Science Cheerleader

Paw Talk, “the online community for pets and pet owners” picked up the SciCheer post featuring Yale’s mascot (Handsome Dan) during his science lesson.

And, not quite mainstream, but the National Academy of Engineering Tweeted a note about this post, featuring 2nd graders-turned-citizen scientists (one happens to be my son).

One week ago today, the National Academy of Engineering and National Research Council held a public briefing and symposium to release the report “Engineering in K-12 Education:  Understanding the Status and Improving the Prospects.”  The report assesses the value of developing and implementing engineering curricula for kindergarten through grade 12.  The report also describes what engineering concepts children are able to understand and at what age, and provides an analysis of more than a dozen engineering curriculum projects.

Access the report for free online or listen to the webcast of the event.

On a related note, recently, a friend and extraordinary man David Hartman forwarded to me an Aviation Week and Space Technology article. Hartman, a former cohost of Good Morning America, is the tall man pictured here with a VERY pregnant, fat me…it was yeeeeaaars ago, OK!?  Recognize MIT’s Marvin Minsky, Penn and Teller, ABC’s John Stosell, Robin Roberts and Antonio Mora? Hartman and Mora cohosted the Discover Technology Awards, a program I directed. But I digress… the article’s written by Norman Augustine, an engineer and former CEO of Lockheed Martin, who addresses his “concerns about the impacts current trends will have on his field.” *

If you’ve stayed through that intro, you deserve a mind-boggling excerpt from this article: “Students in grades 5-8 have a 98% chance of having a science teacher who does not have a degree in science.”

Read the piece titled Race to the Bottom and take note that it’s not all bad news. In fact,  I’ll be back with a look at how and why U.S. adults are outpacing other nations when it comes to science literacy…while our kids continue to lag far behind.  (9/29 addition: Here’s a related article on Why the World Needs More Engineers. Thanks, subscriber Bart, for sending this to us.)

*Augustine and Hartman go back to 1987 when Hartman produced a prime time documentary on National Defense and the U.S. Military.  I should mention that Hartman wants readers to know that it was Tony Borotto, a retired aviator, who sent him Augustine’s article.

Designing housing that is affordable for city dwellers is challenging enough, even without considering green building standards.  However, the National Engineer’s Week Foundation is asking junior high school kids to design energy-efficient urban environments in this year’s Future City competition.  Now entering its 18th year, the Future City Competition invites seventh and eighth graders nationwide to create the cities of tomorrow, encouraging their interest in science, technology, engineering and math through hands-on applications.

This year’s challenge, entitled “Providing An Affordable Living Space For People Who Have Lost Their Home Due to a Disaster or Financial Emergency”, will require students to design an energy-efficient city using SimCity 4 Deluxe software and then build a model of their virtual city using recycled materials.  Each team is also required to write a research paper that describes the rationale behind their designs, as well as a second narrative that outlines the key features of their city. The registration deadline for this year’s regional and national competitions is October 31, 2009, but interested students can register early in order to obtain an information handbook over the summer.  This is a school-based competition, so interested students will need to obtain the support from their local school’s administration.  Registration costs are low ($25.00), so schools and students would mainly be responsible for the cost of the SimCity 4 Deluxe software (ranging from $14.99 – $43.99 on Amazon.com, though I assume an academic license might be available) and travel to the competition sites.

Also, former scientists and engineers can volunteer to mentor teams of students as they design their city.  This would be a great way for retirees to get involved in a local classroom near home and share all of their expertise!  Interested mentors can contact local schools directly to see if there is an interest in the Future City competition, or sign up here.

It’s not an uncommon question, particularly after a speaking engagement when folks learn this site isn’t underwritten by a secret society of cheerleaders-turned-science advocates or sponsored by Final Net etc. The contributors and I do this because 1) we enjoy it and 2) it’s our personal passion to turn people on to science/engineering, get people involved in citizen science projects, and create novel opportunities for “average” people to weigh in on major sci/tech policy discussions.

