ANN ARBOR—More than 120 Detroit Public School sixth-graders will present the results of small-group science projects at 10:45 a.m. March 22 at the Michigan League Ballroom.

The students, from Detroit’s Foreign Language Immersion School and O.W. Holmes Elementary School, have been following the innovative BioKIDS curriculum developed by the University of Michigan. Graduate students from U-M’s Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology and School of Natural Resources and Environment have been visiting the classes, working with the sixth-graders and presenting their own research in kid-friendly presentations.

The curriculum has been proven effective: according to 1996 data, just 30 percent of Detroit students passed the state standardized science tests. But for students using the BioKIDS curriculum, the pass rate rocketed to 42 percent.

At this third annual BioKIDS Science Convention, students will present posters about an animal species they studied from the Detroit River ecosystem. The students will answer questions from local scientists about what they have learned about ecosystems, biodiversity and ecology, and will have an opportunity to ask the scientists questions. Following the student presentations and a short lunch break, an expert from Ann Arbor’s Leslie Science and Nature Center will demonstrate the survival characteristics and techniques of birds of prey, using three live birds. The BioKIDS/DeepThink research group works to improve science learning in high-poverty, urban, elementary and middle school classrooms, with particular focus on the Detroit Public Schools. The work centers on fourth through eighth grades, a period when the performance of American students in science falls behind that of students in other countries. The researchers work in two areas: the development of curricular units and associated technologies to promote students’ deep understandings of current science topics, and the exploration of new ideas in educational assessment leading to tests that evaluate students’ complex reasoning with science. BioKIDS is a joint project of the U-M School of Education and U-M Museum of Zoology and is supported by the National Science Foundation.

Related Links:

• BioKIDS
• Museum of Zoology
• School of Education