Study by the Australian Academy of Science reveals a slide in knowledge of simple facts over the last three years

This article is more than 7 years old

This article is more than 7 years old

Do you know it takes a year for the Earth to orbit the sun? Or that humans never shared a planet with living, breathing dinosaurs? If not, you are a symptom of Australians' declining scientific literacy, according to researchers.

A new study, conducted by the Australian Academy of Science, has found that just 59% of Australians know that the Earth's orbit of the sun takes a year, or a fraction more than 365 days.

Three in 10 people aren't aware that evolution is still occurring, with a similar proportion of the public dismissing the idea that humans influence evolution in other creatures.

On all of these measures, Australians' knowledge has declined in the past three years, when the academy last polled the public. The survey, undertaken by Auspoll, questioned 1,115 people.

The retrograde step in scientific knowledge is most pronounced in young people, with 12% fewer 18 to 24-year-olds knowing that Earth's orbit time compared to three years ago.

Elsewhere, 39% of Australians know that 70% of the Earth is covered by water, although just 9% know that just 3% of the planet's water is fresh.

Asked if humans inhabited Earth at the same time as dinosaurs, 27% of respondents said yes. This is down slightly from 2010, when 30% of the population thought humans lived alongside the prehistoric creatures.

Overall, scientific knowledge was slightly greater among men than women, with younger people and those without higher education faring worst.

Professor Les Field, secretary for science policy at the Australian Academy of Science, told Guardian Australia that he was disappointed by the results.

"Things are getting worse in some demographics and I certainly would've hoped it had improved better than it has," he said.

"The majority of Australians can answer the questions, but the people who don't know the answers are the ones that worry me. Not knowing simple facts such as the time of Earth's orbit concerns me.

"Maybe I take it for granted, but it surprised me that nearly 30% of people think humans and dinosaurs co-existed. There's a 60 million year gap there, which is fairly significant, but movies such as Jurassic Park and TV shows have helped mix up fact and fiction."

Field said that schools should focus their curriculums more on staple scientific and mathematical topics.

"It's vital that we have scientific literacy in order to have an informed public debate," he said. "Issues such as climate change, drugs in sport and immunisation are on everyone's radar at the moment. People need a rudimentary understanding of science to participate in these debates."