Hmm.... I don't know about this:
Schools should use episodes from Doctor Who to teach children about science rather than technical and "boring" textbooks, according to the new science minister.
Malcolm Wicks, who was appointed in November following the resignation of Lord Sainsbury, believes that too many pupils are put off science during school.
He claims that popular television shows such as the hit BBC science fiction series and the Star Wars films provide children with an insight into real science that teachers can use to kick-start lessons. Science education campaign groups have warned, however, that shows such as Doctor Who often involve ideas that have little basis in science.
I haven't really watched much Dr. Who so it could be a great idea - who knows...
I would fully endorse watching episodes of Mythbusters though ;)
(On that note here is a list, via digg, of all of the myths and their conclusions so far)
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Much as I love Dr Who, it's very much science fiction in the action/adventure mould, with all that that entails (for example, the Doctor get out of most sticky situations using a handy gadget that is a combination of Star Trek tricordertechnobable generator and wireless lock pick). So I'm not sure there's much you could spin off into a useful science lesson.
Well, I think it could be a good idea if it's developed properly. Obviously, a lot of the science in the show is, um, let's say 'adapted for tv', so I wouldn't recommend using it as textbook material. But you could easily have the kids watch an episode of the show, then look at the plot, and say, okay, what kind of scientific problem do we encounter here? Ah, a rocket being sucked in by a black hole. What's a black hole? How does gravity work? What solution does the Doctor use? How does 'real science' compare; how would things really work? Plus the character of the Doctor is a great enthusiast of the scientific method ( sonic screwdriver notwithstanding), I think he makes a great mentor-type role model.
Trouble is, the episodes that are most "scientific" in their speculation are also the most difficult for most of the audience to understand, particularly "Warriors Gate" (the concept of zero coordinates), "Logopolis" (entropy), "Castrovalva" (recursion), and "Ghost Light" (evolution and the Victorian society reactions to it).
now getting the idea of back-of-the-envelope calculations and filtering your speculation with the evidence available, THAT is good stuff and exists in almost every Who story. but specific true scientific facts or theories are rare and actually make the episodes so complex as to lose the audience.
And across the country pupils attempt to 'reverse the polarity of the neutron flow' with predictably poor results.
sounds like an onion article ;)