Polar Resources Arctic Icebreaker Coord. Oscar Kawagley told about his new laptop computer. The thing was out of date as soon as I opened the cover. He was also talking about educating children in a world of rapidly changing science and technology. Education is about our hopes for the future.
Science education presents tremendous challenges, however.
Science, by the very nature of its enterprise, constantly seeks changes in its own conceptions of the world. Science education is not just imparting a body of knowledge but also the tools to expand and question the information and the way of learning itself. For many reasons, the U.S. arctic research community wants to become more involved in science education at all levels. While the polar regions may be perceived as remote and unrelated to the lives of most Americans, we are growing to understand their importance to the whole Earth system. We can plant the seed for this understanding in others very early in their lives.