Helping People Understand Science

Science has long been one of the "foundations" of a world based in logic and reason and its importance remains the same today. To look at things in a scientific manner has been the driving force behind some of the greatest discoveries of mankind. However, like all periods throughout history, science is (still, somehow) being contested in its legitimacy. Let's take a look at just one controversial issue...climate change. According to Skeptical Science, an Australian website dedicated to the skepticism of climate change skepticism, an astounding 97% of scientists agree humans are causing global warming, 2% don't say, and 1% disagree. On the other side, only 72% of normal Australians believe that global warming is cause by humans, 23% don't say, and 5% disagree. While an obvious majority of Australians believe it is caused by humans, a large amount of the population surveyed either weren't sure or disagreed, many more so than the percentage of scientists surveyed. (source for percentages - https://skepticalscience.com/graphics.php?g=31)

A reason why this could be is that the general population may not have enough information on the subject to create an informed opinion. They might rely on non-scientific sources to get information on something that should really only be looked at scientifically (like climate change). One way to explain these things to the general public would be through the vast and easily accessible medium that is the internet. YouTube alone has hundreds, if not thousands, of content creators that are solely dedicated to covering scientific topics in a very comprehensive manner.

Some of my own personal favorite scientific content creators on YouTube are listed below:
Kurzgesagt – In a Nutshell
Smarter Every Day
Veritasium
Minutephysics
Periodic Videos (also, go check out Brady's whole slew of other science or math channels!)

Our Science and the Public class, however, has taken a more hands on approach than just watching videos on YouTube. One such tactic to help people understand science is an example like this very blog post. People on blogs are constantly giving updates on the latest science news and discoveries. They also might just cover anything that peaks their interest. Generally, these blogs are reliable and creditable, but sometimes they might be pushing a certain biased  agenda, so make sure you find a good blog to get your information!

Another way of helping people understand science was by hosting and attending a panel of scientists who were able to give information and respond to questions. It was probably helped in class by the fact that there were so few people, and direct interactions were easier to accomplish, but it still presented a very interesting way to engage scientists directly and ask them questions about their work.


(Our panel of scientists in the class)



Yet another example of helping people to understand science is to take it to the people directly, in this case, the youth. Several groups of first grade students from a local elementary school came to App on a trip, and some people from our class volunteered to help them do their science and understand the different parts of geology and paleontology.


(Me helping a first grader look into her microscope at her "geode")


I feel these experiences have greatly impacted not only the class, but all of those involved in them. I personally thought they were very good ways of getting information out to those involved, and show potential to be applied to nearly everything in science as a way to help people better understand it.