Why did Mrs. Murry start cooking dinner over the Bunsen burner in her lab?

Mrs. Murry huddles over her Bunsen burner, preparing a dinner of thick stew. Calvin calls his mother to tell her that he will not be home for dinner, though he tells Meg that he doubts his mother would have even noticed his absence. Calvin is deeply moved by the warmth and love that permeates the Murry household, and exclaims to Meg that she is very lucky to have such a wonderful family life.

Before dinner, Meg shows Calvin a picture of her father with a group of scientists at Cape Canaveral. She also helps him with his homework. Calvin is surprised to learn that Meg, who is several grades below him in school, is able to help him with his math and physics. Mrs. Murry explains that Meg's father used to play number games with her when she was a child, thus teaching her all sorts of tricks and shortcuts.

Explanation:

 B) Schools should no longer be segregated because they are unequal.

Details/explanation:

Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka, decided by the US Supreme Court in 1954, ruled that all Americans are entitled to the same civil liberties and protections in regard to access to education. Until that decision, it was legal to segregate schools according to race, so that black students could not attend the same schools as white students.  An older Supreme Court decision, Plessy v. Ferguson (1896), had said that separate, segregated public facilities were acceptable as long as the facilities offered were equal in quality.  In the case of Brown v. Board of Education, that standard was challenged and defeated.  Segregation was shown to create inequality, and the Supreme Court unanimously ruled segregation to be unconstitutional.

The ruling was important in advancing civil rights because it affirmed that the 14th Amendment applies to all rights and privileges of citizens, including access to  education.  This was being violated by states whose laws supported the segregation of schools.  Section 1 of the 14th Amendment reads as follows:

All persons born or naturalized in the United States and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States and of the State wherein they reside. No State shall make or enforce any law which shall abridge the privileges or immunities of citizens of the United States; nor shall any State deprive any person of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws.