Do you think American public school science classes have failed us?

Question

The good news is that the majority of Americans accept the scientific reality of man-made global warming. The bad news is that it's a significantly smaller majority than in most other developed countries, and we're the largest contributor to the problem.

http://www.worldpublicopinion.org/pipa/articles/btenvironmentra/412.php?lb=bte&pnt=412&nid=&id=

Those who are skeptical or deny the AGW theory are usually incapable of presenting a scientific argument as to why they doubt it. A good example is the disparity in quality of answers to this question asking for proof by either side, in which the supposed "top answerer" denier responded.

http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index;_ylt=AkJDfc1MEjMHQBvq0IJGj0IAAAAA;_ylv=3?qid=20071229024614AAoqslg

The problem is if you don't understand the science and reject the conclusions of the experts, you're almost guaranteed to be wrong.

Does the fault like with American schools? American media? Why is the USA lagging in scientific understanding?

Answer 1

Okay, I'm a little young, but I'm in 7th grade, and my biology teacher has talked to us about global warming, and he always says how it's a myth, and is never open to the idea that it could be real. So yeah, that's proof right there teachers aren't doing their jobs.

Answer 2

The very first thing I was taught was to be objective.That's the only way science works.Public schools have a problem with this philosophy,they are bound by bureaucratic regulations that compromise free thought.It wasn't till I attended collage that the facts could be presented openly.In the scientific community skepticism is a good thing...it makes you ask why.Some individuals learn by experience others by a cumulative process whether formal or real world.Not to lessen the question but if scientific data said I only had a 1 out of 50 chance of being ran over.I still wouldn't stand in the way of a oncoming car.I do down play the AGW theory but not to the point it doesn't have relative information.But from the approach that it offers no overwhelming studies into the matter.I also see that from the other side also.There's a lot of unfinished business left on this matter.Most free thinkers know this

Answer 3

Well since I've been out of the system for so long and I don't have kids of my own, I really can't answer that. But I do plan on having a cool lesson on Plate Tectonics and there role in Global Climate change. I'll try to wait long enough before I post my question and findings so you can be here. (You know that 2 hour lag from central to pacific time can be a real drag.)

Edit: I can add one other thing: When I was in school Earth Science (Which I'd think Climate Change best fits under that heading.) was taught in ninth grade. In the school I went to it was a self study class and I loved that class. Then in tenth grade I had Biology, then in eleventh grade I took microbiology and Advanced Chemistry. Sadly in twelfth grade I was accepted into HOCE (Health Education Career Education) and I only went to school for four hours. I did it for two reasons, one I didn't want to graduate early, two I wanted to get hands on experience working in a Veterinarians Office. So the courses I had were English, Social Studies, Math and the Health Occupations class.

One last thing when I went to William Woods College in Fulton Missouri most of my classes were geared toward Equestrian Science.

Answer 4

Have you been to a public school lately??? Some are good, but I'd say the majority turn out kids who really don't know much about science, or anything else for that matter!

I don't know if this is as much of a fault of the school system though. It's got to be kind of hard to teach 30 teenagers about anything when they're all hopped up on Riddelin (or other drugs) or come from broken homes and have parents/guardians who don't encourage their kids to do well in school. I'd bet that even the most underfunded inner city schools could do quite well if all the students came well behaived and motivated to learn!

Answer 5

This is being forced into curriculum as a way of pretending the religious extremists who tried to tell us dinosaurs and man walked the Earth at the same time are not foolish. While I would be willing to accept the possibility that patterns guide evolutionary processes, I have no evidence of a being who stands separate from the Universe guides this by intelligent design. While absence of evidence is not evidence of absence - without evidence, curriculum should not be written. Sad that religion must force conflict with science - part of the reason America is in decline.

Answer 6

Yes, the government schools in the US have become nothing more than indoctrination centers.

They even forced all of the schools to show the Al Gore movie without explaining that it's been proven to be almost complete fabrication using false data and doctored graphs.

We need to get the kids out of these liberal brain-washing excuses for schools. In Denmark they let the parents choose the schools to send their children to by letting them take the tax money wherever they want their children to attend. That's a great solution, but as long as the education system in the US is controlled by the far left teacher's union, it will never happen and the children are the ones who suffer the most.

