There is currently (and always has been?) a great deal of discussion concerning the methods, approach, and content of science education. The many ideas that have been put forth are no doubt moving us in the right direction, but there is one aspect of science that is often overlooked: original scientific research. Let us not forget our own motivations for pursuing a career in research, in particular the excitement of discovery.

It is a great exercise for students to "discover," say, the law of gravity, but no matter how we try to disguise it, the students know they are searching for the "correct" answer - the one the teacher knows about. In contrast, students working on an original science project may be quite surprised to find out that the teacher, nor anyone else, knows what answer he or she is searching for. While the experience of "guided" discovery may teach them valuable lessons about the scientific process, it cannot convey the true excitement of original scientific research.

Unfortunately, introducing original scientific research into the classroom might seem impractical. Such research is typically done by PhD scientists with years of experience in their field, and on subject matter that is beyond the comprehension of most students. With careful forethought, however, one can design an original research project for just about any group of students.

Motivated by a desire to expose students to the excitement of original scientific research, I embarked on a project to lead a class of undergraduate juniors and seniors through their own research program. In my mind the keys to the success of this project were to provide advanced tools for the research that students could understand and use (in this case computational hydrodynamics), and subject matter that was stimulating, original, and comprehensible (in this case new observations of jets from young stars). While it may be hard to bring these two key ingredients together in any random science class, the prospective returns are well worth the effort.