Posted on 09/11/2015 8:00:20 AM PDT by SES1066
A new Pew Research Center survey finds that most Americans can answer basic questions about several scientific terms and concepts, such as the layers of the Earth and the elements needed to make nuclear energy. But other science-related terms and applications, such as what property of a sound wave determines loudness and the effect of higher altitudes on cooking time, are not as well understood.
(Excerpt) Read more at pewinternet.org ...
Quiz? We don’t need no stinkin’ quiz! Just vote (D) all will be taken care of for you.
Right there with you!
But then I am a white male college grad over 55 who went to catholic grade school. Hardly seems fair.
The question about “Are you male or female” stumped me. I thought it was true/false.
But I got all the others right. If you passed elementary school Science class, you probably should too.
11 out of 12 for me. I went through public schools, but my parents would buy science books for me because the school system didn’t gratify my interest for knowledge.
12/12......some pretty easy questions. I’m surprised at the graphics at the end. There really are a bunch of apes out there in this country.
Which brings me to the realization that I’ve come to about Free Republic over a long period of time here.
We as a group are not ‘average’ Americans. As such, the people we know and, more importantly, value and influence are likely not ‘average’ either. This ends up skewing our perception of what is ‘prevailing thought’ in this country and can often lead to disappointment with elections, etc., i.e., events end totally outside what we’d have thought were certain. The main reason being that we don’t associate with the predominant group of idiots in this country.
10 correct out of 12
darn, I got 2 wrong.
12/12. very easy and only a few questions had anything to do with actual science. Knowing Salk developed the polio vaccine is not science. Knowing what a vaccine is and how it is developed is science. I would expect any reasonably educated person to get a majority of the questions correct.
12/12. Test was made easier by some of the ridiculous multiple-choice options,
I missed one, I think it was the one about sound volume.
Defining Astrology is considered a science question?
High school science was required. No more. The demographic breakdowns of the results were interesting.
11 of 12.
Missed the question regarding sound.
Oh yes, uranium is not required for nuclear power. Thorium can be used instead.
AMEN! In the course of technology, I have realized that I am losing one of my older evaluation tools. If I met someone and saw their office or car or home, I'd look for what (if anything) was being read, newspapers, books etc. Now, I look at myself and realize I am doing much reading on my iPad and it could be anything from porn to Shakespeare to the Bible, there is no visible difference.
Of course, one frequently does find a level in conversation but as I grow older, I find hearing "like", "ya know" and any mention of rap, heavy metal and such a waste of my limited remaining time.
I got the last question, the astronomy/astrology one, wrong. That’s because I never can remember which is which—like the word pairs principal/principle, capital/capitol, I always have to look up the correct word to use in a particular context. I don’t consider that question so much a science question as much as it is a trick vocabulary question.
Knowing that the amplitude of a sound wave controls its volume, however, is a true question about scientific knowledge.
Sadly, even here on FreeRepublic, I see a lot of people who are completely scientifically illiterate. These same people are also mathematically innumerate. The two types of knowledge deficits go hand-in-hand.
AGREED! I would have worded it as something like "Of the list below, which is used for ..."
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