Use Our Model to Translate Research into the Classroom

The paper below describes how we at NIST created this program to encourage interest in science in our local middle school community. If you're a teacher, we encourage you to reach out to local laboratories for resources. If you're a scientist, we encourage you to build something similar at your laboratory, and reach out to the schools around you.

The NIST Summer Institute for Middle School Science Teachers: Translating NIST Research into Activities for the Middle School Classroom; by Mary Satterfield, NIST and Susan Heller-Zeisler, NIST

NIST selected middle schools as an area of interest because we noticed that many middle school teachers are asked to teach science topics in ever-changing and expanding fields. Our program introduces teachable ideas in line with school curricula, with lessons that can be immediately implemented.

Benefits from this program include:

• engaging scientists who have a genuine interest in sharing their knowledge with middle school teachers;
• increasing teachers enthusiasm for and confidence in the latest science findings;
• building pre-teen student interest in and excitement about math and science, laying the groundwork for the development of the skilled workforce of the future.