Education

Forty years ago this week, the Apollo 11 mission touched down on the surface of the moon, and the U.S. won the space race. As we celebrate this historic moment, we are reminded that today America faces a new global competition that will have far greater implications for the future of our nation and the world: the clean energy race.

Unfortunately, instead of summoning the same vigorous commitment to innovation and education that won the space race four decades ago, Congress today is poised to reject a critical initiative to invest in the generation of young engineers, scientists and innovations who must win the clean energy race.

China is putting its students to work this summer as climate ambassadors to spread the word about climate change and what people can do to stop it.

Through a new training program called “One Thousand Environment-Friendly Youth Ambassadors Action,” eight Chinese ministries, along with the UNDP, hope to educate 1 million people about the actions they can take to preserve the environment and limit climate change.

The program started last month with training for 1,000 high school and college students in Beijing (north China), Shanghai (east), Xi’an (northwest), Chengdu (southwest) and Guangzhou (south).

Each young ambassador is expected to train another 1,000 people, hence one million people around the nation will be informed of professional environmental knowledge.

A lot of adults, it seems, have a hard time wrapping their minds around basic Earth science (just tune into congressional hearings on the climate bill, particularly Reps. Joe Barton and John Shimkus, or Rep. John Boehner on the talk shows).

Fortunately, our kids still have a natural curiosity and insatiable desire to root out the truth.

One six-year-old's endless "why?" questions about the planet have become the inspiration for a creative new blog that's helping parents and teachers nurture their children's fascination with Earth science. Written by Jeff Goldstein, father to six-year-old Jordi and director of the National Center for Earth and Space Science Education, Blog On The Universe suggests ways to encourage questions and help kids discover the answers.

The blog poses challenges: How many new human beings will be on the planet a year from now, what resources will they need and where will they find them?

It also turns the news into teachable moments. The goal, Goldstein explains, is to get adults and children emotional about science and help them become good stewards of our planet.

"You've got to keep fighting for science literacy, and that's what this blog is all about," he says.

Here's a sample from a recent Blog On The Universe post that started with a question from Jordi: “Daddy, how long is a billion years?”