Stirring
young scientists’ curiosity
Did you know
that, according to the National Science Foundation, only about 50 percent
of Americans know that humans didn’t live at the time of the dinosaurs?
No wonder, then, that Caltech faculty and researchers saw the need to
launch a precollege science outreach program in the mid-1980s, a program
that’s been going strong ever since.
That effort
has now been boosted by a $1 million Annenberg Foundation grant for two
Caltech programs that share a common goal: to improve the kindergarten-through-grade-12
learning experience.
The Caltech
Precollege Science Initiative (CAPSI), a K–12 program that collaborates
with the Pasadena Unified School District, serves as a national model
for science-education reform. Utilizing hands-on experimentation, the
elementary-school program is based on the assumption that children are
naturally curious and thus are natural scientists. The secondary-school
curriculum builds on the same philosophy, getting students involved in
substantial hands-on science over time.
“The
Annenberg grant will support what is now a critically important effort
to improve secondary science education for all children,” says Jerry
Pine, Caltech professor of physics and a CAPSI founder. “Equal opportunities
and an informed citizenry are our goals, now unmet.”
Educating
teachers is another key factor in the program. Too many elementary-school
teachers know little science when they begin their careers, notes Pine.
Developing techniques for improving teachers’ skills has been a major
part of the K–6 CAPSI project and will be critical for further secondary-level
reforms to succeed.
The Chemistry
Animation Project (CAP) is similar to CAPSI in aiming to revolutionize
the way students learn. “We’re trying to stimulate the thoughts
and curiosity of teenagers,” says project director Nate Lewis, a
Caltech professor of chemistry who began CAP in 1992.
Lewis’s
idea was to take the artistry and technology of Hollywood movie special
effects and apply them to teaching science. Using teams of students, faculty,
and outside film professionals, the project has produced eight animated
3-D instructional units to help students visualize concepts in chemistry
and biochemistry. One unit, for instance, features colorful animations
of molecules carrying out the processes that underlie health and disease.
The Annenberg grant will help CAP produce seven more videos.
“Why
write a textbook when you can do something really unique?” asks Lewis.
“I’ve had many students who were capable but simply couldn’t
‘see’ what I was trying to explain to them from the drawings
on the board. There was a clear communication gap that I, and most other
instructors, had with even basic material of this type. So I decided to
do something about it and started CAP.”
For more information, visit the CAPSI Web site at www.capsi.caltech.edu.
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