The Monterey Bay Aquarium's educational programs model hands-on, process-based science teaching, which is called "Wet Science". The Wet Science Project is designed to improve the scientific literacy of 7th to 12th grade teachers, strengthen their science-teaching skills, and develop support systems for hands-on science in their districts. This project will train 120 teachers from 13 school districts. With each participant conducting one in-service for ten colleagues, a total of 1200 teachers and their students will be reached. The project duration is 36 months, and the cost sharing is 33 percent of the amount requested for the National Science Foundation. The project consists of five levels of teacher enhancement. The participants will learn science and wet-science teaching, study upper-division marine ecology, conduct field research, develop curriculum, and learn student research management, science education promotion, multi-disciplinary team building, and adult teaching skills. The participants will form teams to transform their wet-science experiences into classroom of field-trip experiences for students and colleagues. Together with their school administrators, the participants will integrate wet science into district goals, curriculum and programs, and disseminate wet science to other school districts, aquariums, and zoos.
