In school, we teach science, biology, chemistry, and physics. What we don't teach is how it all interconnects. Without one another, none of them would make any sense. Without all of them, the world wouldn't work. Science is important. That is why every student is required to take it.
My problem with science, is the way in which we teach it. We teach them all as if they are separate from each other, as if they do not connect and do not relate. Nevertheless, they do, and not just because they are all science.
Most people learn about biology first because it is the most observable. With biology, we talk about ecology and what makes up the world. We study anatomy and physiology, microbiology and how it effects us, and many more, like genetics and photosynthesis. However, we rarely look at the chemistry and physics at work in these concepts.
In chemistry, we study how molecules and compounds are made and what they are made of. We study atoms, the history of their discovery and the subatomic particles that make them up. We study how changes in molecules occur. The farther you get into chemistry, the more detailed interactions with compounds you get. However, they never explain how these compounds come together to make cells.
In physics, we learn about velocity, acceleration, vectors and everything that goes with it. We learn about forces and their vectors, current, voltage and amperage, and what all those things mean. While all of this seems practical and applicable, they all relate back to everything else as well.
Our entire world is made up of atoms. Atoms, which are held together by forces of physics, make up compounds and molecules that create organelles. Organelles come together to make cells, cells create tissues, tissues make up organs, and organs make up organisms. Organisms function through chemical reactions and everything that we do is signaled through chemicals reacting. They say that our brains function through energy transfers, which would mean both chemistry, where the energy comes from, and physics, how the energy is transferred.
This is what we don't teach and most people cannot connect these dots on their own. When taking a science class, you only focus on the one in front of you. After you take your class, most people lose interest and do not care anymore how things interrelate. You hear about classes such as bio-chemistry, but you don'tt ever get there. It just becomes a scary possibility. We need to teach our kids how the sciences interrelate.
