Westside : Teachers Get Science Lesson
Forty Los Angeles teachers are spending their summer vacation at the beach--participating in a Marine Science Teacher Training Program sponsored by the school district and a consortium of local colleges and universities.
Under a three-year, $1.3-million grant from the National Science Foundation, the teachers are studying everything from algae and continental drift at the USC Catalina (Island) Marine Science Center and the UCLA Marine Science Center, with a host of side trips.
Co-Director Sid Sitkoff said the program is aimed at attracting more young people to science careers by using marine studies to pique their interest and to stimulate more university involvement in science programs at the elementary and secondary school levels.
In exchange for the unusual summer course, each participating teacher must agree to train 10 colleagues, thus having an impact on more than 1,300 teachers over the three-year period as well as thousands of students.
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