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UCLA SEE-LA GK-12 Program

Overview

The UCLA Science and Engineering of the Environment of Los Angeles (SEE-LA) is supported by the National Science Foundation Graduate Teaching Fellows in K-12 Education (NSF GK-12). The NSF GK-12 is designed to partner K-12 teachers and scientists in an effort to improve science education.

SEE-LA has an environmental science theme focused on the Environment of LA. With the population of LA county at 10 million residents and growing, issues such as urbanization, global and regional climate change, drought, floods, fires, earthquakes, pollution, land-use, transportation, preservation, biodiversity, exotic species, energy and water use are real-world problems confronting our students in their daily lives.

Graduate fellows researching these and related issues form partnerships with master teachers in middle and high schools, and together they design and implement inquiry based lessons with an environmental problem solving component, taking advantage of the local resources available in the LA area.

Our overall program goal is that graduate fellows improve their communication, teamwork, teaching, and public outreach skills through active collaboration with UCLA faculty and master teachers, and through interaction with students in the schools. Fellows benefit teachers by acting as a science content resource in the classroom, and by contributing to the professional development programs of the science department in the school. Students benefit from fellows through an enriched learning experience, by more individualized attention in the classroom, and by the opportunity to directly interact with scientists serving as role models.

Our program is funded for five years beginning the 2008-2009 school year. UCLA has also been funded for GK-12 programs in the past (see GK-12 Science and Mathematics Inquiry in Los Angeles Urban Schools).