American adults get a D in science; 22% confuse astronomy and astrology
The test isn’t particularly hard but then again, I tend to surround myself with smart friends. Based on some of the nonsense I’ve been reading in the news, it would be interesting to see how some of the presidential candidates would fare on the Pew research test. Try it yourself.
http://www.pewresearch.org/quiz/science-knowledge/
I got them all correct. I’d be upset if I got any of them wrong. I’m a scientist for crying out loud.
http://www.latimes.com/science/sciencenow/la-sci-sn-science-quiz-americans-pew-20150909-story.html
September 12, 2015
I admit to getting a single one wrong and all because I second guessed myself. Very annoying.
September 12, 2015
^Me too.
September 12, 2015
I almost second guessed as well, Carissa Braun. Do you feel like saying which one tripped you up?
I hope that people don’t Google the answers.
September 12, 2015
It was the water boiling and altitude one. I think the only cure to not second guessing next time is to go on vacation in the mountains 😉
September 12, 2015
I was talking with Akinola Emmanuel about how upsetting it would be to get one of the answers wrong. It’s kind of silly, which reminds me of my re-share of the ‘you are not stupid’ post.
https://plus.google.com/u/0/+ChadHaney/posts/6S1hmb8rC5N
September 12, 2015
Carissa Braun, as I mentioned to Akinola Emmanuel, who also almost stumbled on that one, PV =nRT is your friend.
September 12, 2015
It is my friend…as would be a vacation.
And as they always told us in school: don’t change your answers!
September 12, 2015
I lucked out on that one. I knew it was different, and the pressure would be less. The one that tripped me was the one about sound.
In my defense, I am not a scientist, I’m a copywriter.
September 12, 2015
No defense needed Jodi Kaplan​.
September 12, 2015
/sub I need to try this when I’m on my comp.
I may or may not discuss my results^_^September 12, 2015
I’m sure you and LP will ace this, Gita Jaisinghani.
September 12, 2015
Chad Haney I’m pretty sure Lacerant Plainer​ will. I’m better at life sciences than physical sc.
September 12, 2015
Ack! I missed one… About magnifying glasses…
September 12, 2015
Carissa Braun Me too! I forgot grade school for a moment and incorrectly assumed that the higher elevation and lower atmospheric density would equate to a higher boiling point.
September 12, 2015
Heh not on my laptop, but this will be interesting to try out.
September 12, 2015
I missed the water boiling one as well
: /. Grrrrr. But I definitely got age and gender correct so yay for me on those two ; )
September 12, 2015
It was interesting to see the stats particularly for both my age and gender. It appears we need to work on physics a bit more with our girls. Both the magnifying glass and water boiling had the lowest correct answer.
More science projects!
September 12, 2015
I got everything but the boiling temperature vs height question.
September 12, 2015
So I revisited the discussion some of us had about the NSF 2014 study reporting 2012 data that asked “Is astrology scientific?”
https://plus.google.com/+MatthewTimothyBradley/posts/a6Zx3mPZRs4
There were some potential misinterpretations of the question based on wording, but in retrospect, now I see our commentary was probably more correct than not; the ambiguity of word meaning likely played some role in skewing the answers but probably did not fully account for the discrepancies (i.e., there were many people who did genuinely consider astrology to be very scientific).
[For the adventurous/curious, here’s the original report:
http://www.nsf.gov/statistics/seind14/index.cfm/chapter-7/c7h.htm
And the original data from Appendix Table 7-13 (PDF):Â
http://www.nsf.gov/statistics/seind14/content/chapter-7/at07-13.pdf ]
The Pew Research question gets at the heart of the matter, which is pretty much asking “What is the definition of astrology?” with less room for erroneous interpretation. (Although I still quibble with the use of the word “study”.)
Still, I’m not sure how well these tests reflect actual science literacy overall (although there is certainly some correlation between knowing facts and understanding principles):
• “What is science literacy and what is it for?”:  http://www.culturalcognition.net/blog/2015/1/21/science-of-science-communication-20-session-21-what-is-scien.html
• Unvalidated science indicators(?) Part 1:  http://www.culturalcognition.net/blog/2014/7/28/undertheorized-and-unvalidated-stocklmayer-bryant-vs-nsf-ind.html
• “How would scientists do on a public science literacy test? (And should we care?)”:  http://www.culturalcognition.net/blog/2014/8/4/how-would-scientists-do-on-a-public-science-literacy-test-an.html
As far as helping voters make informed decisions, the “Biology for Voters” series via Berkeley EdX look like promising intro courses (I’m thinking of auditing them just to see how the material is taught). They cover evolution, pandemics, vaccines, extinctions, space exploration and the search for extraterrestrial life, sexual behavior, GMOs, obesity and healthcare costs, cancer funding, and aging:
https://www.edx.org/course/science-polls-biology-voters-part-1-uc-berkeleyx-bfv101-1x
https://www.edx.org/course/science-polls-biology-voters-part-2-uc-berkeleyx-bfv101-2x
Part 1 just started September 9th.
September 12, 2015
Thanks for the links, Johnathan Chung. Informed votes or rather, better educated voters would help. I often comment about how I really dislike the idea that some people vote for the person that they feel comfortable having a beer with. I don’t really care about how personable or how agreeable the president is. I want the most qualified person, which in my book should be an educated person. Not a bumbling fool who doesn’t know the difference between Kurds and Quds.
