Grand Ideas of ScienceThe core of scientific literacyIn his 2007 book, Why Science?, scientist & author James Trefil concludes with a list of "Grand Ideas" of science which could be used as the basis of any core science program aimed at providing scientific literacy to the general population. In short, he argues that these are the scientific concepts necessary for someone to understand issues that arise within society regarding scientific discoveries & issues, and anyone lacking this most basic of understanding is not informed enough to even enter the debate. I reproduce that list here (with his consent), with my own commentary provided. Stars live and die like everything else.It was once believed that the heavens were eternal and unchanging, though this notion was thrown out the window by Galileo (and by ample evidence prior to Galileo). Today we know that stars are formed when hydrogen gas draws together in space and the gravitational pressure causes nuclear fusion to begin. Similarly, when the nuclear fuel of the star runs out, the star will die, possibly in a massive supernova that results in a black hole. The universe began in a manner roughly consistent with the "Big Bang" theory.Or, as Trefil says it, "The universe began in a hot, dense state about 14 billion years ago and has been expanding ever since." This is certainly the scenario that is outlined in the Big Bang Theory, although even alternatives (such as the cyclic model provided by Paul J. Steinhardt & Neil Turok in their book Endless Universe: Beyond the Big Bang) would have to account for the same extensive evidence. No matter what the theory that ultimately proves most successful, the general outlines have been established and heavily proven and are highly unlikely to prove faulty. The surface of the Earth is constantly changing.Just like the heavens, it was once believed that the Earth itself was constant and unchanging, except for superficial changes such as erosion. In the years since plate tectonics was first put forth, the field of geology has grown immensely, discovering a wealth of information about how the Earth's surface continuously changes. The Earth works in cycles.There are a variety of cycles in how the Earth functions, from the hundred millions of years of the rock cycle to the much shorter cycles involved in weather patterns (the atmospheric cycle), nitrogen cycles, wetland cycles, ice ages, and the like. Life is based on chemistry.From birth to death, life is entirely dictated by chemical processes. Reproduction is a chemical process and, on the other end, aging and death are processes whereby the chemistry that keeps the cells going breaks down. Every stage in between is similarly dictated by the biochemical processes that take place within our bodies.The behavior of molecules in living systems depends on their shape.This insight helps us understand why enzymes and proteins are so important in the chemistry of life. They allow the molecules within the body to assume shapes which are more appropriate for certain jobs and, therefore, to more readily perform those jobs. Without the right chemicals, such as insulin, produced (or introduced) into the body in some fashion, some of these jobs wouldn't be able to get done.Life's chemistry is encoded in DNA.One of the greatest conjunctions of chemistry, biology, & physics was the discovery of the double-helix structure of DNA molecules. At the most basic level, the important thing to remember is that DNA is a long molecule which contains coded information which is used by some cells to produce other chemicals, which in turn perform jobs such as creating new cells, attacking germs, and the like. Without this coding, our cells would never have any instructions on how to act and would, in effect, be like a computer with no operating system ... a pile of useless junk.All living things share the same genetic code.While this may be a miraculous finding, it's true. All life (on Earth, at least) encodes its genetic information in the form of DNA. This provides us with a connective thread throughout all of life, but also provides the foundation of genetic engineering, which is a topic which will only increase as biotechnologies become more adept at manipulating the genome of various plant & animal species.Life evolved through the process of natural selection.Biological evolution is a fact and even the scientists who espouse "intelligent design" must account for the wealth of data in support of evolution. Even if you believe there is an intelligent designer, a realistic look at the evidence tells that the designer must, by necessity, be using evolution by natural selection as the primary production process.
Still, on both sides of the Evolution/Creationism debate, it is a highly emotionally charged issue ... really more so than any other on this list. Regardless, it remains necessary for a scientifically literate education. | 
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