Kids should be building rockets and robots, not taking standardized tests
Sigh.  You need both.  The reality is that there's a lot of book-learning in the world.  You're never going to build a rocket to the moon by starting in your backyard with some sheet metal - your lifespan isn't long enough if you take that approach.  You have to read books written by people who have gone before, and learn from their mistakes, which you can do at a far more rapid pace than you can by making all those mistakes yourself.  Only by standing on the shoulders of those who have gone before - that is, by reading their books - can you hope to push boundaries.<p>The writer's complaint is daft.  The purpose is to test if you can read a passage and comprehend it.  Has nothing to do with microscopes.  Has nothing to do with "teaching science", as the writer asserts.  Just because he doesn't understand the purpose of the test doesn't mean there isn't one.  Reading and comprehending text is one of life's fundamental skills.  It is, in fact, useful to know if schools are teaching that well or not.<p>Before I get downvoted into oblivion I should say I also think schools should do hands-on work (which, of course, they do).