| Table 7-8 |
| Comparison of correct answers given by adults and students to factual knowledge questions: Most recent year |
| (Percent) |
| |
| |
|
|
|
|
Adult |
|
Student |
| Question |
|
Field of study |
|
Concepts
measured |
United
States |
|
United
States |
|
International |
|
Question
source |
| |
| 1. |
A farmer thinks that the vegetables on her farm are not getting enough water. Her son suggests that they use water from the nearby ocean to water the vegetables. Is this a good idea? |
|
Earth and space sciences |
|
Water cycle; nature of the oceans and their effects on water and climate; location of water, its distribution, characteristics, and its
effect and influence on
human activity |
84 |
|
61 |
|
NA |
|
NAEP 2005, grade 4 |
| 2. |
Traits are transferred from generation
to generation through the… |
|
Life sciences |
|
Reproduction and heredity |
79 |
|
86 |
|
74 |
|
TIMSS 2003, grade 8 |
| 3. |
How do most fish get the oxygen
they need to survive? |
|
Life sciences |
|
Change and evolution; adaptation and natural selection |
75 |
|
78 |
|
NA |
|
NAEP 2005, grade 8 |
| 4. |
What property of water is most
important for living organisms? |
|
Physical
sciences |
|
Matter and its transformations |
68 |
|
76 |
|
NA |
|
NAEP 2000, grade 8 |
| 5. |
Which one of the following is NOT an example of erosion? |
|
Earth and space sciences |
|
Composition of the Earth; forces that alter the Earth's surface; rocks: their formation, characteristics, and uses; soil: its changes and uses; natural resources used by humankind; and forces within the Earth |
54 |
|
37 |
|
NA |
|
NAEP 2005, grade 8 |
| 6. |
Lightning and thunder happen at the
same time, but you see the lightning before you hear the thunder. Explain why this is so. |
|
Physical
sciences |
|
Frames of reference; force and changes in position and motion; action and reaction; vibrations and waves as motion; electromagnetic radiation and interactions of electomagnetic radiation with matter |
44 |
|
36 |
|
NA |
|
NAEP 2005, grade 8 |
| 7. |
A solution of hydrochloric acid (HCl)
in water will turn blue litmus paper red. A solution of the base sodium hydroxide (NaOH) in water will turn red litmus paper blue. If the acid and base solutions are mixed in the right proportion, the resulting solution will cause neither red nor blue litmus paper to change color. Explain why the litmus paper does not change color in the mixed solution. |
|
Chemistry |
|
Acids and bases |
20 |
|
17 |
|
21 |
|
TIMSS 2003, grade 8 |
| |
NA = not available, question not asked
NAEP = National Assessment of Educational Progress; TIMSS = Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study
NOTES: Questions appeared in 2008 General Social Survey; see appendix table 7-17 for complete questions. Original sources of questions are NAEP and TIMSS.
SOURCES: University of Chicago, National Opinion Research Center, General Social Survey (2008), see appendix table 7-18; NAEP, http://nces.ed.gov/nationsreportcard/itmrls/startsearch.asp, accessed 22 September 2009; TIMSS, http://nces.ed.gov/timss/results03.asp, accessed 22 September 2009.
Science and Engineering Indicators 2012 |
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