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[TomDeVrie@xxxxxxx]

science is, at the high school level, is not as easy as it
might seem.  Content can be taught, but content alone doesn't help students
discern when science is being practiced, and when it is not.  Process can be
taught (the scientific method), but the sequence of
hypothesis-data-interpretation-conclusion can be applied to many
non-scientific situations.

How do we distinguish science from pseudoscience for the lay public?  How do
we express the necessary acceptance by scientific peers without appearing
elitist (nothing wrong with elitism, except in this context its a buzz word
for unacceptability)?  How do we define a continuum that ranges from
mainstream science to scientific speculation to crackpot theories proven
right to crackpot theories discarded to pseudoscience?  How do we say that
the lay person's "opinion" doesn't count when defining science, except in a
political context?

To define science from a theoretical standpoint will  dilute the message for
most high school students.  I endorse Paul Belanger's solution:  demonstrate
by example, in front of a lay audience (like my classroom).  Repeated
exposure to legitimate scientific inquiry in local newspapers, magazines,
local TV stations, classrooms, and public lectures will establish the
boundaries of accepted scientific practice and subject matter.  Show how
ideas are considered, given credence, tested, or rejected.  Scientists might
also engage in a little pseudoscience bashing in public, to help define those
boundaries.