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test: please delete



Please delete this.
I needed to perform a test.

"phys-l@lists.nau.edu: Forum for Physics Educators" wrote:

Vern Dewees concluded his comments by saying:

However, my personal feelings are not really important to the debate.
Why change? Will it really result in a more scientifically literate
society? Why not teach physical science(physics and chemistry) at the
7th or 8th grade level? I am sure there are ways to get physics in the
middle and elementary schools and that seems a better place to start.

I agree with this. In fact, I am a proponent of a four year program (for
grades 9, 10, 11, 12) that goes... physical science (low-level physics and
chemistry), biology, chemistry, physics.

There are several points to the rationale.

(1) The physical science gives the students some of the background they
need
to do a better job in biology. In fact, this follows the physics,
chemistry, biology sequence... but it gives only a half year equivalent of
physics and chemistry (at the low level), allowing advanced chemistry and
physics as juniors/seniors.

(2) Biology in grade 10 (rather than 9) gives one more year of maturity
before biology.

(3) In states and/or schools where only two years of science are required,
the students take physical science and biology. Although we wish they
would
elect more science, this two-year combination is not bad. (At least they
get both chemistry and physics, and a good slug of biology.)

(4) In states or schools where three or four years of science are required,
the college prep students can take chemistry and physics in the
junior/senior years. As an alternative, especially for non-college-prep,
there could be junior/senior level courses such as earth/space science,
biology 2, chemistry 2, etc.

BTW...the biggest problem I have seen with students coming from schools
with
junior/senior-level electives (as described in point 4), is they often
elect
biology 2 or chemistry 2 instead of physics. This happens because they
really liked biology (or chemistry) and/or they are afraid of physics. I
see this in students coming to Bluffton College who want to become
scientists, and especially those wanting to become medical doctors.

Here is an interesting point about medical schools. Virtually all medical
schools require a year of college physics. Calculus-based physics is
preferred by many, but some will accept trig physics. On the other hand,
medical schools require very little biology at the college level (they
figure the students will learn most of their anatomy/physiology etc. in
medical school). So you can get into medical school with only a general
biology course in college, but you need a full year of physics and two
years
of chemistry. However, this message is not filtering down to the high
schools. Pre-med students in high school assume biology is much more
important than physics (and chemistry). This is wrong, wrong, wrong.
These
students elect biology 2, or anatomy/physiology, instead of taking
high-school physics; sometimes instead of chemistry. Then, in college they
struggle with physics and chemistry. We teach the first chemistry course
and the first physics course in college from the perspective that the
student had both chemistry and physics in high school (as juniors/seniors).
Those not having done so sometimes wreck their GPA, and get behind, and
they
do not recover, and they do not get into medical school.

Another BTW... My son just graduated from HS. He had the option of taking
chemistry 2 or physics as a senior. He wanted to take chemistry 2 because
he really enjoyed chemistry 1. I told him he could only take chemistry 2
if
he also took physics. So he took both. In the end, he said he liked
physics even better than chemistry and he thinks he might minor in physics
in college (his major will be computer science).

Michael D. Edmiston, Ph.D. Phone/voice-mail:
419-358-3270
Professor of Chemistry & Physics FAX:
419-358-3323
Chairman, Science Department E-Mail
edmiston@bluffton.edu
Bluffton College
280 West College Avenue
Bluffton, OH 45817