I went to the meeting on STEM this evening. The new magnet school is still under construction for grades K through 5 only. Metric units will be taught, but not exclusively. Students will begin by tracing their feet and comparing the lengths with the footprints of classmates. There were no measuring devices of any kind on display or any curriculum materials of any kind to evaluate. There was one faculty member there who instructs student-teachers on the teaching of the sciences. We talked privately about metric-only instruction which he learned in Lebanon, his native country, in English. I gave him several reprints of Patrick's Article. He was the only person there on the STEM Panel who seemed to be aware of SI and the prospects of new definitions of the Base Units; two complicated a subject for STEM education at the K-5 level.
Gene. >---- Original message ---- >>Date: Tue, 15 Feb 2011 07:33:19 +1100 >>From: Pat Naughtin <[email protected]> >>Subject: [USMA:49861] Re: STEM in Urbana, Illinois >>To: "U.S. Metric Association" <[email protected]> >> >>On 2011/02/14, at 09:44 , <[email protected]> <[email protected]> wrote: >> >>> Today's News=Gazette announced a meeting (scheduled for Feb 16) on the STEM >>> Initiative as it is to be applied in a local "magnet" school this Fall. >>> >>> An NSF grant of five million dollars over five years supports this local >>> initiative between the University of Illinois and a local elementary magnet >>> school. >>> >>> I'm trying to determine the emphasis (if any) on SI-only in this program. >>>... >>Pat added- >>Here is some further information: >>http://www.news.illinois.edu/news/11/0204stem.html >>...
