A 2010 New York Times article recalls the 1957 launch of Sputnik. This event surprised the United States because they were unaware that the Soviet Union had harnessed such technology. "Our response to Sputnik made us better educated, more productive, more technologically advanced and more ingenious" (Friedman, 2010). Our country's enthusiasm towards science education is lacking. I honestly don't know what it will take to re-create this enthusiasm. Our nation is in a crisis due to our national debt, foreclosures, unemployment, gas prices and global competition. We are not on the path to improvement. Americans are not thinking about science education, they are thinking about how to care for their families and where their next meal will be coming from. I believe we need an event the magnitude of Sputnik to re-ignite our attention and place our focus back on Science Education.
References
Friedman, T.L. (2010,January 17). What's our sputnik? [Op-Ed]. The New York Times [Late Edition (East Coast)], p. WK. 8.
