Teaching Science with the Force

I've not posted a teaching blog in quite a while, so I thought I'd throw this at you. The past two weeks in my science class at school, we've been learning about force, motion, and Newton's laws. I try to make the things I teach as easy to relate to as possible, because educational psychology has discovered in some study or another I read in grad school that the more connections a person can make to a concept, the better they comprehend and remember said concept.

So, how do I teach about force (as in F=ma)? By equating it with The Force, of course. By our 10 year-old definition, a force is a push or a pull. What is one way the Sith use the Force? Force Push. They even tried to equate a Force Choke with a pull somehow.

Picture from Force Unleashed, property of LucasArts

When discussing balanced and unbalanced forces we talked about the Jedi and Luke being the one to bring balance to the force.

Another SW reference I've used was in Social Studies (back when I was still teaching that before the winter holidays). In the pre-Civil War lesson on the Fugitive Slave Law, we were talking about bounty hunters. The kids didn't really grasp the concept until I said, "You know, like Boba Fett. And Greedo." Then it clicked.


I love being able to geek out with my students this way. About 80% of them get the Star War references. And those that do *really* get it! Like I said to a friend the other day, if I can figure out a way to connect my lesson to Star Wars or SpongeBob, it suddenly makes more sense.

Apparently, I'm a Jedi

**Disclaimer: This is a very personal post about religion. I'm not trying to step on toes or offend, and I'm sorry if I do, but I need to say this. I apologize in advance.**

This weekend, I was faced with multiple questions from my mom and grandma about church. As in "Where are you going to church?" not even "Are you going to church?" It's assumed in our family you go to church. And since I was eighteen, I've not voluntarily gone. Now, don't get me wrong, I have nothing against Christianity as a whole, but I do take issues with organized religion in general. I think that religious beliefs are a wholly personal thing, and if someone wants to share it, they can, but it's not necessary.

My biggest issue with the church I grew up in, and my parents' philosophy, is the extreme levels of guilt inflicted on the "believers". As a friend mentioned in a intense Twitter conversation last night, religion tends towards the stick, not the carrot. Not that I need a reward to do things, but I don't want the spectre of punishment hanging overhead for my entire life.

So, with all of this surfacing, again, I began to really think about what I believe. Or as Chris Rock said in Dogma, what I have "a good idea" about. I think that there is some kind of greater power out there, whether it be God, gods, or a completely unfathomable entity, I believe there is something out there that had a guiding hand in life. I also believe in modern science. Those beliefs are a bit difficult to reconcile. Also, I have a very difficult time reconciling it with a lot of what I know from history. So this leads me to my "idea".

I believe that there are two opposing forces in the universe that flow through everything and struggle to maintain a delicate balance. Not necessarily good and evil, more like the ancient Egyptian belief in the forces of order and chaos. In keeping with the idea of maintaining order, I believe people should be nice, follow the rules, and all of that. There's nothing about guilting people into following such a legalistic set of religious laws, just being nice and a good citizen. (Sounds like I'm in primary school again.)

As I started to reflect on all of this, which I'm pretty sure I've not expressed very clearly, I had to laugh. Because I came to the realization that basically, what I believe in, is the Force. Yes, as in the power that feeds and guides the Jedi and the Sith. And when you think about it, it's kinda like the whole order and chaos concept. Egyptians even represented chaos with the color red, the color of Set.

So, yeah, I believe in the existence of the Force. Perhaps I'll get to be a Jedi, perhaps not, but I'll always show my respect to the balance of nature and do my best to stay on the order side of things. Where this fits in the traditional religions, I don't know, because I don't know enough about Eastern religions, but I do know if I ever told all of this to my mom, she'd have a prayer intervention going in five minutes, flat. I just hope that eventually people can come to accept what I believe and stop giving me grief about it. I think there's more than one way to live and believe. Your way may just not work for everyone else.

Peace, and may the force be with you.