Scientific Literacy
Well, that was an illuminating waste of time.
I joined a new mailing list recently, one geared specifically to Latin-centered Classical education. One of the discussions that's come up in the last few weeks is how much time should be spent on science, and what constitutes scientific literacy. In the course of the discussion, the book Science Matters (Robert Hazen & James Trefil) was recommend as a good overview of scientific literacy topics. Several people on the list read the book, and many expressed their concern/indignation/whatever about how much of the content they did not know.
So I decided to check this book out, since it was available at my library, and see what I thought about the chosen topics, et cetera. I don't view myself as some kind of science expert, but after all-but completing a BS in Biology, being a student at Georgia Tech, and having taken five (yes, five) science courses in four years of high school, I feel like at least have some knowledge. So I sat down today, prepared to see what this book contained.
I am dismayed. Most of the material in the book I learned in the course of high school science, with the exception of plate tectonics, which is something I never explicitly learned. Some of the material in the book I covered during general science (7th grade) and physical science (8th grade). I'm not trying to sound like I'm some kind of genius here, this is just what was covered in the curriculum at my high school. None of this is stuff that I only learned because I was in AP second-year classes for biology and chemistry. It's stuff I learned in the basic first-year courses for biology, chemistry, and physics.
This just makes me realise - either I had an exceptional education in 7-12, or most people's education in 7-12 is completely lacking in the area of science. I don't know which it is. I do know it's not required to take as much science as I did at most schools (nor was all of it required at mine, just to clarify), but. Wow. What does this all mean? I'm just stunned. I have no conclusions. Just thoughts. :p
I joined a new mailing list recently, one geared specifically to Latin-centered Classical education. One of the discussions that's come up in the last few weeks is how much time should be spent on science, and what constitutes scientific literacy. In the course of the discussion, the book Science Matters (Robert Hazen & James Trefil) was recommend as a good overview of scientific literacy topics. Several people on the list read the book, and many expressed their concern/indignation/whatever about how much of the content they did not know.
So I decided to check this book out, since it was available at my library, and see what I thought about the chosen topics, et cetera. I don't view myself as some kind of science expert, but after all-but completing a BS in Biology, being a student at Georgia Tech, and having taken five (yes, five) science courses in four years of high school, I feel like at least have some knowledge. So I sat down today, prepared to see what this book contained.
I am dismayed. Most of the material in the book I learned in the course of high school science, with the exception of plate tectonics, which is something I never explicitly learned. Some of the material in the book I covered during general science (7th grade) and physical science (8th grade). I'm not trying to sound like I'm some kind of genius here, this is just what was covered in the curriculum at my high school. None of this is stuff that I only learned because I was in AP second-year classes for biology and chemistry. It's stuff I learned in the basic first-year courses for biology, chemistry, and physics.
This just makes me realise - either I had an exceptional education in 7-12, or most people's education in 7-12 is completely lacking in the area of science. I don't know which it is. I do know it's not required to take as much science as I did at most schools (nor was all of it required at mine, just to clarify), but. Wow. What does this all mean? I'm just stunned. I have no conclusions. Just thoughts. :p