Consequently, they had to start virtually from scratch. It took nearly 9 years to finish a project they originally thought would take 3. But this fall, CAPSI finally unveiled its first four units for secondary schools. The Matter and Forensic Chemistry module allows students to form a mini-CSI (crime-scene investigation) squad and do chemistry experiments to solve their cases. The Human Body Under Attack unit enables students to study bodily processes such as digestion, respiration, and circulation, as well as their delicate interplay. The Microbia module focuses on the world of microorganisms, and the Forces & Rocketry unit looks at Newton's laws of motion in the real world. Each module gives students 6 to 8 weeks of intensive hands-on science investigations.

Early next year, three more modules should debut, focusing on areas such as vision and hearing, force and motion, and electrical circuits. "The trick is making something advanced enough for eighth graders," says Snyder, "but easy enough so that all levels can succeed."

CAPSI has also developed inquiry-based science courses for in-service and pre-service teacher education, and it has established a nationally known science-education research group.

CAPSI staff's concerns aren't merely academic. If the upcoming generation doesn't have an appreciation for or interest in science, they point out, there could be a shortage of scientists and engineers, with serious consequences for the nation's economy.

"Will we be farming out all our science and technology along with manufacturing?" asks Pamela Aschbacher, CAPSI's director of research. "As it stands now, we haven't brought along nearly enough of our own." CAPSI and other programs like it, she and her colleagues believe, may help turn things around.

		SEED, which includes units on biology, physics, and earth science, is an inquiry-based program, meaning that it emphasizes hands-on experimentation as a way of exposing children to the scientific method, and it brought in scientists and engineers from the community as collaborators. By 1994, the pilot program was so successful that all of Pasadena's elementary schools had adopted it; later, 12 other poor and predominantly minority districts throughout the state also adopted the program. The innovative curriculum has since become a widely copied model. — Linda Marsa

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