In early January, a coalition of more than 500 universities, K-12 schools, educators, scientific societies, science centers and museums, government agencies, advocacy groups, and others kicked off the Year of Science, or YoS2009. The Coalition on the Public Understanding of Science (COPUS) expects this yearlong recognition, with events scheduled across the country, will engage the public and inform it about science.

COPUS is sponsored by the American Institute of Biological Sciences, the Geological Society of America, the National Science Teachers Association, and the University of California Museum of Paleontology.

The sponsors and other participants will host events in all 50 states. The YoS09 web site, http://www.yearofscience2009.org/home/ ,offers updates on events and continuing coverage of the celebration.

Each month will focus on a specific scientific theme — evolution, energy resources, oceans and water, astronomy, and so forth. Theme-related resources, including video clips, interviews with scientists, ways to become involved (citizen science projects), are available at http://www.yearofscience2009.org/themes/

A new web site called Understanding Science: How Science Really Works is a project of the University of California Museum of Paleontology and is the result of collaboration among scientists, teachers, designers, and web experts. The goal is to improve teacher understanding of the nature of the scientific enterprise and provide resources and strategies for teaching the nature of science. It offers many resources for teachers, students, and the general public. (A downloadable, one-page handout for publicizing YoS09 is found at http://www.yearofscience2009.org/themes_process_nature/YoS09JanuaryOnePage.pdf .)

Francis Eberle, executive director of the National Science Teachers Association, writes in NSTA Reports that science educators “now have a rare opportunity to show an interested public how science explores what is not understood and how it impacts all of our lives.”

Sign up at http://www.copusproject.org/signup.php for email news about the coalition and the Year of Science.