The Biology Department, the Morris Arboretum, and the Plant Science Institute of the University of Pennsylvania propose to improve the quality of middle/junior high school science teaching in the Delaware Valley and to build a summer enrichment science "academy" for ninth and tenth graders which will be a laboratory school for annual teacher programs. During the summer of 1988 an intensive four week workshop will be held for 30 teachers. Ecology will be used as the means of exploring the scientific method and each teacher will be required to develop a curricular unit. During the academic year the units will be completed and field-tested. The best units and teachers will be selected to create a summer science academy for students the following summer. During the summer of 1989 a second workshop based on the previous summer will be offered to 15 additional teachers. It will be run concurrently with a science academy for 30 to 45 middle school students taught by teacher participants from the previous summer. During the academic year fifteen additional units will be completed and tested. The best units will be incorporated into the curriculum of the next summer program. This project has a number of features which justify its funding as a Teacher Enhancement Project. The following are the more significant: 1.The projects will attempt to update the background material and teaching strategies through the involvement in the informal atmosphere of an arboretum; 2.A program will be developed to encourage promising students to be involved in science activities during the summer; 3.Information will be supplied with respect to the success of outdoor field activities in modifying on the curriculum of the middle schools; and 4.If successful, the project can be a model for other locations.
