Re: A few very short questions

[Betty Cunningham <bettyc@flyinggoat.com>]

yeah you aren't asking kids to actually INVENT a matrix and diagnose
specimens, you're just telling them why they work.

-Betty

chris brochu wrote:
> 
> I'm not sure it's such a big problem.  I taught a dinosaur course at UT
> Austin for several years, and cladistics is NOT outside the grasping
> range of the average citizen.  Anyone can understand it.  Some people
> assume that, since it looks complicated, it will be difficult - but it
> can be explained simply.  Perhaps not appropriate for first graders, but
> neither are Linnean ranks.
> 
> Raymond Ancog wrote:
> >
> 
> >
> > Has anyone ever wondered how paleontologists are going to explain
> > cladistics to a whole generation of schoolkids who were weaned on the
> > Linnean system? Or how do we explain it to first-time listeners who aren't
> > familiar with Linneaus in the first place. I can imagine delivering a
> > lecture to high school students about cladistics and some of them going
> > "Duh?!" in their minds. The Linnean hierarchy is so firmly entrenched in
> > the academic psyche ( and in everyday use) that it takes almost a paradigm
> > shift (IMHO) to adjust to cladistics.
> >
> > Raymond Thaddeus C. Ancog
> > Mines and Geosciences Bureau
> > Philippines
> 
> --
> ----------------------
> Christopher A. Brochu
> Department of Geology
> Field Museum of Natural History
> Roosevelt Road at Lake Shore Drive
> Chicago, IL 60605
> 
> voice: 312-665-7633  (NEW)
> fax: 312-665-7641 (NEW)
> electronic:  cbrochu@fmppr.fmnh.org

-- 
Flying Goat Graphics
http://www.flyinggoat.com
(Society of Vertebrate Paleontology member)
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