D Balasubramanian In school, subjects are taught to provide a broad understanding of our world and how it came to be, the processes that it runs by and the laws that govern it, both physical and social. While subjects are included also to give children an idea of what they may be interested in or good at, so as to make choices of career and vocation, they are also meant to give us the basic knowledge that will allow us to function intelligently and productively. To provide literacy, in the broadest sense of the term. Geography and history provide the conceptual tools that help people navigate through the world as conscious citizens, while mathematics gives us the practical skills to balance our books and estimate our budgets. Science, on the other hand, gives us the means by which we can avoid disease, plan our energy use, argue for better water and sanitation, control our time and resources, and understand the clockwork under the movement of the planets and stars. There is practical value in what we learn in school, but in the race to fulfill the demands of examinations; this value is lost in the business of preparing for tests. It is important that we step outside our textbooks from time to time to think about the subjects we are teaching. Is there a way to see that this teaching makes sense, both to the learner and the teacher? Can we link the subjects we teach to their real meaning for life? If our children are to be truly literate in all the subjects, such links must be constantly made. At the same time, in order to generate an interest in ideas, and in science, teachers can talk about breakthrough developments in a manner that makes two things apparent – the revolutionary nature of ideas and how they affect life in profound ways. Some students may be inspired to go further in the pursuit of science and generate their own path-breaking ideas. Others would (and must) acquire a familiarity with the basic concepts of science in a way that they will remember, and apply when the need arises. We will then have made them scientifically literate. It also is important for us, as teachers, to remain connected with the world around us and what learning means in an everyday sense. As educated individuals responsible for the education of others, how literate are we in arts and sciences of our age? Science literacy, food for thought