| Description | This program is designed to meet the curricular needs for 7th grade Biology/Life Science classes. This course will integrate the California Science Content Standards into the Jr High/Middle school classroom by meeting four objectives: ~Develop lesson plans and a set of interactive materials focusing on insects, basic genteics, field labs, telecommunications, and the use the Scanning Electron Microscope. The real life lessons and investigations will enliven science instruction and increase student understanding through hands-on activities. ~Provide teacher training classes for twelve 7th grade teachers in the use of the interactive kits and the curricular materials. Six hours of training will help the teachers be comfortable with the science concepts and with the theories behind using the kits. ~Present field study opportunities for 1200 7th grade students to learn about, collect, identify, store, display, and ship insects. Each group of students will spend 2 to 3 weeks in the BUGS & Bugscope program. Curricular emphasis will be on doing science, rather than reading about it. ~Facilitate research opportunities and telecommunications between the participating students and teachers and the research scientists at the Beckman Institute for Advanced Science and Technology at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. |
