Herbert Spencer, a British philosopher, in 1859 examined the question of “What knowledge is
most worth?” (Spencer, 1859, p. 5). He thought that whatever is chosen to teach should have
“bearing on some part of life.” He viewed the subject matter of school science courses at that time
as a collection of “dead facts” that “fail to make clear any appreciable efforts which they can
produce on human welfare” (p. 14). Spencer noted that nearly all aspects of industry, processes of
living, and social development depended on science. He further noted that it was this knowledge
being ignored in school science courses (