Elementary School Science Month is an innovative project in which parents and community members joined with Kenyon College science faculty to perform experiments with children in their own classrooms. During 1992-1993, a grant from the Eisenhower Science Education fund extended Elementary School Science Month to fourteen elementary schools of Knox County, a rural economically disadvantaged community. Approximately 4000 students and 200 teachers participated.

Mosquito, 400X magnification, drawn by a second grade student
at Pleasant Street Elementary School,
using microscope provided by Kenyon's grant from the Dwight D. Eisenhower Fund.

The high point of each Science Month is a Science Day at each elementary school. On Science Day, research scientists and other professionals from the community visit classes and perform hands-on activities with students and their teachers, in all classes throughout the day. Non-scientist parents conduct a Science Expo, an interactive science museum which all classes visit during the day. Principals and teachers are overwhelmingly enthusiastic, calling Science Day "one of the most exciting and rewarding events ever offered at our school."

Our goal is to expose all elementary students to the excitement of science. Exposure is particularly critical for disadvantaged students who otherwise have little access to science. Science Month also motivated and trained teachers to bring more science into the everyday classroom:

1. Training sessions for teachers and parent volunteers introduced them to the scientific method and to basic natural phenomena. Non-scientist parents were particularly excited to learn how they could do simple science experiments with their children.
2. Books and materials enabled performance of science activities not possible before at these schools. Each school received a basic kit for a Science Expo (a science museum run by parents on Science Day) and a book package for teachers to perform simple science experiments in class.
3. Preparation for the culminating Science Day required each classroom teacher to research the topics to be presented by visitors. Both teachers and students experienced a variety of topics that would not otherwise have been covered in their curriculum.
4. Follow-up by teachers involved further incorporation of experimental science into the classroom, based on children's and teachers' ideas from Science Month. Principals and superintendents plan to make Science Day an annual event at each school -- at nominal cost to the schools.

We are interested in assisting other school districts to implement similar programs, and to tailor the program according to special needs and constraints of diverse school populations. For further information contact Dr. Joan L. Slonczewski, Department of Biology, Kenyon College, Gambier OH 43022. Phone: (740) 427-5397 or -5383. Internet: slonczewski@kenyon.edu.