BATTLE CREEK, Mich. — The Battle Creek Area Math & Science Center is removing a book about climate change from its seventh-grade science kits after the Michigan Farm Bureau said that the volume is inaccurate and lacks solid science, according to the Battle Creek Enquirer.
“A Hot Planet Needs Cool Kids” was sent to about 35 school districts as part of a pilot test of the seventh-grade kits, according to the Enquirer. It was intended as supplemental reading.
The book was written and self-published by Julie Hall, co-founder of the website ProgressiveKid.com, the Enquirer reported. The Enquirer reported that the book frequently cites its own website as well as Wikipedia; calls livestock living conditions “horrible” and describes Al Gore as an “eco hero.”
A Farm Bureau official told the Enquirer that, “(T)here wasn’t a lot of solid science there.” The bureau and the center are now working to develop material for lessons on how to discern the difference between fact and opinion, the Enquirer reported.
The Center also is looking for a replacement book and has offered refunds to districts that received the original volume, according to the Enquirer. It also will tighten its book review process, the Enquirer reported.
“This one slipped through the cracks,” Director Connie Duncan told the Enquirer.
SOURCE:
Battle Creek Enquirer, “Michigan Farm Bureau slams books in Math & Science Center kits,” Oct. 11, 2011
FURTHER READING:
Mackinac Center for Public Policy, “Corporate Environmental Indoctrination,” Sept. 9, 2011
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