Educating the next generation of SETI scientists: Voyages through time

The search for extraterrestrial intelligence (SETI) could succeed tomorrow, or not for many generations, or never. SETI scientists are very cognizant of the need to train the next generation of researchers who can carry on this vast scientific exploration. Previously, the SETI Institute has met this challenge by developing supplementary teachers' guides for elementary and middle schools called "Life In The Universe" and published by Teacher Ideas Press. Currently, we are engaged in a far more challenging project that is funded primarily by the National Science Foundation (NSF). The SETI Institute is creating a year long, interdisciplinary, high school science curriculum called "Voyages Through Time: Everything Evolves". We are using the theme of evolution to weave a panoramic vista for students that begins with the origin of the universe, encompasses our own origin and evolution, and looks at the evolution of technology and our possible future. By integrating different scientific and technical disciplines to explore how we answer fundamentally important questions, we hope to excite and motivate high school students with the opportunities offered by the way science is practiced today. We invite them to plan a future in which they help to enrich the answers to the big questions: Where did I come from? Where am I going? Is anybody else out there? Voyages Through Time consists of six modules on CD-ROMs for teachers and students that have been extensively tested both regionally and nationally. Publication is expected in 2003. The partners in the development of this curriculum are the SETI Institute, NASA Ames Research Center, California Academy of Sciences, and San Francisco State University. Voyages Through Time is funded by the NSF (DM # 9730693) with additional support from NASA, Hewlett Packard Company, The Foundation for Microbiology, and the Federated Charitable Campaign. (C) 2003 Published by Elsevier Science Ltd.