http://stream.publicbroadcasting.net/production/mp3/wamc/local-wamc-554764.mp3
Providence, Rhode Island – It used to be that physics came late in high school, generally in the junior or senior year. This allowed students to have higher math first, like trigonometry and calculus. Then, by the mid-90s when it appeared science students in the United States were lagging behind students in other countries, there came a public out cry for physics first. So, ten years ago, the Lincoln School in Providence, Rhode Island responded and began to develop its own physics-first curriculum. Before 1994, only 30% of this all-girls school took physics. Now, ALL the girls, 100% of the school's graduates have at least three years of lab science by the time they leave. That includes not only physics, but chemistry and biology as well. How has the Lincoln School managed this change? The Best Of Our Knowledge spent time at the school recently to find out what makes The Lincoln Experiment in science education tick. Jackson Braider reports from Providence, Rhode Island. (14:58)*(Information about the Lincoln School and their upper school science program can be found at their website: www.lincolnschool.org) Also visit the Women In Science ON THE AIR! website at www.womeninscience.org. Powerful Signals: Transforming the Role of Women and Girls In Science and Engineering was made possible by support from the National Science Foundation.