What We Do 

 
1. Teaching hands-on science activities in classes in your schools over a one-day or several-day period

 
2. Presenting one-hour to couple-day hands-on science workshops for teachers at individual schools, at the district level, at in-service training sessions, or at teacher conventions

 
3. Conducting Family Science Nights for children and their parents

 
4. Presenting workshops to train teams of teachers, parents, and local college students to present Family Science Nights

Teaching hands-on science activities in classes in your schools over a one-day or several-day period

Working independently, we teach in your classes for the benefit of both teachers and children.  We work with individual class sections so that more students can participate in a hands-on mode.  Priscilla usually teaches pre-K through grade 2, and Charlie teaches grades 3 through 6 if that fits your schedule.  We usually find about 30 minutes are appropriate for pre-K through grade 2 and about 45 minutes for grades 3 through 6.  We need a small table or desk from which we can work and a nearby electrical outlet.  We also need a pack of paper towels and water nearby, but we bring all other supplies.  We need 10-15 minutes between sessions to remove used materials and to prepare for the next class.  We appreciate lunch being provided for us from the school cafeteria.    

The principal or other coordinator should provide us (usually by email) a detailed schedule for our classroom teaching at least one week in advance.  The schedule should include the starting and ending times, the grade level, the teacher's name, the room number, and the approximate number of students in each class section.  If teachers have particular topics they would like us to deal with, we will try to accommodate those requests if we have or can devise activities to fit.  These special topics should be indicated on the schedule.  Otherwise, we will pick the topics.  In any case, we try not to duplicate very many activities in different classes so that both children and teachers can share with each other what they saw and learned and the whole school can learn as much as possible from each other.
 

Presenting one-hour to couple-day hands-on science workshops for teachers and administrators at individual schools, at the district level, or at in-service training sessions, or for industrial or government scientists

Short workshops attempt to raise the comfort level with teaching science through the use of hands-on science activities and involve methods we have found successful for presenting these activities.  Book sources for additional ideas are also discussed.  Participants actually try some of the activities.  In longer workshops, participants get much more involved with practicing many of the activities, and either a school or individual teachers often receive sample supplies and/or a book of hands-on activities. 
 

Conducting Family Science Nights for children and their parents

Family Science Nights take place in a cafeteria or similar space and last one and one-half hours.  They involve (1) an introduction to set the tone for the evening; (2) a working period in which children, with close observation and occasional assistance by parents, perform many of about 25 hands-on science activities and discuss additional questions that relate to the activities; and (3) a conclusion in which one or more of the activities are discussed in detail.  If the cafeteria or other space can contain 20 8-foot tables with chairs, having ample space to walk freely between them, we can handle 175 people (about 75 students with one or more parents). Otherwise, factor that number down accordingly, and hold carefully to that number by sign-ups or some other method.  Be careful or numbers can quickly get out of hand.  We need 1 1/2 hours prior to the program to set up and 1 hour afterwards to clean up and pack up; thus, the space must be available during these times.  We also ask that the school provide 3-4 large trash barrels, 10 newspaper sections to cover 1 table thoroughly, 4 packs or rolls of paper towels, and 6 8-oz containers of Elmer's Glue-All.
 

Presenting workshops to train teams of teachers, parents, and local college students to present Family Science Nights

This two-hour late-afternoon or evening workshop early in our stay is to train a teacher-parent team how to conduct the Family Science Night described above so that the team can continue these in future years.  The team should be comprised of perhaps two teachers and four parents.  We will conduct a Family Science Night then later in our stay so that the team can see one in action.
 

Arrangements

Contact us by email or by phone to set dates.  As soon as dates are set, we need the name, address, and phone number of the school; the name, email address, and phone number of the principal; and the name, address, email address, and phone number of the coordinator, along with permission to list this information on our website in case someone in your area wants to obtain permission to observe one or more of our efforts.  We ask each school to provide room and board with a parent or teacher if we must stay overnight (outside of our local area), travel reimbursement at $.32 per mile, a few supplies designated above, and $50 for additional expendable supplies.  We normally donate our time and effort.  We accept a modest honorarium, but do not require one.  While we would like to include all of these programs in our visits, we realize that your school/district may find one or two programs not as feasible as others.  We are going to emphasize multiplication of our work in a variety of ways because we want someone at your school to carry on as many as possible of our efforts after we leave.
 

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Kids Involved Doing Science is at http://www.kids.union.edu     Modified 02/25/03 by C. & P. Scaife