Minnesota’s first-ever set of science standards for schools was updated this year, and a number of efforts aim to improve science education, like a summer program at Augsburg College in Minneapolis.

One class of all boys was painting wooden cars for this week’s big race, a kind-of Cub Scout Pinewood Derby, but with cars packed with CO-2 cartridges that will launch them at 50 miles an hour.

These 200 or so students from Minneapolis and St. Paul are part of programs including GEMS (Girls in Engineering, Mathematics, and Science); GISE (Guys in Science and Engineering) and SciFY (Science For Youth), which are all coordinated by Minneapolis teacher Brad Blue.

“It’s easier to have a carrot than it is a stick,” Blue said. “So if you say ‘we’re going to have a pinewood derby on steroids, these things are going to go 50 miles an hour but first we’re going to the wind tunnel and collect data, what do you think? ‘ They’re all over it. Because they see the real-time, cumulative event and they’re drawn to it.”  … Read the whole story here

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