ANN ARBOR—Are you a parent who wants help teaching your child six plus three is nine, not eight? Or a teacher looking for hands-on activities to spice up your classes? How about spending time with your children or students meeting a tree, playing with polymers or just taking apart a toaster.

The Southeastern Michigan Math-Science Learning Coalition makes these and other hands-on science lessons and experiments available at a single site on the World Wide Web. Funded by the National Science Foundation, the Coalition efforts are coordinated through the University of Michigan Center for Ultrafast Optical Science.

Located on the Web at http://www.eecs.umich.edu/mathscience, the Coalition has a growing number of hands-on activities that children from kindergarten through high school can enjoy. In addition, there is information on classes, camps and training opportunities for teachers, children and parents.

“One of the advantages of being on the Web is the ability to bring quality material to people all over, even in remote areas,” said Jeannine LaSovage, coalition coordinator. “And, it’s not just our information, but also our links to other sites. For example, through our Web site link to NASA, anyone can send a message to Mission Control for the Space Shuttle, learn math through magic tricks or learn why knuckles POP through the Eisenhower National Clearinghouse Web page. It’s all meant to make it fun and easy to learn math and science.”

A partnership of people with a stake in education, the Coalition involves students and parents, teachers and administrators, businesses and community organizations, and colleges and universities. In addition to the resources at U-M, other partners include the Eisenhower National Clearinghouse for Mathematics and Science Education, NASA, the National Science Foundation, University of North Carolina, University of Oklahoma, Michigan State University Extension Service, Eastern Michigan University, Big Boy Restaurants, Ford Motor Company, Sea World- Busch Gardens, Detroit Edison, and Channel 50-WKBD.

“The idea is to link the efforts and resources of many people and organizations to improve science and math education at all grade levels while exposing children and teens to career exploration activities that can motivate them to pursue the educational foundation necessary for technical careers, ” stated LaSovage.

Math and science lessons are listed by subject category and grade level. For example, the lesson titled “Liquid Nitrogen Fun” is listed under Chemistry, Later Elementary, Middle School and High School. A lesson can be searched for either by subject or grade level.

Each lesson starts with a guiding questions section which has a “link” to a prerequisite vocabulary with definitions. In the case of “Liquid Nitrogen Fun,” the guiding questions are “What is liquid nitrogen?” and “How do different materials behave under extreme cold temperatures?” The vocabulary lists the definitions for gas, liquid, nitrogen and properties. Through links, people can go to different locations on the Web with a single click on a computer mouse.

Included with each lesson is a list of objectives, necessary skills and materials. Most lessons include handouts which can be downloaded and printed. The lesson page also includes information about room preparations, safety precautions, lesson procedures and activities.

“Because it’s hard for students to see how many of these lessons relate to the world in which they live or to their futures, we feel it is important to include ways for the students to evaluate the lesson as well as a listing of careers related to the topic,” said LaSovage.

Of interest to people in Southeastern Michigan, there is a directory of “Wandering Wizards” who will bring experiments requiring more expertise or more elaborate equipment to schools and youth centers; listings of people willing to do career presentations or allow job shadowing; and tours of laboratories, museums and work sites.

According to LaSovage, the Coalition was formed in the fall of 1995 driven by a conviction that the only way to make fundamental and systemic change in education is by involving everyone with a stake in it. The Center for Ultrafast Optical Science at U-M designed and maintains the Coalition’s Web site.

Related Links:

• Jeannine LaSovage
• Space Shuttle