Parachutes and Light and Shadow to Ignite Elementary Teachers and Young Inquiring Minds
Elementary Teacher Science-Teacher Training at the Exploratorium
June 22 through 26

Inquiry is a way of learning that involves exploring the natural or material world. That exploration includes asking questions, developing explanations, testing those explanations, and discussing and debating results with others—all in the search for new understanding.

From June 22-26, in a five-day Institute for elementary teachers from Newark and Novato, teachers will experience hands-on activities for classroom inquiry in order to develop a greater understanding of inquiry-based science. The workshop is built on the idea that teachers can provide opportunities for students to develop stronger inquiry process skills — observation, questioning and planning investigations. The goals of the institute are to help participants deepen their own classroom practice and take greater advantage of the opportunities for hands-on, inquiry-based science in relation to the California Science Investigation and Experimentation Standards and the FOSS instructional materials. Participants will also explore leadership strategies to help them share these new approaches with their colleagues, improving teacher confidence and preparedness, the quantity and quality of science instruction, student interest and engagement in science.

The Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation is taking a creative approach to the Bay Area crisis in elementary school science education, the subject of alarming headlines this past year, by supporting this program. This resourceful program, headquartered at the Exploratorium, leverages the resources of the Exploratorium and the Lawrence Hall of Science to support elementary teachers from the Novato and Newark Unified School Districts as they implement district science curriculum.

Why? In the Bay Area, a region rich in science resources, a 2007 survey of local elementary teachers revealed that over 40% of teachers did not feel adequately prepared to teach science compared to 19% for social studies and 4% for math and language arts. While professional development is widely perceived as the critical leverage point for improving teacher quality and preparedness, today there is less than one-third the support for science teacher professional development than existed in 1998. In the 2007 survey, an alarming 36% of Bay Area survey respondents reported receiving no professional development in science and 68% report less than 6 hours over the past three years.