Kids will want to keep learning science when they see how fun it is.

These programs tend to be more expensive than other programs and so are natural targets for the axe.  For example, at my kids' school, they are cutting 5^th grade science camp.

Kids go off for a 5 day trip to a place out in the woods to study nature.  The kids have a blast and can see that science is more than memorizing phyla or sedimentary, igneous and metamorphic rocks.  Instead they get to explore nature and use books to figure out what they're seeing.

And if history is any guide, there will be a big fall off in field trips to zoos and museums too.  These are more places where kids can see that science is actually a lot of fun.

Some might argue that if money is limited these programs should be cut.  This is true only if we want a workforce that can't do the jobs that are becoming available in our information based economy.

To do well in the future job market, people are going to need a good basic understanding of science and/or engineering.  Think about what an auto mechanic does these days.  Or a nurse or a radiologist.

We need to keep people studying science for their own good.  And frankly, for the good of the U.S. as well.

One of the keys to getting more people to take the science they need is to show them how fun and exciting it is.  We need to let them see that science is actually about studying the mysteries of the natural world and applying them to make that world a better place.

This is what the programs that are going to be cut do.  Without them, schools will continue to turn kids away from science.  And the U.S. will fall behind other countries.

I have no idea what programs should be cut instead and I am sure that other people see higher priorities than science camp.  But I think it is time that public schools recognized that science is as important to a student's future as are the three R's.  Someone needs to come up with a way to make science into an R so we can have the four R's.  Any ideas?

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Applications are due May 15 for the 2009-2010 QUEST Science Education Institute.

After working with such talented, motivated teachers at our QUEST Science Education Institute last year, we figured we'd better do it again! The QUEST Science Education Institute is KQED Education Network's year-long professional development program for Bay Area school districts. Over the course of the year-long Institute, we will work with teams of science educators and educational technologists from school district offices and school sites to provide training and resources on using QUEST multimedia to enhance science education. Our aim is to help districts develop a broad-based technology implementation plan that leverages QUEST media and aligns with their current technology integration goals.

Here is a quick overview of the year-long Institute:

Who should apply?

The QUEST education team is committed to building capacity for sustainable integration of technology into the science classroom. We seek to work directly with six school districts dedicated to enhancing 21st century skills through the use of local, relevant, informative high-quality media about science. We are asking districts to form teams of 6-8 members composed of district office staff, educational technologists, librarians, and science education leaders. By connecting with districts in this way, we aim to support existing district learning plans and align our resources with the expectations districts and schools have set for teachers and students in science teaching and learning.

Is your district ready for QUEST? Do you have:

Then you are ready to apply!

Visit our KQED Science Education Workshop Website to find out about benefits to participating, see a schedule of activities, and to apply online.

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What is the most compelling reason to use QUEST resources in the science classroom? "They are local", "I can download them", and "short is good." These are a few of the quick responses given by science educators attending QUEST's first 2-day institutes this summer. Forty science teachers from Vallejo to San Jose attended one of two Institutes entitled "Using QUEST Multimedia in the Middle and High School Classroom to Enhance Teaching and Learning" (yes, it’s a mouthful, but you probably get a good idea of what we focused on…). The Institutes were held in partnership with CTAP Region IV at both the San Mateo County Office of Education in Redwood City and the Alameda County Office of Education in Hayward in mid-August.

Participants spent an intense two days discussing the importance of incorporating 21st century skills and multimedia into the science curriculum, learning about and practicing with the science resources on the QUEST website, and ultimately, planning a unit and lesson that incorporate one or more QUEST resources into their curriculum for the upcoming year. They streamed, podcasted and downloaded, left comments on the QUEST blog, explored Explorations, created Google Maps, searched the QUEST Flickr Group, learned about RSS feeds, and started their own social network. Did I mention they only had 2 days?

And of course the hard work paid off with some very creative plans for the '08-'09 school year: students at Centerville Junior High in Fremont will be reading and commenting on the QUEST blog each week, and students at Terra Linda High School in San Rafael will be using QUEST and Google Maps to learn about and locate the most powerful telescopes on Earth. Students at Gompers Continuation High School in Richmond will view QUEST video and use a QUEST Exploration before a field trip where they will collect photos and video to make their own short media piece! These are just a few of the innovative ideas that teachers came up with at the institutes.

In addition to a stipend for their time, these forty teachers will now be the recipients of follow-up support from QUEST Education for the duration of the '08-'09 school year. As the provider of that support, I couldn't be more excited to work with these amazing teachers. In an era of high stakes testing and underfunded, overcrowded classrooms, it is a privilege to work with such dedicated and creative individuals.

To receive updates on opportunities for educators to connect with KQED, sign up for the monthly KQED Science Education Newsletter newsletter at www.kqed.org/newsletters.

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I remember loving science class as a kid. The paper-maché messes, the bubbling baking soda, all of the wonderful experiments… I loved it all. Now, many grammar school kids are lucky to get 15 minutes of science education a week. Hardly enough time to get them imagining future careers as scientists, engineers and inventors.

Between the lack of time given to science education, and the structure imposed by curriculum standards, museums need to be part of the education equation. My boss has a saying: "Give random a chance." I love this quote because it speaks to the role informal educational resources like science museums need to be playing. By exposing young people to the experiences and programs in a museum, who knows what might really resonate and inspire?

For over 20 years, The Tech's Tech Challenge program has presented kids with an open-ended problem for which there is no one right answer. It forces participants to use their knowledge and ingenuity to solve the problem. For example, this year the Challenge (called Water Works) is all about moving water from a stream up to a village without electricity. There is no one right answer, and there are lots of ways to solve this problem.

Participants are 5^th to 12^th graders who will work in teams of 2-6 to explore solutions to solving this real world problem. Along the way, they will hit some roadblocks and come up with some duds. And that's OK because it is here that kids will learn that failure is an important part of problem solving. We have a great quote etched into a wall on the outside of The Tech from Intel co-founder and philanthropist Gordon Moore that says, "If everything you try works, you are not trying hard enough." Through failure, many of the Tech Challenge teams will come up with a far superior solution.

This year we're going international for the first time by partnering with the City of San Jose's Sister City program. On the final event day, where all of the teams come together to present and demonstrate their solutions, we'll be webcasting in teams from far-away locations, and look forward to seeing and hearing how kids from other countries have tackled the challenge. Hopefully the involvement of other cultures will drive home how important it is to be inclusive to come up with better ways to solve problems.

I just looked at the U.S. Census Bureau web site for the latest world population number, and today there are 6,650,846,379 people on Planet Earth. One in five people on Earth don't have access to safe, clean drinking water, which means that 1.3 billion people are suffering from lack of water. As this year's Tech Challenge participants work on solutions to a global water problem, I hope they get excited (or more excited) about science and remain engaged, even they don't get to study it much in the classroom.

Lisa Croel is the Marketing Director at The Tech Museum of Innovation in San Jose, Calif.