As part of their recent special report on informal science education, Education Week will be hosting a webinar tomorrow (4/19) on science learning outside of the classroom. The webinar will take place from 2:00 p.m. to 3:00 p.m. EST and will feature John Falk, Professor of Free Choice learning at Oregon State University, and Dr. Alan Friedman, former Director and CEO of the New York Hall of Science and current member of the National Assessment Government Board. Both are highly regarded experts working at the cutting edge of informal science learning research, and they should have a lot to say about this ever-evolving field.
Dr. Friedman also gave a talk at the 2010 National Conference on Science & Technology in Out of School Time on the importance of program evaluation. Download a free podcast of his talk on the Coalition for Science After School iTunes U page.
Showing posts with label ost. Show all posts
Showing posts with label ost. Show all posts
Monday, April 18, 2011
Tuesday, March 08, 2011
Out-of-School In the Outdoors
After a wet and snowy winter, the world is beginning to bloom again (at least in some parts of the country). All of the sprouting trees and flowers inspired me to look in the Directory to see what kinds of opportunities for afterschool science there are in botanical gardens and outdoor schools.
At the Garden Apprentice Program (GAP) at the Brooklyn Botanical Garden, high schoolers have the opportunity to learn about different aspects of horticulture and then participate in an urban agriculture project with their peers. The program is structured so that outstanding participants have the potential to work their way up and eventually become paid Senior Apprentices. This innovative program has been around since 2004 and requires a ten-month commitment with extensive training. See the GAP website for more details as well as some great pictures!
In Mississippi, the Plymouth Bluff Center offers environmental programs in an unaltered outdoor setting that includes a river, a pond, woodlands, a cypress slough, nature trails, an outdoor teaching facility, and outdoor laboratories. The Bluff is the site of an ancient Cretaceous sea and contains fossil sites used for paleontology and geology labs. Nature trails and abundant wildlife present opportunities for unstructured learning time. There is also an outdoor Math Lab and Environmental Discovery Lab perfect for field trip visits from afterschool programs as well as classrooms!
And on the west coast, 5th grade students in rural Lassen County in northern California can explore their surrounding environment at 5th Grade Day in the Forest. Hosted by the California Regional Environmental Education Community (CREEC), the event encourages participants to explore a variety of science concepts that correlate to California's science standards.
Let us know in the comments what you're doing to celebrate science in the outdoors!
P.S. Read about member activities, upcoming conferences, the Afterschool for All Challenge, and more in the Coalition's March newsletter!
At the Garden Apprentice Program (GAP) at the Brooklyn Botanical Garden, high schoolers have the opportunity to learn about different aspects of horticulture and then participate in an urban agriculture project with their peers. The program is structured so that outstanding participants have the potential to work their way up and eventually become paid Senior Apprentices. This innovative program has been around since 2004 and requires a ten-month commitment with extensive training. See the GAP website for more details as well as some great pictures!
In Mississippi, the Plymouth Bluff Center offers environmental programs in an unaltered outdoor setting that includes a river, a pond, woodlands, a cypress slough, nature trails, an outdoor teaching facility, and outdoor laboratories. The Bluff is the site of an ancient Cretaceous sea and contains fossil sites used for paleontology and geology labs. Nature trails and abundant wildlife present opportunities for unstructured learning time. There is also an outdoor Math Lab and Environmental Discovery Lab perfect for field trip visits from afterschool programs as well as classrooms!
And on the west coast, 5th grade students in rural Lassen County in northern California can explore their surrounding environment at 5th Grade Day in the Forest. Hosted by the California Regional Environmental Education Community (CREEC), the event encourages participants to explore a variety of science concepts that correlate to California's science standards.
Let us know in the comments what you're doing to celebrate science in the outdoors!
P.S. Read about member activities, upcoming conferences, the Afterschool for All Challenge, and more in the Coalition's March newsletter!
Thursday, April 26, 2007
New Reading on Out-of-School Time
There is an interesting new article called "Beyond the Classroom" about out-of-school time by Rhonda Lauer of Foundations Inc. In addition, the National Institute on Out-of-School Time has published its latest fact sheet. The article provides good thinking about the state of our education system and the role of OST institutions (especially for urban youth). The fact sheet offers a summary of the information that you may find yourself thinking about after reading the article.
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