Excerpts from the Québec Education Program.
In order to acquire the competencies to be developed in the science and technology program, the students need a particularly rich and stimulating environment containing many cultural references. These references help to enrich, personalize, qualify and integrate essential knowledge as well as keep them in perspective. The following is a partial list of proposals that reflect the underlying philosophy of the program.
Science and technology have always developed symbiotically and in constant interaction with other areas of human activity. For example, many discoveries were closely related to the invention of measuring instruments (e.g. clock, thermometer) observational instruments (e.g. magnifying glass, microscope, telescope). Moreover, a wide variety of human activities (e.g. agriculture, animal husbandry, metallurgy or architecture) have made important contributions to the development of science and technology and, in turn, benefited from scientific and technological discoveries.
Climate as well as economic, social and political conditions and religious beliefs largely determine the development of science and technology, which dates back to the beginning of time. For example, the sundial, the calendar, metal casting and plowing methods were discovered well before Jesus Christ. All ordinary objects, such as the knife or the bicycle, have a history that often goes back many years and that teaches us a great deal about the curiosity, tenacity and imagination of human beings.
Scientific discoveries and technological inventions have always resulted from the work of people or groups of people influenced by the constraints of their time and their environment. Scientists like Galileo, Newton, Lavoisier, Pasteur, Darwin, Marie Curie and Einstein, to name but a few, used the work of their predecessors and their contemporaries to contribute to fundamental progress in science and technology. Closer to home, Québec and Canadian scientists, engineers and technologists have been recognized in their respective fields. Men and women from every country and culture work in scientific and technological fields. While most people are familiar with professionals such as biologists, meteorologists, chemists and engineers, there are other occupations that are less well known, but just as interesting and useful (e.g. geologist, cartographer, agricultural technologist and forestry technician).
Science and technology are based on fundamental values such as objectivity, rigour and precision, which ensure the credibility of results.
Even scientists and technologists with the best of intentions sometimes conduct research projects or produce results that are questionable or controversial. Consequently, research methods as well as the use of scientific and technological discoveries and applications must be examined in light of strict rational and ethical criteria and, even more importantly, must be open to public debate.
The impact of science and technology is far-reaching. Our way of life is now radically different from what it was a few centuries ago. For example, heating, transportation, communications, health and hygiene have improved tremendously. However, some of the effects of science and technology, such as environmental degradation, can be very harmful. An awareness of nature and the severity of these consequences have sparked efforts to curb the most harmful effects of science and technology in order to protect the environment and improve life for all living things on this planet.
Despite their enormous potential to explain and predict phenomena and their capacity to profoundly change our environment, science and technology are neither perfect nor omnipotent. They can answer many questions, but these answers often raise new questions that can sometimes remain unanswered for a very long time. Moreover, several factors can limit the development of science and technology, including the state of the economy, current knowledge and ethical concerns.