Original magazine headline: Not such bright sparks
Teachers might despair at their pupils’ lack of science knowledge, but according to a survey of 1,002 parents they should be more worried about their mums and dads.
More than half of the parents of five to 16-year-olds think their children know more about science than they do.
Four out of five parents surveyed couldn’t answer a question about science from their child and one in five felt silly when they didn’t know the answer.
As well as that favourite of questions: “Where do babies come from?”, parents were also asked: “What makes a rainbow?”
A new website - Science: (So what? So everything) - launched by the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills provides explanations to these questions, along with resources and suggestions for places to visit.