BACK TO THE BAT CAVE

AN INGENIOUS SNARE TO LURE OUR KIDS INTO SCIENCE

Can we put a new breed of superhero to work in the service of science education?
Here's a suggestion about how to rekindle flagging attention.

The Bat Cave was an enticing place. There the Dynamic Duo took a break from
bopping bad guys while they studied clues that would lead them to bop more of
them. Their gloomy and mysterious hideout was filled with marvelous arcane
scientific equipment.

"Robin, now that we've activated the neutrons in this sample, the spectrometer
will tell us if the slug matches the one we found at the crime scene."

"Right, Batman! The spectrometer counts the gamma rays the alloy emits!"

They were not only tough, mettlesome, and acrobatic, they were smart and
scientifically knowledgeable. It was obvious that when they were not battling
the Joker, they were reading the latest technical journals and conducting
experiments. A lot of kids wanted to be like Batman and Robin: caped crusaders
who were also wizard scientists.

These years we hear every day that American education lags behind that of the
other developed nations, particularly in science. We hear that there is a need
to attract young people to scientific studies. They seem to be turned off, not
finding science interesting. Might it not help to bring back the allurement to
science the Bat Cave offered?

That's why I'd propose creation of a new group of superheroes. Perhaps they
could be called something like The Science Squadron and maybe they could all be
buddies, in the manner of the Justice League of America. Their mission would be
the same as those of superheroes everywhere-to put the bad guys behind bars. But
their methods would lean more heavily on scientific education than on slashing
right uppercuts.

The members of the Science Squadron-all eight of them, or maybe a dozen-would be
drawn from both genders as well as from different ethnic and socioeconomic
backgrounds and age groups. The youngsters who would be following their
exploits need a broad range of personalities to identify with. The Squadron
also should represent a spectrum of scientific disciplines: astronomy, zoology,
Newtonian physics, particle physics, chemistry, biochemistry, botany,
photography, and so forth, including mathematics most emphatically.

These heroes would inhabit their own comic book, of course, and a
Saturday-morning-TV cartoon show. But they would also be found in other places:
not only in computer games but in learning-program software, not only in
textbook illustrations but in school-newspaper comic strips. They would even
visit science classes in person, vivid in Spandex, fit and trim and eager to
explain by what scientific principles they found evidence to bring The Crawler
to justice, as well as Toxic Woman and the Red Claw.

The actors who take the roles of Science Squadron members to grammar and junior
high schools would have to be well prepped, able to explain not only how "The
Case of the Stolen Dinosaur" was solved through molecular analysis of
bloodstains but also what electrophoresis is and dialysis and ion exchange. Very
importantly, these actors must be able to field spontaneous questions from
students.

But the Squadron would come not merely to lecture but to enlist student aid in
solving crimes. They would provide background for students in "The Case of the
Devil Skateboard" and would propose suggestions, but would rely upon the
reasoning powers of their young colleagues to solve the case. Later the whole
adventure could be told in Science Squadron Comics and the contributions of
students acknowledged with prizes and awards.

The notion might not work. As a long-time teacher, I'm used to pedagogical
schemes coming in at 15 percent to 85 percent of their planned effectiveness.
But at least it is an idea, and if teachers agreed to it and could get the
support of groups like the National Science Foundation and Ted Turner
Enterprises and the National Education Association, then perhaps it could be
tried out. Maybe the Molecule Master, Star Girl, Spektor, Dr. Theorem, and the
doughty others could attract young people to the laboratory and to the concepts
that lie beyond it. The point is simple: It is fun to be a superhero, but it
takes knowledge as well as strength.