Learning and Discovery in Experimental Environmental Health Science: On the Path from Data to Knowledge

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To achieve a healthy society, America needs both highly trained health professionals and a science-literate public. The development of both begins during K-12 education. Within the NIH, the SEPA program provides the principal means to influence pre-college science education. Our application builds on current infrastructure, which provides ca. 1700 high school students per year, many of them from underrepresented groups, with authentic scientific experiences based on experiment modules that utilize live organisms as biomedical models. Students investigate the impacts of environmental/life-style chemicals on fundamental biological processes. In the process, ca. 20 pre-service teachers per year learn to teach with an inquiry-based approach. Moving forward, the proposed SEPA program will i) engage in-service and pre-service teachers and students with an in-depth introduction to the scientific method and its components that is closely linked to the conduct of the experiment modules. A major focus will involve analytical applications of data science that emerge after aggregating large amounts of data submitted by students to a computational portal and data repository. Complementing this novel emphasis, ii) student experimentation will be placed within a context of science and society, called environmental health civics – a history of environmental chemicals in relation to governmental regulation and chemical toxicity research. Attention will be directed toward environmental justice, particularly issues which effect Milwaukee youth, including lead (Pb) poisoning, through the use of a powerful on-line environmental health mapping program from the EPA. Experiment modules and special student conferences will further develop this area. Both i) and ii) will be fully aligned with the Next Generation Science Standards. In addition, we will iii) provide new ways for early career teachers to implement our program as they transition from pre-service status to mature in-service teachers. Finally, iv) we will transfer our program to an on-line format and partner with other institutions to expand the reach of our pre-service teacher program. Content goals will be merged with our objective to offer large numbers of minority and economically disadvantaged students research experiences with our modules. Our Specific Aims are to 1. Introduce in-service and early career teachers to the principles of data and data science in relation to our environmental health experiment modules. 2. Collaborate with the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, UW-Stevens Point and Carthage College science teacher education programs to certify 100 pre-service teachers in the principles and practice of scientific experimentation and communication. 3. Provide 8,500 high school students with a) experiences in doing data and data science- focused scientific research, and b) an understanding of the importance of chemical toxicology, including a focus on environmental justice. 4. Work with the Milwaukee Public School System and other regional schools to provide large numbers of low income and underrepresented minority students with research experiences. 5. Develop a robust on-line version of our program. 6. Conduct a thorough evaluation of the entire project.