Saturday, May 17, 2008

Science Around Us (6)

When the students are discussing certain events, the teacher can take the opportunity to relate the events to the scientific principles involved whenever possible. Take for example, somebody relates an incident concerning a friend who fell from his motorbike when the front wheel of the motorbike hit a rock. The teacher can ask the students to explain why the motorcyclist fell forward when the motorbike was forced to slow down suddenly after hitting the rock. Also, how did the jacket that he was wearing prevented him from more serious injury when he fell on the ground? Why is it that the motorcyclist's injury would be much less if the ground was soft? And....so on.
The point is if we can link science with the events directly related to students or their friends or relatives, they are more likely to pay more attention to the science involved. This is because the students have direct interest in the events involved and that itself can be a key motivating factor for them to find out more.

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