New Placed-based Science Curriculum

New Placed-based Science Curriculum

In a collaborative effort, project director Lois Yamauchi of the University of Hawai‘i College of Education’s Department of Educational Psychology and lead curriculum developer Carol Ann Brennan of CRDG are engaged in a three-year project funded by the US Department of Education to develop and evaluate a placed-based science curriculum for Hawaiian children. The curriculum incorporates the Center for Research on Education, Diversity and Excellence’s (CREDE) Standards for Effective Pedagogy, a set of research-based strategies for culturally and linguistically diverse children. The Mohala Nā Pua project involves teachers from Kamaile Academy Charter School, Kawaiaha‘o Church School, University of Hawai‘i at Mānoa Children’s Center, and Wailuku Union Church Preschool. In this first year of the grant, Mohala staff members are working with teachers at each site to design science units built around place-based topics. Topics selected by the teachers include the ocean, gardening, and animal habitats. Some of the units are designed to include the entire school while others focus on a particular grade or age level. These units will be taught and revised in year two and disseminated to other sites as the project expands in year three.

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