Misconception of the Month
NCSE tackles common misconceptions about climate change, evolution, and the nature of science.
I was lucky enough to spend a year in Italy during graduate school. If you’ve ever been there, you know how good the food is. It seems to me that Italians simply take food far too seriously to serve a bad meal, even to a clueless foreigner. In addition to being proud of their food, I think it’s not…
I will never forget one day in spring 1974 when my father returned home from a trip to Xenia, Ohio. Dad was in the insurance business, and I was used to hearing cautionary tales about people who injured themselves while setting off home fireworks, riding motorcycles without helmets, or cleaning out…
In 2015, recognizing the existential threat posed by global climate change and the need for coordinated action, nearly 200 nations adopted the Paris Agreement, a framework for addressing the climate threat on an international scale. A central goal of the agreement was this:
Holding the increase…
Have you heard the joke about the museum guide who, when asked about the sign explaining that dinosaurs became extinct 65,000,004 years ago, replied, “When we put up the exhibit, the experts told us that dinosaurs had been extinct for 65,000,000 years. That was four years ago!”
Pretty silly, I…
At NCSE, we design all our curricular resources around the concept of misconception-based learning. But why do we care so much about the need to confront and correct misconceptions as part of a great science education? Here’s my answer: misconceptions are like vulnerabilities in your home security…
How would you feel if you visited your favorite news website tomorrow morning and saw the headline: “Study finds surfing internet at least 8 hours per day adds years to life, eating nachos extends benefit”? C’mon, admit it. You’d definitely click. And then what? How would you decide whether the…