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Science Links,
South-Western Educational Publishing (Everyday Learning Corporation) 1998

Science Links is a one-year multimedia curriculum of integrated science designed for ninth-grade (or bright eighth-grade) students. In addition to a student textbook for each module, there is a Teacher Edition that contains suggestions for conducting and scoring tests and lab exercises, supplementary readings, class activities, suggested classroom procedures, and a series of videodisks and videotapes. The text material is contained in a 14 volume set of booklets of 88 pages each covering all the sciences that can be used in any order. The format is both convenient and interesting.

Volume 2: Wildfire! A Study of Heat and Oxidation is an interesting module. There are indeed a number of physical, chemical, biological, and ecological ramifications of a fire. During my lifetime (HPL) the understanding of these things has changed. When I first went to Montana as a kid there were forest fires being fought assiduously and nowadays some forest fires are intentionally allowed to burn. It turns out that on occasion frequent brush burning fires are good for the forest. The policy in the national parks has changed to encompass this idea. The unifying feature of the wildfire is a good idea. Wildfire was quite good, and the number of errors was nowhere near the number in other books at this level.

However, Volume 3: Motion Commortion: A Study of Forces and Movement is not as neatly tied together and it breaks down frequently. On pages 70 and 71 students do a number of experiments to see what deformations happen to various objects in a can crusher with varying pressures caused by hanging a bucket on the can crusher's handle. Weights (bricks with a maximum mass of 25 kg) are added to the bucket. The can crusher pictured has been drawn by someone who has not seen one. A can crusher is a neat tool, and the compound levers enable even the weakest of us to crush cans without injury. It's instructive for students to see its levers in action. Hanging weights on its handle will require computations to determine weight on the sample and including friction in a real machine will prove a serious problem.

On page T3.67a ('T' refers to pages in the Teacher's Manual) the teacher is told about the samples to use in the can crusher experiment. These thicknesses can't possibly be right. Any conclusion, interpolation, or supposed understanding from these numbers will not hold water. As a simple experiment one could call Coca-Cola at 1-800-438-2653 and ask for the appropriate data. Then make a table of the thicknesses for different drinks. Then do the same for Campbell's Pork and Beans. Call Campbell's at 1-800-232-6736. Best of all, get the students to make their own measurements.

Illustrations and teacher wraparounds appear to be add-ons after the student text was done.

Page T3-2 uses 'fluid', but a fluid could be a gas or a liquid and since fluids are not very compressible their use in a vehicle suspension system would not be effective. Also 'If everything is in motion' then it is impossible to have a fixed point anywhere.

Page T3-101 includes this incorrect sentence, "Skin is not a good conductor because the moisture in it allows the current to pass through more easily."

Science Links is economical in the variety of its illustrations. A Hydroponics Grower on page 9, in Volume 1 has an orange hard hat and a yellow and black checked shirt. The same illustration is used for an archeologist, a wildlife manager, a food scientist, an oil refinery worker, a forest manager, a soil-conservation agent, a mineral prospector, a wildlife biologist, a plant breeder, a cattle breeder, a coastal resource manager, a horticulturist, an economic entomologist, a park ranger, a veterinary technician, an aquaculturist, a gem cutter, a goldsmith, a hydrologist, a range conservationist, an aquaculture technician, a farm operator, an agronomist, a marine biologist, and commercial fishers (sic). These are all the same guy! Have you ever seen a goldsmith wearing a hard hat? There are lots of other Career Links that have multiple repeated pictures calling attention to totally inappropriate careers. The publisher apparently saves quite a bit of money by repeating pictures. South-Western Educational Publishing was a division of Thomson Learning, at 1 800-824-5179. www.swep.com was the Internet address. They may now be Everyday Learning Corporation located at http://www.everydaylearning.com/sciencelinks/ The Agency for Instructional Technology is at 1 800 457-4509

The Periodic Table of the elements lists 94 elements on page 1.25. Technetium and francium are identified as man-made. This is simpler than the way the table is presented in other texts and more appropriate for this level.

Page 3.27 explains the operation of a speedometer: 'Force is applied to the short arm by one of the car's wheels. This long arm extends from the wheel to the tip of the needle on the speedometer gauge. The faster the wheel spins, the more the tip of the needle moves. The large wheel and tire may spin many times per second, but the needle moves only a tiny distance across the face of the speedometer. The input force is much greater than the output force."

Page 3.42 shows an unlikely screw jack.

Page 3.70 shows an unlikely can crusher. The teacher's edition has students crushing aluminum cans with very large wall thicknesses.

