There is Hope

by Elio

Through the years, we have not had many opportunities to look forwards, to get a feeling for how science is taught in middle and high schools. But we have had a couple of wonderful encounters, one with the Jefferson Middle School and Mrs. Putnam, their sixth grade teacher in Jackson, Mississippi. Their blog, Science is a Blast is well worth visiting, which is an understatement. The number of great links alone is worth the price! We’re glad that this blog is somewhere among the ones offered to the students.

Source.

The second of our past contacts is a blog called Extreme Biology, maintained by teacher Stacy Baker at Calverton School in Huntington Maryland. This blog, notable for its depth and breadth, won the 2008 Edublog Award for Best Class Blog. And MS. Baker was prominently featured in an episode of NPR’s Science Friday. One of her students wrote a story about how wood can be treated with fungi to produce Stradivarius-grade violins based on something we had written here.

Not knowing much about the state of education in this country, we are chary of commenting on the current state of affairs. However it is clear from our brief contact with youngsters and from other anecdotal indications that at some of the best teaching is very good indeed. Let’s hope it spreads further.

Comments

[Daniel P. Haeusser]

Thank you for sharing this. The link to Extreme Biology is incorrect however, in case you hadn't realized yet.

Many thanks, Daniel. We fixed it.
Elio