America’s Failing Grade in Science : Schools should put more emphasis on this vital subject
Quick: Tell us, in your own words, what is a molecule? Relax, you’re off the hook, but the 2,006 adults surveyed by the National Science Foundation had to answer that and nine other questions. A report on their responses, released last week, suggests that a knowledge of science isn’t the goal of most Americans.
Less than half of those phoned by the NSF knew that the Earth orbits the sun once a year. And only 9% could answer the molecule question (it’s the smallest unit of a chemical compound capable of existing independently while retaining properties of the original substance).
While the United States has many Nobel Prize winners in scientific fields and of course many students do excel in science, there has been little love lost between average Americans and this field of study: In a 1990 science test taken by high school seniors in 14 countries, for instance, Americans ranked 14th. And Californians have usually scored near the bottom on America’s statistical indicators of science knowledge and performance. In 1994, for example, youngsters in the formative elementary grades four through six spent only 2.6 hours a week on science, compared with a national average of 3.1 hours.
Fortunately, some of our local institutions have begun earnest efforts to boost scientific literacy. In the early ‘90s, the Pasadena Unified School District won national attention for an imaginative interdisciplinary program that brought science into every classroom at every grade.
Last year, the Los Angeles Unified School District began a trial program at four schools in which science concepts--from physics to biology--were taught hands-on to students from the ninth to the 12th grade. The program, which school officials hope to spread throughout the district, does not force kids to memorize the Periodic Table of the Elements, which they will eventually forget anyway. It aims not to teach science, but to get kids to think scientifically.
The district will face an uphill battle, for it lacks the funds to lure experienced teachers and it is saddled with huge class sizes: According to a 1994 study by the Council of Chief State School Officers, 27.4% of California’s science classes had more than 30 students, compared with 5.2% in Texas and 1.1% in New Jersey.
It is a battle, however, that is worth fighting. We need to take science seriously not only to compete in the new information economy but to make intelligent, well-reasoned decisions in our daily lives. Scientific literacy, after all, is what keeps us from mixing household items like bleach and ammonia. It’s what enables us to make logical decisions, whether we’re navigating from the cockpit or struggling with justice in the jury box.