We also have “day jobs”:  One of our writers has a PhD and works at the Department of Defense (Dr. Ohab also hosts Armed with Science). Nathan plays a key role in pushing engineering advancements out of the National Academies and into the public sphere. Stephen works at the Mind/Brain Institute at Johns Hopkins University while Sarah’s about to earn her PhD from UPenn in biochem and molecular biophysics (and she *just* got married!). Georgette, our newest addition, is a senior at UPenn majoring in Science, Technology and Society. We’ve yet to figure out what the skeptical cheerleader, Occam’s Razor, does all day besides daydream about cheerleaders and the Pittsburgh Steelers. Last, but not least, is my “project X” partner, Michael, who is a journalist and partner of a firm that helps major science publications transition to the web.

From time to time, I write for Discover Magazine but I spend more time in my role as senior advisor building collaborations to bring science to the public. For example, Discover is wrapping up the first of a multi-year partnership with the National Science Foundation I direct. The NSF sponsors a 7-part series of Discover round tables examining grand challenges of science and engineering, hosted by various museums and universities throughout the country. You can read about them in the magazine and online and view videos here. The NSF and Discover have extended the partnership to include a 4-part series on Capitol Hill titled “The Road to the New Energy Economy” and we’re working with the professional engineering societies IEEE and ASME to make this happen. The first event (June 18) took a sharp look at the scientific, political and economic challenges and opportunities surrounding BioFuels. The next one, July 16, will examine Energy Storage and two more will follow in September and October. I’ll post details here later. These events are free and open to the public. (Contact Events@discovermagazine.com if you’re interested in attending.) If you’re not able to attend the Capitol Hill events, no worries! The (very cool) summaries can be viewed here.

Cheers!

Yesterday, the National Academy of Engineering  presented THREE  half-million dollar prizes. One,  the Draper Prize, is considered the “Nobel Prize of Engineering” (there is no Nobel for engineering, even though Nobel himself was an engineer).  And the Draper Prize goes to:

 Robert H. Dennard

For his invention and contributions to the development of Dynamic Random Access Memory (DRAM), used universally in computers and other data processing and communication systems. 

   

Check out the related, clever website activity that illustrates how past Draper Prize-winning technologies enrich our everyday activities.  (Note: the example of Uncle Ed’s time-released chemo for his brain tumor is a bit of a downer at “Bud’s bday party,” one of the featured, illustrated activities. Although this medical innovation, created by Draper Prize winner Robert Langer, appears to be keeping Uncle Ed alive and happy!)  

Thanks, Bart, for letting me know about this clever video. Future engineers!

Speaking of engineers, a friend who works at the National Academy of Engineering suggested I ammend the title of Science Cheerleader and Science Debate to include the word “Engineering” because “science and engineering are not one-and-the-same” and many of the issues I address are, in fact, engineering matters. Although I’m not planning to change my name, I am making a point of singling out sexy scientists AND engineers, right here on ScienceCheerleader.com.

But I digress. Here’s a persuasive argument on behalf of engineers: Want to Engineer Real Change? Don’t Ask a Scientist. 
 
(Reprinted with author Henry Petroski’s permission.)

Sunday, January 25, 2009; B04

“We will restore science to its rightful place,” President Obama declared in his inaugural address. That certainly sounds like a worthy goal. But frankly, it has me worried. If we want to “harness the sun and the winds and the soil to fuel our cars and run our factories,” as Obama has decreed, we shouldn’t look to science. What we need is engineering.
To be fair, Obama’s misconception is a common one. Most people who aren’t scientists or engineers seem to think that science and engineering are the same. They’re not. Science seeks to understand the world as it is; only engineering can change it.
That’s not what most high-school teachers or even college professors tell their science students. But the truth is that full scientific understanding isn’t always necessary for technological advancement. Read full story.

