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Re: [Phys-l] God as an explanation (WAS: Darwinism underattack?andthephysicsclassroom)



At 11:41 -0500 8/2/08, David Whitbeck wrote:

I think Hugh read into what I was saying to infer that I advocate teaching physics as a set of isolated facts, when really I'm simply in favor of placing active learning above passive learning, especially in the context of derivations.

No, what I saw was an aversion to teaching concepts that are often associated with calculus, to non-calculus students. I asserted that many of these ideas (not all of them, and when I would come upon one, I would clearly state that and indicate that its demonstration would have to wait) can be presented without having to delve into higher mathematics. Often very sophisticated ideas could be presented with some explanations, a bit of arm-waving, and followed by student exercises that illustrated the principles, but didn't involve deep mathematics. The relation between forces and momentum don't require calculus, only an appreciation of some simple experiments and some careful thought--mostly involving an understanding of what is important and what can be ignored in a given situation.

Momentum can be introduced without ever thinking about forces by looking at collisions as "black-box" events--two objects enter the black box in one state and leave it (or not) in another. One only needs to look at speeds and directions before and after. Forces are only needed when you break open the black box--which is the next step. From that simple beginning--completely empirical (including a couple of very useful student lab exercises)--all three of Newton's laws can be inferred. And in the process, the students see something about how science works in general. Later, they get to see a few hints of how Newton's laws are not so complete a description as they first thought.

Hugh
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************************************************************
Hugh Haskell
<mailto:haskell@ncssm.edu>
<mailto:hhaskell@mindspring.com>

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So called "global warming" is just a secret ploy by wacko tree huggers to make America energy independent, clean our air and water, improve the fuel efficiency of our vehicles, kick-start 21st-century industries, and make our cities safer and more livable. Don't let them get away with it!!
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