Every year the National Science Foundation conducts a survey to measure how much the general public knows about science and technology. The results are depressing, to say the least. You can take the test yourself, see how you compare with the average public citizen, and then weep for the future of mankind.

True or false:
A = The center of the Earth is very hot.

B = All radioactivity is man-made.

C = The oxygen we breathe comes from plants.

D = It is the father’s gene which decides whether the baby is a boy or a girl.

E = Lasers work by focusing sound waves.

F = Electrons are smaller than atoms.

G = Antibiotics kill viruses as well as bacteria.

H = The universe began with a huge explosion.

I = The continents on which we live have been moving their location for millions of years and will continue to move in the future.

J = Human beings, as we know them today, developed from earlier species of animals.

K = Cigarette smoking causes lung cancer.

L = The earliest humans lived at the same time as the dinosaurs.

M = Radioactive milk can be made safe by boiling it.

Short answer:
N = Which travels faster: light or sound?

O = Does the Earth go around the Sun, or does the Sun go around the Earth?

P = How long does it take for the Earth to go around the Sun: one day, one month, or one year?

Q = Please tell me in your own words, what is DNA?

R = Please tell me in your own words, what is a molecule?

Answers and average score:
A – True 80% correct

B – False 76% correct

C – True 87% correct

D – True 65% correct

E – False 45% correct

F – True 48% correct

G – False 51% correct

H – True 33% correct

I – True 79% correct

J – True 53% correct

K – True 94% correct

L – False 48% correct

M – False 65% correct

N – Light 76% correct

O – Earth around the sun 75% correct

P - One year 54% correct

Q – 45% were able to give reasonably accurate answers

R – 22% were able to give reasonably accurate answers


You can find the entire report online here: http://www.nsf.gov/sbe/srs/seind02/c7/c7i.htm

Before anyone starts complaining about declining standards in the U.S. educational system, you should note that the scores have sucked this badly ever since they started giving the test in 1979. Also, scores of Canadians and Europeans weren’t any better.

not sure I agree with all the answers. Even if one goes with the big bang THEORY then its a rapid expansion of spacetime which is not exactly the same as an "explosion". Also, oxygen coming from plants. As far as I knew, the majority of oxygen comes from ocean organisms.

i'm not positive but plankton is considered a plant isn't it?

But i agree that at least in the case of H and J most people likely knew what is generally accepted as true but were making a point based on personal belief. So, I suspect the scores in those cases don't as much indicate a of lack of knowledge as a defiance against percieved attacks on their faith/beliefs/etc.

The other scores are scary though. Even if someone could graduate 8th grade science not knowing this stuff you can gather the answers just by watching tv on a somewhat regular basis. Honestly, my nine year old nephew could have scored a better average. The people tested must have answered without really reading the questions. I doubt this is a truly representative survey.

The people tested must have answered without really reading the questions. I doubt this is a truly representative survey.Yeah, keep telling yourself that...

seriously though, even the stupid people I know aren't THAT stupid.

Sad... I got 100 percent correct.

It would take a mammoth effort to improve the scores. Science requires high tolerance for abstractions (like theories and math), counter-intuitive ideas, and a logical mind. A lot of people simply aren't like that, rather, they're more concrete or intuitive.

On top of that, science is advancing so rapidly that teaching, learning, and keeping current are next to impossible.

Another problem is that as science and math education is taking ever more time away from the core courses, teaching of thinking and communication skills also suffers.

Another problem is that as science and math education is taking ever more time away from the core courses, teaching of thinking and communication skills also suffers.Since when has science and math not been core courses?

C = The oxygen we breathe comes from plants.

I thought that this is not true btw.

at least half it comes from prokaryotes if I remember correctly

Ja, protists can photosynthesize, and I don't remember whether algae is considered a plant or not.

D: technically it is not the father's GENE, it is an entire CHROMOSOME.

Somehow I doubt that many people were getting the questions wrong because they over-analyzed them.

Nasor: Viruses are alive, true or false?

Yup, the questions were made up by an elementary school teacher without science background. The choice of words is all wrong.

