I have been following this thread with some interest. I decided to attack the need for better science education by becoming involved in scouting, *especially* since I have no children of my own. At present, I lead a troop of 14 Brownie
Girl Scouts (1st-3rd graders).
Though I am not a professional scientist, I took a fair amount of science in
college. I've been able to find a number of good books with activities
and explanations that are appropriate to the age group of my girls. Among
the best is a new book by Margaret Kenda and Phyllis S. Williams (ISBN
0-8120-4766-4). Who could resist activities like "Creating Solar-Powered
Artwork,"Make Your Own Erupting Volcano," or "Create Your Own Electric
Lemon"? Lending more scholarly insight to the problem of getting more kids
(male or female) interested in science is _They're Not Dumb, They're
Different: Stalking the Second Tier_ an "occasional paper" on neglected
problems in science education by Sheila Tobias (published 1990 by Research
Corporation--sorry, no ISBN). My goal is to present science to my girls
in a way that it was never presented to me--as *fun*!
Though scouting is work, it is also fun, and when it comes to rewards,
there's nothing like receiving a spontaneous, affectionate hug from
one of my girls.
Katherine Durack
kdurack at nmsu.edu
