General Discussion
Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsTest your general science knowledge!
http://www.pewresearch.org/quiz/science-knowledge/darkangel218
(13,985 posts)Javaman
(62,521 posts)but it really wasn't all that tough a test to begin with.
Volaris
(10,270 posts)dipsydoodle
(42,239 posts).
PowerToThePeople
(9,610 posts)13/13.
Ohio Joe
(21,753 posts)I had no idea on that one but got it anyway
Puzzledtraveller
(5,937 posts)bowens43
(16,064 posts)MoonRiver
(36,926 posts)fredamae
(4,458 posts)smirkymonkey
(63,221 posts)I got the laser question wrong. I kind of thought I would. Oh well.
no_hypocrisy
(46,083 posts)BTW, how can only 59% of college grads NOT KNOW that electrons are smaller than atoms since the electrons are components of the atoms?
lark
(23,094 posts)We may not be brilliant, but we are smarter than the average bear.
hlthe2b
(102,228 posts)13/13
But, personally reassuring in a small way, though not when it comes to the general public's results...
Ichingcarpenter
(36,988 posts)its a much harder test than the elementary test you linked.
LINK:
http://www.csmonitor.com/Science/2011/1209/Are-you-scientifically-literate-Take-our-quiz/Composing-about-78-percent-of-the-air-at-sea-level-what-is-the-most-common-gas-in-the-Earth-s-atmosphere
NuclearDem
(16,184 posts)44/50.
PowerToThePeople
(9,610 posts)Noscript caused it to mess up. I think I got 44/50. But on 3 of them i second guessed myself and ended up wrong. =) That was certainly a tougher test. The biology ones got me more than any.
petronius
(26,602 posts)been multiple choice...
longship
(40,416 posts)I changed my answer on the one about the tool making era from right to wrong. Damn!
And miscalculated the acceleration... Too much in a hurry.
Ichingcarpenter
(36,988 posts)but that was special ed. class....LOL
Its a pretty good test.in my opinion for a on line one.
truebluegreen
(9,033 posts)Rudimentary Latin and Greek helped.
Volaris
(10,270 posts)looks like I need a refresher course in classical Physics lol.
Warpy
(111,247 posts)I got 86%, forgot some of the math ones.
dickthegrouch
(3,172 posts)13 on the first
sakabatou
(42,148 posts)DiverDave
(4,886 posts)Op test 13-13, this one 31-50
Man I'm not as smart as the other test indicated...
Ichingcarpenter
(36,988 posts)a High school student should know
I did well because almost all the topics
we covered .........when I co/taught science as a special ed teacher back in the 90s.
I really had to think about the possible answers before I answered.
I still try to keep up on the latest science news which might have helped.
Yeah.... I thought the test was tough
but good.
The other test I thought was at a sixth grade level this is around a ninth
or higher level
I did laugh at the creationist number on the age of the universe for a possible answer.
DiverDave
(4,886 posts)I have never taken a chemistry class, would have helped
JI7
(89,247 posts)Warren DeMontague
(80,708 posts)I'm a space nerd, so those questions were a breeze. But I slept through a lot of chemistry classes, I think.
eridani
(51,907 posts)--and Latin. Lots of hints from their descriptions of where words originated that had nothing to do with scientific knowledge. I would have scored lower than 43/50 without that help. Physics and astronomy are weak points for me.
Vashta Nerada
(3,922 posts)I suck at physics.
NYC_SKP
(68,644 posts)Most sixth graders should know most or all of the answers.
Sadly, many aren't instructed well enough and/or don't have families or social lives that promote such forms of knowledge.
But ask them what Snooki's boyfriend's name is and....
wild bird
(421 posts)Although, it wasn't a difficult quiz at all.
War Horse
(931 posts)I always get the Nitrogen thing wrong. I answered Hydrogen.
MoonRiver
(36,926 posts)bhikkhu
(10,715 posts)When people come to our shop and ask if we use nitrogen to fill the tires, I tell them "we use our own proprietary 78% nitrogen mixture"
whopis01
(3,510 posts)DiverDave
(4,886 posts)eom
hobbit709
(41,694 posts)Hydrogen is flammable in any mix of air from 3-97%
War Horse
(931 posts)yawnmaster
(2,812 posts)The burning sky would only last as long as the oxygen lasts in the atmosphere.
Fantastic Anarchist
(7,309 posts)I second guessed myself on it. Screwed myself out of a perfect score.
Madam Mossfern
(2,340 posts)I got that wrong too. Somehow I thought that Nitrogen was poisonous. I'm pissed that I didn't get them all right; it was a super easy test. I answered Hydrogen too because of the water thingy.
truebluegreen
(9,033 posts)Pretty easy, common sense stuff.
