Our program 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 for middle school students. The modular approach will be used in high schools to introduce organic chemistry and enhance the chemistry-biology connection.

Target Audience of the Project: Grades 6-8 (middle school) and 9-12 (high school)
NSF-supported disciplines involved: astrophysical and planetary sciences, biochemistry, biology, chemistry, geological sciences, and environmental sciences.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).

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.