Page T 3.94 tells about the screwdriver with a 3 cm tip and a 24 cm handle, used as an example of a lever to open a paint can.

Page T 3 47 has the Coriolis effect and the airplane traveling from Atlanta to Los Angeles to Chicago. The most westerly route is most efficient as the Earth turns toward the east. The clockwise route is most efficient because of the Coriolis effect. Students are to modify the plane to burn hydrogen fuel to make it more efficient (How will they carry the tanks?) and they are to modify the propellers to a steeper pitch (Notwithstanding that the usual pitch of the propeller is computed to permit most efficient use of the engine's power curve).

Page T-3.12 "Preparing Materials": "Screw in two hooks, one in the middle of the side with the smallest surface area and the other in the middle of the side with the largest surface area." The illustration on the same page (Figure 3) shows a hook in the middle of a side with the smallest surface area but the other hook is shown centered near the edge of the block rather than in the middle of the surface.  

Page T-3.12 "Preparing Materials": "The percentage of stretch (of a rubber band) will indicate the measurement of force." Unlike a spring scale, the stretching of a rubber band is not linear with respect to an applied force. Any quantitative data obtained using stretched rubber bands will be meaningless unless the individual rubber bands are calibrated, in advance, using a spring scale. It is strongly recommended that an experiment dealing with stretching rubber bands be carried out in reverse to ensure that the band comes back to the same length with which it started.

Page T-3.15: (Note: this error is VERY BAD and will certainly lead to misconceptions.) Question 2 asks, "Explain why a block with a small surface area passing over a rough surface will have more friction than a block with a large surface passing over a smooth surface." The answer to Question 2 states, "The surface area of the block does not influence the friction, but the roughness of the surface does. Because the block with a small surface is passing over a rough surface, it will experience more friction." The question fails to indicate that the block with the small surface area and the one with the large surface area must be equal in weight so the normal forces that press the blocks against the respective surfaces are the same. The answer that is given implies that the contact area between two surfaces never affects friction forces. In fact the incorrect implication is reinforced at the top of page T-3.18 that states unequivocally, "Frictional force is caused by surface roughness and is proportional to the force pushing two surfaces together. Surface area does not affect friction."

Page T-3.18 (Near bottom of column 1): "Would a heavy person be more or less likely than a light one to slip on an icy sidewalk? Why do you think so?" Based on the lesson given in this module, students might give the incorrect response that a light person is less likely to slip on an icy sidewalk because of the weaker normal force that is acting between the person's shoes and the sidewalk. However, the heavier person's pressure on the ice would tend to melt the ice faster making it more slippery.

Page T-3.21 (Investigation 3): The student is instructed to use spring scales to measure forces applied to the ends of a meter stick that is supported by a fulcrum at the 20 cm mark. The weight of the meter stick itself is ignored in the investigation. The hardwood meter sticks that are specified for this investigation weigh slightly more than a newton each. Thus, if the specified force of only 1 newton were applied to the end of the input arm of the meter stick it would partially balance the weight of the meter stick itself and produce approximately half the expected force at the end the output arm.

Page T-3.37 (On Your Own) Question 2: "If you fill a sink with water and then open the drain, the water will swirl as it goes down the drain. If you did this in Canada, in which direction would the water swirl, clockwise or counterclockwise? What if you were in Australia - which way would it swirl there? What is responsible for the direction of the swirls?" The answer given at the bottom of the page states: "In Canada, the water would swirl clockwise. In Australia the water would swirl counterclockwise. The Coriolis force is responsible for the direction in which the water swirls." The misconception that Coriolis is responsible for swirling water directions in sinks apparently still exists in the minds of some teachers (perhaps reinforced by 'The X-Files?' It has been proven many times that it is the configuration of the sink or toilet bowl determines the swirling direction. The Coriolis effect (not a force) is only observed in large areas of the atmosphere and oceans of the Earth. It is never observed in sinks.

Overall assessment of Module 3: This module has been organized into four sections, each include one, two, or three major topics that are usually associated with courses in Biology, Chemistry, Physics, or Earth/space science. According to the Time Frame given on page T-3.vii of this module, all of the required readings, class discussions, lab activities, review of assigned homework, individual and group research, tests and assessments and other activities can be completed in 18 class periods of 45 minutes each. Based on my (HHG) eight years of experience teaching ninth grade science and thirty additional years teaching physics and earth science in high schools, I feel that it is extremely difficult for students to learn so much material and complete many of the activities suggested in so short a time.

