The Lynch School of Education at Boston College, the Boston Public Schools Out of School Time Program, the Boston Public School Science Office, the Urban Ecology Institute, UEI at Boston College, Boston's Museum of Science and Onset Computer Corporation proposes to connect classroom science learning in life science and physical science with Out of School time field-based experiences in an urban school district for grades 5-8. The UEI, Lynch School and the Boston Public Schools District have created a national model for an inquiry-based, hands-on approach to science teaching in urban public schools, called the Urban Ecology Field Studies Program. The Program puts the cutting edge discipline of Urban Ecology to work in service to public school students, their science teachers, and out-of-school time (OST) professionals. In the Program, teachers participate in a month-long Summer Institute that provides an introduction to urban ecology and to performing long-term field research with middle and high school students. UEI works with educational professionals both during and outside of school time to take their students outside of the classroom and into the urban environment, using the city as a natural laboratory to study core concepts in biology, chemistry, earth science, and physics. The students will use hands-on field research methods to collect data to form questions and hypotheses in order to understand the world around them. At field sites located near schools, after school programs, and community centers, they study water quality, bird biodiversity, storm water run-off, and other special studies that originate from each student group. A major strength is the Urban Ecology Field Program that will allow the alignment of several successful programs with the Boston Public School life sciences curriculum.
