As a junior in high school, I want to clear up some misconceptions about science fairs and projects. First, they do take time, but any amount invested pays steep dividends in experience gained. I can attest to this. Through my science fair career I have learned everything from the scientific method everyone buzzes about to writing research papers, fine dining and even particle physics.
Additionally, I have found it beneficial to have a mentor in the process, but it is by no means necessary. Furthermore, in my experience science fair students do their own work; mentors may plant the seeds of a project idea and provide assistance, but by no means do they do the project for you.
Finally, science fair is a life skill, just not for everyone. My interest is in computer programming, and my local science fair has fostered my growth in that field. Four years ago I couldn’t write a single line of code. I began my fifth year of science fairs on Saturday, and I’m proud to say that my current project is written entirely in C++, a complex programming language.
William Bauer
Cloquet, Minn., Feb. 7, 2011
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To the Editor:
Your article points to deep budget challenges that many school districts are facing and problems with the Bush administration’s No Child Left Behind law.
But it does not mention much of the Obama administration’s extraordinary agenda for improving science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) education in this country: for example, the commitment to prepare 100,000 new math and science teachers over the next 10 years, the $4 billion Race to the Top program’s support for innovation in teaching these important subjects, and the administration’s blueprint for updating the Elementary and Secondary Education Act this year.
Recognizing that government alone cannot be the answer, moreover, the president has also called upon the business community, foundations, professional societies and others to do more. Already, the president’s “Educate to Innovate” campaign has attracted more than $700 million in nongovernmental financial and in-kind support for science and math programs.
And more than 100 chief executives have responded to the president’s “all hands on deck” call to action by launching “Change the Equation,” an unprecedented program to scale up effective models for improving STEM education.
John P. Holdren
Washington, Feb. 7, 2011
The writer is President Obama’s science and technology adviser.
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To the Editor:
You examine the declining participation of American high school students in science fairs. The primary reason for this decline is our increasingly sports-obsessed culture, not the curriculum.
When participation in high school sports demands 15 or more hours a week, it leaves little room in students’ schedules for other extracurricular activities.
When the news media highlight every sports event, yet rarely mention winners of science fairs and other academic competitions, they imply that sports are more important.
When school boards allocate many more dollars for sports teams than for science, math, chess, forensics, debate and other academic teams, they make it difficult for any but the wealthiest students to participate fully in the latter.
Most American students who currently excel in science fairs and mathematics competitions are Asian-Americans and recent immigrants.
If the United States desires more scientists and engineers who were born here, we urgently need to refocus our priorities.
Janet E. Mertz
Madison, Wis., Feb. 5, 2011
The writer is a professor of oncology at the University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health.
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To the Editor:
Your article reveals the essential weakness of an educational system based on standardized tests: standardized tests teach how to answer questions; a true education teaches the questions to ask.
Jonathan J. Margolis
Brookline, Mass., Feb. 5, 2011
Additionally, I have found it beneficial to have a mentor in the process, but it is by no means necessary. Furthermore, in my experience science fair students do their own work; mentors may plant the seeds of a project idea and provide assistance, but by no means do they do the project for you.
Finally, science fair is a life skill, just not for everyone. My interest is in computer programming, and my local science fair has fostered my growth in that field. Four years ago I couldn’t write a single line of code. I began my fifth year of science fairs on Saturday, and I’m proud to say that my current project is written entirely in C++, a complex programming language.
William Bauer
Cloquet, Minn., Feb. 7, 2011
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To the Editor:
An exhibition, not a competition. Doing science is all about the process — the exploration, the questioning and the adventure of trying to find the answer. We need to allow our children to do science for the joy of finding out and then sharing their discoveries without the focus on reward or lack of one.
For 30 years, as a science educator, I encouraged my students to engage in science investigations of their choice. Their findings were then presented at the science fair. It was a privilege to be part of the fair, and that was the reward toward which each student strove.
Investigations and testing hypotheses were the core of the curriculum. The science fair highlighted the science processes that the students learned. The intrinsic joy of discovery was the outcome and led many of these students to continue into careers in science.
Competition has its place, but the freedom to wonder without repercussion is a rare opportunity presented to our students.
Helen Sultanik
Brooklyn, Feb. 7, 2011
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To the Editor:
Your article points to deep budget challenges that many school districts are facing and problems with the Bush administration’s No Child Left Behind law.
But it does not mention much of the Obama administration’s extraordinary agenda for improving science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) education in this country: for example, the commitment to prepare 100,000 new math and science teachers over the next 10 years, the $4 billion Race to the Top program’s support for innovation in teaching these important subjects, and the administration’s blueprint for updating the Elementary and Secondary Education Act this year.
Recognizing that government alone cannot be the answer, moreover, the president has also called upon the business community, foundations, professional societies and others to do more. Already, the president’s “Educate to Innovate” campaign has attracted more than $700 million in nongovernmental financial and in-kind support for science and math programs.
And more than 100 chief executives have responded to the president’s “all hands on deck” call to action by launching “Change the Equation,” an unprecedented program to scale up effective models for improving STEM education.
John P. Holdren
Washington, Feb. 7, 2011
The writer is President Obama’s science and technology adviser.
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To the Editor:The writer is an associate professor of biomedical engineering, genetics and orthopedics at Stony Brook University.
While it is true that high school teachers who “seek out scientists in industry and at universities to work with science fair students” have difficulty in making connections, even when they do, there is often another more difficult obstacle that they face: federal financing for university-based research.
For example, almost on a weekly basis I receive e-mail messages from either schoolteachers who have students or students themselves wanting to join my academic research laboratory, and I must painfully inform them that I do not have enough money for additional research projects.
With the tough financing environment at both the National Institutes of Health and the National Science Foundation, academic researchers face greater competition and less money.
As such, the lack of financing not only affects university research, but it also certainly translates to an overall decrease in scientific training of the next generation of our high school students.
Without additional research financing, we are destined to see further declines in science literacy and fall further behind other industrialized nations.
Michael Hadjiargyrou
Stony Brook, N.Y., Feb. 7, 2011
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To the Editor:
You examine the declining participation of American high school students in science fairs. The primary reason for this decline is our increasingly sports-obsessed culture, not the curriculum.
When participation in high school sports demands 15 or more hours a week, it leaves little room in students’ schedules for other extracurricular activities.
When the news media highlight every sports event, yet rarely mention winners of science fairs and other academic competitions, they imply that sports are more important.
When school boards allocate many more dollars for sports teams than for science, math, chess, forensics, debate and other academic teams, they make it difficult for any but the wealthiest students to participate fully in the latter.
Most American students who currently excel in science fairs and mathematics competitions are Asian-Americans and recent immigrants.
If the United States desires more scientists and engineers who were born here, we urgently need to refocus our priorities.
Janet E. Mertz
Madison, Wis., Feb. 5, 2011
The writer is a professor of oncology at the University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health.
•
To the Editor:
Your article reveals the essential weakness of an educational system based on standardized tests: standardized tests teach how to answer questions; a true education teaches the questions to ask.
Jonathan J. Margolis
Brookline, Mass., Feb. 5, 2011
