Mississippi State University (MSU) will offer a Summer Science Camp (SSC) over a four-week period in science/mathematics for 50 African American students (grades 7 or 8). Four follow-up sessions will be during the academic year. Prior to the SSC, staff will receive an inservice in the optimal methods for teaching minority students. SSC topics include the basic process skills (e.g., observing techniques) and the casual process skills (e.g., experimenting) in science. An emphasis in this SSC will be that process skills are not unique to any science discipline. Math concepts will be integrated into the science content covered in the SSC. This SSC will incorporate cooperative and inquiry learning, and constructivist strategies. Career education opportunities will be presented by science/engineers during campus research facility and industry tours. Mentoring by African American educators, scientists, and engineers are within the four week SSC. This SSC success will be based on pre/post testing of math/science content and performance based measurements. In the follow-up Saturday sessions participants will develop displays based on SSC activities for their school's science fair and National Science and Technology Week held on the MSU campus. ***
