Science and Engineering of the Environment of Los Angeles (SEE-LA) is a GK-12 award to the University of California at Los Angeles. The scientific objective of this project is to support graduate Fellows working with renown faculty across diverse environmental problems including wildfires, urbanization, biodiversity, seismic hazards, regional climate change, ecological impacts, and upper atmospheric dynamics. The educational objectives are two-fold. First, the program will train a diverse cadre of graduate Fellows in SEE-LA in science education and communication. They will be resident scientists within the middle and high schools in two neighboring urban school districts, under the mentorship of master teachers. They will also participate in intensive summer workshops for developing inquiry-based science lessons. The close contact between SEE-LA Fellows and the local schools will also achieve the second educational objective: improving pre-college science education for students by including them in cutting edge science that is relevant to their local environment. This GK-12 program will train 50 Science and Engineering (STEM) graduate students to enhance their ability to connect their research across scientific disciplines, to communicate scientific research to non-scientists by developing and teaching inquiry-based lessons, and to participate in sustained science teacher professional development activities. The program will improve the communication skills of UCLA graduate students in STEM programs by requiring a non-technical description of their PhD research to be included in their dissertation. The program will enrich the learning experiences of over 6000 students in urban schools by involving graduate students as role models. This GK-12 program incorporates place-based science themes in both graduate student research and pre-college classroom activities.
(SEE-LA) GK-12 program included faculty and students from the Physical and Life Sciences and Engineering from UCLA. During the nearly six years of its existence, this program positively impacted two local school districts (Los Angeles Unified (LAUSD) and Culver City (CCSD)) as well as the outreach experience of a diverse cadre of science and engineering graduate students. The primary goal of the UCLA SEE-LA GK-12 program was to improve the science communication skills of the SEE-LA GK-12 fellows while also improving inquiry-based science curriculum in the partner middle and high schools. The GK-12 Fellows (UCLA graduate students) acted as Scientists-in-Residence within the schools, serving as role models to students and as a broader school resource for the school’s science faculty. In addition, the SEE-LA program provided professional development activities for the pre-college science teachers that were engaged in the program. The program undertook a number of activities to reach the program goals. The theme of the SEE-LA GK-12 program was the "environment" of Los Angeles, with much of the program using the local Ballona Creek Watershed for activities and learning. The Ballona watershed includes the UCLA campus as well as the four partner schools. The Culver City schools are physically located on the banks of Ballona Creek, making this urban river a very visible part of the life of the schools and the community in which the students live. At University High School, there is a natural spring whose flow is part of the watershed. The GK-12 Fellows created and implemented numerous science lessons directly related to the broad theme of the watershed (energy, water, environment, ecosystems, etc.). GK-12 fellows also developed science lessons related to their research activities at UCLA. GK-12 Fellows spent two-days per week in the classroom acting as "Scientists-in-Residence" in the partner schools. They participated in their partner teacher classrooms by teaching and working with students on an individual, small group, and classroom basis. In addition to assisting partner teachers implementing existing curriculum, Fellows researched and contributed ideas for lessons, and successfully collaborated with teachers to develop new lessons. SEE-LA Fellows also facilitated the development of science clubs at several of the partner school, serving as science experts for independent research activities and science fair projects. The SEE-LA GK-12 program trained 45 Ph.D. students at UCLA in outreach and publication communication skills as well as impacted hundreds of middle and high school students in LAUSD and CCSD. An extensive set of K-12 science lessons were developed and implemented in the partner schools and are available at: http://measure.igpp.ucla.edu/GK12-SEE-LA/. Many of the GK-12 fellows have gone on to faculty and industry positions and are continuing to purse and develop outreach programs. The PIs on this project have also spawned a range of related activities from this GK-12 project and are continuing GK-12 as well as other public outreach activities.
