A new program will team up UC Santa Cruz graduate students with Watsonville High School teachers to create hands-on lessons designed to get kids excited about learning science.

The five-year program, known as Santa Cruz-Watsonville Inquiry-Based Learning in Environmental Sciences, comes from a $2.1 million grant from the National Science Foundation.

Teachers from Watsonville High’s Environmental Science and Natural Resources Academy will work with professors and graduate students from the university’s ecology, biology, education and environmental science departments to design courses and build a curriculum.

Organizers hope that the program will show graduate students how to teach their areas of expertise, help teachers build a curriculum and prepare students for environmentally friendly careers — so-called “green jobs” — which are expected to be in demand as the world weans itself o

For the complete article see the 03-18-2010 issue.

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