This project will establish four laboratories for the elementary teacher preparation program at Western Michigan University. One laboratory will be used for the physical sciences, one for the earth sciences, and a third for the life sciences. The fourth laboratory will be used by students to work on lessons and projects outside of class time and will also be used as a commons room. Six science content courses, two in each of the three broad areas above, for prospective elementary teachers have been developed with borrowed equipment and with FIPSE support. These courses together with a "capstone" course currently being developed will be offered in the new laboratories. This laboratory and the courses it will support is an important component in the evolution of Western Michigan's elementary teacher preparation program. The program currently graduates over 250 elementary teachers each year and will prepare teachers who will be able to teach in line with both the content and pedagogical standards outlined in the Michigan Essential Goals and Objectives of Science Education (MEGOSE) and advocated by several recent national studies.