Volume 4 Current Thoughts: A Study of Electricity and Magnetism

Page T 4-91 has the teacher (who has been explaining binary code) ask students, "Which of the following is another example of an "on-off" code?" The choices are among: a) Braille   b) Morse code, and c) handwriting.   And the answer is "b." However, Braille is very specifically a binary code. Instead of the 8 switch (= 8 "bits") byte of computer codes, the Braille code uses a 6 dot cell (similar to the sixes on dominoes or dice - two vertical rows of 3 dots each), and as Roger, a blind acquaintance who reads and teaches Braille points out, "The dots are there or they ain't!"

Prentice-Hall messes up the binary system too; saying 9 is coded as 00111001 and 17 is coded as 00010001 (pages 576 and 577 EXPLORING PHYSICAL SCIENCE). What is not stated is that the first example is from a commonly used computer language in which the first four characters identify the next four as a digit. Also not stated is that the second example is how 17 would be coded in binary notation if you were required to use 8 places. The zeroes to the left of the first one would be ignored. (In current base ten numbering 17 means seventeen. There's a one in the tens column and a 7 in the ones column. 017 means the same - there's a zero in the hundreds column, a one in the tens column and a 7 in the ones column.)

Student illustration caption tells why birds aren't zapped when they wander on to a high voltage wire. Page 4-29 says it's because, "The bird's claws would be in contact with only a small portion of the wire, and so there would be no difference in voltage on its legs. Therefore, current would not flow through the bird." Nonsense.

Page 4.49 has students light up an incandescent light bulb by moving a magnet back and forth inside a coil of wire which has had its ends fastened to the bulb's fixture. It's important that students be able to carry out such an experiment. In order to do that we need more specifications on length, number of turns, etc. The previous experiment also needs more specific information.

Volume 6 It's In the Family: A study of Heredity

Page 6.77 has a group of 8 sheep, which proves on closer examination to be a special effect by repeating sheep #1 3 times and then flopping these first four sheep to make the next four sheep. (An example of cloning?) The result is that 4 sheep are backlit by one Sun and the other 4 sheep are backlit by another Sun. Because this is a science book students should be alerted to such image manipulation.

Volume 7 Making Waves: A study of Light and Sound

The canoe material on pages 7.20 and 7.21 is preposterous. I (HPL) would be happy to take any of my brothers and compete with the writer and any other person of the writer's choosing. The reason pairs of canoeists paddle on opposite sides and generally in synch is that the side of the canoe that gets the power will move ahead. If both paddlers paddle on the right, the right side of the canoe will move ahead, forcing the canoe to turn left. Each paddler's stroke start (while the paddle is tilted ahead and starts to move down) has a component that tends to lift the canoe on that side. If there is an analogous lift on the opposite side the canoe will retain its vertical integrity. In mid stroke while the paddle is nearly vertical, there is only horizontal motion. At the end of the stroke, as the paddle is pulled up, there may be some vertical component which pulls the canoe down into the water on the paddled side. Again, if that force is balanced by the other paddler on the opposite side of the canoe, it will retain its vertical integrity. Should it not retain its vertical integrity, it will tip.

Page 7.43 explains elephant communication "that human ears cannot detect" in vocal infrasound, defined as "very low in pitch - about 400 Hz". There are 47 notes on my (HPL) piano lower than 400 Hz, and there are 41 higher. 400 Hz is about one and a half semi-tones lower than the oboe's tuning A-440.

Page 7.60's right hand prism bends the red light the wrong direction as it enters the prism. As light of any color goes from air to a more dense medium, it is ALWAYS refracted toward the normal. The rest of the illustration could not be duplicated in an experiment. It would be so much simpler to make a drawing while observing light impinging on a prism!

Volume 11 Going for the Gold: A Study of Precious Metals and Gems

Page 11.35's prism illustration is difficult to duplicate or explain without reflection along the bottom of the prism (bottom of the prism as illustrated). No such reflection is discussed. Therefore what has happened is that this illustration (which is described as presenting refraction) has bent the light in the wrong direction. Dispersion is not mentioned until later and then not sufficiently to describe what is taking place.

Page 11.36 has lost some of the text from the figure. Even so the diagram says nothing about the properties of the media or where the angles are measured from.

Volume 14 Liquid World: A Study of Oceans and Ocean Life

Page 14.11 draws the equator north of the Gulf of Mexico - approximately through Tallahassee. Presumably this is another incidence of the Coriolis effect. Did you know that the Coriolis effect causes the northeast trade winds that basically sweep toward the southwest from the Horse Latitudes of southern Canada?

There are 24 'authors' of SCIENCE LINKS and four 'assessment writers.' There are, however, no assessment writers credited in volumes 11, 12, 13, or 14.