Squinch
(50,949 posts)FarCenter
(19,429 posts)Only 12% of HS grads got the right answer to "Which gas makes up most of the Earths atmosphere?".
Which means that they have learned that some other gas than the right one is the most plentiful, since 12% is way below random chance.
They are misinformed, not ignorant.
petronius
(26,602 posts)proportion of correct answers than any other question. I actually teach a class where that's a topic; I'll try to remember to do a quick survey this quarter to see what the incoming students really think/know...
truebluegreen
(9,033 posts)NuclearDem
(16,184 posts)Basically freshman-level college science questions.
RC
(25,592 posts)I learned most of that stuff in grade school - In Kansas yet. In the 1950's.
jeff47
(26,549 posts)Scuba
(53,475 posts)Scuba
(53,475 posts)Aerows
(39,961 posts)Pretty easy questions, imho.
Plucketeer
(12,882 posts)And like you, I thought they were pretty tame questions - and I'm a high school dropout!
bhikkhu
(10,715 posts)The answers were all pretty obvious.
Junkdrawer
(27,993 posts)Very easy test
R. Daneel Olivaw
(12,606 posts)And yes it is easy.
cali
(114,904 posts)Much as I'd like to say that I'm well versed in the sciences, I can't make that claim.
R. Daneel Olivaw
(12,606 posts)I'd put good money on that.
cali
(114,904 posts)I know the limits of my knowledge. Much as I like to try to keep up, my scientific knowledge is limited.
Generic Other
(28,979 posts)Better than I expected!
R. Daneel Olivaw
(12,606 posts)Thank you brain!
tk2kewl
(18,133 posts)hobbit709
(41,694 posts)RKP5637
(67,104 posts)CrispyQ
(36,457 posts)Once upon a time a grade schooler could pass that test. Now - Many adults can not. But then, I went to school at a time they still taught science as facts and not theory from religious text.
Art_from_Ark
(27,247 posts)back in the '60s, as my elementary school's only attempt to teach rudimentary science was Health and Hygiene in 4th grade. My first experience with an actual science class was 7th grade biology, which was taught on a 10th grade level, and which focused on learning scientific names for genera, kingdoms, and phyla.
DainBramaged
(39,191 posts)You scored better than 93% of the public and the same as 7%.
i'M A 7 PERCENTer i'M A 7 PERCENTer LALALALALALALA
Capt. Obvious
(9,002 posts)heaven05
(18,124 posts)LeftishBrit
(41,205 posts)AngryAmish
(25,704 posts)Neoma
(10,039 posts)Not bad for someone who hasn't ever been in a science class...
warrior1
(12,325 posts)Woot
cali
(114,904 posts)OffWithTheirHeads
(10,337 posts)Octafish
(55,745 posts)And I did it fast.
Sancho
(9,067 posts)Katashi_itto
(10,175 posts)tridim
(45,358 posts)and felt like shit about it, so I always remember now.
At least it appears to be a common mistake. It tripped up 80% of the respondents.
Jeroen
(1,061 posts)Which gas makes up most of the Earth's atmosphere?
I answered CO2
enlightenment
(8,830 posts)Had to think about the atmosphere question for a bit, but most were easy. As a non-science person, I pat myself on the back (and prepare to trip over my temporarily inflated ego).
demwing
(16,916 posts)than the average atheist scored on the religion test you posted earlier.
What's that mean? Not a god damned thing!
treestar
(82,383 posts)There's nitrogen in the atmosphere!
Boom Sound 416
(4,185 posts)ismnotwasm
(41,976 posts)To be fair it was pretty basic, and my first degree was an AA in science.
Gothmog
(145,130 posts)Archae
(46,322 posts)I got them all correct, but the statistic that only a tiny minority could also, is kind of depressing.
amb123
(1,581 posts)BillE
(137 posts)Seems that those who missed one, it was the atmosphere question. I missed that one. Test was easy.
Fantastic Anarchist
(7,309 posts)... which I really should have gotten right but had a damn brain fart. I over thought it.
All in all, these were extremely easy questions. I hope this is not what would be a litmus test for this nation.
Cali_Democrat
(30,439 posts)mike_c
(36,281 posts)Of course, I'm a scientist and a zoology prof, so I'd be pretty embarrassed if I couldn't answer those questions. Interestingly, I thought the fracking question was more current affairs than science knowledge.
RoccoR5955
(12,471 posts)I could have gotten all correct in my freakin' sleep.
This is so superficial, it's not funny.
