Steve,

Pardon me if this has been said already, but faith is a very important part of religion. There really isn't much point in having faith only in what can be objectively proven.

On the other hand fact if you only believe what has been effectively proved to your own eyes then you will believe in very little because you will not have the time or resources to repeat every experiment.

So in fact teaching science does not only involve

>>This involves teaching a skill.

The skill to observe accurately, patiently and comprehensively, and to learn and understand the properties and qualities of the thing being observed."<<

It also involves the students accepting as fact the observations of others.