When science is ignored in the lower grades, the effect extends into middle school, high school and college, says Janulaw. Obviously, when kids come to middle school and high school, they are going to have much less basic knowledge and understanding of concepts, and they're not going to know how to function in a science classroom. We have been starting at a much lower level at the middle schools than we should, because so many kids have very little experience with science in elementary schools. Those who have had science tend not to be very excited about it, says Lucinda Luttgen, an eighth-grade science teacher at Andrew Carnegie Middle School in Orangevale and a member of the San Juan Teachers Association. They see science as reading books, answering questions and taking tests, rather than conducting their own hands-on experiments that have real meaning.
Kids look at it as another reading class.
The kids who come into her class without any science background are the most excited, says Luttgen. The days of having a science resource teacher are over unless the PTA hires someone. The decline in scientific knowledge among students is being noticed at the college level. Sometimes we start our introductory courses at the very beginning, assuming they know nothing and have never had a biology course. Bills, a member of the Butte College Education Association, has also noticed that students don't have a great appetite for science.