Hi William. I agree, the garbage in our oceans is a huge problem and is a stain on our Earth. I wasn’t aware of the patch where this is all accumulating, and I think your description of the gyres make the reality set in. Preventative motions for the future are of course important, but I would be interested to hear about what scientists are envisioning to clean up the mess. You touched on it briefly, but I would really like to know our options. Overall, very good job.

I liked your title it was very clever. I also liked how you brought to my attention that standardized tests sometimes don’t do what they were created to do, in the terms of testing students evenly.

Interesting topic, William. This topic stood out to me because I think the ACT standardized test is a very unfair way to learn about how intelligent someone is. For example I have a higher than average GPA and I take rigorous courses; I would consider myself an outgoing student. However, my ACT score is much lower than a lot of other people’s which might be misleading to colleges if they rely solely on my test scores for admission. They do have other portions for admission which includes an essay, letters of recommendation from teachers, your grades from high school, along with everything else included in your application. This is a very interesting topic to be further discussed!

I think your topic was very interesting because as seniors in high school we have all experienced and had to study for standardized testing. You made some very interesting points that I have personally experienced, and I think that bringing awareness to this issue is very important. Do you have any ideas on how to possibly fix this?

William,
This topic seems to be coming up a lot lately. I agree with you on the fact that standardized testing is unfair to students. Many people get test anxiety and the thought of being timed to finish a test makes matters worse. Also, many students do not do well under pressure and don’t like the generic, one sided questions and answers of the SAT and ACT. Along with the thought of essays being biased while graded, I completely agree. The person grading essays may have certain opinions or may not like the style of writing the student used. Have you heard that some colleges don’t look at SAT scores and essays? I find that interesting and think it is a good idea. Since standardized tests are asking students to answer meaningless questions and not think creatively I believe colleges should avoid looking at scores to accept students into their school. I think your argument is thorough and thought out very well!