A bit of play on words, but today I received an email (which was sent to hundreds of people) from Kevin Knobloch, President of the Union of Concerned Scientists. In the letter, Knobloch, who sees the election of Obama as a historical moment for the Union of Concerned Scientists, and its supporters, outlined key issues they will work on over the next several years. In his view, and if you read the answers that Obama gave in response to 14 questions submitted by the ScienceDebate 2008 organization, there are opportunities to move forward on key issues because of the implicit views that Obama holds about science and technology. Here are three issues that the Union of Concerned Scientists “care deeply about”:
- Building a clean energy economy;
- Reengaging in international negotiations on global warming and nuclear weapons;
- Restoring the integrity of science in federal policy making.
We also as teachers have an opportunity to bring our students into this historic episode. For many years, working with the Global Thinking Project, which engaged students and teachers from many countries in the exploration of environmental issues in a network environment, we developed the idea of “citizen scientists.” Students worked locally on significant environmental questions, sought answers to their questions, and carried out projects in which they informed their peers and their community of the consequences of their research. They also used the Internet and the Global Thinking Project website to share and further explore their ideas.
How can we develop a union of concerned students through out work with them in our science classes? How can we engage our students in the important and pressing problems of our time?
There are some very powerful examples of projects that have a history of doing this, and there is a vast number of science teachers who believe that students care deeply about the environment, and how science and technology affect society.
Here are some sites of interest:
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