Some of the early volumes are excellent. The quality does not persist through the final volumes (even the index has multiple errors) where we found that editorial people did the work. That a name is on a given volume does not mean the listed author made a contribution to that book (although in the early books that is more apt to be the case).   

There is no program to correct errors. Earlier printings and editions of Prentice-Hall's EPS p. 662, and PHS, Vol. R p. 86, and SE, Vol. O p. 118 had prisms bending light in two directions. Some of it was bent the way Isaac Newton described, and some of it was bent away from the prism's base in the opposite direction. Later printings within most recent PH editions (1999 and 2000) replace those errors, and there are fixes on the web (though it's still not quite right). SCIENCE LINKS on the other hand (Vol. 7 p. 60) has a prism refracting light in the wrong way (along with other improbable implications) and will wait for the next edition to fix it.

SCIENCE LINKS has a globe illustrated in Vol. 14, p. 11, and the equator goes through Tucson, Texas and Tallahassee. They'll wait for the next edition to fix it.

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Integrated Science,
Carolina Academic Press, 2000 (and others)

Arguably North Carolina's most famous view is that of the Cape Hatteras Lighthouse.   In the 1990 edition they flopped a photo L/R of it on the back cover of Book Two. In 1995 it is properly shown on the front cover of Book One. In 2000 (the year the lighthouse reopened to the public after moving it away from the surf line) it is again flopped L/R on the front cover of Book One, PATTERNS AND CYCLES, North Carolina's 6th grade text. Imagine how reliable the science is going to be! The source of the photos is not shown. NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC May 2000 gets this right.

I (HPL) asked to talk to someone about errors, and on May 16th (2000) they said that they'd have an author talk to me. It's July now. They said that there is a web site for corrections that are posted each August but I haven't found it yet. CAP's page for INTEGRATED SCIENCE is http://www.sci2k.com/

Book One on page 111 and Book Two on pages 54-55 both include periodic tables of the elements. The 1990 book lists 107 elements and pledges allegiance to IUPAC in referring to elements 104 through 107. 1990 on p. 51 has an alternative table showing 103 elements. Enigmatically hydrogen is discussed as an alkali metal on page 46 and as a non-metal on p. 48. Perhaps that's because each periodic table in the 1990 book lists hydrogen twice - once on the top-most left and again next to helium on the far right on the top row. The 1995 book (presumably more up-to-date) lists 106 elements (lost one!), and also uses the IUPAC names for elements 104 through 106. More progress is made in that the doubled hydrogen is gone. The rest of the world, which has been ADDING elements at an irresponsible rate, does not match North Carolina's progress over those five years. #107 was synthesized in 1981 (per multiple sources including TIME ALMANAC 2000), and #108 in 1983. North Carolina should be really careful in selecting new books. There were 115 elements known in 1999.

INTERACTIONS AND LIMITS, 2000, ISBN 0-89089-778-6 lists 112 elements on periodic table on pages 186-187. There is a note that says, "Element names conform to the current usage of the International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry at the date of publication." Page 181 says, "Scientists are now experimenting to create - a new element 114." From this evidence it becomes apparent that this material was written before element 114 was synthesized in January 1999. None of those tables were ever true in those copyright years. 109 was true from 1983 to 1994. There were briefly 112 in the mid '90s, but numbers 114, 116 and 118 were synthesized in 1999. This sort of thing is a risk to all publishers who inflate their copyright dates and are behind on their knowledge. A paragraph about the dynamic changes would be much more instructive.

None of this, of course, is an important physics consideration! At this level it would be best to simply present the table with established elements and some note about the possibility of additional elements being produced in the laboratory. A few comments on whether the element is a solid, liquid, or gas at room temperature would also be appropriate. Boiling points, freezing points, densities, color, hardness, and other macroscopic properties would be much more interesting to Middle School students. To use a supposedly up-to-date Periodic Table as a selling point is ridiculous.

CAP does not print teacher editions. There's a CD ROM that goes to the teacher upon adoption. It was not reviewed. Carolina Academic Press's INTEGRATED SCIENCE is a three-volume set, published in editions at 5-year intervals. The set is intended for Middle School, grades 6 - 8.

Book Two, copyright 1990, ISBN 0-89089-360-8, has a prism that disperses white light into a spectrum in an impossible way on page 169. In fact, what this prism would do (aligned this way) would be to reflect light off its horizontal base exactly like a plane mirror placed where the prism's base is. The incident light is perpendicular to the one slanted plane of the prism, and the outgoing light is perpendicular to the other slanted plane.     

