NSFAYS Project GUTS: Growing Up Thinking Scientifically

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The Santa Fe Institute, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, New Mexico Institute of Mining and Technology, New Mexico Supercomputing Challenge, Santa Fe school district, Santa Fe independent schools and several science-related businesses are collaborating to engage 200 middle school students (grades 6-8) and 40 teachers in out-of-school and summer activities, field trips, and workshops that promote place-based research into complex systems and computer modeling. The study systems include epidemiology, emergency egress, traffic flow, pollution and ecology. The project is targeting high-need students from underrepresented groups (particularly Hispanics and Native Americans) at a time when test scores show a dip in science and math proficiency. The program is adapting, field-testing, and disseminating ten instructional units that are designed for use by students in Project GUTS Clubs. The instructional activities are aligned with state math and science standards and benchmarks. The research plan is focused on understanding how middle school students integrate knowledge of complex systems and place-based learning into their conceptual view of the world. The formative and summative evaluation studies are collecting data on participant diversity, student learning and attitudes, teacher pedagogy and partnership sustainability.