One of the problems is that all the fun has been taken out of science by the national curriculum and the league tables. When I first started working in a secondary school I was somewhat bemused at the level science was taught at for GCSE. I didn't do physics at school, but over the years of listening to the odd lesson I have picked up enough to probably get a grade C in GCSE. Science as a subject has not only been dumbed down but has also fallen foul of the need to continually show inmprovement in results year on year. This has lead to the subject being taught to pass the exam only and not to give a knowledge of science. Children are turned off by school science as they find it boring. They want to do interesting experiments, but with all the emphasis on trying to get pupils through the exams there isn't time to teach the subjects in an interesting manner. A lot of the interesting bits have been removed anyway as they were too hard! Of course the problem is compounded by the fact that teachers have to try to teach everyone science and not just the ones who are really interested as it was when I went to school. Those who aren't interested just make things difficult for those who are with the result that the experiments get ignored for fear of someone getting hurt. I joke not.