Re: [asa] science education (was: YEC the default Christian belief?)

The relative strength of the Ontario science curriculum as I see it is in their
sustained and integrated comprehensive science curriculum in grades 9 & 10. I
agree with you that this gives an advantage of multiple exposures leading up to
additional treatment in the upper grades. In the end it seems you offer 4 years
of science just like we do --only yours is distributed more strategically --ours
more compartmentalized (speaking of embedded ideologies?). Other than that we
have very similar requirements regarding the actual quantity of science recommended.

--Merv

Quoting Cameron Wybrow <wybrowc@sympatico.ca>:

> Thanks to Merv, Louise and others who have replied re Biology education.
>
> Let me explain the disconnection that a Canadian (at least, from Ontario)
> feels regarding the American situation:
>
> In Ontario, the science curriculum is like this:
>
> Grade 9: General Science (1/4 physics, 1/4 chemistry, 1/4 biology, 1/4
> earth and space science)
> Grade 10: General Science (1/4 physics, 1/4 chemistry, 1/4 biology, 1/4
> earth and space science)
> Grade 11: Physics (a course on its own); Chemistry (a course on its own),
> Biology (a course on its own)
> Grade 12: Physics (a course on its own); Chemistry (a course on its own),
> Biology (a course on its own); also, Earth and Space Science (a course on
> its own)
>
> Notes:
>
> 1. All high school students must take Grade 9 and 10 Science.
>
> 2. All students, even those not planning to major in Science at university
> or college, must take 1 Science credit beyond Grade 10.
>
> 3. All courses beyond Grade 10 presume the knowledge acquired in Grades 9
> and 10, which are formal prerequisites for Grade 11 courses. (One can get
> into Grade 12 Earth and Space Science from Grade 10 Science, since there is
> no Grade 11 Earth and Space Science course.)
>
> 4. Any student planning to major in any Science at university must take
> both Grade 11 and Grade 12 Physics, and both Grade 11 and Grade 12 Chemistry
>
> (in addition to a boatload of Math courses). No Canadian university will
> accept a freshman student in Science who doesn't have Grade 12 in both
> Physics and Chemistry, which means Grade 11 as well, since Grade 11 is a
> prerequisite.
>
> 5. Any student planning to major in Biology at university would be
> well-advised to take both Grade 11 and Grade 12 Biology. (It wasn't
> necessary in my day to do so, but these may well be prerequisites at many
> universities now.)
>
> 6. The Biology unit in Grade 9 Science is all Cell Biology, with a bit of
> introductory Genetics. No evolution is taught. The Biology unit in Grade
> 10 Science is all Ecology. No evolution is taught. Evolution is first
> introduced in Grade 11, and taught again in some depth in Grade 12.
>
>
> **************
>
> Thus, as one can see, Biology is taught at *every high school level*. If
> evolution were taught in Grade 9 here in Ontario (which it isn't), it would
> be easy enough to move the evolution unit up to Grade 11 or Grade 12 Biology
>
> without disturbing the science program at all. Physics wouldn't have to be
> moved; nothing would be touched. Merv's problem about wanting Physics to be
>
> taught later is a complete non-problem in Ontario, because it *is* taught
> later -- in fact, it's taught at every level! So at each level, the Physics
>
> teacher can count on grade-appropriate Mathematical abilities (since all
> students interested in Science will be following the Math sequence all the
> way up).
>
> Evolution is not discussed until Grade 11 Biology, *which no student has to
> take*. So parents who are trying to "protect" their children from hearing
> about evolution (who are very rare in Ontario, anyway) need have no fear.
> And strident defenders of evolution like Ken Miller and Eugenie Scott need
> not worry about the lack of evolution in Grade 9 Biology here, because the
> kids who take Grade 11 and 12 Biology will still learn the theory of
> evolution.
>
> It looks to me as if the problem in the American system is that in many
> schools, Biology is only offered once, and only offered in Grade 9, and
> therefore if evolution is to be taught, it must be taught then. Thus, there
>
> is a huge political war over the contents of Grade 9 Biology. But that
> raises the question: why on earth is Biology only taught once, in all of
> high school?
>
> An acquaintance of mine teaches at an American private college where there
> are many Canadian students. He says that the Canadian students are much
> better prepared in science generally than the American students are. So
> maybe the American science education system needs an overhaul. Whereas Ken
> Miller and others keep complaining that skepticism about evolution is
> holding American science students behind the rest of the world, it looks to
> me as if what is holding American science students behind is that there just
>
> aren't enough science courses offered, and there aren't enough that are
> compulsory for entering university science programs. I therefore suggest
> that American schools adopt the Ontario model, beef up their science program
>
> considerably, offer Biology at more than one level, and move the evolution
> unit up to 11th or 12th grade. That should please everybody.
>
> Next problem, please. :-)
>
> Cameron.
>
>
>
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: <mrb22667@kansas.net>
> To: "Cameron Wybrow" <wybrowc@sympatico.ca>
> Cc: <asa@calvin.edu>
> Sent: Thursday, November 19, 2009 11:02 AM
> Subject: Re: [asa] science education (was: YEC the default Christian
> belief?)
>
>
> > I'm teaching at a Christian school, but this course sequence should still
> > be
> > fairly typical, I believe in larger public schools.
> >
> > 9th grade: Biology
> > 10th grade: Physical sciences (this would include geology, meteorology,
> > chemistry, physics, some astronomy)
> > 11th grade: chemistry
> > 12th grade: physics
> >
> > Other electives are also available, though not every semester or year such
>
> > as
> > Human anatomy, zoology, or botany.
> >
> >
> > It isn't that students can't take these courses out of sequence ---if the
> > scheduling allowed for such a thing (& in our small school --it wouldn't)
> > they
> > could pile up all four science classes in one year if they wanted, but who
>
> > would
> > want to do that? So in a practical sense, moving one science class
> > elsewhere
> > means encouraging the re-scheduling for another for the obvious reason
> > that we
> > want sciences spread out over their high school years.
> >
> > gotta go --time for geometry class.
> >
> > --Merv
>
>
> To unsubscribe, send a message to majordomo@calvin.edu with
> "unsubscribe asa" (no quotes) as the body of the message.
>

To unsubscribe, send a message to majordomo@calvin.edu with
"unsubscribe asa" (no quotes) as the body of the message.
Received on Fri Nov 20 08:30:07 2009