----- Original Message ---- From: STANLEY DOORE <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To: Daniel Jackson <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>; U.S. Metric Association <[email protected]> Cc: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Sent: Sunday, March 11, 2007 3:13:02 PM Subject: Re: [USMA:38135] Re: NCTM Curriculum Focal Points
It's being introduced beginning with early grade science courses. I am not familiar with all of the details to which you inquire. I thought that getting it adopted in science classes and courses was a great first step forward. However from you questions, you seem to think that is in not enough. Science doesn't have grade-level boundaries like schools have so the SI should be an integral apart of ALL science material because that's what's used worldwide including the US. I think SI should be used in all courses in the school. Otherwise students will feel it only has a use in science. Teaching and introducing it in science classes is a fine first step, but you need to move on to the second step while the momentum is still there. Otherwise the momentum can be lost and then backsliding will start to occur. Metrication must be brought to the point of no return. You don't give people the benefit that they can relate to products labeled in both metric and English units as most are now. If what you say is true, then people haven't related to 35-mm film, two-liter soda and other containers and many other products on the shelf in markets today. I don't think most people are measurement savvy. Either in metric or FFU. You may be able to relate to these objects as measurement guides both don't think others are able to. To prove the point either way, ask a random sample of people to show you how long 35 mm is. Ask them to hold there thumb and first finger 35 mm apart or to draw a line 35 mm long on a piece of paper. If they have related, their demonstration will prove it. Do the same with something related to two litres. Do you work in an office that has a water cooler? If so ask them how many two litre bottle of water would it take to fill the 19 or 20 L bottle? Don't be a negative thinker or a finder of excuses not to use the SI. All you are doing is to try to derail going metric. Just get the SI taught and used exclusively in ALL science classes and courses in schools and direct attention to the USMA's great web site. I'm not negative, but I don't want to see lost momentum turned into backsliding or just be taught in science. Get it into all the classes and all the subjects. Don't be satisfied with drips and drops. Strive for a deluge! Stan Doore. ----- Original Message ----- From: Daniel Jackson To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] ; U.S. Metric Association Cc: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Sent: Sunday, March 11, 2007 10:51 AM Subject: Re: [USMA:38135] Re: NCTM Curriculum Focal Points In what year are science classes usually taught? Would this be starting in 9-th grade? SI should be taught as soon as any reference to measurements is taught. When and where are measurement subjects usually taught? SI should be a part of that experience too. The problem with teaching SI as part of science classes, is that students may think SI can only be used as part of science. So how is SI brought into other aspects of life? Even though it may not be taught in math class, is it used in math class examples? Is it used in geography class? Is it used in history and language? Is is used in shop and home economics classes? This is where students would see a practical usage of metric. It is nice that it is taught in the schools, but it also has to has to be used outside of science so the students don't leave school thinking metric is just a scientific tool and language and can't be used in daily activities in life. Classes, like shop or if the school also offers courses in plumbing, auto mechanics, electrical, etc, the use of SI must be used there so that students see its usefulness in practical applications. Is it used in these classes ever? Dan ----- Original Message ---- From: STANLEY DOORE <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To: U.S. Metric Association <[email protected]> Cc: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Sent: Sunday, March 11, 2007 6:44:25 AM Subject: [USMA:38135] Re: NCTM Curriculum Focal Points Thanks Pat. That's why the school system here moved teaching and using the SI to science classes from math classes. Science classes are where the SI is needs to be taught and used exclusively to prepare kids for science and technology jobs. Math class is just conversion as you've shown. Stan Doore I don't know how they teach the SI but its done in the science classes rather than in math classes. I did prepare 5 pages to get hem started. They included an intro page, a page on how to write the SI, a page was on the ISO date/time format etc. The school put them on its web site. Also, I referred them to the USMA web site since it is more practical and useful for educational purposes than the NIST site URL which I also included. Two grandkids who were in different school verified that the SI was taught beginning the first day of their science classes in the fall term. Our Rotary club also published the USMA SI UNITS chart in poster size and has given them to schools, libraries and others. Regards, Stan Doore Now that's room service! Choose from over 150,000 hotels in 45,000 destinations on Yahoo! Travel to find your fit. ____________________________________________________________________________________ Never miss an email again! Yahoo! Toolbar alerts you the instant new Mail arrives. http://tools.search.yahoo.com/toolbar/features/mail/
