Gotta See This (New and Expanded)

Any student of physical science just gotta see this:

http://www.pbs.org/kcet/wiredscience/video/82-dangerous_science.html

There are a number of messages in the video, some I agree with and some I disagree with.

The whole idea that fear of litigation has gutted the "fun" from the typical chemistry set is, in my opinion, true. I agree that what we are left with is hardly the kind of self-taught chemistry that allows a young person to walk the teaching line between wonder and peril.

On the other hand, the video spends a lot of time with it's focus on a guerrilla science supply company that does not even follow the most rudimentary, let alone common sense, safety rules. That I do not agree with.

I got my first chemistry set back in the early 1970's over the objections of my mother and I was assigned a "lab space" under the basement steps. The chemistry set was pretty much like the set shown above but with about 35 chemicals in one ounce bottles (yes, children ounce or approximately 25.4 grams I was part of the transition generation from British to metric measure).

The line at the end is one that I have difficulty agreeing with as well. The point that science teachers need to be brave enough to teach. The law is just not in favour of the teacher when students get hurt. The point about the football team and injuries is one that Science teachers have made over the years but the reality is that society expects a certain acceptable number and kind of injury for sports teams but not science labs.

That said, I really liked this video and I am going to look through the site library for more.