NAI
2014 Annual Science Report
University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
Reporting | SEP 2013 – DEC 2014
EPO Activity: Middle School and High School Science Teacher Workshops
Project Progress
We have developed and are now leading a NAI Universal Biology Teacher Workshop. In February 2014 our workshop program was formally approved by the Urbana School District 116 (USD 116) Superintendent and the principles of both Urbana Middle School (UMS) and Urbana High School (UHS). This will be expanded to include other regional public school districts in 2015-16. UMS and UHS science teachers were recruited via information sessions in Spring 2014. The workshop goals are to produce, evaluate, refine, and disseminate hands-on field based instructional units built around the Astrobiology Roadmap and will be directly aligned with Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS) content. These new curricula will be implemented in the UMS and UHS classrooms in Spring 2015 and Fall 2015. In addition, teachers are required to complete our NAI Massively Open Online Course (MOOC) entitled Emergence of Life and receive formal continuing education credits for USD 116.