I
i_i_e
Guest
It's a serious question. Growing up in the 60's we learned a lot about science and even astronomy. Sure, we didn't know the chemical composition of Jupiter's atmosphere, but we knew the basics, we could answer questions like:<br /><i><br />How many planets are there? What are their Names?<br /><br />If you draw a scale model of the solar system, show the relative sizes of the planets and their relative distances from the sun.<br /><br />Explain what causes the phases of the moon.<br /></i><br /><br />But in discussing science with teen and preteen kids over the past 2 months (I am now helping with an "after school" program - really should not call it that since it's busiest in the summer, anyway...) I have noticed that kids really don't know anything about astronomy or even "solar system-ology".<br /><br />And these aren't kids getting poor grades, either!!! What are they being taught? I'd get political if I continued, but let me say that they simply aren't being taught science. <br /><br />I will also add that I am in a relatively small (40,000) city in the "flyover" area of the country