Action Movies Teach Kids Bad Physics
Two professors at the University of Central Florida have written an article published in the German physics journal "Praxis der Naturwissenschaften Physik." Costas J. Efthimiou, one of the authors of the article, complains that some people actually think a bus traveling at 70 miles-per-hour could jump a 50 foot gap, just like in 'Speed.' Older students may know that movies are not real, but apparently kids have a tendency to believe what they see on the screen.
Is it so surprising? Maybe not. Science scores are down across the country in most grade levels, according to the Science and Engineering Indicators 2006 report, and even worse, only a third of students were considered proficient in the sciences at their grade level.
Efthimiou has begun teaching a course called Physics in Film to try and engage his students at UCF, but as the title of his article says, "Hollywood Blockbusters: Unlimited Fun but Limited Science Literary."
From Slashdot and Physorg.com
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Jon Kaufmann @ Aug 17th 2007 1:27PM
Aside from the fact that the physics is indeed impossible in many films, which should be obvious to older kids but not to those who take movies as truth, I noticed that the title of the course is (hopefully) misspelled, it should not be:
"Hollywood Blockbusters: Unlimited Fun but Limited Science Literary."
but
"Hollywood Blockbusters: Unimited Fun but Limited Science Literacy."
I would actually have called it:
"Hollywood Blockbusters: Unlimited Fun but Limited Scientific Literacy"
I wonder if this calls for warnings, such as on car commercials "Closed road, driven by professional stunt drivers; do not try this at home."
Bob @ Dec 14th 2007 1:51AM
>I wonder if this calls for warnings, such as on car commercials "Closed road, driven by professional stunt drivers; do not try this at home."
Bad idea. Some of the people who NEED that kind of warning might survive long enough to breed.
Movies like "Jackass," while pandering to the lowest fringes of our society, actually raise the mean IQ by encouraging the lowest elements to have "Set Your Hair On Fire" and "Ride a Shopping Cart Down Mount Everest" contests.
The "Star Wars" drivel serves the same purpose, though in a less lethal manner. Guys camping for weeks waiting for the next SW premiere while dressed as their favorite character probably don't breed too successfully, either.