Science Education

Dad went on a rage last night after looking through Josh’s 3rd grade science book. Josh loves to watch all of the Discovery channels, and is very good about remembering what he has seen. The problem comes when Josh brings his book to dad when trying to study for a test, and wants to know why something in the book is named differently than what the Discovery channel said it was.

For example a while back Josh was studying the parts of the flower. He had learned about the Pistil, Stamen, and all of the other parts that are commonly known. However for his test he had to know them as the Stem like and the Pollen holder or something like that. This has happened on several science subjects, and we know that it is not just his school, but all of the US schools in general.

Dad said he understood not going deep into a subject, but to dumb down a subject to the point of changing the names of items. They will just have to learn it over again in Jr High or High school. Is it any wonder why other countries are leading the US in producing the top minds of our time. Is it any wonder why we have adults who not understand what global warming is or even that the distance of the Sun to the Earth is not what causes the seasons.

I may not understand the details of what global warming is, but I do understand that each summer is a bit hotter then when I was a puppy, and I see less and less of that cold white stuff that gets matted in my fur.

Now if you will excuse me, I need to go lay with mom she is having a bad day, but it looks like her doctor is going to send her to Houston for some test. Man I hate going to the Doctor, I wonder if she needs tested for worms? I will post more on that later.