Although other ways of knowing may be different from those of scientists, they are not completely unrelated. Furthermore, scientific ideas and theories often have their origins in ideas or beliefs developed for other disciplines. Scientific ideas, in turn, affect other disciplines. Middle and high school students also need to be aware of the multitude of connections within and between scientific disciplines. Some basic concepts, such as energy, matter, and molecules, are used by all disciplines.
Many problems require ideas from different disciplines.
There is generally a pattern of similarity in the ways that scientists from all disciplines understand the world. Science for All Americans identifies these major patterns as themes. People who are not scientists must deal with knowledge from all of these different sources and use it to decide how they will act. Therefore, they need to see the connections and possible conflicts between scientific ideas and ideas that originate in other disciplines. Students need to appreciate the historical origins of modern science and the multitude of connections between science and other ways of knowing about the world.