Well, I was obsessed from space from the age of 3 and was in the astronomy program at Cornell before I decided to become a teacher, and I can tell you your son is definitely right about Venus. It's the same size and mass as Earth, has similar gravity, and has some similar surface features. It's also thought that Venus' atmosphere (which is now toxic and boiling) might have once been similar to Earth's, and that what it looks like now might be the long-term effect of a runaway Greenhouse Effect. Mars, on the other hand, has likely always been what it is now: cold and dead, with low gravity and a thin atmosphere.
As for "barbeque", as others have said, both spellings seem to be acceptable.
Now to the actual point of the thread: being a teacher is not a license to never be questioned, and nor should it be an implication to others that someone is always right. With respect to Grinity, I feel there is no such thing as being "too young" to question a teacher; if someone is wrong, and � this is the important bit � their being wrong is affecting you (as the teacher's mistake negatively affected your son) then of course you don't just lie down and take it! As Taminy says, the thing to teach kids to do is to bring evidence and stick up for themselves � respectfully, with tactful timing and a delicate approach (so much as can be expected for their age), but firmly and unapologetically. Do we want kids growing up thinking it�s okay to use a position of power to refuse to listen to others and presume that you know everything?