Even our universities and colleges have been controlled the same way. Indoctrinating them with garbage which has to be unlearned once they get out into the real world. Many continue the ignorance by staying on as professors. It's really a shame education has gotten so bad in this country.

It's so bad that believers in this AGW hoax can't even debate the issue and have to proclaim it as "beyond debate" or there's a "consensus" or some other method of avoiding proving their belief. That's why it's become a religion since no one has yet to actually scientifically prove that humans cause climate change. You'd think they'd learn debating techniques in school, but they don't. Not even in college.

It's a wonder anyone can see through the AGW hoax, with all the forced brain-washing by the schools, the media and even the politicians and paid-for "scientists." The good thing is that as time goes by the truth begins to reveal itself. All hoaxes go away eventually as people become more educated.

The common solution to the education problem is to throw more and more money at it, but that just makes it worse since there is so much corruption. We spend more per student than any other country with less results. The system is flawed and should be revamped completely. I doubt it will ever happen, but that's the only real solution.

Answer 7

I was only taught in school,everything that I've learned,I did on my own! When I was 5, in 1958,I asked my dad,"Where does the smoke from the cars go?" He said "Up into the sky,and blown far away." I knew enough about the weather even at 5,to know he didn't know! From that point on,I stopped asking him such hard questions. I read everything I could,and payed close attention to the weather patterns. I can remember that,back then, the sky used to be a totaly DIFFERENT color blue! All the way to the horizon,not the smudgy grey-blue you see now! Yes,our public schools should be better! I don't make a ton of money,but I would pay double taxes for a real school system!

Answer 8

I don't think it's possible to educate everyone to the level of scientific understanding where they could sift through the AGW evidences and separate the wheat from the chaff. I suspect there are a lot of people in other countries that are also ignorant of the scientific evidence for AGW.

So the difference in AGW acceptance must have a different explanation. It's not the lack of science education, but it's the abundance of ideology driven media. As a society we are inundated with hours and hours of relatively ignorant people asserting things (radio and TV) that simply aren't true. And we've become so ideologically polarized that people disbelieve whatever they hear coming from the other side of the political isle, without needing any evidence. You can see it on here every day. The extent of scientific "evidence" many AGW doubters need is that Al Gores says XYZ, therefore XYZ must be false. If Al Gore said drinking poison was bad for you, I'd expect a large group of Al Gore haters to disagree and claim it was some sort of liberal conspiracy.

Answer 9

I think different.

Both of my science classes that i am taking this year have done a good job with the "touchy issue of global warming" They have discussed both sides and we have had open debates about it in Environmental Science. It might just be where i live, but who knows. We are all going to have to face the facts one day its just how long will it take for the world to notice what is happening.


But some teachers in my school don't believe in global warming so they don't really talk about it even if they teach Environmental science. Why teach a subject were they talk about stuff you don't believe in. And why is he reducing this Carbon footprint if he doesn't believe?

Answer 10

Actually, what I have seen is that many, maybe even a majority of Americans have bought into the reality of the political AGW issue, but science has nothing to do with this. In fact, in my years of observing this issue and in studying it as a scientist, I have seen very little scientific argument presented to the public, only political and public relations information. This is also true in Europe.

But to answer your root question, yes I believe that science education has indeed failed us, but in the U.S. and in Europe. If people in both locations were more scientifically astute, they would be much more skeptical of the arguments being presented. The primary reason more people in the U.S. are skeptical of AGW is that we are more skeptical of our government and the political system than people in Europe.

Answer 11

I am sure things will go better once the US gets out of the large oil and car manufacturing corporations' clutches. For their own evil and selfish monetary gains, they have manupulated the integrity of the government to deny AGW or that the burning of fossilised fuel had nothing to do with climate warming. Its really shameful when the world's greatest nation is jeered and booed repeatedly at the Bali Summit on AGW by some 200 nations until America relented and accepted the consensus of 3000 Plus scientists world wide that AGW was caused by emission of burning fossilised fuel. Al Gore's excellent work on AGW have been widely applauded by the world and justifiably won the Nobel prize and if he had not been cheated out of his presidentcy, there is no doubt in my mind that the world would be a better place for our descendants.