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Re: Color



Of course all of this has not solved the problem of whether white is
a color. Unfortunately many teachers use that question on a test to
find out which students have memorized the "right" answer. Since it
is a matter of perspective, a good teacher would use this as an
opportunity for discussion, and would grade the question on the
basis of good logical argument.

In other words, recognition of the incomplete nature of the question.

When our daughter was in Grade 8 (Canada) she took a "Science" course.
One evening she asked me a question that had stumped her on her
homework.

Diane: "Dad, is color a physical or a chemical property?"

Leigh: "Well, Diane, what is the definition of a physical property?"

D: "I don't know. Is color a physical or a chemical property?"

L: "Well, Diane, what does your textbook say is the definition?"

D: "I don't think it says anything about that. Is color a physical
or a chemical property?!"

L: "What did your teacher say a physical property is?"

D: "He didn't say. Is color a physical or a chemical property?!?!"

L: "Diane, unless you can tell me the answer to one of my questions
I can't answer yours."

This last answer was not taken well by Diane. She thought I knew the
answer to her question and that I was keeping it from her. I didn't,
and I still don't.

At the next parent teacher night I asked her science teacher about
the question. He said "Color is a physical property" (or perhaps he
said chemical - I'm not sure). I asked him how he knew that. He
replied, in effect, "Everyone knows that!" I proceeded to explain
to him that my daughter didn't know that, and that I didn't, either.
I was not kind. This is the guy who would personify science for a
group of impressionable young people, some of them for the rest of
their lives. He never did come up with a reasonable justification
for his answer.

Our daughter now fully understands what happened back in Junior
High School, perhaps even better than I. She is a sociolinguist, a
professor in a large Canadian university.

Leigh