CITYBUGS EDUCATION OUTREACH SEMINAR

Department of Environmental Science Policy & Management – UC Berkeley

DETAILED COURSE SYLLABUS

In an effort to establish connections between the university and the community, and to enhance science education, the Citybugs project would like to offer lessons and curriculum to school teachers on the topic of insects. The students in this outreach class will be developing a series of lessons and activities about the environment with a focus on insects. We would like to have lessons developed for the following grade level groups: K-2 (lower elementary), 3-5 (upper elementary), 6-8 (middle school), and 9-12 (high school). Students taking this class will be able to choose which grade level group they would like to develop lessons for, and will be working in groups with others who are interested in the same grade levels.

The following work will be covered:

• make observations of teachers and classrooms in a variety of Oakland public schools in grades K-12

• study about learning styles of children and the teaching methods employed by successful K-12 teachers

• research and design lessons/activities to teach insect curriculum to children in a specific grade level

• teach the lessons designed to students in one or more Oakland schools

• make a web page to add to the Citybugs site to display the lessons created

Each teaching group will develop the following:

• a series of 4 comprehensive lessons on insects

• assignments to leave with the teacher and class that must be completed between your sessions

• plans for an optional field trip to study the environment and insects

After planning the lessons, practicing them, and preparing any necessary teaching materials, each group will be assigned to a particular classroom in an Oakland Public School where you will teach all of the lessons developed (once a week for 4 weeks). Revisions can then be made to lessons after they have been taught and once the groups have received comments from the teacher in the classroom where you will be teaching. Afterwards, each group will put their lessons into web page format so they can be posted on the Citybugs web site as a resource for teachers.

• Attendance and participation in class sessions

• Observations of an elementary, middle and high school classroom

• Completion of assignments throughout the semester: observations, lesson plans

• Teaching 4 sessions in an Oakland Public School

• FINAL PROJECT: Putting your lessons in web page format for the Citybugs web site

Citybugs is an outreach project by the College of Natural Resources to Oakland Public School science classrooms (currently focusing on middle schools but planning to expand to other grade levels in the future). It is funded by the Interactive University, an organization at UCB that awards grants to groups that connect the University to community organizations using technology-based projects. Citybugs has the following main goals:

• develop an informative website about bugs designed for kids

• work with Oakland science teachers to develop classroom activities and curriculum to teach about bugs

• promote hands-on and technology-assisted learning in schools

• provide a means to make available to the public the knowledge and data from the university via the website

• connect the community to the university through outreach efforts of various kinds – presentations, teaching, providing helpful information

OVERALL LESSON SERIES PLAN (pdf download) (web page)

INDIVIDUAL LESSON PLAN (pdf download) (web page)

CLASSROOM OBSERVATION FORM (pdf download) (web page)

TEACHING REFLECTION FORM (pdf download) (web page)