Gayle Slossberg

Slossberg, Other Lawmakers Praise Young Scientists at Capitol

State Senator Gayle S. Slossberg (D-Milford) today led a bi-partisan coalition of more than a dozen other lawmakers and hosted Young Scientists day at the state Capitol. Hands-on, scientific experiments and demonstrations were conducted by Little Scientists, Inc., which developed curricula and other learning techniques to deliver lessons in scientific discovery to grade school students.

Senator Slossberg said Milford-based Little Scientists, Inc. has science education programs operating in a half-dozen towns across the state. Students participating in today’s experiments and demonstrations were from Hartford, Killingworth, Bristol, and Bloomfield.

“The lesson for state policy makers about the value of experiential learning, particularly in science, is twofold,” Senator Slossberg said. “First, it helps those in public education administration, curriculum development, and classroom teaching remember the age-old lesson about how giving a student a fish allows him or her to eat that day, while teaching that student how to fish provides him or her food for a lifetime.”

“The second lesson is that to an ever-increasing extent, educators in the public sector can turn to private sector providers like Little Scientists for assistance and expertise in the delivery of science lessons to enhance the thrill of discovery—and learning,” Senator Slossberg added.

Senator Slossberg said the Little Scientists program, by helping individual students learn—and remember—their science lessons, helps Connecticut close its education achievement gap in the short term and generate jobs going forward, in healthcare, technology, and other science-related sectors of the economy.

“If the United States is to regain its role as one of the world’s foremost science educators and innovators, then we need to effectively educate scientists,” Heidi Gold-Dworkin, Ph.D., the founder of Little Scientists, Inc. said. “Little Scientists® is a comprehensive hands-on science curriculum that will help our students compete in a global economy.”

“The goal of Little Scientists® is to foster the natural scientific ability of young children to prepare them to become scientists or scientifically literate adults that understand and can compete in the technologically advanced world of the 21st century,” Gold-Dworkin added.

Senator Slossberg has served in the General Assembly since 2005.