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Re: [Phys-l] Pilot 9th grade physics with inquiry





On Sun, 15 Apr 2007 17:15:49 -0400 "R. McDermott" <rmcder@gmail.com>
writes:
Perhaps the better answer to this whole sequence question is that we
should have an integrated science curriculum rather than all physics,
all
chemistry, all biology in subsequent years. Why not teach 9th
graders the elements of each science at the time when it is most
relevant and
then build on those sciences in subsequent years as their math
backgrounds
develop? Better yet, how about sequencing math to correspond to the
science
needs in those years?

McDermott's "better answer" would be even better if we could somehow get
more science teachers who could teach physics as well the other sciences.


But is there any evidence that the other sciences are well taught? The real
problem is to get any science well taught and to get inquiry methods
implemented. For example I asked a student "why do plants have flowers?"
He had no idea. I hinted that it was for sex, so he said "Oh, you give
girls flowers to get sex." Possibly true, but that was not the question.
So I had to say "No, no, plant sex, not human sex!" They are memorizing so
much stuff that the basics are lost.

Science taught out of textbooks is generally so disconnected from real life
in the minds of the students that it is both unmemorable, and is often not
believed. Remember that Sadler's survey found that physics students who are
taught with no text do better in college.

John M. Clement
Houston, TX