The Community Science Connection

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9454362 Cook Description: This 48 month project directly enhances the science understanding and teaching skills of elementary school teachers by establishing a network of collaborative linkages between classrooms and the Arboretum through telecommunications technology, structured science expeditions, student investigations, and regular opportunities for teacher reflection. The project goals are: to increase knowledge of botany and zoology; to provide access to the Internet; to create network communities of students and teachers from resource-rich and resource-poor schools working with each other and with scientists from the Arboretum; to support student investigations; to offer a family science program; to work with and within the SSI and the Boston USI; and to disseminate the model to other similar centers. These goals are accomplished through summer workshops for teachers, student field studies, family science programs, and evaluation/dissemination. Funding is provided for the teacher training in the summers (with follow up) and the evaluation/dissemination. In its initial stages, the project works with three school communities adjoining the Arboretum in Boston, Massachusetts. Two-hundred and seventy elementary school teachers receive courses, field experiences and direct support from the Arboretum. An additional 150 teachers, primarily from within the state, receive training through telecommunications and local support. Cost sharing is estimated at 55%. ***