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Scientists offer 10 basic questions to test your knowledge (high schoolers should be able to answer)
MPLS Star-Tribune ^ | 4/46/06

Posted on 04/27/2006 7:29:29 PM PDT by Paddlefish

Think you know you know your science? Recently, several science gurus -- Nobel Prize winners, institute heads, teachers and others who spend most of their time thinking about science -- were asked, "What is one science question every high school graduate should be able to answer?" Take their quiz and see how you do. 1. What percentage of the earth is covered by water? ROBERT GAGOSIAN, WOODS HOLE OCEANOGRAPHIC INSTITUTE

2. What sorts of signals does the brain use to communicate sensations, thoughts and actions? TORSTEN WEISEL, ROCKEFELLER INSTITUTE, NEW YORK

3. Did dinosaurs and humans ever exist at the same time? ANDREW C. REVKIN, NEW YORK TIMES SCIENCE REPORTER

4. What is Darwin's theory of the origin of species? JONATHAN WEINER, 1995 PULITZER PRIZE-WINNING AUTHOR

(Excerpt) Read more at startribune.com ...


TOPICS: Culture/Society; Miscellaneous
KEYWORDS: 42; education; quiz; science
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If this quiz wasn't as easy as you thought it would be, you're not alone. According to a recent National Science Board survey, 90 percent of Americans are interested in science, but only 15 percent consider themselves well-informed. In high schools, only 60 percent of students complete a general biology class, while only 40 percent complete a general chemistry class and a scant 27 percent complete a physics class, according to the National Center for Education Statistics.

Even if you did learn basic science in school, these questions might be tough to answer, according to O. Roger Anderson, professor of science education at Teachers College at Columbia University.

"People are so deeply involved in their family lives and professions," Anderson said. "How are they supposed to remember this stuff?"

1 posted on 04/27/2006 7:29:31 PM PDT by Paddlefish
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To: Paddlefish

1. Who created all of it?


2 posted on 04/27/2006 7:30:47 PM PDT by HisKingdomWillAbolishSinDeath (My Homeland Security: Isaiah 54:17 No weapon that is formed against thee shall prosper)
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To: Paddlefish

6/10


3 posted on 04/27/2006 7:33:58 PM PDT by kerryusama04 (Isa 8:20)
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To: HisKingdomWillAbolishSinDeath

Who, who wrote the book of love?


4 posted on 04/27/2006 7:34:13 PM PDT by ExpatGator (Progressivism: A polyp on the colon politic.)
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To: Paddlefish

Well it took me about 4 seconds to answer all 4, so what was hard about it.


5 posted on 04/27/2006 7:34:17 PM PDT by org.whodat (Never let the facts get in the way of a good assumption.)
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To: Paddlefish

Most high-schoolers these day's probably couldn't answer "Who's your daddy?"


6 posted on 04/27/2006 7:35:06 PM PDT by RushCrush (Just another day in liberal hell.)
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To: HisKingdomWillAbolishSinDeath

That's a theology question.


7 posted on 04/27/2006 7:35:17 PM PDT by Varda
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To: org.whodat

Those were the easiest, but it still wasn't really that hard.


8 posted on 04/27/2006 7:36:23 PM PDT by Always Right
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To: org.whodat

It's an excerpt. Go to the link for full test and discussion.


9 posted on 04/27/2006 7:36:26 PM PDT by Paddlefish ("You know, Hobbes, some days even my lucky rocketship underpants don't help.")
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To: RushCrush
Oops...."these day's" should be "these days"

Yes I graduated from high school (and college!)

10 posted on 04/27/2006 7:36:27 PM PDT by RushCrush (Just another day in liberal hell.)
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To: ExpatGator

The Monotones, thaz who.


11 posted on 04/27/2006 7:36:47 PM PDT by garyhope
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To: Paddlefish

9/10. I guessed the oldest fossils were 3 billion not 4.


12 posted on 04/27/2006 7:37:37 PM PDT by Varda
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To: Paddlefish
5. Why does a year consist of 365 days, and a day of 24 hours?

I got this one wrong (according to the author). I said it's because of the ancient Babylonian base-60 (sexigesimal) numbering system.

13 posted on 04/27/2006 7:37:41 PM PDT by randog (What the...?!)
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To: Paddlefish
The real sad part is these so called experts have included questions that don't have a proved answer just a theory. True questions that everyone should know would only deal with scientific law not theories.

I'm a real scientists I believe in the scientific method. That requires that experiments can be repeated. I want them to show how apes give birth to humans and be able to reproduce the experiment. They are talking about faith, I'll put my faith in God.
14 posted on 04/27/2006 7:38:59 PM PDT by Conservative Actuary
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Comment #15 Removed by Moderator

To: Paddlefish

Darwinist bias.


16 posted on 04/27/2006 7:40:15 PM PDT by balch3
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To: Paddlefish

9/10, got the extra credit correct. This is pretty basic. But, people don't even know Chicago is on Lake Michigan, or Canada is on our northern border. Public schools are more worried about Adam and Steve than math, science, reading, history and geography.

I got #9 wrong... "How old are the oldest fossils on earth?"


17 posted on 04/27/2006 7:40:33 PM PDT by Indy Pendance
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To: randog

I think it is a little tricky as well. Most of us would go off track into anthropology and think along why ancient cultures set a day to be 24 hours etc. Obviously since the question is from a science perspective, it must be thought from Earth's orbits and rotations.

This question is standard primary [elementary] school science material in Hong Kong - around Primary 4 (Grade 4/5).


18 posted on 04/27/2006 7:41:05 PM PDT by NZerFromHK (Leftism is like honey mixed with arsenic: initially it tastes good, but that will end up killing you)
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To: ExpatGator

better yet, who put the bomp in the bompshebomp and who put the the lam in the ramalamadingdong?


19 posted on 04/27/2006 7:41:13 PM PDT by Big Guy and Rusty 99 (what?)
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To: Paddlefish
It's an excerpt. Go to the link for full test and discussion.

I never go to links, don't want any bug's in computer, nor do I wish to trip traffic count. If the rest of the test was as easy as the first four it wasn't much, and that was what the first post said.

20 posted on 04/27/2006 7:42:13 PM PDT by org.whodat (Never let the facts get in the way of a good assumption.)
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