Comments on: ‘Flunking Basic Science?’

By: My only string theories are on my violin

My only string theories are on my violin — Wed, 01 Apr 2009 11:54:43 +0000

[...] the subject of people giving up on science. In recent posts at The Intersection, the topic was science literacy: what is it, how do we measure it, and why is it so low? The authors cited a national survey [...]

By: MadScientist

MadScientist — Sun, 29 Mar 2009 10:55:36 +0000

I followed the link – the linked test is really more Science Trivia than any assessment of scientific (reasoning) ability. I thought about 4% of surface water was ‘fresh’ – boohoo – it’s less than 3% – I flunked. A better test of people’s grasp of reasoning would be to present information and allow the person to assess a number of statements based on the information.

Making up good poll questions to establish any fact requires great skill.

By: Ralf Muschall

Ralf Muschall — Tue, 17 Mar 2009 14:44:43 +0000

@humorix
A floating iceberg (made of the same water as it floats in) displaces as much water as it weighs, thus after melting it exactly fills the hole which his submerged part made into the water (no matter how much air and intermolecular spaces are inside the iceberg – the volume consumed by these corresponds exactly to the part sticking out of the sea). The situation changes if there are different sort of water (imagine the extreme case of an iceberg floating on mercury, making almost no dent but leaving a nonzero film of water after melting, thus raising the level).

By: humorix

humorix — Tue, 17 Mar 2009 05:32:26 +0000

@ Ralf Muschall

As the party submerged by an iceberg is more spacious than the emergent party, if the glacier melts the holes of air fill with water. Therefore: level goes down.
On the contrary, when I read that the level of the sea could go up to 70 metres!!!
it is stupidity come from GIEC very there

By: Lycosid

Lycosid — Mon, 16 Mar 2009 21:25:48 +0000

Ask them a question where they have to use logic to solve a problem. 10% will get it right. Everything about our culture pushes people away from science.

By: Ralf Muschall

Ralf Muschall — Mon, 16 Mar 2009 21:16:12 +0000

@humorix:
The behavior of the sea level depends on more factors. If the ice sits on the ground (near the coast) and melts, the sea level goes up. Melting of floating ice of the same composition as the water does not cause a change in the sea level. It also goes up if freshwater ice floating on saltwater melts (generally: if the molten liquid has a lower density than the sea water).

By: humorix

humorix — Mon, 16 Mar 2009 20:18:33 +0000

For me, the volume of an icicle is the UPPER has his volume in water. If the glacier melts: the level of the sea GOES DOWN (and not the opposite!).
It is frightening to read the opposite every day in the press.
The similar for ” Half as cold ”

http://scienceblogs.com/builtonfacts/2009/02/half_as_cold.php

By: Ralf Muschall

Ralf Muschall — Mon, 16 Mar 2009 19:08:45 +0000

The funny detail about these quizzes is that the “right” answers are slightly wrong. I.e. the earth needs one year, 20 Minutes and 24 seconds to go around the sun (I had to look up the exact value and just knew that “one year” is wrong), and humans did (and do) walk with dinosaurs for the simple reason that dinosaurs (some theropodes) are still around. The first problem is harmless (“one year” is the closest of the given choices), the second is not (IMHO).

By: abb3w

abb3w — Mon, 16 Mar 2009 18:25:45 +0000

Lamentably, I can’t find state-by-state distributions for such literacy. However, with only 1000 respondents, the breakdown for the current sample would be meaningless.

By: Laurie Mann

Laurie Mann — Mon, 16 Mar 2009 17:37:49 +0000

As a former English major and a woman, I’m proud to say I got 6/6 questions right! It was pretty basic stuff; it’s the sort of thing we should know by about 5th grade.