Like other school systems across the nation, those in our two state area are being forced to cut back on field trips as a way to deal with budget-busting soaring gas prices.

Hence, in a highly commendable move, National Science Center's Fort Discovery officials have decided if pupils can't come to see their science center, they'll take the center to the pupils.

The plan - Science to Go! - was unveiled this month at Fort Discovery's first ever Education Expo. A van carrying up to 60 presentations will go to schools that had been planning field trips to the center in downtown Augusta, but now can't afford to come.

Many of the projects are in line with curricula for Georgia's new performance standards and are an excellent teaching aid because, as one seventh grade science teacher pointed out, pupils can actually touch and experience science instead of just reading about it.

It would be awful if fuel prices curtailed this kind of hands-on teaching, so vital to understanding science - a discipline that for many is hard to teach and hard to learn..

Another key program featured at Fort Discovery's Education Expo also encourages hands-on teaching - a refurbished Teacher Resource Center. It provides teachers science kits for free with a paid membership. The kits run the gamut from experiments involving the human brain to projects about the solar system.

It is heartening that although schools have to cut back on their travel mileage, the National Science Center's Fort Discovery has found a way to go the extra mile to fulfill its educational mission in these hard times. Sponsors of the center, including the U.S. Army, can feel especially good about their contributions today.