Hello everyone,
Amongst other things, I write maths questions for the national curriculum
SATs papers for Key Stage 2 (taken by children age 11 years). It is a
perpetual problem to find contexts for questions suitable for this age
group, bearing in mind their own linguistic capabilities.
I joined this e-mail group for two reasons: one is the hope of finding some
interesting scientific contexts that I can translate in maths questions
(all contributions gratefully received at [log in to unmask] ), and
the other is that public perceptions of science trouble me a lot. For many
people, science is no more than alchemy; it has not removed superstition
from the common mind but actually fed it - magic abounds!
And why not? My first degree was in physics but I don't have any idea as to
how my computer, TV or phone actually work beyond the belief that there
must be a lot of electrons flying about. Since technological products can
all be temperamental at times, it is often seems better to treat them as
bits of magic than the mountains of logic and principle that I don't stand
a chance of climbing.
Maths is in no better state. I have yet to see a popular maths programme
that really taught anyone anything about the subject other than 'you won't
understand this, but isn't it amazing'. Is this inevitable?
Peter Pool
%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%
|