A collaboration of staff from the University of California at Berkeley's Lawrence Hall of Science, School of Education, and the Cooperative Extension Service (4-H) will develop and implement SERIES (Science Experiences and Resources for Informal Education Settings), a state-wide informal science education program for the California State 4-H system. Over a three year period they will adapt existing science curricula and generate new materials for use in informal 4-H settings around the theme of science relevant to societal concerns, with an agricultural technology focus. They will design and test a comprehensive training model using the materials to insure their effective use by volunteer leaders, and develop an extensive cadre of CES staff and volunteer trainers skilled in training volunteer teachers in the use of the curriculum materials. The resulting curriculum and training materials will be published and made available at cost to all 4-H clubs. The project will directly benefit 100 paid and volunteer trainers, 1800 volunteer leaders and 12,600 youth participants, and will indirectly benefit the more than 60,000 youth enrolled in California 4-H programs each year.
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TEAM MEMBERS:
Richard PonzioLaurel DeanHerbert Thier
resourceprojectProfessional Development, Conferences, and Networks
Chemistry in the Community (ChemCom) was designed to provide an attractive, open access route for all high school students to the realm of relevant and useful chemical phenomena. What began as a dream a few years ago is now a well-developed high school program brought about by the concerted efforts of high school teachers, college and university professors, and industrial chemists and financed by the National Science Foundation and the American Chemical Society. This three-year project is designed as a partnership to support the dissemination of the Chemcom curriculum. Specially selected teachers will be educated so that they can become resource teachers who will conduct ChemCom inservice workshops throughout the country. These resource teachers are expected to represent as many as 150 school systems and will reach as many as 2,000 teachers with their inservice programs. The project also includes a series of networking activities entitled "An Evening with ChemCom, the establishment of a computer network, and the production of a newsletter. The evaluation will focus on the effectiveness of this particular model for implementing curriculum change. The total cost sharing (ACS, Publisher, School Systems) is expected to be almost five times the NSF request.
The New England Aquarium will develop an "inquiry-driven" gallery for the study of aquatic sciences in a move to go beyond the "naming" experiences in biology and environmental education. The project will focus on seven conceptual themes: 1) adaptation and evolution; 2) habitat; 3) life cycles; 4) development and metamorphosis; 5) species interactions; 6) energy flow: and 7) signals and senses. The exhibits will challenge the visitor with questions, puzzles and games. Curriculum materials will be developed for teachers along with a users guide for visitors. Outreach activities are planned, aimed at minority students and visitors. The Aquarium serves approximately 155,000 students and over one million visitors every year. The redesigned gallery will house eight tanks, ranging from a series of small tanks with accompanying video clips that display seldom seen behaviors such as the "birth" of seahorses, lobster molting, etc. to three 250-gallon tanks that will display ancient fishes and a variety of species showing different kinds of locomotion, color and sound. A 2500- gallon tank housing a school of fish will demonstrate different ways terrestrial and aquatic animals sense their surroundings. A 4000-gallon floor to ceiling tank will display a salt marsh on one side and a mangrove forest on the other and a 6000-gallon tank will house large groupers, moray eels and small gobies. The NSF award represents $273,971 out of a project total of $857,986.
This project will test an instructional strategy designed to increase the pool of minority students who are successful in their study of algebra and higher mathematics courses. Since 1979, the Comprehensive Math and Science Program at Columbia University has been developing an instructional model designed to give all entering ninth grade students the opportunity to work to their highest level of capacity in mathematics. Key features of the model are a zero-based start, which makes no assumptions on students' prior mathematics background, and a complementary curriculum, which provides a set of parallel, interlocking mathematics courses that substantially increases the rate of mathematics instruction over a four semester period. Preliminary tests of the model in New York City schools have yielded encouraging results. In the current project, the instructional materials will be completed and the model will be extensively tested in New York City and in Fulton County, Georgia. The testing will be accompanied by the development of an apprenticeship model for teacher training, which will pair new teachers with experienced teachers in the interlocking courses of the program.
The Franklin Institute Science Museum, a major American Science Center serving more than 700,000 individuals annually, proposes to create a 3,700 square foot permanent exhibition that will promote public interest in and understanding of the concepts and principles of mathematics in concrete, tangible form. The exhibition will consist of five clusters of hands-on devices, interactive computer programs, models, and text on the themes of Geometry; Symmetry; Chance, Probability and Randomness; Series, Sequences and Limits; and "Modern Math"--Fractals, Knots and Braids and Topology. Museum staff will utilize several mathematicians as advisors and design participants and will develop adjunct educational materials for use by teachers, students, and family members. They will disseminate exhibition techniques and content by providing six collaborating museums with selected copies of exhibit devices and hardware for their use in developing temporary or permanent mathematics exhibits. Staff of the six museums will join advisors for a design conference during exhibition planning, and will provide evaluation reports on their use of the exhibit materials. Knowledge of mathematics is not only necessary for everyday life; it is central to public understanding of science and engineering, and a key to continued participation in science and engineering, and a key to continued participation in science education in high school and college. Increasing national interest improvement in the mathematical ability of americans at all levels, pre-college and college, make this proposed exhibition particularly timely.
This project, WALKING ON WATER, chronicals the success of Jaime Escalante's nationally acclaimed mathematics program at Garfield High School in Los Angeles. Overcoming crime, poverty and a 50% drop-out rate, Mr. Escalante transformed Hispanic students with deficient scholastic backgrounds into the top calculus students in the country. As a result of this success, Garfield High School is now a magnet school for math and science in the Los Angeles School District. Mr. Escalante's story will be told in a 90 minute film docudrama which will air nationally on public television's American Playhouse series, the 14th most popular program on PBS reaching 1.2 million homes. The film is designed for general theatrical release, for educational distribution on cable, for videocassette release and will be dubbed into Spanish for airing in Spanish theaters. In addition, Eddie Olmas, the Emmy award winning star of Miami Vice who portrays Mr. Escalanate in the film, will use the film in personal appearances. Reviewers all agree that this story will inspire and motivate students and teachers alike. They also agreed that it is equally important to reach other significant audiences such as parents, school administrators and opinion leaders so that they will understand and support these types of education efforts.