Just saw a headline that only 6% of Americans could answer 12 basic questions about science (ouch). Tracked down the 12 questions, and it was interesting taking the quiz! My only quibble was that some of them were more about the history of science - or being able to interpret data - than they were about scientific facts..
Anyway here's the quiz if you want to see how you stack up!
grapefruit / 4355 posts
12 out of 12!
I did major in Biomedical Engineering, worked in an immunology research lab, and took 6 years of science courses in high school though!
nectarine / 2148 posts
I got 9 out of 12. I don't think I did too bad considering I haven't thought about some of the questions since science class back in high school.
pomelo / 5866 posts
I did better than I expected. 10/12. One of them I should have went with my first instinct and the other I should have known to pick the unknown to be correct! So beating myself for not getting that 100 percent! I had very little science education myself, growing up. Although perhaps teaching fourth graders every year for the past decade and a half has kept me on my toes.
ETA I got the polio and the sound ones wrong. Googling the answer crossed my mind for a nanosecond but I resisted temptation.
persimmon / 1339 posts
12/12...I'm a high school science teacher, so if I didn't get that I'd be worried! Now my students on the other hand....
pomegranate / 3643 posts
10/12. I misread the cellphone one (thought it said telephone) and wasn't sure about the water boiling one. Although you would think living at 4k above sea level j would know that!!
apricot / 477 posts
11/12
I wasn't paying attention when I selected the answer for the sound waves one.
I took about 11 science classes in high school though so it isn't surprising to me. I am Canadian though so I wouldn't count for the statistic.
honeydew / 7235 posts
I was not good at science, but only got one wrong - the sound one, thought it was frequency. Oh well!
pomelo / 5607 posts
11/12, and I'm another that overthought one and should have gone with my instinct. But wtf is the astrology one doing on there? That's the opposite of science!
grapefruit / 4441 posts
11/12 - I screwed up on the magnification one even though I knew better. I blame sleep deprivation! 
grapefruit / 4817 posts
10/12. Did better than I thought considering I remember nothing about sound. Missed the one about boiling point, too. For some reason I thought they boiled at the same point, but it just took longer to reach it in Denver. I've lived in Florida all my life. I only know about sea level. 
persimmon / 1328 posts
I only got 9! But I'm English I have never ever heard that water boils at different temperatures in different places! I thought it was always 100c.
wonderful pear / 26210 posts
11/12. I do admit, that when I was answering the questions, I second guessed myself on each one, but did not change my answer.
persimmon / 1339 posts
In case anyone was curious about the water boiling thing, the higher you are the lower the atmospheric pressure, and the lower the pressure, the lower the temperature at which the water boils. At Everest base camp water boils around 80 degrees C, and in a vacuum, water turns to vapour immediately!
hostess / wonderful honeydew / 32460 posts
Took the quiz and this is how I did! How disappointing!! I wanna know my score!
wonderful pea / 17279 posts
My kid will need to a tutor to help with science homework. My score was 7/12 
olive / 62 posts
@chopsuey: That's how I did, too! The 503 error just amplified my irritation with the quiz. I'm not sure why your ability to answer some of those questions should be considered indicative of anything meaningful about "Americans'" grasp of science. What's the relevance of knowing how cell phone conversations are transmitted? And you could probably go your whole life without knowing the difference between frequency and amplification and still be a productive member of society. (Note there were no questions about evolution on that quiz. Why?)
ETA: Just read the article, and this seems to be what the researchers are interested in:
"a public with more knowledge of scientific facts and principles is often seen as one better able to understand these developments and make informed judgments."
So, again, why would a question about sound waves be more relevant to that issue than, say, one about evolution, or how diseases are transmitted, etc?
pear / 1881 posts
@chopsuey: I got this too! What a disappointment! I'll have to try again later..
squash / 13208 posts
@chopsuey: ugh - me too and I think I did well - the only one I didn't know at all was who invented the polio vaccine
nectarine / 2115 posts
10/12... Not bad. And both the ones I got wrong I was torn between 2 answers and chose wrong each time!
blogger / wonderful cherry / 21616 posts
I only got 9/12.
I haven't taken a science class that talks about stuff like earth science for a loooong time! All the classes I've done recently are microbiology and anatomy and physiology 
that's the kind of science I do well in.
pear / 1657 posts
10/12 - not too bad I suppose. I was a bio major in college but haven't done anything remotely science related in over 10 years.
hostess / papaya / 10219 posts
10/12. I was an English and Psychology major so I haven't taken science in about 20 years.
wonderful kiwi / 23653 posts
You scored better than 52% of the public, below 33% and the same as 15%.
Thought I'd do worse, lol!
pomelo / 5257 posts
I got 12/12, which I did not really expect. I did go to a science and tech high school, so maybe that's cheating
pea / 6 posts
12/12! I'm surprised! But I'm in midwifery school and have taken a lot of science classes recently, so some of it was fresh in my mind.
pineapple / 12793 posts
11/12. Haven't taken a science since high school. Not too bad.
wonderful olive / 19353 posts
10/12. I got the Polio one wrong - couldn't remember if it was Marie Curie or Jonas Salk. 50/50 guess there. And I got the chemical needed to make nuclear weapons wrong. Had no clue on that one.
pomelo / 5524 posts
10/12 for this business major 
I've always hated science, because I wasn't very good at it, but I surprised myself. Got tripped up over the comet and light year questions.
cantaloupe / 6059 posts
10/12. The two I missed I really shouldn't have - the water boiling one and the one about how light is reflected.
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