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Valle Imperial Project in Science (VIPS) 2001 Summer Workshop Summary

submitter: Valle Imperial - Project in Science
published: 06/28/2001
posted to site: 06/28/2001

Valle Imperial Project in Science (VIPS)
2001 Summer Workshop Summary

How long do your workshops last?

Our Summer Institutes in June and August last an entire week (30-40 hours of contact time--2 credits per Institute) Our K-6 Level One Unit Training on the science units last 6 hours. Our 7-8 Level One Unit Training lasts 2 days, 12 hours.

How many teachers do you involve in your workshops?

Each Institute will support 25 people. We are offering 1 institute in June and 6 Institutes in August. Our level one trainings in K-6 are usually held at 20 participants. The middle school level one training will likely have 5-6 participants in each.

What are your major goals for your workshops in terms of content and pedagogy?

During the summer institutes, we hope to provide participants with the opportunity to learn how to engage students in the active construction of ideas and explanations and to enhance opportunity to develop the abilities of doing science. The content institutes will allow participants to deepen their own content knowledge about matter, electricity, microbiology or geology through guided and learner-directed inquiry. The English Language Development through Science Institute will help teachers to integrate language acquisition and academic content in science to improve the academic achievement of English Language Learners.

Are you offering professional development on specific curricula that you are hoping will be used in the classroom? If so, which curricula are you using?

We are hoping that the ELD through science will be used in the classrooms. The content of geology, microbiology, matter and electricity can easily be used for greater teacher knowledge and further questioning of students within classrooms. We are focusing our week long inquiry institute on the art of questioning, both from the teacher and the students. P>


Agenda for Valle Imperial Project in Science (VIPS) Summer 2001 Workshop

California Science Project

through

San Diego State University
Imperial Valley Campus
Imperial Valley Science Project
and
Valle Imperial Project in Science
Science and Math Resource Center
2370 Main Street
El Centro, CA 92243

Summer Institute
June 25 - 29, 2001
August 13 - 17, 2001

During the summer of 2001, the California Science Project, Imperial Valley Science Project, in collaboration with San Diego State University, Imperial Valley Campus, the Valle Imperial Project in Science (VIPS), and the El Centro School District, will offer an array of professional development opportunities for teachers in Imperial County. These institutes are modeled after highly recognized and successful professional development pieces from project partners such as the Smithsonian Institute, the Exploratorium, California Institute of Technology, San Diego State University, and the CSP Language Acquisition in Science Education for Rural Schools (LASERS) program. Courses are open to all teachers in the county. All institutes will be conducted at Sunflower Elementary School and the Science and Math Resource Center in El Centro, CA. Facilitators include university science professors, director and assistant directors of the Caltech Precollege Science Initiative (CAPSI), administrators, VIPS staff and lead teachers.

Teachers may choose from among the following:

June 25 -29, 2001
8:00 AM - 5:00 PM
Inquiry Institute
limit: 25 participants
2 University Credits
40 hours

The institute will provide participants with the opportunity to learn how to engage students in the active construction of ideas and explanations and to enhance opportunities to develop the abilities of doing science. Participants will be exposed to three different hands-on ways of approaching learning, interact with process skills, examine and develop the critical inquiry skill of questioning, engage in an inquiry experience, and transform structured activities into a series of open-ended investigations that draw upon childrens questions. The institute is modeled after the Institute for Inquiry at the Exploratorium in San Francisco, California. The institute will be facilitated by Stephanie Nugent, California Science Project/Valle Imperial Project in Science Liaison Coordinator; Elizabeth Molina De La Torre, Valle Imperial Project in Science Coordinator; Laurie Thompson, Director, Caltech Precollege Science Initiative (CAPSI); Terry Sayre, Reading Recovery Trainer, Tulare Unified School District; Valle Imperial Project in Science Resource Teachers: Laura Dubbe, Leona Lallier, Tish Lyon, Ana Jorgenson, Antonieta Teran, and Mercedes Duron-Flores.

