Viewpoint Learning Inc. 2009 November 28
I have looked at many parts of your web site looking for content
for what to teach. I have looked at what the Colorado Department
of Education says to teach.
I am disappointed with what both talk about. Both say the state
should say what to teach and that local schools should say how
to teach it. I do not find where you say what to teach, that is
content. Where can I find content?
By content I mean any of the thousands of items of knowledge:
for example, when was the US civil war. who is (or was)
Abraham Lincoln, what is democracy, what is a whole
number, what is an election, what is an adjective.
Where can I find a list or statement of content for California
schools?
Now to why I write to you. I write to ask if you, Viewpoint
Learning, can help with the matter of stopping the use of
inch-pound units of measure. The intent is to go to the use of
metric units.
In the US some $1000 billion is wasted each year by the use of
a mixture of inch-pound and metric units. Schools cause a big
fraction of this loss.
I propose this text to add to local school statements of what
to teach.
Schools shall not teach inch-pound units of measure.
(These units are often called conventional units, as
well as called English units.)
Examples of units not to teach are:
inch, foot, yard, mile, pound, ounce, calorie,
degree Fahrenheit, Btu.
"Not taught" means students shall not be tested about
inch-pound units and means such units shall not be
presented as part of classroom subject matter. Teachers
may respond to student's questions about inch-pound
units. Inch-pound units may be presented as part of
history but such use shall not be to find numerical
values. Conversion from inch-pound units to metric
units may be used as examples in algebra.
Please help me with these matters. Thank you.
Robert H. Bushnell PhD PE
