I agree that's unusual. I think there is value in memorizing facts, particularly in science. While there is a role for looking up facts in a book or online, studying sciences requires a fair amount of memorization. An open book test creates passive learning, which IMHO is an inferior approach.
My kids have had a few open-book tests, but not many. One teacher told the kids the test
might be open-book, and guess what? It wasn't. Very few kids studied and many did poorly. DD studied and aced the test.
