[About]

In order to help improve science, math, and technology teaching and motivate and inspire
teachers, the Department of Chemical and Environmental Engineering offers a multi-week
K-12 Teacher Institute. Teams of teachers work on research projects to provide real world
applications for their classrooms. The goal is not to add new curriculum to already crowded
schedules, but to enrich the existing curriculum with new projects, examples and relevant
activities. The Institute has been offered during the last twelve summers (1997 - 2008) at
Stanford, Arizona State University, and the University of Arizona.

Institute activities include:

• Participating in state of the art research related to energy, sustainability, water
  quality, or chemical processing,
• Touring university and local industrial laboratories,
• Developing new lesson plans that integrate math, science, and technology,
• Networking with other teachers, UA faculty, and local industry mentors,
• Participating in professional development workshops on inquiry, diversification, and
  notebooking, and
• Learning about current issues related to sustainability.

The expected outcomes and deliverables of the Institutes are:

• Lesson plans emphasizing inquiry-based integration of math, science, and
  technology developed by teachers for their classrooms,
• New equipment or kits for the classroom to implement new lessons,
• A list of grant sources and tips for writing grants,
• Potential guest speakers for the classroom, and
• A network of highly motivated teachers.

Through 2008, a total of 250 teachers from more than 30 schools in California and Arizona
have participated. More than 200 new lesson plans have been developed by the Institute
participants, which are available on CD.

___________[click to download:]___________