9554168 McLaren This four-year project, sponsored by the National Center for Atmospheric Research, teaches those teachers, primarily from grades 6-8, in seven selected rural school districts in Western Colorado, the basic concepts of atmospheric science. The project will start out first with the district outreach component. Then in the next years of funding the project will bring 35 teachers (five from each district) for three consecutive three-week summer workshops for intensive content, pedagogical and leadership training. The workshops will increase the teachers' knowledge of the atmospheric sciences and mathematics, enable them to develop aativity-based teaching strategies, show them how to use current educational technologies, increase their leadership skills and provide them with laboratory and field experiences as they work with NCAR scientists. During the school year these teams of lead teachers will work with 21 teachers in their district (for a total of 182) to implement atmospheric science in the schools. These lead teachers will be aided by NCAR scientists, instructors from Colorado's Science Discovery Program and the Annenberg/CPB Internet training program. The atmospheric science curriculum will be based upon the materials developed by the original Project LEARN program and includes modules entitled Atmospheric Dynamics, Ozone in Our Atmosphere and Cycles of the Earth and Atmosphere. Matching funds account for 51% of the NSF award.
