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Chicago Elementary Teachers Learn Inquiry Science Teaching

Chicago Elementary Teachers Learn Inquiry Science Teaching at Golden Apple Workshops

(Chicago - July, 2001) — Elementary school teachers from Chicago schools will have the opportunity to learn hands-on science from Golden Apple Award-winning teachers as part of the Golden Apple Science Program, July 9-20, 2001 and July 16-27, from 8:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m., Monday through Friday at University of Chicago, Biological Sciences Learning Center, in Chicago. Elementary teachers will be immersed in hands-on science–mixing, measuring, predicting and creating–with the goal of taking the excitement of science back to their students in the fall. The workshop is free of charge to teachers and their schools.

According to a 1991 study by the Carnegie Commission on Science, Technology and Government, more than two-thirds of elementary school teachers lack adequate preparation in science and, due in part to that lack of training, elementary school students receive, on average, only 20 minutes of science instruction per week. The Golden Apple Science program was started by Golden Apple Award-winning teachers to address this critical need in elementary science instruction. Now in its tenth year, the program trains participants in the inquiry method of teaching, which emphasizes creative problem-solving in a hands-on, self-discovery approach to learning. For seven hours a day, participants try out hundreds of new activities, materials, and resources. Each participant receives a grant for classroom supplies after completing a proposal for an entire year of inquiry science lessons. The workshop curriculum includes lessons on proposal writing. The workshop also offers leadership training, so that teachers may acquire the skills to introduce other teachers and administrators to the inquiry method of science instruction. Follow-up sessions during the 2001-02 school year will give participants a solid peer support network for their first year as inquiry teachers.

The Golden Apple Science program has been rated “outstanding” by 98% of the program’s more than 1,000 graduates. Many elementary teachers who had little previous science training have used their experience with the Golden Apple Science program to become the primary science resource teachers in their schools and districts and have become accomplished grant writers in the areas of science and technology for the elementary classroom.

The Golden Apple Foundation was founded in 1985 to promote excellence in classroom teaching. The Foundation sponsors the annual Golden Apple Awards for teachers, the statewide Golden Apple Scholars teacher recruitment program, the Golden Apple Teacher Education (GATE) program, and various workshops and programs.