South Florida Science Museum in West Palm Beach Gets Grant to Bolster Education: South Florida Scien

Nov 03, 06:44 AM

Current Headlines: By Ivette M. Yee, South Florida Sun-Sentinel

Nov. 3--WEST PALM BEACH -- Science lessons are moving from local classrooms into cyberspace and beyond -- and they could help improve achievement on the FCAT.

The South Florida Science Museum recently received a $240,000 grant from the Picower Foundation to provide around-the-clock science education to local students, specifically fourth- and fifth-graders. The Florida-based foundation donates money nationally to promote educational excellence and medical innovation.

Partnering with the Palm Beach County School District and its cable TV station, The Education Network, the museum will produce interactive science lessons and experiments for the tube, online and in the classroom. The lessons will target Florida Comprehensive Assessment Test material and more and may also be developed for YouTube.

"We wanted to deliver a new concept in programming that embraced the technology of the 21st century," said Charlie Hamilton, president and CEO of the Science Museum. "If we do this correctly, a great number of children will be reached."

The group will begin producing its first video lesson at The Education Network's Boynton Beach studios this month. The introductory topic is the revolution and rotation of the earth. Future topics include understanding moon phases and chemistry. The videos are expected to air before FCAT testing in March.

"This is a program that will support and strengthen classroom lessons in an engaging way," said Judy Garcia, general manager of The Education Network. "Instead of just drill-and-kill lessons, this will make hard-to-grasp concepts come to life, in a way that would be difficult for teachers to do themselves."

Based on the museum's ability to meet its first year's objectives, the foundation will consider extending the grant for two years. At that time, the lessons would be tailored to middle and high school students, district officials said.

Museum staff, students and teachers will be in the videos, said Laura Sessions, the museum's director of grant-funded educational programming. The lessons can be shown in the classroom and will be available on the school's Intranet and on The Education Network (Ch. 19 for Comcast cable subscribers).

The museum will also produce corresponding lesson plans for teachers with related activities and quizzes for students.

"This could impact several thousands of students," said Fred Barch, Palm Beach County School District K-12 science administrator. "They are very used to using the computer to find information. For teachers, it will be another resource they can use."

Barch said the School District took FCAT data to identify areas of weakness for students and shared it with the Science Museum so they can tailor the lessons.

The science portion of the FCAT counts for one-eighth of a school's grade.

This past spring Palm Beach County students overall improved their scores on the science FCAT. About 49 percent of fifth-graders scored well in science, up from 40 percent during the previous year.

With the new initiative, museum officials said they hope to address the national science education crisis by taking steps in their own community.

National reports indicate the United States ranks almost last among industrialized nations in science education and student achievement in science.

Ivette M. Yee can be reached at imyee@sun-sentinel.com or 561-243-6538.

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