How do we go about putting a little science into our lives?

Question

An excerpt from the link below:

" ... when we look at the wealth of opportunities hovering on the horizon — stem cells, genomic sequencing, personalized medicine, longevity research, nanoscience, brain-machine interface, quantum computers, space technology — we realize how crucial it is to cultivate a general public that can engage with scientific issues; there's simply no other way that as a society we will be prepared to make informed decisions on a range of issues that will shape the future. ...

The orange band tells you that when I ask this question, I'm also thinking about how the question applies to global climate change.

http://www.edge.org/documents/archive/edge247.html#bg

Answer 1

For starters, we could include a Science section in the WASL tests.   So many kids grow up being totally ignorant of even the very basic principles of Science!

Answer 2

Number one: get kids off TV and games.  Number two: engage their curiosity and let them try to answer their own questions.  Reply with questions designed to guide thinking.  But we're not every kid's parent.

When sputnik went up the response to educate better/more scientists worked, but that was prior to decreasing educational standards.  Now, I think we need to go back to basics - require again science courses in school and for all teachers.  I feel what you are saying - I think we've already lost.  US is coasting on the skills of immigrant scientists.

Answer 3

Educating children instead of allowing the educational system to decay into glorified daycare would be agood place to start.

If science leads to technology which leads to more "stuff" and higher demands for power, on a global basis do we need more science in our collective 6.6 billion lives, or less?  We're fortunate that more people don't have more science today, but that favorable situation is eroding fast as power plants are built worldwide at a dizzying pace.