This week the Cal Academy of Sciences celebrated the millionth
visitor to its new building in Golden Gate Park

On March 3rd, 2009 at 1:00 p.m., executive director Gregory Farrington greeted the one-millionth visitor to the new California Academy of Sciences. It seems incredible that in just over five months, one million visitors have explored our new building in Golden Gate Park. Yet science museums and cultural institutions are incredibly important in these tough economic times: Museums engage and educate people about their place, culture, accomplishments and environment. With the cutbacks in education, museums are even more necessary.

Earlier this year, the California Academy of Sciences commissioned a national survey of basic science literacy, administered by Harris Interactive. The results proved poor. Here's a sample:

• Only 53% of adults know how long it takes for the Earth to revolve around the Sun.
• Only 59% of adults know that the earliest humans and dinosaurs did not live at the same time.
• Only 47% of adults can roughly approximate the percent of the Earth's surface that is covered with water.
• Only 1% of adults knew the correct percentage of fresh water on the planet

Despite their poor performance, survey participants felt that science literacy and conservation were very important. Four out of five people surveyed marked science education as “absolutely essential” and directly related to the U.S. health care system, the U.S. reputation globally and the U.S. economy.

Scientists know that making new discoveries increases our understanding of our world and our place within it. Yet deepening science literacy in the general public is equally important. Scientific literacy not only engages potential future scientists, but it helps strengthen the U.S. economy. Analysts agree that science must be part of the plan for stimulating the American economy: A knowledge-based economy, including a focus on science, drives innovation, which in turn sparks new industries and subsequent jobs.

The Academy felt this survey was so important that they put the questions up on the website for anyone to try. What's your science literacy? Find out by answering the questions on www.calacademy.org.

Stacy Morrow, who teaches fourth grade at Fair Oaks Elementary School in Redwood City did not need to tell me about her students' enthusiasm for science. It was obvious. Working in teams with a FOSS kit on magnetism and electricity, they could barely contain their excitement at powering a light bulb with a simple electrical circuit.

Like a quarter of California school children, most of Morrow's students are native Spanish speakers. From time to time I'd hear the odd Spanish phrase – along with new English ones, like "serial circuits" and "D-cell batteries" — drift across the room. Morrow believes that as ESL students, her kids are asked to work much harder than other fourth-graders, mastering a second language along with all the other academic demands of elementary school. It must be a relief, I thought, to engage in a subject where teamwork and experimentation are more important than getting all the words right.

Fair Oaks is a "program improvement school," which means it's been identified by federal No Child Left Behind program as falling below target in certain subjects. (Here's an SF Chronicle article about the "stigma" of Program Improvement status). Morrow says test scores at Fair Oaks are on the rise, but, as this recent New York Times article describes, those standards can be tough to meet even for some of the most improved schools.

Given those demands, it's impressive that Morrow and other teachers at Fair Oaks find as much time for science lessons as they do – (it's also rare, as this study showed). Morrow credits this to the FOSS kits and a supportive administration. But she deserves a lot of the credit, for taking the time to educate herself. The Lawrence Berkeley study also showed that many elementary teachers simply don't feel qualified to teach science. That problem is compounded in economic boom times, when high-paying tech jobs make the pool of science-qualified teachers even smaller. It's fortunate that some of the same industries that compete for workers are also helping train more K12 teachers. Our QUEST education team has put together a page of science education resources, which we invite you to check out.

Finally, a disclaimer: We're barely scratching the surface here. I hope everyone watches QUEST's excellent TV story on science literacy, which goes into far more detail than our six-minute radio slot allowed.

Listen to the Closing the Science Gap radio report online.

As many of us are aware, science education in California is in trouble. However, many of us also know there are amazing people and organizations working to improve the situation. The annual California Science Education Conference put on by the California Science Teachers' Association begins next week in San Jose. Science teachers from around the state will come together to learn from each other and experts in the field. Most will take personal time off from their teaching and pay conference registration and travel expenses out of their own pockets. Their dedication to improving science teaching and learning exemplifies what is going right and the sacrifices they have to make are a stark reminder of what is not working.

It is in honor of this annual gathering that QUEST takes time away from fact-based science stories to cover California's science future in a different way. In our upcoming broadcast of Science Under the Microscope: Science Struggles in Schools, QUEST Television looks at the severity of the science education problem, what schools are doing to fill the gap, meets innovative teachers and discovers creative methods being employed to get kids caught up. And I, the QUEST Education Producer, take a bit of time away from creating media-related science resources for educators to write this blog post.

There are, of course, countless ways for concerned citizens to pitch in. As a former high school science teacher the five suggestions below are my personal recommendations – resources I wish I had known about when I was teaching and things I now give as someone who cares about students' understanding of science.

Money

There are numerous websites now being developed that allow individuals to make contributions towards the needs of specific teachers. Sites like Digital Wish and DonorsChoose provide a means for teachers to register for particular items for their classroom (similar to a baby or wedding registry). The public can search these sites for schools and teachers in their area or for certain subject area needs (i.e. search for "science") to which they'd like to contribute.

Stuff

Want to be environmentally responsible and help science teachers at the same time? Donate items to organizations like Resource Area for Teachers (RAFT) in San Jose, the East Bay Depot for Creative Reuse in Oakland, or Scroungers' Center for Reusable Art Parts (SCRAP) in San Francisco. Teachers are able to shop for a wide variety of items at discounted prices to use in their classrooms.

Time

Do you have a background or career in science? Find out if your local school district or county office of education has a science specialist and connect with them to offer your time or expertise. They will be able to put you in touch with teachers and schools in need of guest lecturers, tutors, or speakers for career day presentations.

Voice

Attend school board meetings, write articles, contribute to blogs, talk to friends about the state of science education.

Vote

Enough said.

Now it is your turn. What other ideas do you have for assisting our schools with science education? Science educators, what additional needs do you see as easy places for the public to get involved and what has worked in your districts, schools, classrooms, etc.? Clearly we need major reforms in our entire education system, but often it is the smaller contributions of individuals that make the most immediate change.

Watch the Under the Microscope: Science Struggles in Schools television story report online.