Workshop Utilizing an Innovative Approach to the Teaching ofScience in the Elementary Level

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The Department of Science and Mathematics at Columbia College has developed a highly successful method of teaching science to people who do not have extensive science backgrounds. A major component of this unique approach is the integration of science with the humanities and the arts. This project will attempt to transfer that method of instruction to a program designed to improve the knowledge and teaching skills of middle school science teachers. A series of workshops using this creative approach and lasting four weeks will be offered during three consecutive summers. Under the "umbrella" theme of environmental science, the topics of physics, chemistry, geology and biology will be studied, through laboratory experiences, discussions, and lectures. Teachers will demonstrate their mastery of the material by creating and presenting projects which incorporate their talents and interests. The projects will be able to take the form of paintings, films, videos, dances, poems, photoessays, sculptures, drama or journalism. During each afternoon teachers will reflect on the methods of instruction being used to teach them science during the workshop and plan ways to transfer such methodology to their own classrooms. The cost sharing for the program will be fifty percent of the NSF portion.