Book One, copyright 1995, ISBN 0-89089-590-2 has a much better prism/spectrum on p. 465, but still wrong. It also offers more information on the electromagnetic spectrum on page 332, where it shows a spectrum of the Sun's radiation. The gamma radiation is graphed as some sort of oscillation impossibly reversing itself. Also, the ultraviolet portion of the spectrum is shown next to the red end of the visible spectrum, and the infrared is shown next to the violet. This can only be ascribed to ignorance or carelessness on the part of whoever prepared this illustration. It's the visible light part of the spectrum that is backward. The wavelengths should be radically different and they are not. By 2000, PATTERNS AND CYCLES, p. 96, the funny gamma oscillation has been altered into a plausible sine wave but the ultraviolet remains by the red and the infrared remains by the violet.

PATTERNS AND CYCLES, copyright 2000, ISBN 0-89089-775-1 fixes this spectrum on page 96 so each identified frequency has its own different wavelength. All the waves are now more traditional sine waves. However, the ultraviolet and shorter waves are still on the red side of the visible spectrum and the infrared and longer waves are on the violet side. On page 306 X-rays are described as having the shortest wavelengths even though on page 303, it is clear that gamma rays do. The prism on page 211and page 323 has been improved, but is still wrongly depicted. Speed and frequency are equated on page 303. There is still some work to be done here.

In Book One, page 344, the eclipse explanation shows the Moon's umbra with an impossible geometry in relation to the Sun. The umbra comes to a vanishing point just before it touches the Earth. No shadow touches the Earth. No shadow - no eclipse. PATTERNS AND CYCLES, 2000, ISBN 0-89089-775-1 uses a slightly larger version of the diagram, and again no shadow reaches the Earth. The geometry of the lunar eclipse is a bit closer to accurate, but not there yet. The student is asked if he has experienced an eclipse and is to write a story about his feelings.

Book One, 1995, flashes a number of brand names including Pepsi and V8 on p. 71, Glad-Lock bags on p. 78, Eckerd, Revco and Kroger on p. 137 and BP on p. 447. Book Two, 1990, flashes Pepsi on p. 51, Phillips p.76 and Arby's on p.128, Kawasaki on p.134 and Slinky on p. 137. There are a few cultural universals in children's' brains, and Oreos might be one. Maybe Oreos might be a good linear measuring unit. PATTERNS AND CYCLES 2000 lists Casio on p. 24, Pepsi on p. 73, Juicy Juice on p. 74, Pledge, Keebler and Wesson oil on p. 79. INTERACTIONS AND LIMITS 2000 lists Coke and Canada Dry on p. 12, Pepsi on p. 205, Wilson Athletic Equipment on p. 355, Pall Mall on p. 374 and Drano on p.149. Students will certainly connect science with the everyday world! Is there is a policy on this?  

One thing that is absolutely excellent is Chapter 10 in Book One 1995 which does everything an Integrated Science text should do for 6th graders. It covers the Honeybee: its life cycles, its history, its evolution, its foraging, its egg laying, fertilization, the role of drones, etc. etc. etc., and its niche in the various ecosystems, histories, etc. etc. Then the physical science, temperature, melting wax, granulating honey, the honey industry, beeswax, bee pollen, propolis, etc., are covered. This chapter and a bee window, observable from the inside of the classroom would cover an enormous amount of all of the disciplines involved. Unfortunately, the bees are gone in 2000.

Some responsible, intelligent and creative people wrote the bee chapter. They were needed for the physical science in the rest of the book.

Book One, page 12, has a discussion of the Global Schoolhouse. What is pictured is a communications satellite, presumably in geosynchronous orbit, being listened to by three satellite dishes. The satellite is parked (as nearly as can be determined) directly above Iceland. One dish in Brazil points slightly east of north to focus on its signal. A second dish in Kansas points to the northeast to the same satellite. A third dish in Egypt points nearly north to the same satellite. This diagram has to be changed. If the satellite is to be "tracked" by a stationary dish that orbit must be pretty close to the Earth's equatorial plane.

I'm (HPL) writing these brief notes on the date of the change to daylight savings time. I was brutally awakened a full hour before my habit, forced to eat before my system was ready for food, had to perform in a political situation (conducting a choir) a full hour before my body was prepared to think, forced to stand and deliver a full hour early to provide the keyboard music for a church service, and now I'll have to go to bed much earlier than my body's clock is prepared to handle. Tomorrow will be nearly as inhumane. Daylight savings time is far more dramatic to a sixth grader, affecting him physically, than an eclipse. The factual causes/reasons of/from daylight savings time involve knowledge of many of the same phenomena. It would be much more appropriate and meaningful.

