To help remedy this situation, many scientists these days are taking time to share their world--and themselves--with teachers and students from kindergarten through high school. These scientists have a variety of motives: Some simply want to provide assistance in response to a pressing need; they are expressing a concern for providing the next generation of scientists and technicians. Others are seeking a way to reciprocate for the mentoring and programs that inspired them as students. Still others have a professional motivation; they want to help create an educated citizenry that understands the need for funding basic research, expanding laboratory facilities, and taking well-informed positions on such volatile issues as the use of animals in research.
Meanwhile, government policy- makers, in calling for reforms in science education, often cite national economic interests--the need for a scientifically literate and mathematically empowered work force to compete in the global marketplace.
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