I agree; reading this, my first thought was what the hell kind of science is this.
In the gifted and talented class in eight grade at Broad Street Junior High School in Burlington, we were dissecting black lubber grasshoppers.
Even my parents would have raised holy hell about this back then!
That sounds about right to me. Levers and pulleys, too. How to tell different kinds of rocks apart.
I wonder what the teacher's academic background is. Many so-called science texts, even in high school, are full of vague philosophizing because neither the teachers nor the students are able to do the math that's required for physics and chemistry.