The electrical circuits on pages 198 and 199 in Book Two show electricity flowing when the switches are open. This is fixed on page 330 of 2000 CONSTANCY AND CHANGE, ISBN 0-89089-781-6. The current is described as 'flowing' whereas it is the charges that flow. A 'current' is 'a flow of charges.'

Page 166, Book Two, labels center of curvature for convex mirror at about 3 focal lengths from the surface of the mirror. Convex mirrors do not appear in the 2000 series. Page 155 of Book Two, 1990, has a misplaced virtual image. This is redrawn but still wrong on page 312 of 2000 PATTERNS AND CYCLES. (As is usually done, the line from the mirror to the object is as long in whatever system of perspective or measurement used as the line from the mirror to the image.)

Book Two reverses the photo of a lab-coated male on page 7, and Benjamin Franklin has his buttons on backwards on p. 220. Is he known to have been left-handed? Good project; perhaps he just dressed in a hurry.

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Science Plus: Technology and Society Annotated Teacher's Edition,
Blue Level, Holt, Rinehart and Winston, 1997

For a change of pace we will use this book as an illustration of what the reviewers mean by 'the busyness of the book' and the overwhelming number of topics. Our comments apply equally well to the other texts, just as this book is equally rife with errors.

This is an integrated series. There are eight units that integrate physical, life, and earth science. There is an extensive introduction in the 'Owner's Manual' to help the teacher understand the philosophy of the book. There is also an extensive 'Assessing Student Performance.' These first pages provide a discussion about 'Guiding Principles' of science, 'Anyone can learn science' and 'Science is a natural endeavor.' This is common in all the latest books. Each just uses its own verbiage. Another aspect of this 'Owner's Manual' is the 'Aims' of the book. Once again the same old aims that have been pushed for the last ten years are repeated.   There is an extensive section of constructivism. It breaks it down into four key steps, which oversimplifies the concept. After the discussion of constructivism there is a conceptual framework chart that displays content focus, supporting content, thematic focus, STS, process skills, and a process skills focus.   There is an entire science education class in the 'Owner's Manual.' This is truly meant to be all things to all teachers! Next comes the 'Components of SciencePlus.' You name it; they have it! There are units, chapters, lessons, ScienceLog, explorations, assessment, special features, sourcebook, and annotations! If this were not enough, there are home connection, chapter worksheets, unit worksheets, SourceBook worksheets, transparencies, Getting Started Guides, Assessment Checklist and Rubrics, Materials Guide, Test Generator, English, Spanish audiocassettes, Videodisc Resources, SnackDisc, and more! After the first thirty-three pages, there is still more help! The teacher is exposed to ways to use themes in science, integrating the sciences, cross-disciplinary connections, science, technology, and society, communication science, journals and portfolios, concept mapping, cooperative learning, process skills, critical thinking, environmental awareness, multicultural instruction, meeting individual needs, materials and equipment, scienceplus, and the teacher's network.

The 'manual' is now on page 56 and there is no science yet!

Just as the teacher is exhausted, there is a huge section on assessing student performance. There are the whys, the hows, and a rubric for reports and presentations, experiments, and technology projects. The teacher is now on page 64 and really doesn't know what the book covers, just how to do it!

First impressions are very important for students. The first impression of the student's book is a section called 'To the Student.' This is really very unexciting. The pictures are good, but the style is really corny. The safety section is necessary and seems complete enough to meet most guidelines. There is a discussion of concept mapping and an example of how to make a concept map. The topics: states of matter and circulatory system will not get the student's interest.

Finally, there is some science. The eight units are 'Life Processes,' 'Particles,' 'Machines, Work, and Energy,' 'Oceans and Climates,' 'Electromagnetic Systems,' 'Sound,' 'Light,' and 'Continuity of Life.' There are 555 pages in the student's book. With the average school year being about 180 days, this is about 3 pages per day, everyday! This does not seem like a lot of bookwork, but don't forget the labs, projects, integration, worksheets, and all of the other ancillaries!

Daily Lesson Plans for Unit 7 'Light'

Chapter 19 'The Nature of Light'

Day 1 - ' Introduction ' pp.422-423.

Discuss why light is important and what the world would be like with no light. Give the students several minutes to brainstorm and then discuss their ideas. Have the students read p. 423 and study the picture on pp.422-423. Show some clear quartz and have them see how light behaves when it hits quartz crystals. Assign pages 424-427 to read.

