SSC-9353214 Bank Street College New York, NY Hogan, Kathlen and Penberg, David "Liberty Environmental Science Academy (LESA) The Liberty Environmental Science Academy (LESA) will serve 40 African American and Latino rising seventh, eighth and ninth graders from Community School District Three in Manhattan, which includes Central Harlem. All are part of Bank Street's Liberty partnership program, a New York State-funded comprehensive college preparatory program that stresses prevention through early intervention. LESA's residential, 20-day, intensive summer science experience will take place at Bard College. Developed and coordinated by the Bronx Botanical Garden's Institute of Ecological Studies (IES), field investigation will alternate yearly between a terrestrial and an aquatic ecology focus. Outdoor Biological Instructional Strategies (OBIS) investigations will familiarize students with organisms and their environments with activities centered on the physical environment, aquatic environments, and organisms, plants, insects, and other invertebrates, birds, and mammals. Mathematics will be continually integrated into activities. Students will attend "Writing to Learn Mathematics and Science," and receive career counseling. During the school year, weekly Saturday Environmental Science Clusters at Bank Street will involve LESA students in accessing Learning Link, a national electronic network; using the Center for Children and Technology's NSF-sponsored Imagine, a computer-based environment; and participating in Wave Hill's natural area restoration project.
