PlantingScience – www.PlantingScience.org

We're up to something you might be interested in! After a challenge from the President of the National Academies (Sciences, Engineering, Institute of Medicine and the National Research Council), Dr. Bruce Alberts, to find a way to support hands-on science in American classrooms, we got busy finding a way to assist middle and high school teachers in making this happen. Why challenge Scientific Societies to become involved you ask. In the late 1990's the National Research Council began to raise warning flags regarding the poor performance/understanding of science and math by US middle and high school students. Remember, performance and understanding in these areas is critical in maintaining a leadership position in innovation and technology, which have always been important drivers within our economy. The concept is simple—who better to talk about and encourage scientific discover than practicing scientists! I encourage you to walk with me through the PlantingScience program, visualize the potential, and join in our journey.

PlantingScience - The Birds-eye View
At its core PlantingScience uses three concepts recognized by the National Research Council to facilitate learning: 1) hands-on inquiry, 2) peer-to-peer dialog and team learning and 3) mentorship support from topical experts.

Imagine a team of middle/high school students designing and conducting a research project as a means to better understand science and scientific processes. As the students conduct their research, they post data and information in real-time to a web page.

Their teacher leads the process and is supported by inquiry-based materials written to encompass core biological principles in line with national and state science standards. They support a clear understanding of how best to capitalize on the experience of hands-on science as a learning tool.

Add a scientist volunteering as a mentor to the team of young researchers. The mentor guides the students by posing questions designed to help them discover the answers they seek.

Now imagine not one team, but thousands of teams, all working simultaneously on various projects around the country. They are using the online communications tool PlantingScience, which allows them to share their experiences and build collaborative networks to solve problems. All of the information, experiences and knowledge are posted online and freely shared throughout the community, and with other students in schools around the country.

Our Vision
We are committed to infusing authentic inquiry and science experts into a research experience for middle school and high school students (and their teachers). We are taking a comprehensive approach to project implementation, assessment tool development, support resources, and services that improve the teaching and learning of science. We use plants as inexpensive and accessible model research organisms to explore a range of biological concepts.

Our Experience So Far
In 2005 we began putting together and testing our program. PlantingScience has quietly doubled the number of students participating in the program each year. To date, society members have volunteered thousands of hours and we have had the privilege of operating in 76 schools, in 31 states, working with 90+ teachers and supporting over 4,688 student-led research projects. Over 850,000 people have visited the PlantingScience web site. We have continued to grow participation at a manageable rate while we learn the intricacies of the online environment. We are on track to meet our goal to reach and work with over 10,000 students online by 2010. We are also beginning to see meaningful student improvement based on pre-/post-test results.

Please note: Many of the classes participating wouldn't have considered running an experiment beyond a single class period. PlantingScience has allowed them to experience hands-on research for 1-6+ weeks with scientist mentors as part of their team.

The Numbers and the Potential
There are now ten Scientific Societies involved in the program, with a combined membership of over 250,000 scientists. More Societies are coming on board as partners once they see and experience how easy it is to become involved.

If, across the 250,000 members, we are able to build a 2% involvement level as online mentors, we will have the capacity to reach roughly 100,000 students per year.

Marketing the program in conjunction with the actual need to develop science literacy in the US (A Compelling Call for Support), I feel we could easily recruit 5% of members across each of our Societies – that’s reaching/mentoring 250,000 students per year.

At present, 6%+ of the Botanical Society of America’s members are involved in the PlantingScience program. I see this increasing as the program gains recognition to about 10% over the next two years. I anticipate each of the participating Societies will see similar involvement as members experience the simplicity involved in making a contribution, note the ease of participation and share this with colleagues and peers.

Keeping It Simple
A key to what we are putting together is how simple it is for scientists and teachers to be involved in the PlantingScience program.

For scientists, all we ask is volunteering 1-2 hours of time, twice a year, spread out over a 1-6+ week period—yes, only 2-4 hours in total per year. The PlantingScience team and systems handle all communications and notifications to keep them up to speed with the teams they mentor.

Would you donate a few hours a year if you knew you were part of a team of scientist mentors making a difference in US science education, and our future as a nation? Of course you would!

Teachers are the key to success in using the program. The grants we have received from the National Science Foundation and Monsanto Fund are aimed at supporting what they do in the classroom.

Current Participants
The Botanical Society of America, the American Society of Plant Biologists and several K-12 Educators from the National Research Council - Teacher Advisory Board started as partners in this endeavor in an effort to bridge scientific research and education. PlantingScience (www.plantingscience.org) is designed to integrate the partners’ expertise and capitalize on the contributions plant scientists and teachers can make toward improving scientific literacy. As the project evolves, we believe more scientific societies, scientists and educators will come on board in support of our efforts. We are pleased to report that the Scientific Societies are now taking a partnership role as the program moves forward:
Botanical Society of America,
American Society of Plant Biologists,
American Society of Agronomy,
American Society of Plant Taxonomists,
American Fern Society,
American Bryological and Lichenological Society,
Society for Economic Botany,
American Institute for Biological Sciences,
Ecological Society of America and the
American Phytopathological Society

It must be noted: rather than proposing a concept and requesting funding for testing, we have engaged in the development of the idea, implemented the program, modified our delivery in conjunction with the needs/specifications of our stakeholders, and qualitatively assessed our ability to support our goals. Our online interface has evolved and improved after each of our four trials based on results and consultation with participants – students, teachers and scientists.

Development Support: How can you help?
We want to thank the following organizations for stepping forward in support of PlantingScience.

* The Monsanto Fund stepped up as our first corporate partner, providing support for topic development. At present we have two PlantingScience topics online (Wonder of Seeds and the Power of Sunlight) and four more in development (Genetics, Ecology, Economic Botany and Respiration). We hope to have topics available using plants as model organisms in scientific inquiry projects that cover all core biological concepts by 2012.
* The National Science Foundation came next and supports significant teacher development and educational research (quality assessment) components for the program.

How You Can Help
We hope our vision and record of achievement will encourage you to consider becoming a PlantingScience partner.

How can you help? - Scientific Societies are encouraged to come on board as a partner. This is a no-cost, participation only program. It couldn't be easier.

Corporations, foundations and individuals - our most pressing needs are in the area of continued web development and research into the effectiveness of online mentoring as an educational tool. Sponsorship and/or partnership in these critical areas are most welcome! Please consider how you can assist.

In closing, I ask that you consider PlantingScience in its current form as a tool supporting plant biology. Now, imagine how it might evolve and send me your thoughts! Remember, at its core PlantingScience is not just about plants—it's all about science, effective learning and sharing the scientific experience (and meeting/working with scientists) with young people around the country.

Please take a few minutes to give me a call. I'm happy to tell you more about PlantingScience and how you can become involved.

Sincerely,

Bill Dahl
Executive Director
Botanical Society of America
314-577-9566 or 314-566-6842 (mobile)
wdahl@botany.org
www.PlantingScience.org