· SCIENCE APPRECIATION DAYS AT THE NATIONAL LABS

The Department of Energy (DOE) national laboratories will hold science appreciation days throughout the year that will offer a wide variety of activities and resources to 1,000 5th graders and 1,000 8th graders in their region. As examples, the labs will provide hands-on activities where students and teachers participate in science and/or math activities such as bridge-building contests and “Rube Goldberg” contests, where they are challenged to construct a complex machine to do a fairly simple task. It is well accepted that the middle school years are critical for attracting students’ interests in science and math. Stimulating interactive activities that show the relevance of science and math education to everyday life are powerful motivators to students. When our labs have conducted outreach activities such as middle- and high-school Science Bowls and magnetic levitation car races, we have seen great excitement and vastly improved interest from middle school students in continuing these activities.

· CREATE OFFICE OF DOE SCIENCE EDUCATION

The Department of Energy will create the Office of DOE Science Education in the Office of Science to coordinate all education outreach for the entire DOE. Without duplicating the efforts of other agencies, this office will explore ways to expand DOE’s leveraging of resources at the National Labs by forging partnerships with appropriate federal agencies and non-government organizations with interests in science and math education such as the Department of Education, NASA, National Science Foundation, National Institutes of Health, National Science Teachers Association and American Association for the Advancement of Science. The office will be headed by a Senior Executive.

· UPGRADE AND PUBLICIZE THE “ASK A SCIENTIST” WEBSITE

The Argonne National Laboratory's "Ask A Scientist" website encourages students, teachers and members of the public to submit questions via the Internet to a group of volunteer scientists at the National Laboratories. Before questions are answered, they first are reviewed to ensure they meet certain criteria; they cannot be homework problems or questions easily answered from a standard reference book. The questions become the property of the website and are archived with a search function to allow other viewers to access previously submitted questions and their answers. The site now receives over a million hits a month. The Department will expand the scope of this successful site, upgrade the software, design a more attractive home page, make the site more user friendly, and promote it nationwide. It will also be modified for easy access from the DOE home page.

Attached below is a page from the redesigned "Ask A Scientist" web site.
The "Ask A Scientist" home page can be accessed at http://www.newton.dep.anl.gov/aas.htm .

· ESTABLISH THE DOE SCIENCE TEACHER PROFESSIONAL
DEVELOPMENT PROGRAM

Starting this summer, DOE is piloting a professional development program for 77 K-14 teachers at seven National Laboratories. DOE has made a three-year commitment to support these teachers in their efforts to improve their knowledge and technical expertise of the science and math they teach. All teachers are provided mentor-intensive science experiences at a National Laboratory for four to eight weeks per year.

This approach has been shown to have a positive impact on teachers and students alike. When this approach was used some years ago at some of our National Labs, it resulted in significant improvement in teacher content knowledge and student achievement. Additional information on this program can be found at http://www.scied.science.doe.gov/scied/LSTPD/about.htm.

· CAREER DAY PROGRAMS AT THE NATIONAL LABS

For many years, DOE labs have invited local schools and communities to attend open houses or seminars in science and technology visiting teachers, students and others interested in science can meet the labs’ scientists and engineers. The National Labs have also sent scientists out to local schools as presenters, judges in science fairs and mentors. It has always been an inspiration to students to interact with these scientists and experience the excitement and dedication of these scientists to their careers.

The National Labs will be asked to support interest in science careers by reaching out to regional school systems in these ways:

• Having students interact with National Lab scientists, as in Berkeley Lab’s program where scientists visit local classrooms or Argonne Lab’s program where scientists are a teacher or principal for the day in local schools
• Hosting open houses at National Labs that highlight scientists and their research
• Providing support to local science fairs or students doing science projects

More information on programs like this that will now be expanded can be found at these National Labs’ web sites:
http://www-ed.fnal.gov/doe/doe_labs.html
http://www.dep.anl.gov/
http://www.bnl.gov/scied/
http://csee.lbl.gov/
http://www.pppl.gov/education/pages/education.html
http://education.jlab.org/
http://www.lanl.gov/worldview/
http://science-ed.pnl.gov/
http://www.llnl.gov/llnl/001index/03ed-index.html http://www.fnal.gov/pub/education/index.html

· HOST A YEARLY “WHAT’S NEXT?” EXPO

DOE will host the first of what we expect to be a yearly expo entitled, “What’s Next?” The Department will bring together scientists and corporate innovators to demonstrate the breakthrough technologies and science they expect to become commonplace in the future. The expo will be designed for a general audience, but especially for students and teachers. It’s purpose will be to find out and demonstrate what’s next in handheld computers, what’s next in solar cars, what’s next in graphics for the Gameboys, or what’s next in life-saving technology. This kind of event can bring a national focus to how exciting science may change our lives and provide another way to highlight science for students.

· SCIENCE SUPERSTARS

The Department of Energy is launching a new program to introduce teachers, students and education professionals to our internationally recognized, award winning scientists and Nobel Laureates. We will work with national organizations during their annual meetings to inspire young scientists to continue in their studies of math and science and highlight remarkable discoveries and scientific breakthroughs.

A list of the Nobel Laureates that have been associated with DOE is available at
http://www.science.doe.gov/sub/accomplishments/heroes/heroes.htm. In addition, a number of scientists at DOE’s National Laboratories have been honored with two highly prestigious awards for scientists administered by DOE. The Enrico Fermi Award (http://www.sc.doe.gov/fermi/) is a Presidential award that recognizes scientists of international stature for their lifetimes of exceptional achievement in the development, use or production of energy. And the Ernest O. Lawrence Award (http://www.sc.doe.gov/lawrence/) honors scientists and engineers for exceptional accomplishment at mid-career in the fields of chemistry, environmental science and technology, life sciences (including medicine), materials research, national security, nuclear technology and physics.