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OSAC Grant
Projects
Since 1967, leading American
business firms have been engaged in helping bring
educational excellence to American children attending
schools overseas through the Overseas Schools Advisory
Council (OSAC). The Department of State established OSAC
that year to seek the advice and capabilities of American
leaders from the business, foundation, and educational
communities in pursuing the goal of assuring quality
education for American children attending schools
overseas. The Council's Educational Assistance Program
provides grant awards totaling approximately $150,000
annually for educational projects that ultimately reach
over 94,000 students in 129 countries. MAIS has received
OSAC grants for the following projects:
MAIS ZOOM
Website www.maiszoom.org
Project MAIS ZOOM
is integrating exciting new technology into MAIS school science
curricula in grades 3 through 8. Microscopes with attached digital
cameras (DigiScopes) linked to personal computers are keyed to Project
AERO science and technology standards and existing MAIS curricula.
Project ZOOM is preparing a leadership cadre of MAIS teachers as Digital
Microscopy Leaders or DMLs. During each of the MAIS Fall Conferences in
Cairo and Rome, a cadre of 15 grades 3 to 8 teacher DMLs have been or
will be prepared to introduce digital microscopy into their own
classrooms and to diffuse ZOOM technology and educational strategies to
their grade level colleagues, school leaders, parents, and others. Each
teacher receives two DigiScopes plus related materials for classroom use
and are encouraged and assisted in securing more DigiScopes from local
funds.
ZOOM provides a new way for teachers and their students to “zoom in”
during science. A DigiScope is a digital camera hooked to a microscope
that enables images to be displayed on a computer screen. Exhibiting
both good magnification and resolution, the DigiScope is ideal for
capturing images of Daphnia, Protozoa, Hydra, Planaria,
flower pollen, insect eye parts, a mosquito’s proboscis, crystals, plant
and animal cells, a flea’s leg, vinegar eels and much, much more.
Further, the camera can be taken out of the microscope body to look at
things that won’t fit on a slide—like human fingerprints, mosquito
larvae, nematodes, and germinating seeds. Beyond displaying “tiny
worlds,” DigiScopes can capture movement in time-lapse sequences, save
images in a file, or print them. MAIS students using DigiScope
technology have “gee whiz” science experiences. Enthusiasm and interest
run very high and are sustained with each new discovery. There are lots
of expressions of “Awesome!,” “Cool!,” and “Hey, look at this!!!”
Project MAIS ZOOM utilizes linked technology to pique students curiosity
and stir their interest, provides opportunities for collaboration,
problem-solving, and critical thinking, and, through technology, to
illustrate ideas, concepts, and theories that promote a significantly
deeper and broader understandings than those provided by traditional
instructional techniques and materials. Students use these tools to
experience and better understand everyday phenomena that are difficult
to see with the naked eye. ZOOM better prepares MAIS students for
continuing academic success, entry into careers in a technological
economy, and for the challenges of life.
MAIS
K-6 SCIENCE and MATHEMATICS ACTIVITIES for REGION
TEACHERS MAIS SMART
The title of this proposed project is MAIS K-6 Science
and Mathematics Activities for Region Teachers or for
short, Project MAIS SMART. The project will adopt,
modify, and develop combined, integrative science and
mathematics activities for Kindergarten through Grade 6.
Science and mathematics will be interwoven, mirroring how
science and math are connected in the real world. To
those activities will be added (1.) related
children’s literature components (children’s
books) to reinforce language arts with special
sensitivity to the needs of children for whom English is
a second language (ESL) or English for Speakers of Other
Languages (ESOL), and (2.) Family Activities in Science
and Technology (FAST) Packets including materials for
conducting simple science/math/technology activities with
a related children’s book—all designed to
encourage home-school communication. All SMART activities
will be coordinated with local MAIS school science and
math curricula and keyed to appropriate standards of
Project AERO, the National Science Education Standards
(NSES), and the Principles and Standards for School
Mathematics (PSSM).
Selected MAIS teachers will be prepared to utilize
Project SMART resources at two consecutive MAIS
Conferences, Grades K to 3 teachers in Portugal in
November of 2004 and Grades 4 to 6 teachers at the
November 2005 MAIS Conference in Cairo or an alternate
site yet to be named. This cadre of SMART teacher leaders
will implement integrated science and mathematics lessons
in their own classrooms, build and utilize FAST Pacs with
their students and students’ families, and provide
leadership for disseminating SMART activities among other
teachers in their schools.
Project SMART has important implications for MAIS
schools. At the conclusion of this project in March 2006,
most of the 25 MAIS schools will have been involved,
approximately 50 K-6 teachers prepared for science/math
integration and school leadership, 350 teachers
participating in school site staff development programs,
and approximately 4,000 elementary children benefiting
from connected science and math lessons fortified by
children’s literature—an approach to education
that involves students in high interest, concrete
activities, improved knowledge and skills in science and
mathematics, and real world applications to school,
careers, and life.
MAIS
K-6 SCIENCE INQUIRY, INVESTIGATION, AND DESIGN TECHNOLOGY
website
www.scilitlinks.org/scienceinquiry/
The
purpose of MAIS K-6 Science Inquiry, Investigation, and
Design Technology, or for short, MAIS K-6 Science
Inquiry, is to prepare and assist teachers in 25 MAIS
schools to engage K-6 students in inquiry, in the
processes of science, in problem solving and critical
thinking, in designing and conducting investigations, and
in communicating and defending conclusions—skills
important across the curriculum and throughout life. It
will utilize inquiry-based, hands-on science to speed
alignment with the standards of Project AERO (American
Education Reaches Out) and the USA National Science
Education Standards (NSES) and help meet the expectations
of school accreditation agencies. Implementation
successes will be shared with other international schools
worldwide. The ultimate beneficiaries will be K-6
students in international schools who will be better able
to act and think in ways associated with inquiry, utilize
science in their daily lives, and compete successfully in
a global economy and world increasingly dependent upon
science and technology.
MAIS
K-6 STANDARDS-BASED SCIENCE CURRICULUM, INSTRUCTION, AND
ASSESSMENT PROJECT
Website:
www.maisk-6sciencestandards.org
Purpose:
The purpose of MAIS K-6 Standards-Based Science
Curriculum, Instruction, and Assessment, or for short,
MAIS K-6 Science Standards, is to lead and assist 25 MAIS
schools in aligning their K-6 science curricula,
instruction, and assessment with those of Project AERO
(American Education Reaches Out) complemented by the USA
National Science Education Standards (NSES) and to share
their implementation successes with other international
schools worldwide. The ultimate beneficiaries will be K-6
students in international schools who will be better
prepared to succeed in academic science programs, utilize
science in their daily lives, and compete successfully in
a global economy and world increasingly dependent upon
science and technology.
The MAIS Place
A
professional development page serving educators in the
United States and American Overseas Schools and the
international school community. This is a source for
comprehensive online professional development
opportunities for teachers and administrators using
Internet resources, asynchronous distance education, and
discussion and chat groups.
ECO-MAIS
website:
www.mais-web.org/eco-mais
The
ECO-MAIS project is designed to assist K-12 international
schools in Spain, Portugal, France, Italy, Egypt, Cyprus,
Morocco, and Tunisia to develop, construct, and use
schoolyard habitat study sites.
MAIS Sci-Lit Links
website:
http://www.scilitlinks.org
A
project that seeks to enhance science in grades K-6 in
all MAIS schools by linking science experiences,
investigations, and experiments with children’s
literature now in schools’ language arts curricula
or with high-interest supplementary
trade books.
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