Harvard Life Sciences Outreach Program(http://outreach.mcb.harvard.edu/)

Contact: Tara Bennett, Program Manager: tbennett@fas.harvard.edu

Primary participants: High school students and teachers

Opportunities:

1. Fall Teacher Program - On campus lectures and activities organized around a single topic for high school teachers (Wednesday afternoons for 5 weeks). Topic for 2011 is “Neurobiology and Behavior.”

• Participants: ~70 high school teachers from Rhode Island, New Hampshire and Massachusetts

2. Spring Student Program - High school biology classes come to Harvard to take part in teaching laboratories led by graduate students and post-docs from OEB, MCB and Systems Biology. Labs are offered during the morning 4 days per week over a 5-week period.

3. Summer Teacher Program - Ten-day intensive program of faculty lectures, laboratories led by grad students or post-docs, and workshops on educational media and technology organized around a particular topic. By the end of the lecture, each teacher produces a multimedia lesson, with animations produced by professional Flash animators. Teacher-generated lessons and animations are available as resources on the website.

• Participants: 18 K-12 teachers

4. Mobile Lab - Currently developing a computer-based mobile laboratory for area high schools. Labs will utilize twelve Macintosh iBooks, an array of data collection probes, digital microscopes and supporting software for data analysis and image manipulation. An outreach member will accompany the equipment and assist with the laboratory.

K-12: high school

AP Biology Hinton Scholars Programhttps://mfdp.med.harvard.edu/dcp-programs/k-12/high-school-programs/ap-biology-hinton-scholars-program

AP Biology Hinton Scholars Program is an after-school program that links high school students with Harvard medical, graduate and undergraduate students who volunteer their time to be tutors.

Participants: Students in the Boston Public Schools (BPS) in the 10th, 11th and 12th grades, particularly underrepresented minority and/or low income students

Goals: Enhance students' understanding of AP Biology concepts, provide laboratory exposure, and increase knowledge about careers in science

Volunteer opportunities: This is done through small group tutoring, mentored relationships and engaging students in hands-on science, biomedical career panel discussions and site visits to research labs. The tutoring sessions, which takes place at the Harvard Medical School campus, includes a 2 hour tutor training workshop and approximately (7) 3.5 hour tutor and lab sessions with assigned small student groups for the duration of the program.

Tutors will lead small group tutorials, serve as mentors and assist students and their teachers with AP Biology-related labs monthly from October - April on either Tuesdays or Thursdays on the quad. The awards reception typically takes place in the last week of April.

Contact Information:Anne Marie Clarke, 617-432-1557annemarie_clarke@hms.harvard.edu

K-12K-12: high school

Basic Science Partnershiphttp://bsp.med.harvard.edu/

The mission of the Basic Science Partnership is to provide high school students and teachers with a resource for discovering the nature of the scientific process and understanding how basic research is conducted.

Participants: Local high school students and teachers

Goal: Augment the curriculum at partner schools by working with teachers to design activities that integrate well into the classroom experience

Volunteer opportunities: • Over the course of each semester, teaching assistants (TAs) will participate in weekly group tutorials for an advanced level group of students here at Harvard Medical School, in addition to several visits to the partner high school to establish hands-on activities for the introductory level curriculum. • Over the course of the summer, graduate students can also work as TAs with a small group of summer interns who carry out projects in labs with the Cell Biology Department; this involves mentoring a weekly data/journal club and helping students prepare presentations of their projects and results. • Preparation time per week will range from 1-3 hours; participation 1-2 hours.

Contact Information:Davie Van Vactor, davie@hms.harvard.edu, 617-432-2195

K-12: high school

Boston Latin Science Fair Mentoring Programhttp://bostonlatinsciencefair.blogspot.com/

Do you remember when you first realized the fascination of experimental science? Can you still recall who first opened your eyes? Would like to have a similar impact on a gifted high school student located just across the street? If so, your neighbor, Boston Latin School on Avenue Louis Pasteur, is urgently looking for scientist mentors for an after school program designed to give committed 9 – 12 th grade inner-city students a taste of real-world science.

Volunteer Opportunities: The Program runs from the end of September – January and is divided into 3 parts: • As a mentor you will first help students design a project that will be more challenging than they could attempt alone. • The bulk of the program involves executing it, with you providing guidance in acquiring the data and analyzing it. In some cases students perform their experiment in their mentor’s lab, with the approval of the P.I. If this is not possible, students can use the labs at school. • Starting at the end of September, the formal program runs for 10 weeks, on Tuesdays and Thursdays from 2:30 – 4:00. • Finally all students present their projects at the school science fair in January followed, hopefully, by the City and State fairs. • The Program coordinator is always available to help as you yourselves learn the art of mentoring.

