CU-Boulder Scientists Awarded $1.5 Million For Science Education
Proposal leverages CIRES' Sombrero Marsh Environmental Education Program
By Annette Varani
Congressman Mark Udall helps dedicate the Sombrero Marsh Environmental Education Center |
The
National Science Foundation has granted $1.5 million to a team of CU-Boulder
scientists and graduate students who are working with the Boulder Valley
School district on a program designed to improve science, math and literacy
in area schools.
The program, " Partners
in Science Education: GK-12 Fellows at CU-Boulder" is led by
Veronica Bierbaum, professor of chemistry and biochemistry, with Margaret
Asirvatham, also of chemistry and biochemistry; Lesley Smith, a CIRES
research associate; Andrew Martin, associate professor in environmental,
population and organismic biology; and Frances Bagenal, professor of
astrophysical and planetary sciences at CU-Boulder's Laboratory for Atmospheric
and Space Physics.
Carol McLaren, director
of the popular and highly acclaimed Science Discovery program at CU-Boulder,
will lead graduate fellow and teacher training and Lynn Geiger, an academic
adviser in the CU-Boulder chemistry and biochemistry department, will
coordinate undergraduate and minority student participation.
 "By
partnering with the Boulder Valley School District, we hope to inspire
middle and high school students to pursue careers in science, technology,
engineering and math," Asirvatham said.
The three-year grant
begins in June 2003 and supports placement of nine graduate fellows in
science classrooms who will help develop and implement middle and high
school science education modules.
The modules will be
designed to follow the Full Option Science System, or FOSS, developed
with NSF support at the Lawrence Hall of Science at Berkeley.
Each module incorporates
student readings, science journals, interactive projects and the use of
mathematics to develop students' basic skills.
The project targets
grades six through eight in two district middle schools, Angevine and
Casey, and grades nine and 10 in Boulder and Centaurus high schools. These
schools were selected to address the disparity in performance between
underrepresented minorities and other students in the math and science
Colorado State Assessment Program (CSAP) tests in 2000 and 2001.
Critical to the model's
concept is the idea that students learn science by doing science. The
Partners in Science Education program leverages the Sombrero Marsh Environmental
Education Program initiated in 2001 with participation by CIRES, the Boulder
Valley School District, Thorne Ecological Institute and the City of Boulder
Open Space and Mountain Parks.
Sombrero Marsh Open Space at the Environmental Education Center |
In
May, the EPA cited Sombrero Marsh as a "five star restoration site."
So far, the Sombrero Marsh educational pilot has involved 10 teachers
and 125 Boulder Valley School District students. Student scientists
ranging from first and fourth graders to middle school and high school
students, monitor the restoration of the marsh and measure the impacts
of classroom groups on the health of the wetland.
"The Partners in Science Education program is particularly strong because
the modules we use in the classroom are followed by a real-world experience
in the Sombrero Marsh nature center," Smith said.
Project leader Bierbaum
said the program "will enhance science education by bringing graduate
fellows into the classroom and will provide new research opportunities
for teachers and students."
"We hope the
research and teaching experiences will encourage graduate fellows to
consider careers in teaching secondary school science," she said.
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