Error At The Smithsonian
MSN Index Bing NBCNews.com sites & shows: TODAY Nightly News Meet the Press Dateline Morning Joe Hardball Ed Maddow The Last Word msnbc Home US World Politics Business Sports Entertainment Health Tech Science Travel Local Weather Wonderful World on NBCNews.com Search Advertise 5th-grader points out mistake at Smithsonian 11-year-old catches sign error that has rankled staffers for 27 years Below: x Jump to text Is fifth-grader Kenton Stufflebeam smarter than the Smithsonian?The 11-year-old b... text x Jump to discuss comments below discuss x Next story in Wonderful World related Advertise Video: Smarter than the Smithsonian? Open in new window updated 4/6/2008 12:33:16 PM ET 2008-04-06T16:33:16 Print Font: + - ALLEGAN, Mich.-- Is fifth-grader Kenton Stufflebeam smarter than the Smithsonian? The 11-year-old boy, who lives in Allegan but attends Alamo Elementary School near Kalamazoo, went with his family during winter break to the Smithsonian Institution's National Museum of Natural History in Washington. Since it opened in 1981, millions of people have paraded past the museum's Tower of Time, a display involving prehistoric time. Not one visitor had reported anything amiss with the exhibit until Kenton noticed that a notation, in bold lettering, identified the Precambrian as an era. Kenton knew that was wrong. His fifth-grade teacher, John Chapman, had nearly made the same mistake in a classroom earth-science lesson before catching himself. "I knew Mr. Chapman wouldn't tell all these students" bad information, the boy told the Kalamazoo Gazette for a story published Wednesday. So Kevin Stufflebeam took his son to the museum's information desk to report Kenton's concern on a comment form. Last week, the boy received a letter from the museum acknowledging that his observation was "spot on." "The Precambrian is a dimensionless unit of time, which embraces all the time between the origin of Earth and the beginning of the Cambrian Period of geologic time," the letter says. Advertise Advertise Advertise The solution to the problem would not involve advanced science but rather simply painting over the word "era," the note says. "We did forward a copy of the comment and our paleobiology department
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Smithsonian on Pre-CambrianError 1, April 3, 20081, April 3, 2008 jonathanturley Academics, Bizarre, Society Michigan fifth-grader Kenton Stufflebeam can now claim something few academics can muster: finding an error in a Smithsonian display. The 11-year-old spotted the error on the museum's Tower of Time, a https://jonathanturley.org/2008/04/03/post-cambrian-fifth-grader-correct-smithsonian-on-error/ display involving prehistoric time, which refers to the Precambrian as an era. Kenton remembered that his fifth-grade teacher, John Chapman, told him that it was not an "era." For those who vaguely recall the term, the Precambrian (Pre-Cambrian) refers to the eons of the geologic timescale that came before the current Phanerozoic eon around 4500 Ma (million years ago) and stretching to the evolution of abundant macroscopic hard-shelled animals at error at the start of the Cambrian, click here (Better?). His father, Kevin Stufflebeam reported the problem with his son on a comment form at the museum. Weeks later they received a letter from the museum with a rare mea culpa: "The Precambrian is a dimensionless unit of time, which embraces all the time between the origin of Earth and the beginning of the Cambrian Period of geologic time." The museum has decided error at the to paint over the word "era." The museum then mummified little Stufflebeam and added him to the Bronze Age exhibit. (Ok, I made that last part up). For the full story, click here Share this:TwitterRedditFacebookLike this:Like Loading... Post navigation ← Very Nice: Borat Wins DefamationCase A Bit Too Outstanding: Inspector General Investigating Whether Justice Fired Successful Because She Is ALesbian → 4 thoughts on “Post-Cambrian Fifth Grader Corrects Smithsonian on Pre-CambrianError” Patty C says: 1, April 3, 2008 at 4:24 am "The museum then mummified little Stufflebeam and added him to the Bronze Age exhibit. (Ok, I made that last part up)." THANKS, JT! It's been eons since milk squirted out my nose… Jaime Neutron: 13-Year-Old Kid Corrects NASA's Calculation on Earth Destroying Asteroid Hit « JONATHAN TURLEY says: 1, April 16, 2008 at 9:57 am […] Of course, this only the latest kid to embarrass our scientific and research elite, click here. […] girls2008d says: 1, September 15, 2008 at 9:25 am one cup testim8bazu says: 1, October 23, 2008 at 9:23 pm