Georgia STEM Science Initiative
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Science Education, Georgia
Transcript of Georgia STEM Science Initiative
Science Initiative 2013 ProposalWritten by: Francia McCormack Wilson, M.Ed
Attention:Doug Harabe, Director of Fernbank Science Center, DeKalb County School DistrictChris Robinson, Science Coordinator, DeKalb County School DistrictDeneen McBeanWarner, Science Coordinator, DeKalb County School DistrictStan Watson, Commissioner of District 7
deneen_p_mcbean[email protected][email protected][email protected]
I am writing this grant for the teachers of the state of Georgia. Georgia will be one of the statesleading the way to redefining science standards. According to the press release fromAchieve.org “American students continue to lag internationally in science education, makingthem less competitive for the jobs of the present and the future. A recent U.S. Department ofCommerce study shows that over the past 10 years, growth in Science, Technology,Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) jobs was three times greater than that of nonSTEM jobs.The report also shows that STEM jobs are expected to continue to grow at a faster rate thanother jobs in the coming decade.”
In order to better educate students, the state plans to adopt national science standards that willbe a step in the right direction of changing the way teachers educate their students. I feelGeorgia is a confident in leading changes ahead. Something amazing that happens in DeKalbCounty schools is a resource called the Fernbank Science Center. An instructional unit ofDeKalb County, it is not attached with the museum. This facility houses scientists in manysubjects dedicated to teaching the children and acting as a resource for teachers. This resourcehelps foster love and better understanding in young hearts. In the past programs like ScientificTools & Technology (STT) encouraged young science lovers to learn about the many scienceslike aerospace and physics, classes they would normally not take in their high schools.
I propose1. Expanding the programs at Fernbank into more classrooms. This includesExpansion/Reinstitution of programs like STT for high school students.
2. Provide teacher training at least once a semester focused on science lesson plans.
3. Create a lesson plan database based on partnerships with universities (Memorandums ofUnderstanding)
4. Create classroom relationships with labs in Georgia universities. Relationships will createunderstanding of real life laboratory experiences and experiments.
4. Scholarship opportunities agreed upon in the Memorandums of Understanding for highachieving science students.
Examples:
Statisticians that work in the Department of Natural Resources can teach teachers how theycompile date of tree diseases and the general health of Georgia trees.
Partnerships can be established where students can work alongside national and state agenciescataloguing information.
A Canadian student working with PBS and a university catalogued the amount of compost hisworms were decomposing by measuring the food going into the compost and the compostwaste coming out for at least 3 years. He shared his measurements, which fed into a largerdatabase of information. http://www.pbs.org/teachers/connect/resources/675/preview/
Improving the Numbers
In order for us to improve the number of scientists feeding science jobs of Georgia’s future, wemust begin to invest in effective teaching strategies that educators can pass along to theirstudents. We need to help teachers and students visualize and experience the type of workneeded to advance the State’s scientific community now and in the future.
We should also attempt to reach all students of Georgia by creating a component in the GeorgiaVirtual Academy for homeschooled children.
Another component that can be fun, but relevant would be a literary component focused onscience fiction writing. A writing contest designed for students to imagine their science projects
and research in a fictional world. This could be another addon component to an expandingscience fair.
The fair should have winners guaranteed scholarships, placement into Fernbank Scienceprograms like Scientific Tools & Technology and learning workshops for teachers, students andfamilies. Gone are the days where the science fair is just about studentsonly projects. Not onlyshould students have their own projects, but they should have their classroom projects up forcompetition.
If students and teachers had real world scientists providing insight, there would be anenlightening change in the way academia relates to the science workforce.
Academia can help as well. Our resources in Georgia are plentiful. Georgia Tech, Georgia StateUniversity and the University of Georgia are just a few of our phenomenal research facilities. Ifresearch projects adopted a classroom, students could learn from actual research andscientists. Seeing scientists formulate their hypotheses and then move on to researching couldgive valuable experience to classrooms.
Innovative Workshops for Continuing Education
With resources like the Smithsonian for educators or the NASA Quest Program we canintroduce teachers to a number of lesson plans. By creating a regular workshop space forteachers for Continuing Education credits could provide the time and space, and incentive tointroduce teachers to scientists interested in teaming up with a classroom and innovative lessonplans. The workshops will be comprised of scientists, researchers and teachers. Their goalwould be to find common ground and creating partnerships.
Student Components
● Increase Science Fairs 1st semester and 2nd semester● Science Fiction Literary contest● Trips to research facilities connected to classroom● Classroom lab assignments designed to incorporate lesson plans derived from Triad.● Curriculum assessment based on Triad team’s rubric created in Teacher/Team
workshops.
Teacher Components● Workshops 1st semester and 2nd Semester● Triad Team Workshop● Creating a learning strategy and/or Labbased Lesson Plan for the semester● Decide Science Projects● Determine Assessment● Coordinate Field Trips● Meet Curriculum Standards
The Main Facilitator for these Triad Teams will be the Fernbank Science Center, which is alreadyan established science facility in the community.
Links:http://fox43.com/2012/12/20/thescienceclassofthenottoodistantfuture/http://www.achieve.org/statesleadeffortwritenewsciencestandardshttp://fsc.fernbank.edu/http://www.ted.com/talks/mitch_resnick_let_s_teach_kids_to_code.htmlhttp://www.blackgirlscode.com/whatwedo.html
