Posted on 02/08/2003 5:34:19 AM PST by Archangelsk
The Case for Physics First
Saturday, February 8, 2003; Page A20
A Feb. 4 letter suggested that physics should not be taught before chemistry and biology because it is more abstract. But a first course in physics is the least abstract of any first-year high school science course.
Rather than having to imagine processes at an atomic or molecular level, or to imagine what occurs in biological systems, students in first-year physics can collect and analyze physical data as they experiment with falling objects, colliding carts, light bulbs, mirrors, etc.
(Excerpt) Read more at washingtonpost.com ...
Should physics as a discipline be taught first before other sciences? No, it isn't necessary to do that. There is plenty of physics in other sciences of biology and chemistry these days. Besides, real physics can't be taught until the math is up to a practical level, and that doesn't happen until some amount of calculus has been learned.
It might be noted that many of the most important physicists and mathematicians in history weren't professional physicists or mathematicians, and some had no formal training in the subjects. Rodrigues was a banker, just one example. It seems those who will do physics and math will do so because they want to regardless of their school training. Hamilton had shown no interest in math until he found an error in a popular celestial mechanics book of the day that he had been reading for practice in a foreign language.
Not surprising. Lower level physics classes are, basically, math classes. Math is key. You can do without physics for other sciences, but you can't do without math.
Not in an educational sense. Sure, physical laws underlie phenomena studied in other sciences. You don't need physics for genetics, for example; you need statistics.
If the students are being taught math, it'll suffice in place of physics. Chemistry, and more so biology, are much broader bodies of knowledge than physics and need an early start because of time limitations.
The Public Education Establishment seems to be along the following model:
The School Board andAdministration are Management.
The Teachers are the Workers.
The Students are the Product.
I don't know what they've done to math curriculum these days! My son is a 5th grader and is just now reducing fractions. Division wasn't taught until the end of 4th grade. It seems that they spent 1st-3rd exclusively on addition and subtraction.
But at the same time, it seems to me that instead of simply teaching addition, they are throwing all kinds of things into the mix. The kids get a little taste of algebra, measuring and word problems with each newly added concept. It sounds good, to have them exposed to these things, and yet I wonder if that is part of the problem? Are we throwing in all these fancy things and losing sight of the fact that they can't simply add all that well?
My problem with HS chemistry was that it was never basic enough for me to get the point. My math was weak, but frankly, I don't remember doing much math at all. I struggled terribly for a C and never understood what I was doing.
I'm currently taking bone-head chemistry (18 years after HS chemistry) and it makes sense! I admit, the book sometimes has me totally perplexed, but I've got a great prof who makes things very clear. I used to be convinced that I was a math/science moron, but maybe my teachers just sucked?
Aw, hogwash...
Er, I mean, I respectfully disagree...
Chemistry is cooking. Bio is looking. Between and betwixt the two of 'em is alot of brute memorization. I think it was Rutherford who said something like "In all of science there is only physics; the rest is stamp-collecting." Physics forms the basis by which to study everything else-- laws, method, everything... If you don't have some notion about quantum mechanics, your understanding of sp3 to sp2 orbital transitions in carbon nitrides is limited. If you don't understand Maxwell's First Law of Electromagnetism, your understanding of Na+ transport across cell membranes is limited.
But then many folks don't give a flying rat's a$$ about Maxwell's first law, and I guess that's OK. It's impossible to understand every last piece of minutiae (sp?) related to your research... If folks wanna go through life not knowing Maxwell's first law I guess that's their business...
I like my idea of kids learning math and physics in the same class. I think it'd work pretty well. If I ever get hard-up enough that I got to teach high school to keep bagels on the table and beer in the fridge, I reckon I'll teach it that way.
A good prof can make all the difference in the world... I knew I was going into some hard science field as a freshman in college but I had some great profs who were definitely instrumental in steering me into physics... It challenged me in a way I like to be challenged-- "Whip off the 109 steps of the Krebs cycle right off the top of yer head" is most definitely NOT a turn-on for me...
Well in retrospect a few of my early profs kinda sucked. The material itself was an inexorable draw for me, however. Sort of one a them points of attraction or whathaveyou, in chaos theory...
It's not just the level of difficulty.
It's the sequence in which science knowledge applied; the foundatation that other disciplines build upon.
Each discipline used all of the ones before in order.
1. physics
2. chemistry
3. biology
4. Earth sciences (geology, astronomy, oceanography, meteorology).
The only problem is that at least a solid foundation of algebra II and geometry is needed for physics.
For this reason science is taught in reverse order.
"There's no reason not to have two physics courses in high school."
Physical Science is usually taught in 8th grade (physics without the math) and then Physics in 11th or 12th.
Definitely teach physics first. The other sciences are more abstract and should be taught after some more concrete facts have been assimilated.
The problem with calculus is never the calculus (a derivative, is a derivative, is a derivative) the real problem lies in rembering the algebraic sequence.
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