CONTACT:
• Gretchen Rollwagen-Bollens, Ph.D., Partners in Discovery GK-12 Project Director, rollboll@vancouver.wsu.edu
• Brenda Alling, Office of Marketing and Communications, 360-546-9601, brenda_alling@vancouver.wsu.edu
Vancouver, Wash. - Middle and high school students participating in the Partners in Discovery of the Columbia River Watershed GK-12 Project from Vancouver, Camas and La Center school districts will showcase their work at Washington State University Vancouver from 6 - 8 p.m. May 19 in the Firstenburg Student Commons. The GK-12 Showcase will feature kid-designed displays that demonstrate how what they have learned in science this year connects to the Columbia River Watershed. Tours of 91³Ô¹ÏºÚÁÏÍø science labs and the campus will also be available. This event is free and open to the public.
The Partners in Discovery GK-12 Project establishes year-long, one-on-one partnerships between 91³Ô¹ÏºÚÁÏÍø environmental science graduate student fellows and sixth - ninth-grade science teachers and their students. The objective is to bring scientific research and inquiry into the classrooms. Together the fellows, teachers and students investigate the natural world. This is the second year of a five-year project funded by a grant from the National Science Foundation.
The Partners in Discovery GK-12 Project focuses on the implications of growth and change on the Columbia River and its watershed. Existing curricula is built upon and supplemented with inquiry-based activities and lessons specifically related to the Columbia River Watershed.
"Kids are natural scientists. They ask questions and come to school with ideas about how the world works. To hear the teachers rave about how excited their kids are for science this year compared to past years, due entirely to having a scientist in their room, is wonderful," said 91³Ô¹ÏºÚÁÏÍø Gretchen Rollwagen-Bollens, Ph.D., Partners in Discovery GK-12 Project director.
For the fellows, Partners in Discovery provides an opportunity to learn how to implement inquiry-based instruction, hone their communication skills and gain awareness and appreciation for issues K-12 teachers face. Each of the seven fellows participating this year brings a relevant expertise to the classroom. Each fellow is a graduate student at 91³Ô¹ÏºÚÁÏÍø studying aquatic ecology, biochemistry, coastal dynamics, conservation, fish genetics or marine ecology.
As an example of some of the many ways Partners in Discovery works, Kara Goodwin a GK-12 fellow and the science teacher she works with at Gaiser Middle School, Meagan Graves, worked together on a grant application to the State of Washington's Department of Ecology. Graves was recently awarded a $750 Terry Husseman Sustainable School Seed Award to purchase garden tools, gloves and native plants for creek habitat restoration and litter cleanup. Graves will receive her award at a ceremony at the state capitol on May 21.
Graves and Goodwin are also bringing more than 100 middle school science students from Gaiser to 91³Ô¹ÏºÚÁÏÍø for a field trip May 11. The students will be sampling water quality and working with children in 91³Ô¹ÏºÚÁÏÍø's Child Development Program on a water experiment.
To learn more about the Partners in Discovery GK-12 Project go to .
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