Filling Gaps: K 6 Science/Health Education

Achievement of the project goals will be realized through activities centered around six specific aims.
<ol>
<li> Develop a new interdisciplinary model for K - 12 science and health instruction (All About Me), which focuses on content related to life science, personal health and the assumption of responsibility for one's own actions, and targets children and their families through print and electronic resources. </li>
<li> Create a new unit (Food and My World) within the My Health My World series to teach students in 3 - 4 about environmental health issues related to food. </li>
<li> Create a new unit (Brain Chemistry) within the BrainLink series to teach students in grades 5 - 6 about the role of chemicals in the nervous system and the effects of drugs on normal functioning. </li>
<li> Evaluate the instructional units with diverse populations of teachers and students to: (a) obtain specific measures of cognitive gain using objective assessment tools; and (b) assess students' self-efficacy in applying what they have learned using appropriate psychosocial measurement tools. </li>
<li> Encourage widespread adoption and use of the new materials by teachers, schools and parents through dissemination on the World Wide Web, community outreach programs sponsored by national and local organizations, and existing national networks for the dissemination of the My Health World and BrainLink projects.</li>
<li> Prepare a comprehensive report on the results of the project and its implications for educational policy and future efforts related to the use of supplementary interdisciplinary curricula in promoting acquisition of science and health knowledge and living skills by children and their parents. </li> </ol>