On June 10, the Carnegie Corporation of New York—Institute for Advanced Study (IAS) Commission on Mathematics and Science Education kicked-off a national mobilization to achieve much higher levels of math and science learning with the release of its report, The Opportunity Equation: Transforming Mathematics and Science Education for Citizenship and the Global Economy. The report identifies where change is needed to transform math and science education and recommends concrete actions to a range of organizations from nonprofits and businesses to federal and state government, colleges and universities, and donors who must coalesce to “do school differently” to transform math and science education.

As part of the initiative, the American Museum of Natural History (AMNH), New York, published Emboldened Capacity: Science Education and the Infrastructure of Science-Rich Cultural Institutions, summarizing the outcomes of two meetings convened by AMNH in December 2008 in association with the Carnegie-IAS Commission: a “national summit on science education” and a follow-up meeting with leading museum directors and scientists. The paper also explores the role of museums in successful school partnerships and describes promising models at AMNH; Brooklyn Botanic Garden; the California Academy of Sciences, San Francisco; COSI, Columbus, Ohio; Museum of Science, Boston; North Carolina Museum of Natural Sciences, Raleigh; and Pacific Science Center, Seattle.

About the image: As a partner in New York City’s Urban Advantage Middle School Science Initiative, the American Museum of Natural History showcased 650 students’ research projects on June 6. Photo courtesy AMNH

Science centers regularly provide their communities with science news and promote dialogue on current science issues. As concerns over the H1N1 virus continue to grow, ASTC members are serving as places where visitors can learn more about the virus and share information with others, both on-site and online.

Adventure Science Center, Nashville, Tennessee, and the Exploratorium, San Francisco, are hosting on-site public programs on May 1 and May 3, respectively, where microbiologists will present information and answer questions about the “swine flu.”

Science Buzz, the website of the Science Museum of Minnesota’s “current science” initiative, focuses on science in the news, emerging research, and seasonal science. The web site is designed to be a source of science information, but also encourages users to respond to the stories they find and even contribute their own.

ScienceNetwork WA, a web site developed and hosted by Scitech, Perth,  in partnership with the Government of Western Australia, is a source for science news, as well as information about events and career opportunities in the region.

About the image: Users have contributed information about the H1N1 virus, including links to official disease control web sites, on the Science Buzz blog. Image courtesy Science Museum of Minnesota

Today, the (U.S.) National Research Council (NRC) released a highly anticipated report on learning in informal settings. According to the NRC, “tens of millions of Americans, young and old, choose to learn about science in informal ways – by visiting museums and aquariums, attending after-school programs, pursuing personal hobbies, and watching TV documentaries, for example. There is abundant evidence that these programs and settings, and even everyday experiences such as a walk in the park, contribute to people’s knowledge and interest in science.”

Philip Bell, co-chair of the committee that wrote the report and associate professor of learning sciences at the University of Washington, Seattle, stated that “Learning is broader than schooling, and informal science environments and experiences play a crucial role. These experiences can kick-start and sustain long-term interests that involve sophisticated learning. Think of the child who sees dinosaur skeletons for the first time on a family trip to a natural history museum, and then goes on to buy dinosaur models and books, do Web searches about dinosaurs, write school reports on the subject, and on and on.”

In addition to finding that informal learning experiences can significantly improve outcomes for individuals from groups that are historically underrepresented in science, the report notes that there is strong evidence that educational television can help people learn about science. The report also points to evidence that participation in informal science learning (like volunteering in the collection of scientific data) can promote informed civic engagement on science-related issues such as local environmental concerns.

Learning Science in Informal Environments: People Places, and Pursuits was sponsored by the National Science Foundation. The report can be read in its entirety here.

Who stole the theater tickets out of the school dressing room? And what dastardly villain drank that cream soda? Over the past three summers, 160 girls, ages 10 to 14, have used science and advanced technology to solve such mysteries at Click!, a camp designed by the Girls, Math & Science Partnership (GMSP), a program of Pittsburgh’s Carnegie Science Center. The camp aims to engage young women in science, math, and technology at a critical stage when they frequently lose interest in these fields.

During the six-day camp, girls take on secret agent personas and tackle a variety of cases. For example, in the Case of the Tossed Treasures, the girls use global positioning systems to find “gemstones” looted from a local museum. On the last day, the girls piece together clues they’ve gathered all week to solve a final mystery. Campers also have several opportunities to work with women scientists throughout the week.

There are currently two levels of Click!—one focusing on biomedical science and the other on environmental science. A third level will debut in 2009.

Organizations that would like to implement the program can purchase it from GMSP. For more information, visit GMSP’s web site or contact Jennifer Stancil, executive director of GMSP.

About the image: Girls participating in Click! investigate water quality on the confluence of Pittsburgh’s rivers to solve an environmental mystery. Photo courtesy the Girls, Math & Science Partnership