Start date: end of SeptemberTime commitment: about 1-6 hours per week, over a period of 10-12 weeks

Contact: Program coordinator Karina Meiri (karina.meiri@tufts.edu) or BLS Science Director Kathleen Bateman (kbateman@boston.k12.ma.us)

K-12: high school

Science Club for Girls (http://www.scienceclubforgirls.org/)

Founded in 1994 as a grassroots organization by two parents in Cambridge, MA who were concerned with issues of gender equity in math, science, and technology.

Participants: K-12 girls belonging to groups underrepresented in science, technology, engineering and mathematics. Program reaches over 1,000 girls in five cities in eastern Massachusetts (Cambridge, Lawrence, Boston, Newton and Fitchburg), and in Pokuase, Ghana.

Goals: • Increase self-confidence and literacy in STEM of K-12th grade girls • Opportunity to get involved in science and engineering activities in a fun, nurturing, interactive environment• Opportunity to work with mentor-scientists who model and foster leadership, affirm college as an expectation, and promote careers in science and technology as goals and options. • Leadership program for teenage girls that provide them with the opportunity to be role models, teach young children science, learn life skills, conduct outreach, and explore careers in science and technology

Volunteer opportunities:1. Science Clubs: Guide K-7th grade girls in weekly hour-long sessions that focus on hands-on learning. Curriculum and training is provided by the organization. Commitment: ~3.5 hours/week for ~10 weeks (may form a group of volunteers with a rotating schedule). Fall, Spring or Summer.

2. Challenge Teams (middle or high school): Depending on your interests, this can range from building rockets to public health to product design to video production to website design. Organization helps you develop the curriculum. Commitment: ~3 hours every other Saturday or weeknight.

3. One-time commitments: If you can't make a long-term commitment but still want to share how exciting science and engineering can be.

K-12: middle school

Cambridge 8th grade Science & Engineering Showcasehttp://www.seas.harvard.edu/k-12-community-programs/showcase

Contact: Kathryn Hollar, Director of Educational Programs, SEAS: hollar@seas.harvard.eduParticipants: 400 8th grade students in Cambridge public schools and 200 students at the O’Bryant School (>50% underrepresented minority enrollment in most schools).

Goals:• Help middle & high school students develop critical thinking & communication skills to prepare them for STEM careers. • Students will be able to (1) articulate a testable scientific hypothesis or an engineering design problem; (2) work in teams or individually to test their hypotheses or execute their engineering design/re-designs and (3) defend their scientific or engineering approach via effective written and oral presentations to peers and adults.

Program:• Series of career and technology talks for Cambridge and O’Bryant classrooms in the fall. • Intensive program of campus visits beginning in January to help students frame science and engineering projects that they will present at the showcase in May or the Boston Citywide Science Fair in March. These visits will include: (1) review of project proposals by researchers, who will work with students to narrow their topics or design proposals (2) follow-up support to help students identify appropriate resources (3) in-class presentations by researchers and Museum of Science personnel on effective scientific communication (4) feedback on student posters by researchers

Volunteer opportunities:• Researchers may participate in one or more aspects of the program (e.g. classroom visits, review of project proposals, presentations on scientific communication)• Volunteers are also needed to lead lab tours or demonstrations for groups of students the day of the event.

K-12: middle school

HMS KIDS (Kindling Interest in Doing Science)(Biological and Biomedical Sciences Program Community Education Initiative, HMS)

http://bsp.med.harvard.edu/scholastic-parterships/hms-kids

HMS KIDS is a 2-week summer science camp program for local middle school students, created and organized by BBS students.

Participants: Middle school students from disadvantaged backgrounds in the Boston area. In previous years, taught 6th grade class at the Epiphany Middle School in Dorchester, supplementing a summer-long enrichment program called B-SAFE; planned expansion to a second B-SAFE program in Boston. Volunteer opportunities:• The volunteers will get to design their own lesson plans, which can cover a spectrum of scientific principles in biology, chemistry, and physics. Some examples of past lessons include creating a self-sustaining ecosystem in a 2-liter bottle, building a volcano, exploding soda with Mentos, making an edible cell with Jell-O, building simple machines, and an egg drop competition. • Lessons are carried out in small lab groups, in order to maximize the attention given to each student. In addition to the daily lessons and hands-on activities, one day will be devoted to a field trip to Harvard Medical School, where the students will tour a few labs and/or core facilities, in order to gain a more in depth understanding of how scientific research is carried out on a daily basis.