September 12, 2015
Chad Haney although just to play devils advocate history is full of well educated people who were pure evil. madness and intelligence often go hand in hand.
I’d rather have someone with a decent moral compass, who seeks to understand issues. I personally don’t think it’s the president job to know everything about everything, because I don’t think that person actually exists, other than in their own mind.
I think it’s his job to hire capable experts and make well informed decisions based on recommendations.
September 12, 2015
I got 12 right, but I consider radio wave and light waves to be the same, just different frequencies…
September 12, 2015
Michelle C, if the president can’t get the basics right, then his or her staff are really running the country. I’m not asking for a rocket scientist. I think one’s education level has zero to do with their capacity to be pure evil. I think the problem is that people are pushing the extremes: a bumbling idiot you can have a beer with vs. a smart person that comes across as elitist. Too bad that’s what the media wants to portray as the only options. I’m also tired of the ‘smart people are elitist and therefore can’t be trusted’ rhetoric.
September 12, 2015
Jean Liss, I don’t think they were concerned with people who know about the elctromagnetic spectrum.
September 12, 2015
Ok, but why are we assuming in their scenario  the smart guy isn’t also drinking the beer? You and I both enjoy beer and I happen to think we are both pretty smart. I want someone who is smart, but not so sure they have all the answers to the point of being a dictator, who won’t listen to qualified experts. Someone who makes well informed decisions based on facts.Â
September 12, 2015
Carissa Braun​ same here, same question.
In my defense, I don’t boil water.
Wait. That’s not really a good defense 🙂
September 12, 2015
12 out of 12, though the magnifying question gave me pause till I realized I’d placed the “eyes” on the wrong end of things.
September 12, 2015
Rachel Blum, actually throwing boiling water at an opponent is a good defense.
September 12, 2015
Cindy Brown, the eyes have it. The motion is carried.
September 12, 2015
It seems like the boiling question trips up a lot of people. For those not familiar with PV=nRT, a more conceptual visualization (by definition) is that a liquid boils when the surface “mobility” of molecules (vapor pressure) is equal to or greater than the surrounding (atmospheric) pressure (think of a pressure gradient that allows molecules to escape from a liquid state into a gas).
If the ambient pressure is lowered, now a greater proportion of those surface molecules will require comparatively less energy (heat) to escape (boil).
Unfortunately, food will take longer to cook at higher altitudes (ain’t nobody got time for that!)
The real horror is that if you get high enough (I mean ascending in altitude) and enjoy piping hot coffee (as opposed to just tepid), it’s challenging to make a decent cup because you’ll lose a good amount of water before you can get it hot enough!
You can also think about being in outer space without a space suit. The water in your body would boil off pretty quickly despite being so cold because the surrounding pressure is basically negligible (edit: and in that case, PV=nRT is your enemy :P).
September 12, 2015
Johnathan Chung Well described. I believe I was thinking of the longer cooking time, when I answered with a longer boiling time.
September 12, 2015
Jonathan Chung​ it didn’t exactly trip me up because I’m unfamiliar with the basic idea.
It tripped me up because I wasn’t sure what tolerance level the author used for “the same” 🙂
September 12, 2015
Oh the boiling water question didn’t even give me pause. But I’ve hiked and backpacked throughout the sierras — it’s one of those things you realize when you really want that hot cup of chocolate in the morning…
September 12, 2015
Hehe that was quite easy. Though the light question nearly tripped me up until I saw ‘most likely.’ I tend to take things quite literally.
September 12, 2015
Cake mixes and other baking products used to have high altitude cooking instructions on the box.
September 12, 2015
I remember that, Jean Liss​
September 13, 2015
I got 8 right, which is not bad for someone who was terrible at science at school 😀 and I was pleased to see that I was right about all the ones I felt sure about. With one question I was torn between two possibles, and chose the wrong one of the two. Three questions I just didn’t even try as it would have been a wild guess.
September 13, 2015
Nailed it…  Of course I do rocket science. 😉
September 13, 2015
Meirav M.​​ That’s good. Anyone who got 12 out of 12 was deprived of learning something new anyway 🙂 And as they say, now you’re a few mistakes closer to becoming an expert 😛
September 13, 2015
I nearly tripped myself up from acing it because I was convinced some of those were trick questions ^_^
September 13, 2015
Johnathan Chung that’s a nice way of looking at it 🙂
September 13, 2015
Don’t over think it, Gita Jaisinghani.
September 13, 2015
Ha! I almost missed the astrology/astronomy question by overthinking — assuming the question would be geared toward tricking people into picking out astronomy… till I slowed down and reread it o.O
I would not have lived that one down…
September 13, 2015
What’s your sign, Cindy Brown?
September 13, 2015
I am a scorpio. Fear me and my lethal bite.
September 13, 2015
I was sure the correlation graph was a trick question!
September 13, 2015
The correlation graph question had me scratching my head because seriously, why would anyone think time is relevant? I may not be good at science but reading what it says on each axis seemed rather basic…
September 13, 2015
Meirav M. – exactly why I reread it a few times!