A new national report urges an overhaul of science education, teaching students to focus on core concepts in four disciplinary areas, including engineering and technology, rather than memorizing facts in many topics.

The report by the esteemed National Research Council, led by Menlo Park physicist Helen Quinn of the SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory, will serve as a foundation for what is taught to students in elementary school through high school, replacing decade-old standards.

"Currently, science education in the U.S. lacks a common vision of what students should know and be able to do by the end of high school; curricula too often emphasize breadth over depth, and students are rarely given the