Wade Roush
Boston--"Investigate!" an exhibit at the Boston Museum of Science that opens today, is long on questions--but short on answers. That's because it's trying to put museumgoers in scientists' shoes. Visitors will "do the kinds of things scientists and engineers do when they are carrying out research," explains a museum official. They will formulate hypotheses about the relationships between wheel size and model car speed, for instance, and test the ideas on race tracks. Science educators from around the country are watching closely, because many believe that a better understanding of scientific habits of mind is at the core of "scientific literacy."