I didn’t study biology so I have no idea of its usefulness. However, I find basic physics is very useful in appreciating many common physical behaviors.
Good. But you can’t really study physics without math. Math is the language of science.
Someone (don’t remember who) once said. Physics studies laws of the universe we currently live in. Math studies laws of all possible universes.
.
I agree with this but is too deep for most people to understand.
Algebra and geometry are the bare bones basics and yes, they help with thinking stills. But when I was in high school in the 70’s all but the dummies were expected to get at least as far as basic differential calculus. The geniuses were already doing Lagrange multipliers. We’ve really dumbed things down. Today I would add some statistics. Makes it harder to fool people with BS. Of course that assumes the education establishment actually wants to make citizens who are harder to fool.
Disagree about biology not being useful. Yes, if it’s so basic you never get past classifications of things it likely doesn’t add much. But once you get into genetics and cell bio and the nuances of adaptation it gets useful.
1 Like
I’m thinking maybe Manch has just never been exposed to the biological sciences.
Start simple.
I’ve long lamented the lack of licorice candy made with real licorice. Here’s 18 minutes on a guy who actually found some and ate too much.
I didn’t say Physics and Biology are not valuable. Just that math is more valuable IMO, especially at a young age.
Unlike other sciences that are mostly just a bunch of facts, math is more an acquired skill. You can watch some video and learn some biology. But you can’t watch some video and learn some math. Just like you can’t watch video to learn basketball or carpentry. Sure you can watch people explain how to do this and that. But you need to roll up your sleeves and do the work or it’s all for nothing. For math it’s tons of mental gymnastics in abstract thinking that don’t come naturally.
But then you need to learn how to apply the math for practical purpose. This can be done through engineering, biology, a number of disciplines.
For biology you need chemistry; for chemistry you need math.
1 Like
Dumbing down math education be like
2 Likes
That policy is a success. It succeeded at the goal of reducing white and Asian kids from taking AP math classes.
Let’s face it. It’s always been the unspoken goal of the “equity” math policy.
1 Like
A lot of kids take the SAT in 7th grade for certain summer programs as well as things like the Caroline-Bradley Scholarship and Davidson Gifted/Davidson Young Scholars.
Any advantage to taking SAT so early?
Yes, if you want to apply to certain "gifted"summer programs as well as the Caroline-Bradley Scholarship and Davidson Gifted/Davidson Young Scholars. I know a lot of kids who took it in 7th grade. Most kids who take it though, have taken Algebra 1 and Geometry already.
2 Likes
There are also people who use it to try argue for gifted services. If you score a 1300+ as a 7th grader, you’re in the top .1% of kids that age.
1 Like
It says something about how dumbed down the SAT is if Algebra 1 and geometry are all you need for a perfect score.
1 Like
Keep it going, CA. Let other States catch up 
That happened a loong time ago…