Latin New Science Curriculum: Thoughtful Alterations
May 1, 2012
Note: This article is an amendment to a previous article in hopes of creating a more balanced argument
MJ Porzenheim
Staff Writer
For those of you who are unaware of the changes, in the coming years freshmen will take physics, juniors will take biology, and sophomores will continue taking chemistry. Additionally, freshmen science courses will not have an honors designation. The science department mulled the idea over for a few years and has, along with other members of the community, decided to implement this change, starting with the class of 2016. As I briefly covered before, there are many reasons for this decision. Biology is arguably the most complex of the sciences; it is the study of organisms, which is then inherently the study of the structures that make up organisms, which is then the study of the chemicals that make up those structures, which is then the study of why those chemicals behave the way they do. As Mr. Coberly believes, “bio… rests on the understanding of [chemistry] and physics.” Why, then, did we ever have bio first? “The focus of bio has changed,” says Mr. Coberly. He explains that it used to be about memorizing kingdoms and phylums, learning what distinguishes an arthropod from a chordate from a mollusk. Nowadays, in freshmen biology, we are more concerned with the chemistry and details of how life works, making the science more complex. Furthermore, Mr. Coberly explains, “We can teach in a much more straightforward manner in physics.” This is largely because physics labs are replicable by nature. Gravity, in a vacuum, will always cause an object to accelerate towards our planet at 9.8 meters/sec2. Living organisms are not quite so predictable- sunflowers in general are positively phototoxic, but the sunflower that a student grows in a biology class may not exhibit that characteristic. Thus, to teach the basics of science it is better to go with the most consistent science: physics. “It’s about making bio more prominent,” Mr. Coberly adds. How so? Well, if you have to spend time in bio class explaining the chemical and physical basis for why organic molecules behave the way they do, students will not spend as much time on pure bio. This year, Mr. Kim has spent a good month on these principles in various ways. Luckily for us, he’s managed to incorporate it well, but had we done the new science order, he would not have needed to do so. Ultimately, this change will allow students to go more into bio, and it will be a good summation of previous science experience since it draws from other sciences. Mr. Kim adds, “This is a paradigm shift, recognizing how the science learning experience can be built up from fundamental physics principles to better appreciate and understand atomic and molecular interactions that we see in chemistry and biology.” I continued my investigation asking Mr. Coberly why there would be no honors available for freshmen in the new curriculum. Physics depends a great deal on math, and the best way to attempt to place people would be by what math they had taken. However, this means that Latin would be placing students in honors or regular science “based on what sixth grade math class you were put into.” Furthermore, the teachers “want every Latin kid to walk out… having had a certain core experience whether they were in regular or honors” and this core experience should include many of the ideas that will be covered in the new freshman science curriculum.]]>
rstone • May 2, 2012 at 10:57 pm
Also, I think another aspect that hasn’t been considered is that science classes that tend to be heavy in math can serve as somewhat of a supplement to other math classes (not necessarily in terms of actual math skills themselves, but rather the information one can acquire about problem-solving and technique). If I hadn’t been in Honors Physics (a class that was markedly more challenging for me than Honors Bio), I think my performance in my math class would have suffered. Science classes that utilize math enable students to approach the topic in another way than simply plugging in numbers into an equation; math-heavy science classes encourage (and require) students to do more than plug-and-chug, and focus more on what the answers to a particular problem mean in a conceptual situation. I know a few people who are in the lowest math class but are doing extraordinarily well in Honors Physics because big-picture, big-concept problems are the ways in which they can really understand math. My personal opinion is that these people shouldn’t be denied a class that could provide the math education that works best for them.
jmowatt • May 2, 2012 at 10:11 pm
I agree with Hedy. I really don’t think the science department should be distinguishing whether a student should be in regular or honors science based off of the sixth grade math placement. Though math and science do correlate with one another in some ways, they are still very different. One student could be great at science and not so good at math, but aren’t able to be challenged in an honors science class because they weren’t in the highest math class in sixth grade. That was three years ago! Maybe the student has gotten better at both math and science. Also, it might be a little weird with freshmen and juniors learning the same subject next year. Does this mean that juniors and freshmen will be in the same classes?
Hedy • May 2, 2012 at 9:01 pm
I think the points that Mr. Coberly brings up are really hard to contest, but the lack of an honors physics class still worries me a little. Even in an honors science class, there is often a huge discrepancy in how much math people have taken – which is the way it should be, as anyone who loves science should be able to take an honors class regardless of their math class. But with no honors options at all, I think that those freshmen in Algebra 1 will become increasingly frustrated with the math that they lack, and I think those in Honors Geometry will want to apply their Algebra II skills a bit more. I can’t predict how it will work out, and I trust that the science department knows exactly what they’re doing, but I think the math issue might be a big area of frustration and stress for freshmen in the coming years.