Even more telling of the goofballs I spend my day with, the thing that concerned the students the most in this situation was the vegetarian diet. Very scary. One student, so exasperated with his peers’ fear of the vegetarian diet, exclaimed “haven’t you ever heard of tofu!” during class discussion.

You might be shaking your head in disappointment but don’t forget that it was people with this kind of whimsy that discovered and settled this great state and country. So, YOU GO KIDS! GO LIVE ON THE MOON!