Teaching Our Children Bad Science: Next Generation Science Standards Flawed

Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS), a product of Achieve, Inc., are being used throughout the U.S. public school system. I have just reviewed the final NGSS standards on areas related to the teaching of climate change. Here are my conclusions:

1. General. On the subject of the NGSS for climate change and man’s role in influencing the climate, I firmly believe these standards should not be allowed within our education system. These areas for teaching our children are so deeply flawed as to raise concerns about how other sections in the proposed curriculum standards were developed.

2. Use of Invalid and Disproved Science. Starting in middle school and through high school standards, the subject of causes and effects of climate change are based on the disproved greenhouse gas theory and are heavily reliant on global climate models that have been shown to be wrong whenever they are compared with real world data. This is in effect, teaching bad science in violation of the scientific method.

3. Standards Are Based on False Assertions of Mankind’s Impact on Climate Change. These standards falsely assert that mankind has a “major” impact on the Earth’s climate. The reality is of course that mankind’s role in climate change is little to none especially when compared to solar activity and natural cycles of greenhouse gas production which are far, far, larger than the minuscule effect on climate coming from man’s industrial output. The global climate models referenced have not been shown reliable, far from it, they are unreliable.

4. Specific Standards Sections on Climate Should Be Removed Completely. The entire section in the middle school devoted to “Weather and Climate” and in the high schools standards titled, “Earth Systems,” “Weather and Climate,” and “Human Impacts” should be completely removed and rewritten to reflect what the primary causes of climate change are instead of the flawed and unreliable greenhouse gas theory.

5. These Climate Standards Do Not Reflect the Most Important Factors in Climate Change. In the process of revising these educational standards, the predominant role of the Sun, natural climatic cycles, and other natural forcing factors should be taught instead.

I am genuinely concerned that should these standards be taught, we will in effect be teaching our children how to use bad science in place of good science, how to be politically correct vs. being scientifically accurate, and in the long haul, deceive themselves and others as to the true nature of how the Earth’s climate behaves.