Parents Science Initiative
"Science education cannot be experienced in schools alone."
Kenneth Hess, Founder, Science Buddies
The Parents Science Initiative, sponsored by Science Buddies, is a call to
action, led by prominent scientists, to encourage parents to take an active role
in their children's science education. Like reading and math, science literacy is
vital to a student's future success in the highly technical and digital world of
the 21st century. The Parents Science Initiative provides free online resources
here on the Science Buddies website to help parents find ways to start a science
dialogue, encourage a child's interest in science, and explore science activities
at home. Key tools include activities, project ideas, and support in all areas of
science, from physics and food science to music, microbiology, and more.
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Now Is the Time to Focus on Science at Home
In the 21st century, workers, parents, and students will need basic science literacy
to thrive in a complex, global society. Everyone will need to make educated decisions
about health, what is seen in the media, purchases from a store, decisions about
the environment, voting, and prospects for meaningful work, all based upon scientific
principles and concepts. Science is touching us at every level and today's young
people need to be prepared for the complicated world they will inherit. Schools
cannot foster a love and understanding of science, technology, engineering, and
math alone. Schools need parents' help by encouraging an appreciation for, and competency
in these important subjects, at home.
It has become second nature for many parents to encourage reading. The Parents Science
Initiative encourages parents to adopt the same attitude toward science.
Science Buddies is the primary sponsor of the Parents Science Initiative
and has created resources for parents who want to take positive action to foster
science literacy, including:
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Resources for Parents
Science Buddies has developed a
Parent Resources section with information and tips to help parents take and
active role in their children's science education.
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Parents Science Initiative Ambassadors
The following science and technology professionals will act as spokespeople for
the campaign.
 Dr. Bernard
Harris: is an accomplished NASA astronaut, physician, and businessman. He
serves as president of The Harris Foundation, Inc., a non-profit organization he
founded in 1998 to develop math and science education programs for America's youth.
 Dr. Douglas
Osheroff: Dr. Osheroff, along with Drs. David Lee and Robert Richardson,
was awarded the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1996 for the discovery of superfluidity
in helium-3. Dr. Osheroff is currently Professor of Physics and Applied Physics
and holds the J.G. Jackson and C.J. Wood Professorship in Physics at Stanford University.
 Dr. Steven
Vogt is Professor of Astronomy and Astrophysics at Lick Observatory, UC Santa
Cruz. Steve has been at Lick Observatory for the past 21 years. He built both the
Hamilton spectrometer at Lick (with which most of the first extra-solar planets
were discovered) and HIRES, the world's most powerful spectrometer on the Keck Ten-meter
telescope in Hawaii. Dr. Vogt is currently a member of the California-Carnegie Planet
Search Team. This preeminent extra-solar planet search team is building a new telescope
in the Lick Observatory that will be the most powerful in the world, able to track
planets to a precision of 1 meter per second.
 Kenneth
L. Hess is the Founder and President of Science Buddies. Ken successfully
wears a lot of hats in his life: educator, entrepreneur, engineer, and author—not
to mention amateur photographer and astronomer. And no matter which of those hats
he's wearing it's his nature to create and build something new, be it an original
product, solution, or organization. When he saw how much his daughter learned doing
her own science projects, it was only a matter of time before he founded Science
Buddies in an effort to create the same positive learning experience for students
everywhere. Prior to turning toward education, Ken popularized computer genealogy
by designing, developing, and selling the Family Tree Maker product line, which
has sold millions of copies and fostered the creation of some of the most popular
sites on the Internet.
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Media Info
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