Project Information

The GK-12 Partners in Science Education is a collaboration between research scientists at CU-Boulder and teachers and students in the Boulder Valley School District (BVSD) to enhance literacy, math, and science skills using an interdisciplinary approach with an emphasis on the adaptation, implementation, and enrichment of FOSS modules. FOSS (Full Option Science System), a modular approach to teaching elementary school science, developed at the Lawrence Hall of Science with NSF support, has been the keystone for implementing national, state, and district standards in Boulder Valley's elementary schools. Middle schools will benefit from this partnership that will place graduate and undergraduate Fellows in the science classrooms. Our project will target 6-8 graders in two middle schools and 9-10 graders in two high schools that performed poorly in the math and science Colorado State Assessment Program (CSAP) tests in 2000 and 2001. These schools also have significant numbers of underrepresented minority students who are predominantly Hispanic; Spanish translations of the materials will be developed. Math and writing skills will be rigorously integrated into the activities that will be hands-on, guided and open-ended inquiry formats. The FOSS modules used in the classroom will be followed by a real world experience in the Sombrero Marsh nature center. Sombrero Marsh activities will be developed by CU-Fellows and CU's Cooperative Institute for Environmental Science (CIRES) in partnership with the Thorne Ecological Institute and the City of Boulder Open Space and Mountain Parks (OSMP). Our project will emphasize the macroscopic-microscopic connection in science (biology and chemistry) using technological innovations. Teachers, students, and Fellows will benefit from the interdisciplinary approaches to adapting and modifying FOSS modules focused on the Diversity of Life, Earth History, Planetary Science, Weather and Water, and Mixtures and Solutions. Fellows will use their scientific expertise to develop modules in organic chemistry and biology for 9th and 10th grades, respectively. This project will revitalize science education by bringing research into the classroom and providing summer research opportunities for teachers and students. Fellows will benefit from the research, teaching, and outreach experiences that will encourage them to consider careers in teaching secondary school science. This project will build on the extensive outreach programs at CU-Boulder while formally engaging graduate students and undergraduates as catalysts for change in science education.