This graph visualizes the current results of the National Academies online survey: “What top five issues are of most concern to you?” Ironically, my top five concerns appear near the top of this graph –home to the topics I suspect will be left orphaned under Obama. Might be partly why I voted for them…to balance the scale a wee bit. I don’t want them to fall off the national agenda completely and any NAS poll is bound to attract voices from the science community over the general public (despite the best of efforts).  I strongly encourage you to take 2 minutes and complete the survey. Let your voice be heard. The National Academies  (”advisers to the nation on science, engineering and medicine) will use the results to develop a series of websites, podcasts and outreach tools to help push the issues to the top of the National Agenda.    The National Academies  is the umbrella organization of the National Academy of Sciences, the National Institute of Medicine, the National Academy of Engineering and the National Research Council. 

Hey, NAS, if you’re listening, consider beefing up the prize. Of all the cool premiums you’ve got there, what gives with the duffle bag? How about the pen/calculator?

The National Academy of Engineering (NAE) sent me some cool prizes to share with you. Be among the first five people to post a comment at http://www.engineeringchallenges.org and consider yourself the new owner of a calculator/pen (left) , illuminating pen, sharp looking duffle bag, pedometer or a Science Cheerleader t-shirt.

Oh, be sure to include this in your comment: “I saw this on Science Cheerleader.”

The NAE,  with support from the National Science Foundation, announced the grandest engineering challenges facing us. These “Challenges” present an exciting forecast wrapped in a blanket of harsh, but by no means defeating, reality. Recently, I attended an event at the NAE’s headquarters in Washington, D.C.,  moderated by former ABC and CNN anchor and current PBS host Aaron Brown. Pix below.  Representatives from both the McCain and Obama campaigns were there to address how government can help turned these Grand Challenges into Grand Achievements.

Here’s a brief description of one of the Engineering Challenges:   As loyal readers know, I did not exactly ace every high school science exam.  I had more important critical issues on my mind: pollute the environment with the giant red or blue can of Final Net Hairspray? What to wear for Hands Across America?! And do I dare set a trend by wearing fringe? (I tried. I failed.) Those are my excuses.

But researchers have provided a far more scientific pardon. In part, I can blame the education system.

In Friday’s post, I asked readers this: What do you think the federal government should do to prepare K-12 students for the science and technology driven 21st Century? (One of seven questions recently presented to Congress by a consortium of science organizations.)

Predictably, you/the readers, replied with some terrific suggestions. Fact is, your comments are often better than my posts. As it should be. I’m just here to rally the troops and serve as a conduit between the public, government and science. Nothing will change without your reactions.

So, scan the comments, reply with your thoughts, and keep the conversations going. Never know who is reading them. Case in point: my last article prompted famed Professor Marvin Minsky–aka the Father of Artificial Intelligence and co-founder of MIT’s Media Lab–to post a comment. Earlier, David Brin–science fiction writer and author of The Postman–weighed in with some thoughts.

We’re all on an even playing field here. Your comments are as valuable as Minsky’s and Brin’s. They want to hear from you. So does Randy Atkins at the National Academy of Engineering. And Alan Leshner, CEO of the American Association of the Advancement of Science (I’ll post my recent interview with Alan, soon).

In the words of Bart, a Science Cheerleader subscriber, “if this site gets a conversation started on what sort of future we want and what is needed to get us there, more power to you!”

If you’re anything like millions of other adult Americans, you were of legal drinking age before you learned that all engineers do not work on trains.

Engineers are the source of technology. They take scientists’ basic (and critical) research and they figure out ways to apply that research. The common terms used to describe these two actions are “Basic Research” and “Applied Technology.” Each needs the other.

Society gives lots of credit to scientists but we often neglect the engineers. (Until recently, it should be noted, science and engineers neglected us, our input, our opinions.) In the spirit of teamwork–in my crusade to kick-start dialogue between scientists, engineers, and citizens–I reached out to a friend, Randy Atkins. Randy is the Senior Program Officer for Media and Public Relations at the National Academy of Engineering. He filled me in on some terrific public outreach programs his group is creating.

Here’s one I’d like to highlight today. More will follow.