Like Getting Blood From A Stone

(I am in 11th grade. I have to take biology, which is mostly taken by ninth graders. While I do expect the younger students to not know some things that the few older students in the class know, their ignorance is occasionally astounding. Very early on in the semester, we found out many of them didn’t know plants were alive. It only got worse a few months later…)

Teacher: “…and that’s why lichen is a mutualistic, symbiotic relationship.”

Classmate #1: “Wait, wouldn’t that be a parasitic relationship between the lichen and the rock?”

Teacher: “…No, because rocks aren’t alive.”

Classmate #2: “So you’re telling me that trees are alive and rocks aren’t?”

Classmates #3 & #4: *start debating whether or not rocks fit the six characteristics of life*

Me: *puts head down and wishes for the year to end*