What IS funny is the small number of people that know what most of our atmosphere consists of.
Then again, maybe it's me. I have been a student of all sorts of science since I was knee-high to a grasshopper!
cali
(114,904 posts)laughably easy. I'm also surprised that so few people know what our atmosphere is made up of.
Spitfire of ATJ
(32,723 posts)Spitfire of ATJ
(32,723 posts)jtuck004
(15,882 posts)for those that want to move us away from a more liberal education into Science, Technology, Engineering, Math curriculums, or STEM.
Most people that keep up with current events and watch Dr. Oz should have been able to get 10 or 11 of 13 right on that one. But the point was not that most people could learn the answer to the question that most people got right from a bottle of sunscreen. In other words, the point is not that it was "easy" or "hard".
The point is that it was designed to provide support for those who want to sell us on STEM training, so they can market the idea that we need to focus government money away from people thinking about how people may be manipulating them, away from questions that might lead them to think they are just working on a plantation, away from philosophy and the arts, and put it where it SHOULD go, where BILL GATES wants it to go, toward SCIENCY stuff.
We should do better in science, but we should also wonder why most people either don't know these things, whether it is really the educational system, or perhaps a culture that says adults can quit learning once they are "free" from "school".
I find it damn funny, in a non-funny sort of way, when propaganda is so obvious, and yet most everyone is consumed by how many right or wrong answers they got, as if they are still under the spell of the "schooling" they got, and have forgotten the promise that it should have been about education...
http://www.people-press.org/2013/04/22/publics-knowledge-of-science-and-technology/
Maedhros
(10,007 posts)I do not agree with demonizing science education.
"Science" is not rote memorization of facts and processes. A proper science education teaches the scientific method, which promotes critical thinking. I think we can all agree that more critical thinking is a good thing.
jtuck004
(15,882 posts)Philosophy promotes critical thinking. The arts promote critical thinking. Good science could, and sometimes does, but often times is narrowly constrained within the lab, and without the liberal studies people seem to find it hard to apply the lessons elsewhere.
Doctors are trained in science, no? Then why the hell did we have to pass a law to get them to reveal how much money they are being paid by big pharma, so we can know how it impacts the decisions they make to push pills on us, if the critical thinking they learned in science class was so helpful?
Why, since the science has shown us that, for many women, the damage from extra radiation may be more harmful than the likelihood that a breast exam will find something, are the people who PROFIT FROM breast exams continuing to push for more and more funding? Why are women who are being excessively irradiated on the off chance that something might be found somewhere not taking them to task for it, even when a few lose breasts or arms or legs because of mis-diagnosis or cells that suddenly go berserk because of the X-rays?
Science tells us that we are cooking our earth. Haven't seen that one keep a majority of people up nights. And it's not because they can't understand it, it's because they wilfully reject it - and no amount of science education is going to fix their motivation.
Nuclear studies involved a LOT of science, eh? Fukushima has been a screwed up earth and people-killing disaster for over 2 years now, and yet the people who are profiting from it continue their lies and deception, while scientifically trained nuclear engineers have died of cancer trying to work with it, despite all that GREAT science education.
You are correct. If life was like a fairy tale (the sanitized ones we hear now, not the originals) people would get a good science TRAINING, which would teach them to be sceptical, and they would measure and weigh and test and come to rational conclusion.
But it ain't and they don't. And science is not going to fix that failing of "EDUCATION", (which is, by the way, much different than training or schooling) nor are the bastards that are profiting from selling STEM to hapless people going to do anything out of the goodness of their cold, shrivelled hearts if it costs them a penny, regardless of the cost to others.
I'm not demonizing science. If I point out the shortcomings of the mechanic who tries to fix everything but only can own or afford one tool to do it with I'm not demonizing the mechanic, but the shortcomings of that approach when applied too broadly. That's just recognizing reality.
Science ain't the problem sister, (brother?), the people are. Or more specifically their human spirits are. And the way you reach the spirit, (not a religious thing, btw) is through art, music, dance, argument, discussion, and food. And probably beer. Not engineering.
Maedhros
(10,007 posts)But I dislike pitting science against liberal arts, which it seems you are doing.
jtuck004
(15,882 posts)That's how I KNOW it's not me
It's a common story across the nation - they feel a funding pinch, so they up tuition, cut something out of the arts (they de-funded the ENTIRE theatre program at WSU - a college w/o theatre?) and then try an increase the number of wealthier students getting some aid because their parents can pick up much more of the cost that can those who have less money. There's a whole list nationwide, from grade school on up, where music, art, dance, and studies in the arts have just been slaughtered while being replaced with STEM curriculum, and they are trying to do even more. Ask most any teacher of art or music in public schools, or liberal arts in colleges, (Assuming the people still have a job) about it, and they will likely confirm that position.