Commitment: Our summer science camp typically runs in the middle of July, for eight mornings only (Mon-Thurs from 9am-11am). In order to maintain a student to teacher ratio of approx. 2:1, we are looking to recruit ~25 volunteers. If interested, please contact us for more information!

Contact Information:

Rosa Ng (mng@fas.harvard.edu), Stephen Curtis (Stephen_Curtis@hms.harvard.edu)

K-12: middle school

K-12: middle/high school

Gradwagon http://www.gradwagon.org

New web-based resource designed to connect high school and middle school science teachers in the greater Boston area with graduate students and postdocs at Harvard University (only those in OEB, MCB or Systems Biology), for educational enrichment services.

Program centers around an online database of volunteer grad students and postdocs in the life sciences, who self-select the outreach services they are willing to provide and time they are willing to commit. Teachers can search the database for educational enrichment opportunities for themselves or their

students. Volunteer opportunities:

1. School Visits - Grad students and postdocs visit greater Boston-area schools to deliver classroom presentations or lead hands-on lab exercises. Topics range widely! Some volunteers have outlined specific presentation ideas in their online profile, although most are not restricted to the examples offered. Many are willing to tailor their presentations or lessons to teachers’ curricular needs.

2. Lab Tours - Provide students with a close-up view of the frontiers of scientific research, the latest equipment and technology, and the day-to-day activities of research scientists. Grad students and postdocs host tours of their labs and research projects to groups of high school students and teachers.

3. General Inquiries - Grad students and postdocs field general questions on science, specific inquiries pertaining to their research focus, or offer career advice to high school students who want to know more about what it's like to be a research scientist. These folks could serve as an expert source for a research assignment, or science fair project, for example.

Contacts: Sign up on-line at http://www.gradwagon.org/register/reg_enroll.php, or contact Gradwagon Coordinator Tara Benett (tbennett@fas.harvard.edu), or founder/director Andrew Mountcastle (mountcastle@fas.harvard.edu)

Cambridge School Volunteers (CSV)http://www.csvinc.org/

CSV is a private, non-profit agency that recruits, trains, places, and supports volunteers in the Cambridge Public Schools, grades K-12. For over 43 years, volunteers have helped thousands of Cambridge students with almost every subject. Tutors, especially in math and science, are always needed.

Volunteer opportunities:1. At the elementary level, volunteers serve as one-to-one tutors, classroom and library assistants,

early math and literacy tutors, after-school homework helpers and more.  

2. At the Cambridge Rindge & Latin School (CRLS, the city’s public high school), volunteers provide one-to-one tutoring before, during and after-school, as well as classroom assistance, Science Olympiad advising, college planning and essay writing help, and more.

Contact Information:Martha OslerDirector of Volunteer Recruitmentcsv@cpsd.us617-349-6794

K-12: all levels

K-12: all levels

Other K-12 outreach opportunities

Get involved in outreach activities through a Harvard museum or research center:

1. Harvard Museum of Natural History (http://www.hmnh.harvard.edu/educators.html). Offers school group visits, after-school programs, and resources for teachers to use in the classroom and while visiting the museum.

2. Arnold Arboretum (http://arboretum.harvard.edu/education/childrens-education-programs/). Offers nature programs with a focus on plant science to Boston elementary and preschool (Head Start) children and their teachers, as well as a horticultural practicum to Norfolk County Agricultural High School.

3. Harvard Forest (http://harvardforest.fas.harvard.edu/k-12-schoolyard-lter). Through the Fisher Museum, Harvard Forest offers a variety of formal and informal programs and collaboration opportunities to local and regional schools. Programs include Harvard Forest Schoolyard Program (students conduct field-based research at their own schools), field trips to Harvard Forest, Summer Institute and professional development for teachers.

Like even younger kids? Contact one of the Harvard-affiliated daycare centers:

(http://www.faculty.harvard.edu/work-life-benefits-and-perks/childcare/harvard-affiliated-child-care-centers) or the Community Action Agency of Somerville Head Start Program (http://www.caasheadstart.org/index.html) if you have ideas for nature/science presentations or activities for young kids.

Undergraduate

Undergraduate research mentoring

1. PRISE (Harvard College Program for Research in Science and Engineering). Summer research program for continuing Harvard undergrads recommended by the Task Force on Women in Science and Engineering. (http://www.priselink.harvard.edu/)

Founded in response to studies showing that participating in a summer research program increases

the likelihood that students will attend graduate school and complete a degree in the basic sciences, and that housing students together provides much needed social support for undergraduates, especially women and underrepresented minority undergraduates, who may otherwise feel isolated in a lab over the summer.

