Eva,
I won't be checking email for a couple of days, but I just received your note
before leaving for the day. As you might tell from my email, sent before
this, but not posted at the time of this writing, I don't put the issue
squarely on philosophy of science. The ideology of science looms large in
what it is that scientists think they should be doing and how they do it. It
is a motive in a system of activity.
So why should kids know? The US curriculum reform standards and benchmarks
reflect this in much detail in chapters on the nature of science, and science
as inquiry - which means understanding about how scientists inquire,
developing the ability to inquire, and assessing students ability to inquire.
Students develop their own explanations and test them -- so they themselves
confront the issue "How do I know something?"
Bill Barowy