Suffice it to say, there's only so many hours in a day, and the thought seems to be to get rid of things that might cause people to question the decisions others are making about their lives, in favor of classes that, in theory should cause them to be critical, but in reality make them more likely to be just employees, although making a little more than they can at McDonalds.
But the Rethugs are lovin' it, and some Democrats are leading the charge.
Maedhros
(10,007 posts)Biochemistry, molecular biology, physics: those things get funding. Geology, geophysics, zoology, botany, etc. not so much. The funding goes to departments developing patents/technology for Corporate America.
It's not so much liberal arts v. science as it is profit for corporations v. education for people.
jtuck004
(15,882 posts)and dead. Because they still teach zoology for docs, geology, etc for oil and gas recovery.
But your assessment of the causes being more because of our masters, the corporations, and their need for profit at any cost, is spot on.
And that is exactly what the push for STEM is all about. Will those be the skills required for more jobs than now in 30 or 40 years. Almost without question, if we try to keep going forward as we have in past, for more growth, which creates wealth for the few.
On the other hand, maybe we need to be asking if there is another way to structure it, another way to live other than exploiting each other and the planet until one or both are destroyed, or we simply become a big round plantation, owned by a small few. We can probably still use those skills, even need them, but perhaps more for making life better for each other, maybe to encourage freedom and real Decmocracy, things that are slowly receding in the rear-view mirror as we push forward.
Asking those questions, or bringing them up so everyone can see the forest that is hidden by the trees, that's where those other classes come in. So I think it is worth people knowing that what is being pushed out upon them, like that test, has nothing to do with science, and everything to do with manipulation.
Maedhros
(10,007 posts)for ourselves.
However the same problems you see with basic education in arts and humanities, I also see in the sciences. Scientific illiteracy is a big problem in this country - it allows for climate change denial and "clean coal" bullshit to be peddled as reasonable positions.
The correct answer to this problem is to make sure than our citizens receive a well-rounded and comprehensive education, including liberal arts, humanities, mathematics and science. I can't justify putting less of an emphasis on any of those.
RoccoR5955
(12,471 posts)You hammered that nail, quite elegantly!
I have been a student of science all of my life, but that's not all that I have studied all of my life. If it was not for a balanced education, one does not build the critical thinking skills needed to tell when science will harm or hurt us.
One needs to learn how to teach oneself, in matters of everything. If one is not willing to learn, and just learns to pass a test, then nothing is learned, except how to be a parrot.
jtuck004
(15,882 posts)Lazlo, former student, lived in a tunnel under the dorms. Chris was explaining to Mitch what drove Lazlo crazy...
"He loved problems, he loved the answers. But he thought that the answers were the answers for everything. All science, no philosophy.
One day, someone told him the stuff he made was killing people."
That's what philosophy is for, to make you ask those questions about the ultimate ends of what you are doing, who you are. Dance, art - it grabs at the spirit, pokes it and makes sure it is alive. Without those things we jump out the windows of the Apple factory in China.
Oddly, those whose pursuit is almost totally venal often have the benefit of those things, yet, for some reason it seems never to awaken their humanity or cause them to question that pursuit. If we knew why maybe we could yank that light back on for them.
Fortunately that only happens to a relative few, and those things make life better for the rest of us. What I can't figure out is, given that there are so many more of us, why we let them pull us around.
But yeah, you are spot on with your parrot analogy. It took me a long time, it seems, to finally figure out I had to let schooling go before I could really learn.
Maedhros
(10,007 posts)(And, I'm not arguing for diluting humanities and liberal arts education in favor of science. I am promoting the idea of holding both as equally important.)
Maedhros
(10,007 posts)Question 10 asked "Which is an example of a chemical reaction?" Possible answers were:
A: Water Boiling
B: Sugar dissolving
C: Nails Rusting
Of course, the answer they are wanting is C. However, all three are examples of chemical reactions.
"Water Boiling" is a phase change reaction, with H2O(l) --> H2O(v)
"Sugar Dissolving" is a dissolution reaction, with C12H22O11(s) --> C12H22O11(aq)
"Nails Rusting" is an oxidation reaction, with 2Fe(s) + 1.5O2(v) --> Fe2O3(s)
Boom Sound 416
(4,185 posts)I think that's the distinguishing characteristic from answer 3
Maedhros
(10,007 posts)Put rust in an extremely reducing environment and it will revert to iron.
