Question

14
Exercise 7
There has been a lot of discussion on television recently about the value of studying science. Your
teacher has asked you to write an article for the school magazine on this topic.
Here are two comments that you have heard:
I think science makes our
lives better.
People sometimes use science
in the wrong way
Write an article for the magazine, giving your views.
The comments above may give you some ideas, and you should try to use some ideas of your own.
Your article should be between 150 and 200 words long.
You will receive up to 10 marks for the content of your article, and up to 9 marks for the style and
accuracy of your language.

Answer 1

Answer:

If you send time with a young child it soon becomes clear that the astronomer Carl Sagan was right when he said: “Every kid starts out as a natural-born scientist…”. Spend time with a typical high-school student and it’s clear that the second part of Sagan’s quote is also correct: “...then we beat it out of them. A few trickle through the system with their wonder and enthusiasm for science intact.”

Attempts to change that dynamic are increasingly focused on teachers, particularly the way they are trained and how they interact with students. In the United States, the Next Generation Science Standards, developed by the National Research Council, outline ways for teachers to encourage student enquiry, feed their curiosity, and deepen their understanding of scientific concepts. Meanwhile, the latest teacher-training techniques place a greater emphasis on pedagogy and classroom practice as another way to improve science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) education. Both approaches are seen as models for other countries that seek to improve their own STEM education.