August 13-17, 2001
8:00 AM - 5:00 PM
Electricity Content Institute
limit: 25 participants
2 University Credits
40 hours

This content module for teachers will allow participants to deepen their own content knowledge about electricity through guided and learner-directed inquiry. Participants will be exposed to inquiries involving electricity, pathways and measurement. They will become knowledgeable in observing, developing questions, planning investigations, and using a variety of informational sources to further their essential understanding of electricity. They will design, implement, and infuse research techniques into personal inquiries. Materials were developed by CAPSI at the California Institute of Technology, California. This institute will be facilitated by Wayne Snyder, Assistant Director, Caltech Precollege Science Initiative (CAPSI).

August 13-17, 2001
8:00 AM - 5:00 PM
Matter Content Institute
limit: 25 participants
2 University Credits
40 hours

This content module for teachers will allow participants to deepen their own content knowledge about matter, characteristic properties, and how those properties change due to either physical or chemical effects. Participants will be exposed to inquiries involving physical and chemical changes in matter, properties of matter including density and inertia, and the connection of energy and matter. They will become knowledgeable in observing, developing questions, planning investigations, and using a variety of informational sources to further their essential understanding of the matter all around us. They will design, implement, and infuse research techniques into personal inquiries. Materials were developed at the California Institute of Technology, California. This institute will be facilitated by David Thesenga, Consultant, Caltech Precollege Science Initiative (CAPSI).

August 13-17, 2001
8:00 AM - 5:00 PM
Microbiology Content Institute
limit: 25 participants
2 University Credits
40 hours

This content module for teachers will allow participants to deepen their own content knowledge about animal physiology, life cycles, and habitats through guided and learner-directed inquiry. Participants will be exposed to inquiries involving a variety of animals. They will become knowledgeable in observing, developing questions, planning investigations, and using a variety of informational sources to further their essential understanding of animals. They will design, implement, and infuse research techniques into personal inquiries. Materials were developed by CAPSI at the California Institute of Technology, California. This module will be facilitated by Dr. Leila Gonzalez Curriculum Analyst, California Institute of Technology, California.

August 13-17, 2001
8:00 AM - 5:00 PM
Geology Content Institute
limit: 25 participants
2 University Credits
40 hours

This content module for teachers will allow participants to deepen their own content knowledge about physical and historical geology through guided and learner-directed inquiry. Participants will be exposed to inquiries involving rock and mineral composition and structure, plate tectonics and its effects, weathering, the historical timeline of earth's origination, formation of atmosphere and hydrosphere and the study of paleontology through the use of fossil records. They will become knowledgeable in observing, developing questions, planning investigations, and using a variety of informational sources to further their essential understanding of geology. They will design, implement, and infuse research techniques into personal inquiries. Materials were developed by Dr. Gary Girty, San Diego State University, California. This module will be facilitated by Dr. Gary Girty, San Diego State University, California.

August 13-17, 2001
8:00 AM - 5:00 PM
English Language Development through Science Institute
limit: 25 participants
2 University Credits
40 hours

This institute is designed to help teachers integrate language acquisition and academic content in science to improve the academic achievement of English Language Learners. The institute will provide strategies that reinforce science content while building on vocabulary, literacy, E.L.D. and writing. These strategies will facilitate integration and enable teachers to implement such a model in their classroom. Participants will leave with tools that allow them to make time for science and embed "quality teaching" strategies in a content-rich, inquiry approach. Opportunities are available to use strategies and techniques during the school year, to revisit and share successes and results with facilitators and fellow participants.

Optional follow up session during the school year:
Fall 40 hrs.
Spring 40 hrs.

Additional $500 stipend to be paid after the 80 hrs in Fall/Spring

Materials were developed by Imperial Valley Science Project and the Valle Imperial Project in Science modeled after the California Science Project, LASERS institute. This institute will be facilitated by Mercy Duron-Flores, Tish Lyon, Ana Jorgenson, and Antonieta Teran, VIPS Science Resource Teachers and California Science Project Resource Teachers; Valle Imperial Project in Science Lead Teachers: Nelida Rubio, Lovette Stiff; and classroom E.L.D. teachers: Mary Ramirez and Estela Minor.