But you are correct - examples 1 and 2 are single-component reactions, example 3 is multi-component.
Boom Sound 416
(4,185 posts)The old 7th grade example
Maedhros
(10,007 posts)C(s) + 0.5O2(v) <--> CO2(v) is the combustion reaction. A complicating factor from burning paper is that the product of the reaction (i.e. carbon dioxide vapor) is removed from the reaction location with the drifting smoke, therefore the reaction cannot be reversed. Also, burning paper in the lab occurs in a very oxidizing environment (i.e. the atmosphere); thermodynamics will drive the reaction toward production of carbon dioxide via LeChatelier's Principle.
Conduct the same reaction in a sealed vessel, and greatly reduce the oxygen fugacity (or increase the carbon dioxide fugacity), and it would also be reversible.
Boom Sound 416
(4,185 posts)I'm going to look around the intergoogle for something on this
Maedhros
(10,007 posts)my answer was extremely simplified. There are many other factors at play, and a reaction that is theoretically reversible may not be practically so.
Thermodynamics is a harsh mistress. So is kinetics.
(Let's not even start with statistical mechanics...)
madokie
(51,076 posts)You answered 13 of 13 questions correctly.
This quiz is a joint effort between the Pew Research Center and Smithsonian magazine.
See below how your results compare with the 1,006 randomly sampled adults that took part in our national survey and review how you responded to each question. For more findings from the survey, read "Public's Knowledge of Science and Technology."
You scored better than 93% of the public and the same as 7%.
13
Total number of questions answered correctly
These percentages only reflect the 1,006 adults that took part in the national survey; online quiz results are not included in the sample.
Your responses and demographic breakdowns
Below are the percentages of each group from the nationally representative sample who answered correctly during the telephone survey.
It's sad that only 7% got them all.
The questions were stupidly simple.
Hassin Bin Sober
(26,325 posts)Warpy
(111,247 posts)Enthusiast
(50,983 posts)What do I win?
MoonRiver
(36,926 posts)Art_from_Ark
(27,247 posts)and a year's supply of press-on nails
Enthusiast
(50,983 posts)valerief
(53,235 posts)bluedeathray
(511 posts)But I found the sex question confining and assumptive.
blackspade
(10,056 posts)I didn't think it was hard at all.
Very basic really.
The low score on the atmosphere blew me away.
Tierra_y_Libertad
(50,414 posts)Surprised myself.
doc03
(35,325 posts)sakabatou
(42,148 posts)GoCubsGo
(32,080 posts)For the most part, the younger the respondents, the more they know about science. Despite everything, it looks like science education here has improved over the years. The 65+ results are abominable, overall. That explains a lot, when you consider that the majority of teabaggers belong to this age group.
livingwagenow
(373 posts)Blue_In_AK
(46,436 posts)Go Vols
(5,902 posts)You scored better than 85% of the public, below 7% and the same as 8%.
Why did I pick hydrogen :/
Blue_In_AK
(46,436 posts)that's how I knew it was nitrogen.
MineralMan
(146,287 posts)13 out of 13 correct for me.
Xyzse
(8,217 posts)Most of those are general knowledge.
sdfernando
(4,930 posts)La Lioness Priyanka
(53,866 posts)DiverDave
(4,886 posts)You scored better than 93% of the public and the same as 7%.
knew all of them.
ohheckyeah
(9,314 posts)amazingly enough
freethought
(2,457 posts)I scored better than 93% of the rest of the test subjects. That's a scary thought.
Zorra
(27,670 posts)below only 7 percent of the public, we have a serious education problem.
I'm unquestionably science challenged, and that test only took about 2 minutes to complete.
applegrove
(118,622 posts)Logical
(22,457 posts)Vashta Nerada
(3,922 posts)I learned all of that stuff in 7th grade.
WillyT
(72,631 posts)Thanks... that was fun.
& Rec !!!
Warren DeMontague
(80,708 posts)not to be like, "easy test", but... easy test.
Rhiannon12866
(205,237 posts)And here I thought I knew more about science than I did religion, missed one on that test, too...
nuxvomica
(12,422 posts)"All radioactivity is man-made. Is this statement..." should be "All radioactivity is man-made. This statement is..." They're all phrased in that odd way, like the answer is part of the question. I got all 13 but it was very annoying. Science needs English majors.
Turbineguy
(37,320 posts)That's depressing. The test was pretty easy. It seems however that a lot of people know about anti-biotic resistance, which is something.
SteveG
(3,109 posts)way too easy
yesphan
(1,587 posts)public school education, I got them all correct. It wasn't really a difficult test.