Chronology Current Month Current Thread Current Date
[Year List] [Month List (current year)] [Date Index] [Thread Index] [Thread Prev] [Thread Next] [Date Prev] [Date Next]

Re: [Phys-L] Sig Figs homework from my 7th grader

Sig figs /must/ be used in a lot of college chem programs. I find many many chem teachers that feel sig figs are simply the way it is and how it is done.
I wonder if more undergrad physics classes use measurement uncertainty and error progression while more undergrad chem classes might rely on sig figs as a shortcut. It maybe that sig figs are a bad shortcut, but that might be the bulk of experience for someone with a BA or BS in chemistry.
If groups lobby textbooks and states to remove sig figs, that could be a reasonable push away from legend and towards science.



-----Original Message-----
From: Phys-l [mailto:phys-l-bounces@phys-l.org] On Behalf Of Philip Keller
Sent: Thursday, October 10, 2013 6:48 AM
To: Phys-L@phys-l.org
Subject: Re: [Phys-L] Sig Figs homework from my 7th grader

On Wed, Oct 9, 2013 at 8:06 PM, John Denker <jsd@av8n.com> wrote:

u
My suggestion: Forget about sig figs. Have the students play some
coin-tossing games or something else that will teach them some actual
factual facts about probability.


There it is! You only have so much class time. It would be hard to come up with something less useful and less interesting to spend it on than sig
figs. And it would be easy to come up with 50 better things. I like the
one where half the class flips a coin 100 times while the other half makes up their own "random" strings of H's and T's without actually flipping the coins. When you compare, you see that the ones who did flip have more "strange" runs of consecutive heads or tails.

Or how about actually measuring the length of a bunch of small things, add them to predict the length when they are arranged end to end and then measure that length too. Discuss,

Or teach them how to play backgammon. Including the doubling cube.

Or craps...(come up with a more acceptable name if you like)

Or just let them play "sprouts". At least they will be thinking.


I feel bad for the high school chem teachers: sig figs are tested on so many standardized tests and contests that the teachers feel locked in. Has this migrated down to the elementary school level? That would be sad and also unusual. The inane stuff usually migrates uphill.
_______________________________________________
Forum for Physics Educators
Phys-l@phys-l.org
http://www.phys-l.org/mailman/listinfo/phys-l