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This grant funds science enrichment programming at the University of Cincinnati College of Medicine (UCCOM), Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center (CCHMC) and in the community for K-12 students and science teachers with an emphasis on reaching students from population groups traditionally underrepresented in the sciences and their teachers.
Science on Wheels - a mobile science lab/classroom staffed by UC faculty and graduate/medical students that will visit Cincinnati Public Elementary Schools one day a week during the school year to offer science enrichment to students in grades 3 - 6. An advisory committee of CPS teachers will provide advice and feedback. Teachers will reserve the van for visits to their schools. The van will be equipped with science kits and a large variety of science-related materials and equipment to enable students to experience science enrichment on site. Teacher training and suggestions for follow-up activities will be provided before each school visit. Science on Wheels is a new program.
Saturday Science Academy - a year round Saturday morning science enrichment program for about 30 7th and 8th grade CPS students and their parents each year at the UCCOM. The Academy meets twice a month in July and August and once a month September - May. Activities, which take place in a real teaching lab at the UCCOM, are hands-on and inquiry based and are designed to enhance science literacy and encourage students to consider careers in science. Instruction is provided by faculty, graduate and medical students with continuing assistance from 3 graduate student teaching assistants. A child psychiatrist on the UCCOM faculty meets with the parents several times during the year to discuss their concerns. Breakfast, lunch and childcare are provided each Saturday. Funded by HHMI since 1994.
Excellence in Science Education and Learning (ExSEL) - a five week research based summer science enrichment program at the UCCOM for 20 gifted and talented Cincinnati high school juniors and seniors interested in careers in biomedical research and/or medicine. Students spend one week in each of the following biomedical research areas under the direction of UCCOM faculty and graduate students - Cell Biology, Molecular Genetics, Structural Biology, Immunology, and Neuroscience. Funded by HHMI since 2000.
ExSEL II - a second summer experience for 5 students who have completed the ExSEL program. ExSEL II offers 8 weeks of mentored summer research at CCHMC for the summer following the students' participation in the ExSEL program. This is a new program beginning in summer 2008.
Teachers' Initiative: Program in Biomedical Research - an 8 week mentored summer research experience for 6 Cincinnati area middle and high school science teachers each summer. Teachers also receive a supply budget and the assistance of a College of Medicine graduate student for use during the school year following their summer experience. Emphasis is on translating the summer research experience into classroom activities during the school year. Funded by HHMI since 1994.
All programs will be evaluated annually by an outside evaluator and all students in the Saturday Science Academy and the ExSEL and ExSEL II programs will be tracked longitudinally. All students and teachers are paid so as to facilitate participation by disadvantaged students. All science enrichment is keyed to the National Science Standards for each grade level.
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