Homo Sapiens, our species, is responsible for the 1000x faster extinction rate of other species on this planet and, apparently, has put us on the path to the 6th mass extinction event.
So, my question to you is, what is the argument for our continued survival on this planet?! For whom?! For what?!
In part II of this two-part blog, I shred the contents of a grade 12 chemistry paper the students took last month. It's full of mistakes showing how little attention to details the examiners and board have paid in creating it. The contents also show how the syllabus has NOT been revised and updated at all to reflect newer practices and topics that have evolved over the last few decades etc., indicating how the whole point is just to put the students through a wringer.
A look at how the board managing the grade 12 examinations have failed the students. The examinations, originally slated for May, was cancelled and, finally, in October, rescheduled for November. The examination, supposed to consist of questions papers in the new format, did go ahead in spite of the student not having seen any sample papers prior to it.
What's more, analyzing the chemistry paper, it had some major issues. The whole exercise, as far as I am concerned, has amounted to putting the students through a wringer.
Back in early September last year, as part of the teacher education program at a local private school, I conducted a fun and engaging lesson for grade 8 students on the topic of climate change. All I used was just some graphs that I got from the internet. Here are the details.
At under-funded and resource-strapped public schools in Nepal, teaching science in a way that brings the subject alive for students can be a major challenge. What the teachers at such schools do have is themselves and their students. There's no reason they shouldn't be using their own students (by having them model structures for example) in an effort to get across difficult and challenging science concepts and ideas!
Audio recording of some light magic I performed in front of Sanskriti International School science teachers on January 25, 2019, as part of the introduction to science teacher education program.