LEAP - A Program of Informal Science Education

种植园，康奈尔大学的植物园和植物园，正在为小学（K-5）学生开发一个非正式教育的示范项目。LEAP项目（Learning About Plants）将整合康奈尔大学的学术资源及其植物园的非正式环境，以及当地小学的数学和科学教学。该项目包括五个部分：1)以概念为基础的生物学、生态学和农业课程，其中将包括科学课程改进研究（SCIS）和户外生物教学策略（OBIS）的一些部分；2)教师培训工作坊，促进课程整合与修改；3)在种植园和当地学校之间进行多次为期两年的访问，让孩子们直接体验植物和动物；4)基于学习理论的课程开发与评价定量方案；5)本课程的结构和教学内容的传播计划。由于儿童将在一段时间内经历LEAP，因此在儿童教育的最初几年将实现对科学概念的复杂而有意义的学习。由于LEAP计划的目的是成为适用于许多非正规教育机构的示范方案，因此将出版两种出版物：一种是描述方案总体结构的笔记本，另一种是供教师使用的手册，其中介绍课程的个别课程和支持课程材料选择的理论背景。本手册将区分康奈尔大学和种植园学院特有的项目元素，以及该项目可以适应其他机构的机制。该项目由教学材料开发和非正式科学教育项目共同资助。

Plantations, the botanical garden and arboretum of Cornell University, is developing a model program of informal education for elementary (K-5) school children. Project LEAP, Learning About Plants, will integrate the academic resources of Cornell University and the informal setting of its botanic gardens with the teaching of mathematics and science in local elementary schools. The project contains five components: 1) a conceptually-based curriculum of biology, ecology and agriculture which will include some components of SCIS (Science Curriculum Improvement Study) and OBIS (Outdoor Biology Instructional Strategies); 2) a teacher training workshop to stimulate curriculum integration and modification; 3) multiple two-year visits between Plantations and local schools providing children with direct experience with plants and animals; 4) a quantitative program of curriculum development and evaluation based on learning theory; and 5) a plan for dissemination of the structure and instructional contents of this program. Because children will experience LEAP over a period of years, the complex and meaningful learning of concepts in science will be achieved in the earliest years of a child's education. Because LEAP is being designed to become a model program applicable to many institutions of informal education, two publications will be produced: a notebook which describes the overall structure of the program, and a handbook for teachers which presents the individual lessons of the curriculum and the theoretical background supporting the choice of curriculum material. The notebook will distinguish those elements of the program peculiar to Cornell and Plantations, and mechanisms through which the program can be adapted to other institutions. The project is being split-funded by the Instructional Materials Development and Informal Science Education Programs.