Xplora: making science fun!

Remember those humdrum lectures in science class? Static textbook lessons have not done much to ignite excitement and interest in young children. Now the tables are turned and it is the teachers who are learning, but this time it is all about how to make science classes fun and spark the imaginations of the next generation.

The Xplora Conference, held at CERN from 15 to 18 June, was attended by more than 80 teachers and educators from across Europe ready to share and acquire some creative ways of teaching science. Xplora is an online reference project providing inventive techniques for teaching science in the classroom and beyond. Xplora is part of the Permanent European Resource Centre for Informal Learning (PENCIL) sponsored by the European Commission. PENCIL is comprised of 13 science centres, museums and aquariums, is partners with the University of Naples, Italy and King's College London, UK and is involved with 14 pilot projects throughout Europe.

The goal of these projects is to identify the ones that have proven most successful with kids and adapt them to school teaching. One example is the Istituto e Museo di Storia della Scienza, which uses multimedia materials to provide a 3D view of some of history's scientific instruments, including the ones that Galileo used for his scientific work. Another project, called Who did it? done at Technopolis in Belgium is an interactive detective plot that teaches 10 to 12 year olds about forensic science and the importance of fingerprints, DNA and technology.

Stephen Parker, Project Officer for the Research Directorate General of the European Commission, presented a thought-provoking talk on the importance of raising scientific interest in young children and the challenges the EU faces as the world's economies become more dependent on strategies for developing new technologies. In the EU workforce, only five people in a thousand become scientists, compared with eight or nine in other countries like the US. Parker stressed that this number must be increased and the link between science and cultural activities needs to be strengthened. Other challenges include increasing the number of women in scientific fields, especially maths and chemistry. According to the Eurobarometer, young people think science is too hard and the career choices are uninteresting. 'The EU Commission decided to fund these projects because it is important that we improve the quality and diversity of the science curricula, reinforce links between science education and career options, and focus on research and policy development', said Parker.