The Science Team Proposal

Introduction

I believe the science team is an effective teaching tool as well as a promotion gimmick, because it's not just a one act magic show, it is 10 times throughout the school year and it is activities the kids do, not just something they watch done. And I believe it also improves the conceptual understanding of physics for my students as well.

Request

Eighteen (3 per school in my service area)  Science Team scholarships of $1000 each semester ($2000 per school year per student.)

These scholarships are to be used either to buy books and supplies at the bookstore or for tuition or some combination thereof.

Both full time college students and dual enrollment high school students should be eligible for these scholarships.

These scholarships should be awarded in conjunction with any other scholarships the student may have.

Requirements

Students receiving this scholarship must:

Be pursuing a degree in science, technology, engineering, or math

Enroll in a Physics sequence (either trig or cal based), or have taken physics at CACC

Take Physics 299 Directed Studies in Physics both semesters

(Phy 299 will be a required part of the course load for the physics instructor)

 

This will be a 1 hr course that meets for 1 hour twice a week.  One day will be dedicated to planning and discussing activities

The second day will be engaging in these activities with elementary or middle school students in local schools.

Engage in one science team activity each week (So they would adopt two third grade classes and visit each on alternate weeks.

Coach a Mini Lego Team for four weeks in the spring for grades 4 - 6 (Two hours two days a week.)

Coach a First Lego League for grades 6 - 8 for six weeks in the fall. (Two hours two days a week.)

 

Comments

  1. Dual enrollment is a terrific idea, but it is a rich kid game, since there are no kind of scholarships available for dual enrollment students in Alabama, and families of many of local high school students cannot afford to pay tuition & books. Extending this scholarship to dual enrollment students as well would open the opportunity of participating in the dual enrollment program for many who cannot otherwise afford it.
  2. One cannot plant an apple seed and expect to harvest apples in a single season.  Likewise, one cannot grow teenagers eager to do science and math in a single year.  I believe we should plan for some kind of assessment of the effectiveness of this program by an external examiner after 3 years and again two years later. 
  3. If it is as successful as I expect it will be, we should form a plan to expand the program statewide.

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