This article addresses some of the issues that surround national science education standards for Grades K-12 and presents a more general and updated introduction to national and state science standards. It also provides a brief overview of the science content standards movement in the United States, insights into the forces that have caused the adoption of science standards to be contentious in some states, discussion of why college faculty need to learn more about their own state's standards, and the roles that professional scientists might play in shaping those standards in the future. (Contains 4 tables, 2 figures and 9 footnotes.)