Why 9th grade physics?

(!) Show this to your parents (!)

An article in Tuesday's NY Times Science Times, "When Science Suddenly Mattered, in Space and in Class", discussed the need for attention to learning science, and addressed when the different areas of science should be taught:

"the typical sequence of high school science instruction: biology, chemistry and then physics. It would make more sense in reverse, these people say, because the principles of physics underlie chemistry, which is crucial for an understanding of biology."

“biology is the most complicated of all subjects, and it is based on chemistry and physics.” And, he added, “there is nothing in chemistry, no fact of chemistry or process of chemistry that if you ask ‘Why does this happen?’ you don’t go back to physics.”