Day 2 - 'The Nature of Light' pp.424-427. Set up Activity 1-5 for Light Brigade; divide class into groups of 4 for cooperative group work. Have the students do each activity and write the answers to the questions in their ScienceLog. Give each group about 7 minutes to work at each station. After all students have explored the 5 activities, discuss the activities. This will take about 45 minutes. Homework: Keep a list of all light emitting objects the students see in one day.

Day 3 - Review yesterday's work. Discuss p.427. Complete Activity Sheet #1. Read pp. 428-430 'Light, Heat, and Color.' Writing question: p.427 in teacher's edition.

Day 4 - Exploration 2 - Complete lab sheet. Once sheets are discussed and questions answered, turn in to teacher. Complete 'A Light Quiz' and turn in. Complete the section from page 430 in the ScienceLog. Activity sheet #2. Homework - Read pp.431-436.

Day 5 - Discuss Activity sheet #2, do math practice worksheet p. 16 for integration, and start the next section. Start Exploration

Activity #3. This will take 2 days.

Day 6 - Complete Exploration Activity #3.

Day 7 - Discuss the exploration activity. Discuss p.434. Student groups will prepare the Multicultural Extensions, Environmental Focus, or Language Arts activity (Note: There is no real science being learned here!) to present on Day 8. Homework - choose one or more of the activities to try at home. Be sure each student in the group picks a different activity. These will be presented on day 8 with the other reports.

Day 8 - Reports from integration and activities at home. Discuss

'Light and Color' on p.436. Read pp.437-441.

Day 9 - Discuss 'Adding and Subtracting Color'. Complete demonstrations.

Day 10 - Review and Jeopardy

Day 11 - Test

Notes:   The book recommends that this chapter be done in 7 days. 11 days may be pushing it if you are to integrate the materials and do most of the activities. The exploration activities call for some equipment that some teachers will have trouble finding or using. It would be much better to use something like the Bill Nye video 'Light and Color' for this chapter. It would also be much more instructive to incorporate several of the experiments from the Optical Society of America's Discovery Light kit. These will get the students thinking and working with their hands, which is what we expect in a good Middle School program. Finally, it would take at least 15 days to adequately cover this chapter. Is it appropriate to teach color before teaching 'How Light Behaves' which is the next chapter where color will have to be redone?

Chapter 20, 'How Light Behaves'

Day 1 - Return test and have students respond to the science log questions on page 442. This should help understand the student's misconceptions. Have the students read p.443 and discuss the materials needed to make a light box. Discuss the terms: scatters, absorbed, and transmitted.

Day 2 - Build a light box. Start the Enlightening Experiences by doing Part 1. Keep a record of the answers to the questions in your ScienceLog.

Day 3 - Continue with Enlightening Experiences by doing Parts 2, 3, and 4. Keep a record of the answers to the questions in your ScienceLog. Do Part 5 for homework.

Day 4 - Pages 447-449. Discuss these pages and introduce the terms: transparent, translucent, and opaque. Also discuss the questions on page 449. Have the students ask 3 friends, not in the class, or relatives the 3 questions on p.449. Write down their answers.

Day 5 - Discuss what others thought about the 3 questions. Do other people have misconceptions? How could you help them? Do the milky water demonstration on p.448.

Day 6 - Discuss pages 450-451. Start Exploration 2 - Pinhole Images. Assign camera obscura for a research assignment. Brief report due in 2 days. Use a rubric to show students what is expected. Use the Exploration worksheet with this activity.

Day 7 - Complete the Exploration. Have the students develop 3 quiz questions and answers from this lab. Discuss the lab and have the students quiz others with their questions. Remind students that the camera obscura is due the next day.

Day 8 - Discuss Reflection (finally!). Do Exploration 3 and answer the questions in the activity.

Day 9 - Complete the activity. Be sure students know what diffuse reflection, incident beam, reflected beam, and specular reflection are. Have students find out how mirrors are made for homework.

Day 10 - Discuss how mirrors are made. Assign pages 456-459 to be read. (Here is color again!)

Day 11 - Discuss color noting the difference in light and paint. Start Exploration 4 - Changing colors. Integrate art and color mixing here with the art teacher.

Day 12 - Have students make color filter viewers and use them at home and keep a list of color changes they see in objects.

Day 13 - Write the answers to the challenges on pages 460-461 in the ScienceLog. Use Activity worksheet that goes with this.

Day 14 - Review and Jeopardy

Day 15 - Test

This does not leave time for another Bill Nye or OSA's Discovery Kit experiment. We still haven't talked about images. This is much too late to introduce images. The students should have this much earlier and have it reinforced throughout the light unit!

