University of Oklahoma (Sam Noble Oklahoma Museum of Natural History, University of Oklahoma)

Purpose: Expanding Educational Services Educational services to middle school science teachers in Oklahoma will be expanded with the grant. Building Scientific Literacy through Investigation (BLSI), sponsored by the Sam Noble Oklahoma Museum of Natural History (SNOMNH), is an effort to increase scientific literacy among these teachers, many of whom are certified at the elementary school level and lack adequate science training. SNOMNH will provide a series of four-day Summer Science Institutes (SSI). Project goals are to (1) increase scientific literacy levels, (2) develop a blueprint for the SSI, and (3) develop partnerships between museum educators, scientists, College of Education faculty, and middle school teachers. The program will focus on two components: " Conducting scientific investigations " Creating grade appropriate, inquiry-based curricula to teach scientific concepts. As a part of their training, participants will collect data on hand-held computers, analyze the data, and apply for grant funding to buy devices for all classrooms.