Education
Programs
Nature-based
Inquiry Project
Overview
In 2008, Longleaf Environmental Learning
Center and the USC College of Education received a grant from the South
Carolina Commission on Higher Education and the U.S. Department of
Education for a new project targeting Pre-Kindergarten through 2nd
grade teachers in the Georgetown County School District’s nine
elementary schools. The project “Creating an Early Childhood
Nature-Based Inquiry Model” is designed to provide professional
development and science mentorship opportunities to strengthen
teacher-participants skills in teaching science to children, and will
collect data on the effectiveness of such outreach services on student
outcomes. The
Improving Teacher Quality (ITQ) grant will fund up to 15
teachers per year to participate in a summer ecology institute at the
Longleaf Center site, with follow-up sessions during the school year
with science and education specialists from the university.
Additionally, we will work with staff at the schools to plan and
establish an outdoor classroom at each school, to be used in teaching
children through inquiry-focused science lessons. The goal of the
project is to improve teacher efficacy in science instruction and to
improve student performance in science through an early intervention
model.
Photos from
Summer Institute 2008
Links to Participating Schools Websites
 |
Andrews Elementary School |
 |
Pleasant Hill Elementary's Outdoor Classroom Pleasant Hill Elementary School Main Page |