Need for Change, Option B:
Interpreting Data in Newspaper Article

Estimated Time: 10-15 minutes.

List of Materials

Sample Presentation
Presenter: The purpose of this activity is to show that science illiteracy is a problem in the United States.

TRANSPARENCY: Do Soldiers Live Longer?

Distribute the HANDOUT: Do Soldiers Live Longer? Ask the group to read the article.

Presenter: How would you expect a science literate person to respond to this article?

As responses are given, write significant phrases on the blank transparency.

Among possible responses: Presenter: A science literate person will be skeptical about headlines. A science literate person will ask probing questions and insist on obtaining convincing answers to those questions before he or she believes something like this headline. Too many of our young people are not skeptical. Too many of them do not know what questions to ask. Too many students who graduate from American high schools are science illiterate. Project 2061 and its tools are designed to help change this situation, to bring about a reform in science education so that when young Americans leave grade 12, they will be literate in science, mathematics, and technology.