Rasta Science Teacher — Physics teacher wearing a rasta beanie and dreadlocks in front of a chalkboard covered in equations

Rasta Science Teacher

2011image macroclassic

Published September 24, 2026

Rasta Science Teacher, also called Rasta Professor, is an image macro built from a candid photo of a college physics instructor with dreadlocks and a Rasta cap. It first appeared on Quickmeme on April 6, 2011 and became a defining bait-and-switch template of the advice animal era, pairing reggae slang setups with dry academic punchlines that made it a 4/20 favorite.

advice animals bait and switch memes stoner memes image macro memes stereotype memes

Overview

The caption format runs on a two-part gag. The top line delivers a phrase you would expect from a reggae fan or cannabis enthusiast, and the bottom line derails into something an actual chemistry or physics teacher would say2. The founding entry set the template: 'Lights His Joint / With a Bunsen Burner.'

The structure sits in the same family as Successful Black Man and Dating Site Murderer, image macros that use line-break misdirection to play against a stereotype the viewer is invited to assume2. Rasta Science Teacher works in both directions: some captions lean into the Rastafarian stoner cliche, while others slice through it with a bookish payoff about diffusion, spectroscopy, or lab safety.

Origin & Background

Platform
Quickmeme / Reddit
Date
2011

The earliest known instance was posted to Quickmeme on April 6, 2011 with the tagline 'Lights His Joint / With a Bunsen Burner,' and Reddit reposted it the same day2. The subject's identity was never confirmed, though several Redditors who claimed to have been in his classes said he taught physics at a college in San Alto, California.

On April 16, 2011, a Redditor going by lyingonahill said he had been a student in the professor's course. Four days later, on April 20, a user named RastaTeacher posted an unverified IAMA thread claiming to be the instructor in the picture.

How It Spread

The template moved through the meme hubsite circuit within a week of the first upload. FunnyJunk ran a Rasta Science Teacher compilation on April 10, 2011, MemeBase followed with a Rasta Professor collection on April 13, and Tumblr picked up the format soon after2. By mid-April 2011, discussion threads about the meme had appeared on general-interest boards like Sherdog1 and Bodybuilding Forums.

The unofficial cannabis holiday on April 20, 2011 acted as an accelerant, driving a wave of 4/20-themed entries that meshed with the stoner-professor setup. Growth kept building on the meme-generator side of the ecosystem: by July 2012, Quickmeme was hosting more than 3,700 Rasta Science Teacher variations and MemeGenerator had over 630 user submissions2.

Timeline

2011-04-06

First known instance uploaded to Quickmeme with the caption 'Lights His Joint / With a Bunsen Burner' and cross-posted to Reddit the same day.

2011-04-10

FunnyJunk hosts a Rasta Science Teacher compilation.

2011-04-13

MemeBase publishes a Rasta Professor collection.

2011-04-16

Reddit user lyingonahill claims to have been a student in the pictured instructor's college physics course in San Alto, California.

2011-04-20

Reddit user RastaTeacher posts an unverified IAMA thread claiming to be the instructor, and 4/20-themed entries fuel a spike in submissions.

2012-07

Quickmeme hosts more than 3,700 Rasta Science Teacher variations and MemeGenerator has over 630 user submissions.

Frequently Asked Questions