Wagner Free Institute of Sclence

Wagner Free Institute of Science’s Science, Nature and Art in Philadelphia (SNAP) is an out-of-school science program for middle school students that aims to increase academic achievement, decrease youth involvement in delinquent behavior, and improve youth attitudes. The museum will incorporate many of the essential components of the Wagner’s successful children’s education programs for elementary school children but at a more complex level appropriate to middle school students. Planned activities involve standards-based, hands-on science activities and will require cooperative small-group work. Students will learn science process skills and will engage in learning activities that require different levels of structured critical thinking. The program will target the low-income community surrounding the museum, where many of the institute’s current participants live.