9353374 Benbow Operation Chemistry is a 3-year national elementary and middle school teacher project directed by the American Chemical Society. In cooperation with the American Institute of Physics' Operation Physics, and in conjunction with the University of Wisconsin Oshkosh and Purdue University, Operation Chemistry uses a "training of trainers" approach to prepare 36 teams of teacher educators from 36 sites across the country each year to conduct chemistry staff development workshops in their home regions. Each Operation Chemistry team consists of a college chemistry faculty member, a high school chemistry teacher, an elementary/middle school physical science specialist, and a representative from a local chemical industry experienced in working with pre-high school science education. The first 36 teams will be trained for two weeks during the summer of 1994 at the University of Wisconsin-Oshkosh, followed by two weeks at Purdue University. Six Workshop Books dealing with the basic of chemistry will be the focus of the two-weeks training of trainer session at the University of Wisconsin-Oshkosh. The 36 Operation Chemistry teams will then travel to Purdue University to work with the six "applied chemistry" Workshop Books. During this latter two weeks, the teams will be joined by their industrial team members. The teams will return to their local school districts to conduct a minimum of 72 contact hours of staff development workshops during the 1994-1995 school year. The staff development at the local sites will take the form of inservice workshops for grades 4 through 8 teachers; as well as longer-term college-based courses. After the first year of training and academic year implementation, Operation Chemistry teams will seek their own funding for the continuation of their staff development programs; from their states, from local school districts, and from industry. Each team will have members who are experienced in proposal writing, to fac ilitate obtaining follow-up funding. ***
