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//** Today more than ever before, science holds the key to our survival as a planet and our security and prosperity as a nation **//**. – ** Barack Obama December 20 2008 __Research Abstract __ - A study recently reported in the December issue of the journal //__Science Education__// relates the performance of college students in introductory science courses to the amount of content covered in their high school science courses. The study found that high school students who study fewer science topics, but study them in more depth, performed better in college science courses than those students who studied more science topics but in less depth. The study examined the performance of over 8000 students in introductory biology, chemistry, or physics courses in 55 randomly chosen U.S. colleges and universities. According to the study’s results //‘Students who reported covering at least 1 major topic in depth, for a month or longer, in high school were found to earn higher grades in college science than did students who reported no coverage in depth.’ // The authors concluded that ‘teachers should use their judgment to reduce coverage in high school science courses and aim for mastery by extending at least 1 topic in depth over an extended period of time’. (© 2008 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. //Sci Ed// 1-29, 2008)  __ Classroom Application – ‘ __ A **mile wide** and **an inch deep’** is a catchy slogan that has been used to critique both U.S. math and science education for having too many topics. Unfortunately schools also exist in a society that judges their success by their test scores and testing presently strives to mainly measure a student’s ability to remember scientific facts over a wide range of subject material prompting schools to teach in the same way! However, most schools also offer science electives to juniors and seniors as teachers focus more on preparing students for a college education. This would seem a natural place to start dealing with scientific concepts in greater depth. Three years ago at New Providence High School, the Physiology elective was redesigned to incorporate 4 or 5 units, taught in great depth over the course of the year. The units emphasized important scientific concepts and the enduring understandings behind the subject matter. The course has been deemed a success by both students and teachers. Based on the success of this course and the recent study cited above, it is proposed that the Environmental Science elective will be rewritten in the same format this summer. As one of the authors Robert Tai states //"President Obama has challenged the nation to become the most educated in the world by having the largest proportion of college graduates among its citizens in the coming decade, to meet this challenge, it is imperative that we use the research to inform our educational practice." //