Grand Rapids Public Schools, Michigan Tech launch earth science program with $4M NSF grant

University geoscientists and public school teachers have a new opportunity to motivate future scientists to learn about the world's biggest environmental issues. A hefty grant from the National Science Foundation funds the five-year program, which brings in national environmental experts.

According to excerpts from the story:

Some of the most pressing problems facing the world today--climate change, earthquakes and volcanoes, energy and water resources--fall in a field of science most Americans haven’t studied since their middle school earth science class. So Michigan Technological University is partnering with the Grand Rapids (Mich.) Public Schools and other groups in Michigan, Washington, D.C. and Colorado to help students learn more about the earth.

The new program, called MiTEP (Michigan Teaching Excellence Program), is funded by a $4 million 5-year National Science Foundation Math Science Partnership grant. It brings university geoscience researchers and middle-school teachers together to identify ways to make earth science more exciting and meaningful to middle school students.