Problem based learning (PBL) supports to the process of obtaining an education. According to video 1, receiving an education is different from going to school. Like said by one of my teachers, receiving an education is improving yourself as an individual for the greater good of society. Problem based learning does not follow the tradition methods of school. It does not require the regurgitation of facts to be thrown up in the teacher’s face. Problem based learning requires you to apply the facts you have learned to fix real life problems. I know this system of learning is effective because the medical school JABSOM (John A. Burns School of Medicine) uses PBLs as their curriculum. It helps the medical students prepare for what it will be like in the real medical field. In Patino’s class, we use the PBL system. The Standard 9 CER Question was an example of a PBL. Patino asked us to answer a question relating to a current problem in the Hawaiian community. I believe this question helped me convey my understanding for evolutionary theory. For example, the question I decided to answer was on GMO kalo. I had to apply all of my biology knowledge on evolutionary theory that I learned in Biology class and then use that knowledge to solve a relevant, current problem. When answering my question, I mentioned the mechanisms of evolution affecting the kalo (mostly artificial selection and mutation). I also talked about more specific things like how we need to help the kalo evolve now that it’s domesticated because it has lost the majority of its defense mechanisms. In conclusion, problem based learning helps students get a valuable education that will aid them in surviving in the real world.

            In order to be science literate, you need to be constantly updating your mental database of knowledge. I believe this was my greatest struggle with being science literate. It’s hard enough to grasp the concepts of science in the first place, and when I finally get those facts down, it changes! Science is constantly changing and updating, so you really have to be on top of the ball when it comes to this field of study. However, despite my challenges with science literacy, I believe that over the course of this year, I have become a person of science literacy. According to Engrade, I did pretty well on the Standard 9 Exam. That means that I am able to use the facts that I learned in class and apply them to real life situations (such as the GMO kalo). I am proud of my accomplishment of being able to understand different science topics and being able to contribute helpful discussion about these topics. Science literacy is a skill that the general public should strive for and one that I am working towards mastering myself.

             

This video contains both misconceptions and biases. In the video, the speaker said, “People who believe in the fairytale of evolution expect you to think that people are really low-down, dirty animals.” This is a misconception because according to http://evolution.berkeley.edu/evolibrary/article/0_0_0/evo_02, “biological evolution, simply put, is descent with modification”. If you examine the two definitions, you can see that they are very different. Based on the Out-of-Africa theory discussed in my A.P. World class, by the second definition, we are examples of evolution. According to the Out-of-Africa theory, we are all derivatives of the species homo sapiens sapiens, not monkeys like the video says. When people moved out of Africa (evolution mechanism of migration), people evolved and changed genetically based on their new environment (mutation). For example, people who moved to places closer to the equator had darker skin than people who moved farther away from the equator. Another misconception I noticed in the video was when the speaker mentioned that the theory of evolution was inaccurate because humans don’t look like animals. (“Man shows no physical characteristics to animals at all.”) According to the video we watched in class (Ian Dunnings), this point is a fallacy. What does looks have to do with anything? Personally, I don’t look like any of my siblings; does that mean that I am not related to them because I don’t look like them? No. The speaker in the video has many misconceptions, supported only by fallacies, that show that he is science illiterate.

            Science knowledge is different from other knowledge because science knowledge is obtained through the scientific method. Even though all knowledge helps explain the natural world, science knowledge has 4 requirements that it has to meet in order to classify as scientific knowledge. According to the Biology textbook, the four requirements are as follows:

1.     Science is based on the assumption that the natural world can be investigated and explained in terms we can understand.

2.     Science is based on the results of observations and controlled experiments.

3.     The results of these observations and experiments must be (at least in principle) repeatable and verifiable by other scientists.

4.     The findings of science must be refutable.

If knowledge doesn’t meet these qualifications, it does not count as science.

            There are definitely consequences in not understanding biological evolution. If you don’t understand biological evolution, that means you are science illiterate in that topic. According to Patino, if you are not science illiterate, you are not able to make informed opinions about things. This video is an example of that. The speaker, who claims that people that believe in evolution are Darwin worshippers against religion, clearly doesn’t understand what evolution is. Due to this ignorance, he made a video that made him look foolish. Along with looking foolish, he has become unaccepting of other views. This situation draws parallels to GMO. Since people don’t understand what GMOs are, they are against it. This resistance is very similar to the speaker’s resistance towards evolution. From my personal experience, I have learned that people are against things that they don’t completely understand. In conclusion, I believe people could strive to have a solid general understanding of things and to be science literate because not understanding science concepts, like evolution, definitely have consequences.

Photo Credit: http://animalfacts-pictures.blogspot.com/2011/10/gorilla.html