August 13-17, 2001
8:00 AM - 5:00 PM
Inquiry Institute
limit: 25 participants
2 University Credits
40 hours

The institute will provide participants with the opportunity to learn how to engage students in the active construction of ideas and explanations and to enhance opportunities to develop the abilities of doing science. Participants will be exposed to three different hands-on ways of approaching learning, interact with process skills, examine and develop the critical inquiry skill of questioning, engage in an inquiry experience and transform structured activities into a series of open-ended investigations that draw upon childrens questions. The institute is modeled after the Institute for Inquiry at the Exploratorium in San Francisco, California. The institute will be facilitated by Stephanie Nugent, California Science Project/Valle Imperial Project in Science Liaison Coordinator; Elizabeth Molina De La Torre, Valle Imperial Project in Science Coordinator; Laurie Thompson, Director, Caltech Precollege Science Initiative (CAPSI); Rachel Jordan, Science Resource Teacher, Bay Area Schools for Excellence in Education (BASEE); Valle Imperial Project in Science Resource Teachers: Laura Dubbe, Leona Lallier.

October 2001 and March 2002
8:30 AM - 3:30 PM
Level One Science Unit Training

The Valle Imperial Project in Science curriculum includes 21 science units for grades kindergarten through six. VIPs provides teachers with six hours of unit specific training prior to their first implementation of the science unit in the classroom. Facilitators include classroom teachers and VIPS Lead Teachers that have successfully taught the unit in their own classroom and have become proficient in unit contents and quality teaching strategies. During Level One training, teachers become familiar with content, processes, materials, assessment, and classroom management strategies particular to their unit. Training is offered 4 times during the year to all K-6 teachers in Imperial County. Units offered in October 2001 include:

K: Sunshine and Shadows (Delta) Wood (FOSS)
1: Finding the Moon (Delta) Solids and Liquids (FOSS)
2: Soils (STC) Butterflies (STC)
3: Earth Materials (FOSS) Sound (Insights)
4: Microworlds (STC) The Mysterious Powder (Insights)
5: Solar Energy (FOSS) Circuits and Pathways (Insights)
6: Measuring Time (STC) Magnets and Motors (STC)

Units offered in March 2002 include:

K: Myself and Others (Insights)
1: Living Things (Insights)
2: Sink or Float (Delta)
3: Brine Shrimp
4: Solar System (Delta)
5: Solar Energy (FOSS)
6: Magnets and Motors (STC) Experiment with Plants (STC)

VIPS Middle/Junior High School
Science Training

7th Grade

August 16-17, 2001
8:00 AM - 3:00 PM
Human Body Systems
Thursday and Friday
Kennedy Middle School
Rm 28

Students trace nutrients as they are processed by the digestive system, pass into the blood, and are transported to body cells. They explore the breathing mechanism: how oxygen enters the body, passes into the blood, and is transported to body cells, where it combines with digested food to release energy. An exploration of the transport system-the heart and blood vessels-is then followed by a series of inquiries dealing with the use, by the musculoskeletal system, of the energy released during respiration.

8th Grade

August 16-17, 2001
8:00 AM - 3:00 PM
Properties of Matter
Tuesday and Wednesday
Willie Moreno Jr. High
Rm C-19

Students observe how matter interacts with other matter and behaves when it is heated. They investigate the density of solids, liquids, and gases. Students determine some of the characteristic properties of the substances that make up a mixture; they investigate solutions as an example of one type of mixture. They look at elements, classify them, and use the Periodic Table. They also look at the formation of compounds, reactions, reactivity, and the concept of the conservation of mass.

Please register to attend by:
Calling the Science and Math Resource Center (353-2860)
Or
Sending an email to llallier@mail.ecsd.k12.ca.us

This project was sponsored, in part,
by the National Science Foundation
in conjunction with the California Science Project and SDSU-IVC