The Week of September 17th

What Is Science?

Last week we sought to learn about the core concepts and philosophies that support what we call "science". We learned about empirical evidence and pseudoscience. We also did experiments to demonstrate how investigation is practiced. 

The test that we took on Friday showed that, although the students were good at defining these concepts, they had more difficulty with being able to recognize examples of those concepts in practice. 

We talked about Ancient Aliens being an example of pseudoscience.
Above is a MEME satirizing a common stance on the show.

So, this week we will be working more on the concepts in practice and understanding what they look like in life as well as the lab. If you are interested in what you can do to help, I point you to one of my earlier post, Scientific-Whats-It?.

A note on the test:

In the Cambridge Philosophy, it is more important to build skills rather than rote knowledge. Although I may make flashcards, memorizing definitions will be of little help. I like to emphasize practice over traditional studying. This way, the children build a skill set that will make them specialized, unique, and a value in what ever field they choose. 

It's All Up For Argument

This week, debate started with a bang. We debated whether it was okay to use profanity in public spaces (See the video below). We also started a debate about whether older students should be allowed to nap. 

Next week, we will start learning how to put together a good argument. Look for vocabulary words like vague and and ambiguous in describing poor arguments.