Why science education should foster innovation

JIM WHALEY is president of the Siemens Foundation. Contact: Foundation.us@siemens.com

During the same week the 2009 Nobel Prizes in science were announced, three Iowa 13-year-olds met with the Obama administration's top education and science officials to receive recognition for their own extraordinary scientific achievement. The meeting indicated the direction science education needs to take to keep America the world's engine of innovation.

A passion for hands-on scientific inquiry was the path that brought Jathan Kron, Brennan Nelson and Justin Roth, eighth-graders from West Branch, to meetings in Washington with Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Lisa Jackson, Secretary of Education Arne Duncan and John P. Holdren, White House Office of Science and Technology Policy director.

As it happens, the trip started with a competition. The trio won the grand prize of a new national science contest called the "We Can Change the World Challenge." The idea behind the competition, sponsored by Siemens Foundation in collaboration with Discovery Education and the National Science Teachers Association, is to use hands-on scientific principles to help solve critical environmental challenges facing one's community.

Their project focused on removing the dangerous pollutant lead from the environment, specifically lead used as wheel weights to balance tires. Lead wheel weights can fall off of cars, be picked up and deposited into landfills, leading to toxic lead compounds in groundwater. Working with their science teacher, Hector Ibarra, the boys - calling themselves "Team Dead Weight" for the competition - proved lead can form water soluble lead compounds under certain environmental conditions and potentially harm the environment.

The students presented their findings to the West Branch City Council and their school district, with the city and district subsequently agreeing to phase out lead wheel weights in their vehicles. The students also teamed up with several state legislators to develop three bills proposing to phase out the harmful metal.

The efforts of the budding young scientists from Iowa also caught the attention of two powerful environmental groups, the Ecology Center and Sierra Club. These two organizations recently petitioned the EPA to overturn a decision not to ban lead wheel weights, which are prohibited in Europe. In response, the EPA agreed to "pursue a ban on the manufacture and distribution of lead tire weights."

By entering a national science competition, the boys influenced federal policy to improve the environment. This shows where science education has to go in America, starting now.

First, we need to generally invest more in early education. The Obama administration is going in the right direction. The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act outlines wide-ranging improvements from K-12 through higher education.

Second, we must introduce more hands-on experimentation and laboratory science in the early grades. Third, we must increase awareness of the pivotal role that science and technology will play in securing America's future as the world's crucible of innovation. We remain the world's leader in science and technology for the time being. But others are catching up.

Our goal is get youngsters interested in science early on, when their sense of wonder and curiosity is boundless. More hands-on, laboratory programs will help spur this vital interest in science. Amazing things can happen when a passion for scientific inquiry reaches into sharp young minds. Just ask Team Dead Weight.