"Are you scientifically literate?"

[Tristan Lall]

Try this. (http://www.csmonitor.com/Science/2011/1209/Are-you-scientifically-literate-Take-our-quiz) It's a quiz about high-school-level science. (Well, maybe 2 or 3 of the questions might be a bit tougher.)

Full disclosure: I got 48, because I confused a gamete and a zygote, and because I haven't reviewed the names of clouds since I was in preschool.

[Ninja_Bait]

I got 5 wrong... :(

I couldn't count to 8 on my fingers properly and entered the wrong element on one question, I also didn't know the cloud thing, I have learned what Palladium is for, I learned that Mars has less gravity than I thought it did, and I had forgotten what the h constant was for.

Also, is it sad that I learned only maybe half of this in school? And only 34% in high school? (For the school system, that is, not for me.)

[DonRotolo]

Far too slow and annoying to keep with it for 50 questions.

[Cuog]

Far too slow and annoying to keep with it for 50 questions.

Agreed, I got through 3 before I got annoyed with it. One problem I noticed in my short time is it appears to test how many random facts you remember from HS science, not in fact an understanding of scientific investigation, or how to approach a problem(or new found evidence) from a scientific viewpoint. Perhaps I'm getting overly involved in semantics, but this just feels like a tabloid survey meant to get peoples eyeballs staring at ads while providing no knowledge or insight.

[genesisprobe]

I got 20 wrong, 6 of which I was pretty sure I had the wrong answer.:ahh:

[Sandvich]

I got 7 wrong.

[DarkByakko]

I got some of the chemistry questions wrong.

Chemistry is not my strong point.

[Carol]

I started it, but agree, it was too slow and I quit.

But, to me this was a test of science FACT and not literacy. Science literacy is knowing:

What is the scientific method of testing and verification? (example - doing one test does not prove or disprove a theory)

How do statistics work (Example - if you flip a coin 10 times and get ten heads, what are the odds your next flip is tails?)

What is the scientific basis behind...take your pick, astrology, palm reading,

Unless people have some science education, and can understand these concepts, how can they form their own opinions on current topics such as climate change, alternative medicine? I get frustrated seeing how most people nowadays don't want to take the time to educate themselves but rather have other people tell them what to think.

rant off.