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Spring 2011
PMB 98/198
2-3 Unit(s)

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community service /
field work course

About the Course:

Students in this course will work in groups  of 3-4 to design and implement science-based lessons plans for an afterschool option at Willard Middle School (located just down Telegraph Ave.).  Previous favorite demos have included: making liquid nitrogen ice cream, frog dissections, model rocket lift-offs, CSI-style 'crime' investigations, an introduction to physics courtesy of PlayStation Tony Hawk games, among many other interesting and dynamic topics. Students are encouraged to use their sense of creativity in implementing these lessons because the most important aspect of this course for the UC students and the middle schoolers is to have fun!

The class will meet for 1.5 hours per week to rehearse and offer feed back on the current week's presentation for Willard. Students have the option of taking the class for 2 or 3 units; for 2 units UC students are expected to do a demonstration twice during the semester, and for 3 units, the students are expected to go to Willard 4 times. All students are expected to go to Willard at least twice over the course of the semester. There will be two sections, one on Monday from 6-7:30 PM and one on Tuesday from 6-7:30 PM. Students in the Monday section will present at Willard on Wednesdays and the students in the Tuesday section will present onThursdays. Expect to be at Willard from 4:00-6:00 PM on the days you attend.

This is a particularly important class because Willard is academically one of the lowest performing schools in the area. This DeCal’s purpose is to stimulate passion for science, or education in a more general sense, in students who are not used to thinking of learning as more than a chore. Students have found this as a particularly rewarding course because they have gotten the chance to make a significant difference in a middle schooler’s life.

How to Enroll:

Attend the first day of class to recieve a short survey to be completed and turned in via e-mail.  Upon submission, students will be emailed the CCN.  All undergraduates and graduate students are encouraged to enroll.