Poor attitudes toward science and inadequate science content knowledge among elementary school teachers significantly detract from the education of young children in the United States. Teachers with inadequate content knowledge sometimes teach scientific concepts in a false or misleading way, while those with poor attitudes toward science might pass on similar attitudes to their students or neglect to teach science at all. The Earth Science Storybook Project (ESSP) is a program designed as an "intervention" strategy to improve the attitudes toward science of pre-service elementary teachers during a one-semester college class. Pre-service teachers are mentored through the process of creating a storybook that teaches an earth science concept for K-4 students. These storybooks are then professionally illustrated by Visual Arts students and formatted for free distribution on the internet. Broader impacts of this study should include 1) the enhancement of attitudes toward science and science education for hundreds of pre-service elementary teachers, 2) the increased involvement of women in science, 3) a Ph.D. dissertation, and 4) a long-term effort in the BYU Geology department to promote educational studies by university science professors. In addition, the project includes very aggressive outreach and dissemination strategies. For example, students will be required to present their stories during an outreach program at a local elementary school, which has Title I status and 60% student turnover each year. 75% of the students in this school qualify for free or reduced price school lunch, and 60% of the students come from homes where English is not the primary language. Dissemination of the results of this study and associated educational products will take place at several academic conferences. In one or more academic journals, on the internet in conjunction with the DLESE and state educational clearinghouses, in e-mail lists and newsletters for five local school districts, at a BYU-hosted science fair, and at the state educational association conference.
