9450533 Chandrasekhar The project is a collaboration between the investigator, a professor in the Physics Department at the University of Missouri, and the Science Coordinator of the Columbia Public School system. This third year funding will permit development and implementation of an experiment-based, hands-on program which will introduce girls in the 5th, 6th and 7th grades to the physical sciences. For units in Optics, Sound, Electricity, Magnetism and Mechanics, and Energy/Rockets, a series of modules will be developed. Each will develop a concept (e.g., the reflection of light) through a series of logically sequential games, simple experiments, building of gadgets, toys, art projects, and laboratory experiments using simple scientific equipment and "gee whiz" exploratorium-style exhibits. By introducing the girls to a number of different ways of observing and using the same concepts, we will allow them to see how a simple concept is developed on a logical basis to understand complex scientific phenomena. Through this program, we expect to motivate the girls by conveying that science is fun, but more importantly, familiarizing them with simple scientific equipment, developing their building and experimenting skills, and their capabilities of logical reasoning. This effort initially was set up for grades 5 and 6 as an extra-curricular program, meeting twice a week for four weeks. By the end of the 1993-94 academic year, the Optics unit will have been tested in seven of the eighteen schools, and the Mechanics unit in two schools. The Sound and Electricity/Magnetism units will be ready for testing in the Fall 1994. The popularity of the program among girls, parents, and teachers has resulted in this proposal to expand the effort to integrate some of the material into the regular curriculum for grades 5,6 and 7, in addition to to including the 7th graders in Columbia's new middle schools. The project's expansion led to the following additional acti vities for this third year: (a) reorganization of the material by grade levels and its classification as curricular and extra- or co-curricular; (b) integration of the material into the grades 5-7 curriculum; (c) establishing co-curricular activities in the new middle schools (grades 6-7); (d) training for teachers in grades 5-7; and (e) development of modules for one new unit on energy and rockets. ***
