Originally posted by Unkown Target
erm, sorry McHale, there were so many posts I must have skipped over some.
Well, at least you know way more than me, do they teach this stuff where you are?(I'm only in 7th grade, so I wouldn't know;))
Let me think. My seventh grade year... That's the year I had 'The Lord of the Rings' read to me by my english teacher. Incredible. Absolutely incredible.
More salient, however, is the fact that no, they did not teach any of this stuff at that point. Teaching basic physics requires a reasonably working knowledge of basic algebra. That was eighth grade they taught that stuff in my schools.
However, I learned the basics of physical science, EM physics, and atomic physics in the fifth grade. I really liked to read. A lot. My grandmother gave me all these turn of the century english readers and a collection of scientific almanacs starting in the late 20s going up through the early 70s. They summarised most scientific advances in all sorts of fields for the year. Articles on subjects from geology to paleontology to vulcanology to oceanography to anthropology to genetic research to particle physics to cosmology to electronic theory, and everything in between: I read them all, cover to cover. I didn't retain a lot, but I did take in enough to be able to read and understand serious books on atomic theory before we got past the whole 'gravity makes things fall' portion of my science classes.
Really, its not so much that I was bright or anything, it was more that I didn't--and still don't much--like people and found it easier and more fulfilling to hide from the world in books of all sorts.
