The educational hive that produces the future scientific minds of this country must be encouraged to develop a greater quantity of qualified scientists. Such expertise is necessary, for example, in the pursuance of the reasons why more than a quarter of the country’s 2.4 million bee colonies have been lost – tens of billions of bees as reported by the New York Times.
Representative Dennis Cardoza of California stated, “We need an urgent call to arms to try to ascertain what is really going on here with the bees, and bring as much science as we possibly can to bear on the problem.”
“Bring as much science” resonates throughout the education and economic communities. So far, colony collapse disorder has been found in 27 states. There are many crops that require pollination, which is not only an economic concern, but the scientific minds necessary to investigate must be available to seek possible solutions.
A variety of potential solutions have been proposed with the intent of creating a virtual pipeline of trained scientists. The U.S. Chamber of Commerce has joined its voice with many areas of the business world to seek legislation called Tapping America’s Potential (TAP) initiative. Their goal is to double the number of science graduates by 2015.
The objective is to form partnerships to assist the educational community in the funding of their programs. This is the same path being followed by the grant community in desiring that their dollars foster a more significant utilization of their gift dollars. The program would help states establish math and science specialty high schools.
Sen. Mary Landrieu of Louisiana and a group of fellow senators have sponsored legislation, Protecting America’s Competitive Edge (PACE) Act. This legislation would create incentives to help states set up public math and science specialty high schools. These efforts would conjoin with the contributions of The Model Institutions for Excellence Program (MIE) – funded by the National Science Foundation (NSF) and the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA). Their collective efforts will hopefully negate the prediction that 90 percent of the scientists will reside in Asia in the next 10 years.
The solution lies with the cooperative efforts of the K-12 schools that will furnish the impetus to pursue the scientific careers and the necessary funding to make available the environments conducive to leading students to follow that career path.
When all of these ingredients fall into place, the business and education worlds will be abuzz with the knowledge that their bee-like efforts created a honey of an educational and societal success. The pollen to assist in this adventure is found in the science curriculum of Synergistic Learning Systems, LEGO® Education, and Hearlihy products. When federal and state funds are exhausted, the following grants favor science and technology studies.
So, bee prepared!
Additional Resources:
Mathematics and Science Partnerships
This program encourages the formation of partnerships to improve performance in math and science. Funds may be used for professional development, summer workshops, and distance learning programs.
http://www.ed.gov/programs/mathsci/index.html
National Science Foundation
Promotes and advances scientific programs in the United States and advances grants for science, math, and engineering research in education.
http://www.nsf.gov/funding/
Rural Education Initiative
This fund provides flexible grants to rural districts with at least 20 percent of the students living in poverty.
http://www.ed.gov/nclb/freedom/local/reap.html
ADC Foundation
This foundation is a strong supporter of math and science programs.
http://www.adc.com/aboutadc/adcfoundation/
DuPont Community Outreach
DuPont puts a strong emphasis on developing science programs.
http://www2.dupont.com/Social_Commitment/en_US/outreach/index.html
Hach Scientific Foundation
Hach promotes the study of science K-College.
http://www.hachscientificfoundation.org/
International Paper Foundation
Improving the educational landscape through science.
http://www.internationalpaper.com/
Kresge Foundation
Science equipment, collaborative grants with partners.
http://www.joycefdn.org
Robert Woodruff Foundation
Strong interest in developing scientific programs at all educational levels.
http://www.woodruff.org/