Chapter 21 'Light and Images'

Day 1 - Discuss the test. Have students read pp.462-463. Discuss the terms: image, plane mirror, real image, and virtual image. After the discussion start on Exploration 1. Homework: Have the students find out how Leonardo daVinci wrote his notes.

Day 2 - Discuss Leonardo's writing style. Complete Exploration 1. Discuss checking the facts. Have students work in groups and decide on what would make the fact correct if it is incorrect. Discuss the difference between real and virtual images. Homework: Have students find two symmetrical 'half-words' that become full words when reflected by a mirror.

Day 3 - Use toys that use mirrors, such as Reflector , or a periscope and explain how the toy demonstrates the concepts studied. Have each student show a toy and discuss the physics of the toy.

Day 4 - Discuss convex mirrors and do Exploration 2. Write the answers to the questions in the ScienceLog to be discussed the next day. Have the students look at different convex mirrors and discuss of the curvature effects the field of view.

Day 5 - Discuss converging lenses and real images (lenses at last!) Do Exploration 3. (This is opposite to the way OSA introduces light. Lenses are introduced early on to take advantage of their familiarity.) Present the students this problem for thought: you want to start a fire, but only have a magnifying glass and paper. How do you do it? Try different paper; what happens? SAFETY!

Day 6 - Discuss the eye and how it works. Discuss how you see. Ask the students: How do you see a tree? Have them draw a picture. This will show many misconceptions that students still have about light.

Day 7 - Real images and concave mirror - Introduce concepts and then do Exploration 4. Remember to write answers in your ScienceLog.

Day 8 - Complete the activity and write up. Have students research the history of eyewear. Also have them find out how lenses help them see better.

Day 9 - Discuss findings about ancient eyewear. Demonstrate how lenses help people see better. For a small group activity, have the students think of all uses of concave lenses and explain them. Share these ideas with the group before the period is over.

Day 10 - Have the students read the top of p.477. Discuss refraction and talk about total internal reflection. Have the students do Exploration 5. After they have filled out the ScienceLog with answers to the questions, have them interpret their findings using the information on page 479.

Day 11 - Bill Nye on Optics and general review.

Day 12 - Challenge your Thinking - Have teams of 2 work on these questions. All students should write the answers in their ScienceLog. Have the class share ideas. Have each student revise his or her answers for homework.

Day 13 - Jeopardy - review for test

Day 14 - Test on chapter.

Day 15 and Day 16 - Complete the unit with the Making the Connections activities.

A great deal of this material can be thrown out. Naming a phenomenon before actually observing it is a serious mistake and it is done frequently here. It would be much better to carry out the OSA's experiments and have the students describe their results. Dissecting a throwaway camera would teach some of this science in a much more meaningful way. This experiment shows a very good practical use of lenses. This is no way to teach light. The order is all wrong! In an effort to be 'different,' the book has totally scattered the materials in an illogical sequence and has crammed much about light in a unit that is to be taught in 20+ days whereas in reality it would require at least 45 to do it justice. 'Less is more' has not been a guiding principle in this case.

The actual physics isn't too wrong. The order in which the concepts are introduced is. There is really no teaching of concepts. Students are supposed to explore and learn the concepts. More often than not, they will pick up incorrect concepts. Photons are mentioned in chapter seven while discussing the atom, but never discussed in light. (Studying the internal structure of the atom is a serious mistake at this level, but since it has been introduced, it would be appropriate to follow through here.) In an effort to be different, the 'authors' have taken a very good and interesting topic of physics that Middle School students like and can handle and messed it up. They, in the process of being all things to all subjects and standards, have really developed a messy light unit. For example, the eye is introduced in one lesson and then later, farsightedness is mentioned.

Most books introduce light in general, reflection, refraction, lenses, color, and diffraction and interference. This order builds on previous concepts. Students can easily see the difference in mirrors and lenses as far as concave and convex are concerned. This book just mixes it up. If all the concepts were to be accurately taught, integrated into other curricula in science, mathematics, and other areas, this unit would make a semester of work. In Middle School, that would be considered too long on one topic. (In fact, it would be much better to teach fewer topics in more depth!)

After reading the unit, analyzing it and working with some of the explorations, it is definitely squirrelly. The teacher will always be looking for materials (nuts). It is similar to the old Addison Wesley elementary series of the early 1970s. That was supposed to be all things to everyone, but it was test in treasure hunting for the teacher!

A good Middle School science text should allow for some class lecture/discussion (15 minutes/day), some exploring time (more), and some follow up and follow through (more still.) Middle School is a transition between elementary and high school. The students need a combination of lecture/discussion and exploring. If left only to explore, they will not learn science. This needs to be monitored.

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