John (Altounji), I did not realize that your *physics classes* reached down into elementary school, where most pupils have had intense immersion in only units of measurement outside the SI, even if their teachers try to introduce metric units.
________________________________________ From: JohnAltounji [[email protected]] Sent: Monday, June 24, 2013 11:29 PM To: mechtly, eugene a; 'U.S. Metric Association' Subject: RE: [USMA:52981] RE: Metric system education Not true in physics classes, at least mine. John Altounji One size does not fit all. Social promotion ruined Education. -----Original Message----- From: [email protected] [mailto:[email protected]] On Behalf Of mechtly, eugene a Sent: Monday, June 24, 2013 11:42 AM To: U.S. Metric Association Cc: mechtly, eugene a Subject: [USMA:52981] RE: Metric system education Pierre, Precisely! Students in US public education do not learn to think and calculate (on physical questions) *exclusively* in SI. Their minds are handicapped by early submersion in units of measurement outside the SI, and late, first exposure (if at all), to metric units of measurement. I am searching for the Agenda for the July 8th Trade Talks to see what can be done to assure that US negotiators accept SI exclusively for the UN-US Free Trade Agreement, to help create an environment more favorable to SI. I realize that higher on the agendas for the talks are 1. Exports of Genetically Modified Grains, 2. Exports of Beef and Pork with traces of Growth Hormones, and 3. Exports of products with traces of antibiotics, etc. The Talks are projected to last a year or more so the question of restricting units outside SI is not immediate. I did find an article in Forbes (June 8th) by Dan Ikenson "Fallacy at Heart of EU-US Trade Talks" which is a thorough discussion of the winners and losers which might result from a EU-UC Free Trade Agreement. This article is well worth reading! Eugene Mechtly ________________________________________ From: [email protected] [[email protected]] on behalf of Pierre Abbat [[email protected]] Sent: Monday, June 24, 2013 5:13 AM To: U.S. Metric Association Cc: [email protected] Subject: [USMA:52980] Metric system education > In a world where U.S. students are being left behind in important > parts of the global job market, is nostalgia really a good guiding > principle for education policy? Should we have kids walk two miles > uphill both ways to school?> The world is moving fast. There's not > much use for cursive writing anymore. > Let's let it go the way of instruction in the metric system. Huh??? I don't know whether cursive should be taught or not (I write both ways), but I do know that a major reason why U.S. students are left behind is that the school system insists on teaching, and much of the government insists on using, units that we gave up over 35 years ago......
