The NASA Future Forum, held at the Adler Planetarium, provided a lot of inspiration and food for thought about where StarPals is going as we head into IYA2009 and beyond.
One of the themes throughout the day that was brought up by nearly every speaker, the question on everyone's mind, was this: How do we get young people interested in science?
This is a difficult question to address; I must admit that when I was younger, I was more interested in art, theatre, and music. Science? Science was boring, required too much memorization, and offered few rewards. Right? So I thought then, but the more I learn, the more fascinated I become. Turns out science in the real world is more than just recreation of experiments with very predictible outcomes. Science doesn't know all the answers yet, and there is something really cool about the process of discovery.
This is something that StarPals kids are learning (or at least we hope so!). Whether it's astrophotography or research projects, kids are getting involved with something bigger than themselves, and experiencing the awe and wonder of the mysteries of the Universe. Our goal is to make science education as fun and relevant as possible, to spark an interest in science that's potentially lifelong, whether our kids grow up to be engineers, CEOs, or poiliticians.
The United States has long been a leader in the fields of science and technology, and we have great universities for students to study these fields. Our universities are so good, that people come from around the world to study here... and in some cases there are more foreign students than US citizens, which while a great testament to the caliber of education here, it raises the question of why more of our own aren't going on to pursue higher education in these fields.
This leads me to bring up another important potential role for StarPals. In this global marketplace, international cooperation is becoming more and more necessary and desirable, and students, by participating in StarPals projects with other students around the world, from other cultures, are learning a valuable skill.
