Does Earth orbit the sun? Many people don’t know
June 25th, 2008, 3:00 am · 9 Comments · posted by grobbins
The public continues to have a poor understanding of some of the most basic facts and concepts in science, says a major periodic survey by the National Science Foundation.
The NSF survey of more than 1,500 adults found that only about 55 percent of the respondents knew how long it takes for the Earth to orbit the sun and whether antibiotics kill viruses as well as bacteria. About 20 percent of the respondents also answered incorrectly when asked if the Earth orbits the sun or the sun orbits the Earth. Read the survey
Here are the questions that were posed in the survey. Click on “Read the rest of this entry” below for the answers.
1. The center of the Earth is very hot. (True or false)
2. All radioactivity is man-made. (True or false)
3. Lasers work by focusing sound waves. (True or false)
4. Electrons are smaller than atoms? (Yes or no)
5. The universe began with a huge explosion. (True or false)
6. The continents on which we live have been moving their location for millions of years and will continue to move in the future. (True or false)
7. Does the Earth go around the Sun, or does the Sun go around the Earth?
8. How long does it take for the Earth to go around the Sun?
9. It is the father’s gene that decides whether the baby is a boy or a girl.
10. Antibiotics kill viruses as well as bacteria.
11. Human beings, as we know them today, developed from earlier species of animals. (True or false)
Survey answers:
1. True
2. False
3. False
4. True
5. True
6. True
7. Earth goes around the sun
8. One year
9. True
10. False
11. True
June 25th, 2008 at 6:53 am
Congratulations ocr, you’ve made the DRUDGE REPORT!
We dummys oyut hyere doynt kno mush abut sceince butt we kno outsourcing to india is lame. & so are you
Who polled the “public” in this survey?
Was the poll in s. la., cause that would splain your results.
I bet the same questions asked of the public in India would prove how stupid we Americans REALLY are.
Sciencedude: Friend, you’re mighty close to being banned from commenting on this blog. The vast majority of readers find it possible to be civil. Do the same or go elsewhere.
June 25th, 2008 at 11:52 am
The results of the survey show the continuing decline of science knowledge in the lay public. It seems to me that science awareness had its heyday during the early years of the space program, when science education came under the “microscope” after the launch of Sputnik 1.
It is up to the science educators today to instill not only science knowledge, but appreciation of the scientific method of inquiry, which at its best is unbiased and foolproof.
June 25th, 2008 at 1:33 pm
I just want to learn more more more truth! More about God’s great design and master plan! Its so amazingly complex.
June 26th, 2008 at 4:17 pm
Stop picking on Mr. Landsbaum!
June 26th, 2008 at 8:13 pm
I remember the earth/sun orbit from a kindergarten song we’d sing on someone’s birthday: “Bobby’s been around the suuuun FIVE times! He’s been around the suuuun FIVE times!” as the birthday child walked around a yellow ball holding his birthday candle.
For #6, “True” is not an accurate answer. It’s but one theory of many, not a fact.
July 28th, 2008 at 4:04 pm
I am glad the survey on antibiotics was published! Nothing is more annoying than when people go to the doctor because they have a flu and ask for antibiotics…antibiotics kill bacteria and the flu is a virus people! And that’s really sad that people didn’t know the earth rotated around the sun in 365 days that’s like Kindergarten knowledge.
July 30th, 2008 at 4:42 am
If a person decides to apply a scientific survey to the public, he/she must first be able to prove his answers. This test is a waste of time. Q:6….?
not impressed.
August 3rd, 2008 at 9:52 pm
For montessori kid and kristozen: Maybe I’m missing your point, but why is Question #6 “not an accurate answer” and why are you “not impressed”? If you are referring to the Theory of Plate Tectonics, then you would be correct about Q6’s answer not being accurate in that it is not in fact “true”, but rather just a theory. However, if you chose to make this point your only argument when any reasonable person, or more importantly a bonafide scientist, can surmise that Plate Tectonics is alive and well and proven “in theory” everyday by way of fault movement, past historical maps, etc., etc., then why bother challenging whether or not the answer is true? Why not not just argue that Plate Tectonics is a working theory? I dunno, I guess I felt I needed to waste time on this answer. Thanks for playing!