carmelo@... wrote:

>Hi,
>
>Just wonder if many teachers here would teach your students that "Relativistic
mass is equivalent to energy so it is a redundant concept"?
>
>
>Thanks,
>Alphonsus
>
>
I'd be tempted to use it as a way in to the nature of science concepts,
and the fact that, for example, even if something is technically
redundant it's still valuable to have a term for it so that we can talk
about it easily, but we should have that equivalency in our minds when
we think about it. Oops, that's not a very clear sentence, but I think
ruling it out completely as redundant is perhaps being too rigorously
correct at the cost of potentially confusing students, but also
squandering an opportunity to consider what our terms/concepts *mean*
and *do*.

D

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--
David R. Geelan, PhD
Department of Secondary Education
341 Education South
University of Alberta
Edmonton AB, Canada T6G 2G5

Ph. (780)492-5671, Fax (780)492-9402
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E-mail: david.geelan@...

"It's too early in the morning for
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