[ProtectOurFreedom]

“Sure, people say everyone knows the movies are not real, but my experience is many of the students believe what they see on the screen.”

Conclusively proven by the biggest fabrication of all, "An Inconvenient Truth."

[rwilson99]

Idiots.

First, any rational person pursuing science should be able to parse fiction (movies) from reality.

Second, a lot of science fiction past, is now science fact present. Think Star Wars and present day robotics.

Anyway, if professors can’t handle this they need to find other work.

[JillValentine]

When someone gets hit by a bullet, they don’t really fly 20 feet backwards.

[RightWhale]

We were supposed to see a Flash Gordon movie and report back for our science class in 1955 about what was impossible in the movie. I found nothing impossible about a model spaceship hanging from a string, so there we were staring at each other across an uncrossable chasm.

[Larry Lucido]

Proof: “The Day After Tomorrow.”

[nmh]

“Movies such as Spiderman 2 and Speed generate excitement among audiences with their cool special effects. But they also defy the laws of physics, contributing to students’ ignorance about science. “

Kids will know more about SPECIAL EFFECTS than WHY these special effects are not reality.

“The Science and Engineering Indicators 2006 report seems to support his observations. The report shows that the average science scores among 12th graders in the U.S. dropped from the previous year. The scores remained stagnant in the fourth and eighth grades. Worse, only about one-third of all students tested were proficient, meaning they had a solid understanding of what they should know.”

Kids are NOT learning what they should. It’s fluff. It’s not serious. It’s ALL entertainment driven - even in their “science” work books.

“If youngsters aren’t getting the basics at the elementary level, it becomes very difficult for them to continue to study the subjects in college and virtually impossible for them to make significant contributions to the scientific community, Efthimiou said.”

It’s appalling what passes for Science in elementary grades.

The U.S. will continue to lower its ranking WORLDWIDE unless academia gets serious. At the moment there is NO INCENTIVE to do that. The worst part is parents not don't see it because they didn't do well either in math and science. Having done well i both, I SEE IT and constantly SUPPLEMENT with math and science SEEING how watered down and ridiculous these subjects have become.

[nmh]

Good post!

BUMP!

[wastedyears]

***Some people really do believe a bus traveling 70 mph can clear a 50-foot gap in a freeway, as depicted in the movie Speed.***

It did

They showed it on the making of the movie.

[ThomasThomas]

He could at “Hollywood movies hurt”

[ThomasThomas]

I mean to say "UCF physicist says Hollywood movies hurt students' understanding of science"

Women and minorities hurt the worst.

[lilylangtree]

If anything, it should give students chances to think. Sci-fi is based on some science. Think about the Star Trek movie where Chekhov is on the USS Enterprise and is being chased by security. He falls and receives a concussion. Kirk and McCoy to the rescue. McCoy gives a mature woman a pill and she doesn’t need dialysis. McCoy puts an instrument on Chekhov’s forehead, and he recovers. I read later that the instrument was in the theoretical stages by scientists. But movies do make students think.

[ishabibble]

This week on Fox & Friends, the hosts interviewed Homer Hickum re the Utah mine disaster. Although he was on to talk authoritatively on mine safety, I could not help but remember his story, portrayed in the movie, October Sky.

Homer and his pals were high school science kids who got caught up in the romance of the “Space Race”. It’s a great movie about science and motivation, if you ever need to inspire some kids to go build rockets! God bless you, Homer!

[umgud]

Colleges need to quit teaching science in lib arts classes too.

[Lonesome in Massachussets]

I saw a peanut stand, heard a rubber band,
I saw a needle that winked its eye.
But I think I will have seen everything
When I see an elephant fly.

I saw a front porch swing, heard a diamond ring,
I saw a polka-dot railroad tie.
But I think I will have seen everything
when I see an elephant fly.

I seen a clothes horse, he r'ar up and buck
And they tell me that a man made a vegetable truck
I didn't see that, I only heard
But just to be sociable I'll take your word

I heard a fireside chat, I saw a baseball bat
And I just laughed till I thought I'd die
But I'd be done see'n about everything
when I see an elephant fly.

[I still care]

They recently had an interesting special on Hollywood and Science, I think on the discovery channel. It covered all kinds of things such as depicting people walking in hundred mile per hour winds and such.

My pet peeve? When I see a show where a person gets an IM injection in the crook of the arm. I just saw a show like that last night. People get shots in the buttocks, or the fleshy part of the arm, but not where you draw blood.

[The Great RJ]

It’s little wonder our kids have no understanding of true science. Most science teachers in primary and secondary schools have little science education themselves and even those teaching high school chemistry, math or physics frequently do not have those subjects as their college major. Couple that with textbooks that are full of errors and present pseudo science like global warming and ecological disaster as scientific fact and it is hardly surprising kids believe what they see on TV and in movies.

[nmh]

This year I checked out a few other vendors to supplement with ... just PATHETIC Pearson Education ... RIDICULOUS.

NEVER purchase anything from these vendors at this website:

http://plgcatalog.pearson.com/co_home.cfm?site_id=2

No lie. Truly DUMBED DOWN stuff.

I’ll stick with BJW, Saxon and Abeka - REAL science is still taught there as well as REAL Math and PHONICS.

[nmh]

This year I checked out a few other vendors to supplement with ... just PATHETIC Pearson Education ... RIDICULOUS.

NEVER purchase anything from these vendors at this website:

http://plgcatalog.pearson.com/co_home.cfm?site_id=2

No lie. Truly DUMBED DOWN stuff.

One more thing I ordered the Phonics Level s from Pearson Education - no kidding my daughter already KNEW their third grade level stuff - she covered THAT IN FIRST GRADE with Saxon Phonics and Spelling. Her third grade Saxon Phonics and Spelling would probably be equivalent to their sixth grade - as best I could see. This is pathetic.

Our daughter is in a private school and we still feel compelled to SUPPLEMENT all the time. I swear, it’s not empty talk - public schools are DUMBING KIDS down and the PACE is slower than a turtle. The pace also concerns me ... it enables kids to be LAZY.

It’s really sad to see a little kid with all kinds of questions and slowly shut down and crammed full of junk science via crossword puzzles etc..

I’ll stick with BJW, Saxon and Abeka - REAL science is still taught there as well as REAL Math and PHONICS.