But
it took him a while to figure that out. In college, Lee majored in
biology and general science, with minors in chemistry and theater.
In fact, he spent so much time on the stage that everyone thought
he was a drama major. He even met his future wife while performing
in Man of La Mancha. But when his chemistry professor offered
credits to students who would present to the class on topics that
interested them, Lee chose polymers. The presentation changed his
life. Not only did Lee have a lot of fun, but a classmate confided
that for the first time, he understood polymers. That did it—Lee
was hooked on teaching.
A ninth-grade teacher for years, Lee made the switch from teaching
students to teaching teachers. He was named Wisconsin Teacher of the
Year in 1990 and began working to support teachers in the classroom.
He moved to St. Paul and started to work as a science writer, developing
educational materials at the Science Museum of Minnesota. He went
on to invent his present job, creating a network of teachers and other
educational professionals committed to inquiry-based education and
student-directed learning. With his colleagues, he organizes and runs
six conferences and over 60 programs each year, attended by more than
3,000 educators in the Minnesota/western Wisconsin region.
In 1997, Lee and his colleagues planned and ran an educator's institute
for the IMAX film The Greatest Places—the first of its
kind for an IMAX film. The goal of the institute was to bring educators
together to work in teams and develop materials based on the film
for use in classrooms, science centers, and museums. (The web site
for The Greatest Places film is www.greatestplaces.org
Materials developed by educators at the institute are accessible at
www.greatestplaces.org/gpli/plans
)
Lee was an obvious choice for the Lost Worlds advisory committee.
He took a leading role in planning the educators' symposium at the
American Museum of Natural History in New York and contributed to
the educational content of the film. He wanted to show real kids doing
real science, and scientists in action, recording their findings and
asking questions. The scenes showing students studying their local
biodiversity, making observations, and asking questions, and Margarita
Lampo writing and reading from her journal, are all in the film at
Lee's suggestion. Lee explains: "When Margarita sees something and
says, 'What does this mean?' she's expressing the curiosity inherent
to all scientific investigation."
Lee's message to kids is: We need you to be scientists. You, too,
can make observations, ask questions, and collect data. Science is
changing. Now, more than ever, we need to know how each species interacts
with, and is connected to, the world around it. He wants all kids
who see the movie to feel inspired to contribute to science—and
perhaps go further, and become scientists like Margarita and Fabián.
