Ain't No Mystery

The Christian Science Monitor recently published an article entitled "The mystery of teaching science...solved!", although I'm not sure that they really had any groundbeaking news to share. Teach science in a way that gets kids involved and helps them relate science to their own lives. Isn't that the secret to teaching any subject well?

Here is what is disturbing:

• 93 percent of public school students in Grades 5 through 8 learn physical science from teachers who do not have a college major or certification in the subject (based on data from the year 2000).
• Most K through 6 classrooms have science education for about 16 minutes a day.

Sadly enough, I'd be thrilled if elementary kids in my district were assured of 16 minutes of science everyday. I realize that's not aiming very high. But, jeez, we need to start somewhere.