scientists in the schools

Scientists in the Schools
Learning objectives:
The learning objective of the program is to help the students have a better understanding of how chemicals and toxins leach into plastics and alter genetic compositions of cells. The main goal of the program is for the students to gain enough of an understanding of the subject to maintain discussions on recycling and the importance of finding alternatives to plastics.
Lesson Plan:
The target age range for the students is 16-17 year old high school students. This age range was chosen because the students have basic knowledge of science but are still unaware of any of the specifics of this particular field of research. This makes them perfect candidates for a learning based environment because they are able to comprehend the basic subject matter of the work and are interested because of their relative lack of knowledge.
The program will take place in a university setting as it will be an appropriate environment for college level work. The atmosphere is meant to encourage the students to do better and take the work more seriously. The class will be held three times a week on Monday, Wednesday and Friday for a length of one and half hours per session. The schedule will also accommodate these up and coming students to a college setting. The program will run for a length of two weeks, making the course less intimidating and keeping the students from becoming too discouraged or overwhelmed.
The actual course will have three major parts. In class lectures, labs and online coursework. The first of these components, lectures, is meant to give the students a base understanding of the background on the research topic. The students will learn about how cells and their genetic materials can be altered. This topic has a few different branches and subtopics so it will be taught over the two week period. The lectures are absolutely essential in giving students an understanding of the material.
The latter two parts of the course are meant to be supplemental and finalize the students understanding. The in class labs will visually illustrate how plastics are made and how they can be recycled. Giving students this type of tangible hands on knowledge about plastics will be quite effective and ensure that the lessons taught in the lecture are reinforced and enhanced with new information.
The last part of the course will be student’s online coursework. This assignment will allow the students the flexibility to complete these assignments at their own leisure. The nature of the assignments will be closely tied to the lecture and lab coursework. For example, one of the later assignments is to write a short report suggesting a possible solution to the problems plastics present in the environment. The responses will be highly variable and the purpose of the assignment is to tap into the students’ creativity and generate interest in the subject.
Assesement:
The effectiveness of the course will be assessed by beginning examinations of students’ knowledge of the subject matter and an ending evaluation of their knowledge plus a student evaluation response to the program itself. The main purpose of the last student evaluation of the course is to provide the program with information they need to enhance the program or alter certain aspects to make it more effective and efficient.