ABSTRACT ESI: 9254587 PI: Lux, Yvonne Institution: Poway Unified School District Proposal Title: Making Science Real This project is interdisciplinary in nature and has been designed by middle school teachers in the Poway Unified Schools, Poway, California. The goal of this project is to improve, broaden, and deepen the scientific, pedagogical, and technological knowledge and skills of the participating teachers and to enhance their ability to teach all students more effectively. It is a three year project involving 48 Poway Schools sixth, seventh and eighth grade teachers of science, mathematics, social science and language arts. The objects are as follows: o to design 12 thematic curriculum units that integrate state-of-the-art technologies as tools for learning that will contribute to the acquisition of scientific literacy; and o to design a site-based staff development process model led by teachers with a focus on teaching and learning strategies and authentic ways to assess learning. District-level directors are active participants in the project. Partnerships with local businesses and universities provide resource support and bring content and process expertise to the school sites. Knowledge acquired from this project should facilitate the successful implementation of science programs in similar settings.
