THE WATER COOLER ; Science Museum Creates Course

By JESSE NOYES

The Museum of Science is moving into the classroom by creating a new high school science course with a California-based textbook publisher.

The museum said yesterday it’s completed “Engineering the Future: Science, Technology, and the Design Process,” its first foray into textbook publishing.

The museum teamed up with Emeryville, Calif.-based Key Curriculum Press on the course, which includes a textbook, a laboratory notebook and a teacher’s notebook.

The concept behind the course is to tie science to the practical side of engineering, said Cary Sneider, vice president for educator programs at the museum. “It’s a very, very useful introduction to the sciences at the high school level,” he said.

Sneider said a wide range of topics are introduced and discussed in the first-person by actual engineers. Students also carry out projects that include developing a new cell phone holder, designing buildings to help stop urban sprawl and crafting a toy boat.

The course was tested in about 100 schools, and Key Curriculum said it has already received a handful of orders.

Between 4,000 and 5,000 textbooks will be printed initially, the company said.

The cost of the curriculum for a class of 30 will be about $1,500 with another $2,000 needed for equipment to carry out the projects, Sneider said.

That’s a relatively low cost, he said, adding that the museum, a nonprofit, is not looking to cash in on the course.

“The museum’s mission is to basically increase people’s interest in and understanding of science and technology,” Sneider said. “This is another way of accomplishing our mission.”

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