Thursday, February 15, 2007 Older Editions

Catapulting to success

For years, news accounts have been filled with doom and gloom about American children's lack of science knowledge. Merrimack College is looking to attract students to engineering with an unusual idea - and it is putting its money where its goals are. Merrimack is offering $60,000 in scholarship money to the high school student who can create the most accurate egg catapult. The goal is to fling an egg into a frying pan 60 feet away. Hopefully, this will capture the interest of some Andover High students, and launch them into a successful career in science.

Of course, Merrimack is not alone in Andover in trying to promote science to young people. At High Plain Elementary, a special program used a perennial kid favorite - dinosaurs! - to spark the interest and imagination of pint-sized paleontologists this week. As reported last week, a Doherty Middle School teacher has kids caring for guppies to teach them about genetics.

Educators who use such creative concepts to engage students of every age - while also empowering kids with traditional science knowledge - are involved in important work.