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Student: "Why do I have to know all this stuff?" System: "Because we want you to be prepared to get a job as a search engine" - dj

Hopefully if we are responding to a high school student, the answer will be something to the effect to be a informed member of society. I think students have been getting short changed in science education. Quality science education is a social justice issue. BTW, I do NOT mean that students need to know ALL this stuff. They do need to know how to learn, think and make informed decisions. Now for the engagement...

It's important our kids know all the State capitals by the time they're say 10. It's not as if they can easily look them up. Hmmm ... re-evaluate education?

Excellent point Jeff!

Shhh, my husband is still very proud of the fact that he can recite all fifty states and capitals. With that said... What is the purpose to our educational system? Do we desire to produce individuals capable of following and remembering simple to moderately complex instructions, such as assembly line workers? (For those not familiar, please look up the interesting relationship between public education and World War II.) Or is the purpose of our educational system to produce good citizens that are capable of civil debate and well-versed in the arts, government, and literature but untrained/unprepared for any specific vocation? (See the purpose of a classical Greek education and socratic methods of instruction.) On the other hand, has education now evolved into something different entirely? Do we seek to produce deep-thinking citizens, capable of solving problems that require complex thought processes and the ability to solve multi-dimensional problems? If so, how to we help prepare students who want to work as plumbers, mechanics, and cosmetologists? And better yet, is our educational system prepared and capable of answering the call to any one of these demands? Do we need to advocate only one of these philosophies, or should we hold fast to two of them? To all three? Food for thought! Kendra

I agree, Arlene. Like every other part of our body - use it or lose it! Our brains need to contain enough background information to be able to synthesize, analyze, create, etc. Those 50 states and the Preamble to the Constitution that we memorized were for a reason... to make our brains "stronger" for bigger and better tasks.

I have been asked that question for over 20 years and I asked it myself for a while. Then I learned how the brain worked. When we learn, even memorize, we make connections in our brains. The more of those connections we can make, the better our memories and our brains will function over the years. From elementary school on, I was asked to memorize different things (poems, speeches, etc.) I am 49 and can still remember parts of "The Midnight Ride of Paul Revere", the prologue to the "Canterbury Tales", and the "Gettysburg Address". Now I not saying that any of these pieces of literature are necessary in and of themselves. What I am trying to say is that, children can make connections at young ages that may stay with them. It would be nice to have fewer people with dementia if this were possible. I don't know that is would be true, but it is worth a try.

What a great thread! Students---no matter what career they pursue---need to know how to find information, evaluate it, and synthesize it---all which help the brain to make those connections to prior knowledge.