This proposal describes a Track 2 GK-12 project developed by the University of Massachusetts and three Boston-area public school districts. The program would support 8 to 12 Fellows each year to work in partnership with master teachers in the Boston, Dedham, and Milton public school districts to bring science to K-12 students. The program, known as Watershed-Integrated Sciences Partnership-2 (WISP-2) remains focused on individual partnerships between science Fellows and middle school teachers who work together to modify and implement high quality inquiry-based science instruction within the context of the local Neponset River Watershed. The watershed provides a common experiential framework for classes and field/laboratory modules covering fundamental concepts in life sciences, physical sciences and earth sciences. Partners also include the Environmental Business Council of New England and the Massachusetts Insight Education and Research Institute.
The Watershed-Integrated Sciences Partnership (WISP) requested a no-cost extension to finish 3 components of the project: 1) Institutionalize the WISP Celebration, 2) Finish a watershed art project, 3) Conduct the Environmental Science Content Institute (ESCI). In June 2012, WISP hosted 300 5th graders at UMassBoston. The WISP Celebration was so successful, that the Milton Public Schools has since requested are received support from the Milton Foundation for Education to support another WISP Celebration on June 6-7, 2013 for every 5th grader in Milton. We hope that this support continues into the future for a sustainable partnership between UMassBoston and the Milton Public Schools. A granite watershed table has been completed which will represent a permanent art piece on campus symbolizing the flow of K-12 schools districts through the Neponset Watershed to UMassBoston the coast. The watershed table is an interactive educational experience where students can push a button to make it "rain" in the Neponset Watershed and watch the water flow through the watershed into Boston Harbor. As in nature, each rain event will have a different intensity, so the water will flow slightly differently each time. The Watershed Table is awaiting integration into the new Integrated Science Complex landscape. The ISC will be completed in Summer 2014. Finally, the Environmental Science Content Institute was offered to 11 teachers in Summer 2012. This successful field and classroom course will be revised as part of the new Environmental, Earth and Ocean Sciences graduate program "Boot Camp" for building cohorts among first and second year graduate (MS and PhD) students. Interdisciplinary, experiential learning will introduce graduate students to local environments and resources and build lasting peer cohorts. The connections, networks, and contacts as well as knowledge of local resources developed by ESCI will be continued ina sustainable way being integrated into the revised EEOS curriculum.
