Duke ScienceDays is a mentoring
program designed to foster scientific curiosity
in elementary school students by engaging them
in hands-on activities. We are designed to be a
low-cost operation, with funding from the
national chapter as well as from Duke education
grants. We will accomplish these goals by (1)
establishing relationships with local
elemetnary schools in Durham, working to create
cost-efficient, structured lessons. We have
already gotten contacts with George Watts and
Forest View elementary. (2) We will create a
mentoring network for the current high school
chapters in North Carolina, helping them
improve their teaching techniques and
facilitating an exchange of ideas amongst the
various high school chapters. (3) We will be
working closely with Dr. Rochelle
Schwartz-Bloom, director of the RISE program,
to host a cumulative "ScienceNight" event in
the Spring of 2009 whereby we will showcase the
various lesson plans that we have created to
the public. Duke ScienceDays has the potential
to become an invaluable asset to the Durham
community, helping enrich the science education
that is lacking in many public schools
today.
