-----Original Message-----
From: phys-l-bounces@carnot.physics.buffalo.edu [mailto:phys-l-bounces@carnot.physics.buffalo.edu] On Behalf Of Richard Hake
Sent: Friday, December 10, 2010 7:41 PM
To: phys-l@carnot.physics.buffalo.edu
Subject: Re: [Phys-l] Do not pass this by: Seventeen very well-spent minutes with Conrad W
Some subscribers to Phys-L might be interested in a recent post "Re:
Do not pass this by: Seventeen very well-spent minutes with Conrad W"
[Hake (2010)]. The abstract reads:
In my opinion, programs such as Wolfram's "Computer-based Math"
<http://bit.ly/h7V2jX> and the Kaput Center's (2010) "Math In Motion"
<http://bit.ly/f9jeT5>, if used in K-8, can pave the way for the
education of ninth graders in the basic ideas of Newtonian mechanics
- thus facilitating Leon Lederman's (2001) "Physics First."
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I would argue that the FOSS Force and Motion middle school module would also prepare students well for Newtonian Physics, and would provide the basics for future understanding of the calculus based version, since they learn a lot about using finite differences (delta t, delta x, and delta v).