Pretty surprising, coming from the National Science Foundation. The part of the survey about the increasing role of the internet in science ed. is interesting though.

Nasor: Viruses are alive, true or false?Last I heard, most scientists go with no – although there's still some disagreement. It depends on how you define 'alive,' which will always be rather arbitary.

I really dont see why everyone did not ace it... they are some really easy question... 100% for me maybe that will bring the avarage score up a .0000001% heheh.... ya the state of education is lacking badly...

yay 100% not bad for a 14yr old

I got 100% as well, but then I have a science background. I think the wording was poor, which is explained somewhat by who made it up.
Yadayada:
"Science requires high tolerance for abstractions (like theories and math), counter-intuitive ideas, and a logical mind. A lot of people simply aren't like that, rather, they're more concrete or intuitive. "

It seems to me that these questions dont require a scientific outlook, theyre simply (apart from the big bang and evolution ones) items of information you coudl reasonably be expected to know without knowing all the theory behind them. I do generally agree about not everyone having a mind for abstractions etc, but on the other hand, in school, all thats expected is that you learn the basics and how they apply to "real" life.

Irony:


If you answered everything correctly you would end up with less then 100%.

Does that show that someone has a sense of humour?

I'm not sure about the answer to that question. I fail.

The problem with the modern educational system is that it's just so boring and seemingly pointless. They begin teaching us concepts that seem to have no connection to the real world. It's true that these are just building blocks will be added upon later and then you can say, "oh, ok, that's why they were teaching that." Unfortunately by then they've lost most of the students' attention.

Now if they were to teach math like this, "Johnny has an 8-ball of coke. Mary bought a half-gram, Pete got fronted a teener..." You get the idea. Imagine how the math scores would skyrocket. A similar concept could easily be applied to science and the other core groups. Students become so bored with education that they learn nothing.

Plus you have the problem with bitter teachers who hate teaching and their students who will most likely go on to have much more satisfying lives than them. I was a grade A student until I was disenfranchised by a series of asshole teachers. Then, I rebelled and had to catch up later when I decided that it was important to me.

Children should be instilled with a ravenous appetite for learning. They should demand their education as their right. It shouldn't be forced down their throats in the most unappetizing manner possible. The first thing to teach a child is how to learn. It doesn't always come naturally.

Indeed, I probably tought myself more in those important early years than teachers did by reading. But then the teachers made sure you started hating reading by teaching literature.

thanks.

And then further pushing you away by saying that you were reading it wrong. That what it really means is...

science education is kept at a minimal by certain countries governments (this is talking about countries wealthy enough to provide education to all its legal citizens) in order to keep its citizens at a dumb level of ignorance.
we are taught only the easiest of formulas, when scientists know there are other more important theories that are being proven. plus, they believe that if the general populace knows these advanced mathematics and physics and formulas, the general public will be smarter (obviously) and threaten their dominance.

it sounds crazy but its true. like for example, just the other day i found out that there are formulas for testing the economic activity (usually done after a shock test) in an area, by applying the same laws of Integrated Circuitry (laws of conductance, resistance, impedence, etc) to the commercial, residential and industrial networks of the same area. truly advanced shit.

open your eyes guys and see what theyre NOT teaching you

The problem with the modern educational system is that it's just so boring and seemingly pointless.

oh! so TRUE. I HATED physics in highschool it was the most excruciatingly boring thing I'd ever "learnerd". Now that I actually understand the basics I can't believe a teacher could make that subject dry. It's only the physical rules of EVERYTHING for christs sake, how can you make that boring? I really resent my teacher now, he pissed away two years of my education.

I got 100%, but most of that stuff was not learned in science class. In the last year of mandatory science in Canada (grade 10), students are forced to learn things like weather and basic physics measurments, not hard facts like these ones. Some are really obvios though, like it takes one year for the earth to go around the sun. I thought that was common knowledge.

I have a hard time believing that most people who answered believed that humans lived at the same time as dinosaurs.. Although, with my political beliefs on the USA as a whole, some of the answers don't surprise me. *covers ears to hide from eminent, flaming patriotism*