The Importance of Science

I have been given a sort of mandate as the sixth grade science teacher: Increase science instruction hours, breadth, and depth. As this mandate has been embraced and achieved, our students have experienced both the benefits and the burden of the increased focus on science. The content knowledge that they have acquired is significant, the scientific study skills that they practice are critical, and the life lessons regarding the interworking of our planet will linger in their minds forever. All of our lessons in the formation of our planet, the changing face of the Mother Earth, our dwindling natural resources, and the interconnectivity between nature and mankind have lately turned my thoughts to the learning that is taking place in our science program. What we are discovering in Earth Science is about more than Pangaea, volcanoes, and petroleum. We are learning that science is a part of our daily lives – not something that is done, but something that is lived.

The September 2009 issue of ASCD’s Educational Leadership magazine outlines the great ideas of science, the eighteen concepts that our students need to digest in order to be scientifically literate. Here’s what we, the lifelong learners, need to understand:
1. The universe is regular and predictable.
2. Energy is conserved and always goes from more useful to less useful forms.
3. Electricity and magnetism are two aspects of the same force.
4. All matter is made of atoms.
5. Everything comes in discrete units, and you can't measure anything without changing it.
6. Atoms are bound by electron glue.
7. The way a material behaves depends on how its atoms are arranged.
8. Nuclear energy comes from the conversion of mass.
9. All matter is made of quarks and leptons.
10. Stars live and die.
11. The universe was born at a specific time in the past, and it has been expanding ever since.
12. Every observer sees the same laws of nature in operation.
13. The surface of the earth is constantly changing.
14. The earth operates in many cycles.
15. All living things are made from cells, the chemical factories of life.
16. All life is based on the same genetic code.
17. All forms of life evolved by natural selection.
18. All life is connected.

Each concept is important in its own right, but I would be remiss if I didn’t comment on just a few of these ideas. No. 2 illustrates a connection to global warming, a critical focus amongst our students and Eco Club members. Regarding Item 2, the article’s authors, James Trefil and Wanda O'Brien-Trefil, state, “This idea helps us understand such concepts as global warming (energy captured by greenhouse gases has to go somewhere—in this case, to warming the planet) and explains why, when we burn coal, two-thirds of its energy will be dumped into the environment as waste heat.” As we come off of our studies of the Earth’s nonrenewable resources, this idea seems particularly poignant. Items 13 and 14 are of significance for 6th Graders, as well. Regarding No. 13, the authors state, “This idea encompasses plate tectonics, our current dynamic picture of the earth, and the notion—surprising to many people—that everything is impermanent, from mountains to oceans.” Regarding the Earth’s cycles, an understanding of the rock cycle, water cycle, etc., will prompt students to better understand and respond to such environmental concerns as acid rain, the expanding hole in the ozone layer, and aforementioned global warming.

Lastly, and perhaps most importantly, as No. 18 states, all life is interconnected. If we do not understand the complex web of ecosystems that exist on our planet, we will be doomed to miss the opportunity to best manage our planet both now and in the future. We rely on each other for health and safety. We rely on the Earth’s resources for sustainability. We rely on all creatures – great and small – as we live out our days on the big blue third rock from the sun.

Scientific literacy does not begin or end in the sixth grade, we are on a lifelong trajectory of science education and exploration. The Earth is our classroom, and it is always open for business.