I think it's important that the argument for better science education isn't simply pushing science as knowledge, information you know, but science as a process or as skill, a way of looking at the world and learning through experimentation and challenging preconceived ideas. Science is a tool that helps you learn about the world around you.

That being said, it applies to all school subjects. Teachers would do well to reinforce that students are not just writing a paper about Huck Finn, they are learning how to process ideas and articulate their thoughts in a way that others can understand. History isn't just about memorizing dates, but about connecting information and seeing the causes and effects of world events. Learning from the past informs the present.

I'm not even going to touch on actually trying to instill a "joy for learning," I just think it's important to contextualize what it is a student is learning. The details may not be directly relevant to their lives, but it could be. The ability to process the intricate workings of a process is important. It requires a good teacher to be able to relate topics to students lives, and a great one to show them how to do that themselves.

Sorry if that was rambling, but I've long thought standardized testing and classroom learning negatively effects science much more than other subjects. The not just lack of understanding, but fear and dismissal, of science in the American public is greatly disheartening.