Teachers +Occidental = Bridges in Science

What We're About

Bridges is a science program for elementary and middle school students in the Los Angeles area, funded by the Eisenhower State Grant Program. Both public and private school students can participate in hands-on science activities which are led by trained high school students from their own school district.

Teachers at the elementary, middle and high school levels form a team with four high school students from the same district. District teams participate in a two-day training session at Occidental College to familiarize the high school students with the activities, and with the skills, understanding and logistics needed to be effective facilitators in the middle and elementary classrooms. The training session provides opportunities for interaction between teachers and students from diverse districts.

The students are selected to serve as role models for the middle and elementary students, with attention to gender and ethnic/cultural backgrounds, as well as enthusiasm for science and ability to interact effectively with younger students. The high school students visit each team school up to four times per year to present the activities.

Goals
Activities
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• To break down barriers that contribute to isolation felt by teachers and to replace the barriers with "bridges" between teachers.

• To enhance science instruction and to provide emphasis on interdisciplinary and hands-on activities.

• To provide four levels of networking:

teachers within districts


          teachers across districts
          students across districts
          students across grad levels

• To promote positive attitudes about teaching and learning science.

• To increase access to science for under-represented students.

Bridges Activities Follow These Themes From The California Science Framework

Energy: "Energy is a central concept of the physical sciences that pervades biological and geological sciences because it underlies any system of interactions...Defined in physical terms, energy is the capacity to do work or the ability to make things move; in chemical terms, it provides the basis for reactions between compounds; and in biological terms, it provides living systems with the ability to maintain their systems, to grow, and to reproduce."
Activity: Nutty Energy

Evolution: "Evolution in a general sense can be described as change through time, and virtually all natural entities and systems change through time. But evolution is not just the history of natural things; it is also the study of patterns and processes that shape these histories. . . .it is change with a direction: that direction is time."
Activity: Designing Gliders

Patterns of Change: "Understanding different kinds of changes helps us to predict what will happen next. Knowing about different patterns of change helps us to identify patterns of nature as we encounter them and to look for underlying mechanisms and connections. Patterns of change can be usefully divided into three types: (1)trends, (2)cycles, and (3)irregular changes. Some systems or processes show more than one kind of pattern of change."
Activity: Crystals

Scale and Structure: "The kinds of structures that can be described in the natural world are many. The diversity of life, of geological forms and microstructures, of chemical and physical structures, configurations, combinations, and interactions appears to be almost endless...The point is to show how different kinds of structures are related, how they explain and illuminate each other, and how structure at different hierarchical levels (a phenomenon of scaling) shows unique properties at each level."
Activity: Floaters

Stability: "Stability refers to constancy; that is, the ways in which systems do not change and why. The ultimate fate of many systems is to settle into a balanced stady state or a state of equilibrium. . . . Stability is related to the idea that nature is predictable."
Activity: Structure of Flowers

Systems & Interactions: "Natural systems may include solar systems, ecosystems, individual organisms, and chemical and physical systems. By defining the boundaries of a system, a study of the system and its parts and interaction is possible. There are many kinds of interactions in systems. The components of an ecosystem (individual species) may interact through predation, competition, commensalism, mutalism, parasitism, or any number of other patterns. At any time, a single component of a system can be interacting in various ways."
Activity: Cleaning Dirty Water

 Call the Bridges Office at Occidental College: 323-259-2892

 or E-mail: bridges@oxy.edu

 or write:

Two courses offered at Occidental College are linked to the Bridges Program:

SCI220 Exploring Elementary Science: An Introductory Course for Prospective Teachers integrates hands-on lab time with field observations at nearby elementary or middle schools.  The course focuses on activities associated with the six themes of the Science Framework for California Public Schools,  the science content relating to those activities, classroom  pedagogy, and the career options available to teachers.  The activities used in the Bridges program will be introduced and the science content which underlies those activities will be discussed.  Students will have an opportunity to observe the activities in use in the classroom.

SCI520  Science for Elementary Teachers is a graduate level course related to SCI220.  It is centered on science activities based on the six themes of the Science Framework for California Public Schools, the science content underpinning those activities and the classroom pedagogy needed to conduct the activities.  From this starting point, the science content for each of the six themes will be expanded, using an integrated approach which will link earth, physical, biological and environmental science.  Each student will develop a science unit lesson plan for each thematic topic.  Additionally, connections between the themes and their integration into the curriculum will be considered.  This course will help the elementary teacher develop a basic understanding of the scientific process and the unifying concepts of the natural sciences.  The instructors will provide a supportive classroom environment and the opportunity to explore science concepts and processes.