In general., I love PBSkids. They seem to be making a big push on science. Zula Patrol is one of the shows that is all about science and I have been very impressed with it, usually. But today, in "Hey Kids, Amazing Space Monkeys!", they disappointed me.
Centripetal Motion is a tricky subject and I find I have to do a lot of careful unpacking of what students think they already know happens when you travel in a circle. In this episode, the Zula Patrol explains that a "centrifical [sic] force pushes stuff out" when you travel in a circle. No no no! Centrifugal forces push things out and they don't exist when you are going in a circle - a centripetal (center seeking) force pulls you in while your inertia wants to carry you out - along a tangent straight line!
Getting this wrong just hammers in the everyday incorrect perception of what is happening. Later in the same episode, they go down to the molecular level trying to explain with nice visuals what is happening when a solute is dissolving in a solute. How hard would it have been to show an overhead shot of things spinning out of the circle along a tangent line and making the lesson about inertia rather than force?
It's like saying someone was "deported" from the country when they really were just leaving on a business trip.
Wednesday, January 27, 2010
Sunday, January 10, 2010
Wind Chill
Another weather-related fallacy: Wind Chill.
"Today it the temperature will be 10 degrees but the wind chill will make it feel like -5"
Wind Chill is NOT how it will "feel" - it is a model of how fast your skin may cool down towards the actual temperature. It is a model that makes a whole LOT of assumptions (most of which are probably untrue as you go out into a cold, windy day). Slate.com has a good article about this here.
This is like saying you may overshoot your destination today because the traffic is bad. Stick the facts please: just tell us the temperature and the wind speed.
"Today it the temperature will be 10 degrees but the wind chill will make it feel like -5"
Wind Chill is NOT how it will "feel" - it is a model of how fast your skin may cool down towards the actual temperature. It is a model that makes a whole LOT of assumptions (most of which are probably untrue as you go out into a cold, windy day). Slate.com has a good article about this here.
This is like saying you may overshoot your destination today because the traffic is bad. Stick the facts please: just tell us the temperature and the wind speed.
Negative Zero
Watching our local channel this morning (WBZ) and the weather map of local temperatures had a big "-0" in the middle of other chilly temperatures throughout the area.
Negative Zero? That's like trying to make a noun into the past tense! Makes no sense.
I tried to find the exact map on their website, but I couldn't find it - this is the type of map I'm talking about:
Negative Zero? That's like trying to make a noun into the past tense! Makes no sense.
I tried to find the exact map on their website, but I couldn't find it - this is the type of map I'm talking about:
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