Why Science for All Americans and Benchmarks?

I have two goals for the Playground Physics blog. 
1. To explain relevant physics for various "experiments" done at the playground.
2. To suggest how the Playground Physics knowledge supports purposeful learning.
Here is how I plan to attain those goals...

In order to explain physics in a way that you will understand I will need you to immerse yourself in story and imagine doing Playground Physics yourself. To this end, instead of giving textbook explanations of physics, I will offer stories about what I experience with my children and/or what I imagine could happen with you and yours. I will weave physics into the story.

In addition to stories, I will provide my analysis of relevant Benchmarks as defined by the American Association for the Advancement of Science. I will refer to both "Science for All Americans" and the "Benchmarks."

"SFAA presents a vision of science literacy goals for all students to reach by the time they finish the 12th grade, and Benchmarks maps out the territory that students will have to traverse to get there. SFAA emphasizes cogency and connectedness. Benchmarks emphasizes analysis of the SFAA story into components and their sequence." (From http://www.project2061.org/publications/sfaa/online/sfaatoc.htm)

I choose Project 2061 over any other measure of science learning because it resonates with me. I like it. It is easy to read and to use. It is written for a wide audience. For educators, it is not anchored to a particular state educational standards but it could be related to any of them.

Lastly, I will include links to other online resources including PBS episodes and activities, scholarly articles, and anything else seems interesting and associated with the physics topic.