• 10-week program that provides housing, partial board, and evening programming that includes social events, faculty research talks, and workshops on topics such as laboratory training or preparing scientific presentations.

• Requires students to secure a position in a Harvard laboratory and does not provide stipend or research funds. (See http://www.priselink.harvard.edu/funding_your_summer_research.html) for undergraduate research funding sources).

Programs to provide undergraduates with funding and other services (housing, special seminars etc.) while taking part in research projects that you mentor:

2. NSF REU (Research Experiences for Undergraduates)

Formal REU programs at Harvard:

• REU Site in Cellular and Molecular Biology, Division of Medical Sciences, Boston. (http://www.hms.harvard.edu/dms/diversity/SHURPIntro.html)

• REU Site: Harvard Forest Program in Forest Ecology: Ecological data-model fusion and environmental forecasting (http://harvardforest.fas.harvard.edu/education/reu/reu.html)

• SEAS joint REU program through the Materials Research Science and Engineering Center and the Nanoscale Science and Engineering Center (http://www.eduprograms.seas.harvard.edu/reu.htm)

Programs are typically 10 weeks long, provide housing and a stipend (~$4-5000) and include activities such as: - Weekly faculty-led seminars on various research topics and ethics in research - Emphasis on professional development, including written and oral skills and preparing for a

career in science and engineering - End-of-summer REU seminar series in which students present research results and conclusions - Final written report - Social activities and visits to local research institutes and area attractions

REU supplements:If you research/lab does not fit into one of these formal programs, your PI can apply for an REU

supplement to his/her NSF grant (http://www.nsf.gov/funding/pgm_summ.jsp?pims_id=5517&from=fund)

Undergraduate

Undergraduate research mentoring

Programs to provide undergraduates with funding and other services (housing, special seminars etc.) while taking part in research projects that you mentor:

Science in the News (SITN)http://sitn.hms.harvard.edu

Science in the News (SITN) is a graduate student public service organization at Harvard University that aims to increase scientific literacy by explaining and discussing current high-profile scientific topics with members of the public without exaggeration or oversimplification.

Goal: Increase scientific literacy so that the public can make intelligent decisions when they encounter science in such places as the voting booth, grocery store, or doctor’s office. 

Volunteer opportunities:

1. Nine-week fall seminar series taught by Harvard graduate students. Lecture topics are chosen each year by our volunteer graduate student members and are designed to reflect current scientific research in the news that might be puzzling without prior knowledge of the topic. Seminars are designed to be accessible and interactive which allows for stimulating discussions of potential scientific, medical and ethical ramifications of current research.

2. Our website provides a year-round resource and forum for science questions and we also release a monthly e-newsletter, the SITN Flash, with approximately 700 subscribers.

3. In the spring, we participate in the Cambridge Science Festival and bring lessons about current science topics and research into local high schools.

4. We periodically host Science Cafes – informal events at bars or cafes where a scientist discusses their research in a cocktail-party-style format.

5. We bring our programs to a variety of venues by invitation, including the Museum of Science Biotechnology Teachers Conference, hosting a free public pre-release screening of an HBO documentary on Alzheimer’s disease, and giving lectures at other universities, libraries, and schools in the Boston area.

Contact Information: Morgan Thompson, Marshall Thomas, SITN Co-Directors; sitnboston@yahoo.com

Public

Public Outreach Opportunities in Informal Science Education

Give public presentations, lead tours or activities, help design an exhibit…..

1. Harvard/OEB-affiliated museums and research centers

• Harvard Museum of Natural History (http://www.hmnh.harvard.edu/lectures_classes_events.html). Offers lectures and classes for kids and adults, vacation programs and clubs for kids, Saturday programs for families, special events.

• Arnold Arboretum (http://arboretum.harvard.edu/). Offers guided tours, Saturday family activities, lectures, adult education, special events.

2. Other local museums, zoos and aquaria

• Boston Museum of Science (http://www.mos.org/)

• Boston Children’s Museum (http://www.bostonkids.org/)

• Zoo New England (http://www.zoonewengland.org) - Franklin Park Zoo (Boston) or Stone Zoo (Stoneham, MA)

• New England Aquarium (http://www.neaq.org/index.php)

Public

Web/computer-based outreach ideas

1. Encyclopedia of Life (http://eol.org/). Write a page or pages about your study organism(s); Or better yet, organize/mentor undergrads or high school students in doing this.

2. Design an educational website or contribute to existing sites

3. Make your research materials (images, movies, computer programs, data) available on the web, ideally in a format that is accessible and appealing to the public or students/teachers

4. Design and post a lesson plan or computer simulation that could be used by teachers

Web/computer