ScienceDays: a national science mentoring program

A collective, student-driven initiative for science advancement. Why is the sky blue? How do airplanes fly? What happened to the dinosaurs? All children grow up asking questions about the world around them. Even as adults, many of us still remember the excitement of seeing our first baking soda and vinegar volcano and how proud we were of our first science fair project – a paper mache construction of the solar system or a model of cellular organelles with Styrofoam. Driven by students in high school and college chapters across the nation, ScienceDays mentors aim to help new generation of kids as they discover and explore their natural curiosity in the sciences. Knowledge of science and technology must be an integral component of basic education; developing a passion for science should not be the intellectual privilege of a small group of students. Our mission is driven by the current state of science education in the United States and the declining interest among youth in the science and technological fields. The Business Roundtable Survey reported that "Just five percent of parents say they would encourage their child to pursue a career in science, technology, engineering, or mathematics." In addition, the science scores on the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) in 2004 reported that over two-thirds of fourth graders are below the science proficiency level. While ScienceDays does not aim to— in any way— substitute the role of science teachers in elevating the students’ level of proficiency, our organization is primarily involved in—instead—changing and improving the students’ attitude and vision of science. In ScienceDays, high school and college volunteers plan and bring fun lessons to elementary school classrooms with the goal of enriching the students’ early experiences and encouraging them to become the scientists of tomorrow. Whether by illustrating the effects of earthquakes with Jell-O or demonstrating the principles of density with oil and water, ScienceDays volunteers use everyday material to demonstrate scientific phenomena and principles in an interactive and creative manner. Beyond promoting science, ScienceDays is an effort driven by collaborations among students of all ages. By connecting high school and college students with mutual goals, ScienceDays is propelled by the enthusiasm and ideas of a national network of student leaders making a difference in their communities. ScienceDays also aims to change the attitude of the public regarding science and technology fields. In a recent study that assessed students' perception of science by asking them to "draw a scientist", the scientist was illustrated as old and male. "He sometimes had a beard. He was bald or had unkempt hair. He wore glasses and a lab-coat and was usually conducting experiments with chemical materials or dangerous equipment. The common image was that of a scientist as a bespectacled male with unkempt hair in a white lab-coat." (Scherz and Oren, 2006*) Furthermore, the lack of public knowledge about women scientists -- especially about prominent women scientists as role models -- has thwarted a thorough understanding of Science, Technology, Engineering and Math (STEM) fields as well as women's participation at all levels of science. The 2004 Report to Congressional Requesters from the United States Accountability Office summarized that while the participation of women in science and mathematics has increased steadily through the past three decades, the progress varies greatly by field, and men still greatly outnumber women in every field. By exposing young students to creative and interactive lessons taught by a diverse group of high school and college mentors of high aptitude in science and -- often -- extensive research experience, ScienceDays aims to facilitate the development of a vision of science as an exciting and approachable discipline. ScienceDays consists of numerous chapters across the nation, led by one of two directors and advised by a faculty sponsor in the school. The directors then recruit mentors and contact local elementary schools, after-school programs, libraries, and other venues for delivering science lessons. The participating mentors will plan lessons, obtain necessary supplies, and teach the lessons to kids. The directors also carry the responsibility of ensure positive group dynamics as well as maintaining contact with the national chapter about the progress and needs of the chapter. By targeting elementary school students, ScienceDays gives young students the chance to engage in science beyond the standard classroom experience. ScienceDays aims to foster inspirational relationships between mentors and young scientists of the future. While lesson plans comply with National Science Education standards, the delivery of lessons by high school or college mentors serves allows elementary school students to relate to the mentors more personally. As ScienceDays mentors delivered lessons as guest-speakers as part of the “Science Week” of the Chapel Hill-Carrboro County Schools Summer Camp program, the camp administrators reported, “By having students as teachers -- the children were able to relate to the experiments." The national chapter accepts online applications from students who are interested in becoming directors at the high school or college. All qualified applicants are interviewed. Directing a chapter is challenging yet greatly rewarding experience that will require dedication, leadership, a strong vision, and enthusiasm. We seek directors with passion and high aptitude in science and with past volunteering experience, preferably in the area of working with children. Directors and mentors benefit greatly from the collaborative atmosphere of the chapter, as well as the invaluable teaching experience. The primary activities of the individual chapters are preparing and teaching lessons to local elementary education programs. In addition to delivering science lesson during the academic year, ScienceDays directors and mentors plan special demonstrations during the summer; past events include our 2006 Summer Tour in Chapel Hill, North Carolina. We were lucky to have received support from the Siemens Foundation in this inaugural year to help offset the costs of lesson supplies and other incidentals. This summer, tours are planned in North Carolina as well as Boston. The role of the national chapter is to oversee the activities of individual chapters as well as to provide needed guidance and resources, such as budget to help offset the costs of lesson supplies. The national chapter also creates a communicative and collaborative network among all chapters: lesson plans as well as mentoring strategies are shared across chapters; plans for a leadership summit is also underway as a opportunity for directors and mentors to meet, network, and share experiences. The experience of working with kids has been so inspiring – they are all so interested in what we teach, and they keep asking questions about the experiments and the science. We received very encouraging feedback from camp counselors and classroom teachers. Being a mentor is exceedingly rewarding-– showing science to kids is a completely different experience from studying for a science test or doing research. It forces you to articulate what you know in an interesting manner, to an audience that’s going to pretty much believe everything you say! Of course this is a daunting task, but it has been such a thrill, and we've found it to be extremely addictive. With ScienceDays, that’s the things that keeps us going. *Scherz, Z. and Oren M. (2006) How to Change Students’ Images of Science and Technology. Science Education, DOI 10.1002, 965–985. Visit our website at http://sciencedays.org