GERBER, D. TIMOTHY. Biology Dept., University of Wisconsin-La Crosse,1725 State St., La Crosse, WI 54601. - K-8 educational outreach: the TULIP project.
In response to the BSA's call to action (Botany for the Next
Millennium, 1995), the TULIP (Teachers Using LIving Plants) Project
was developed in 1997 to "enhance public awareness of the
fundamental importance of plants to society" by promoting
botanical education for K - 8 teachers. To date, botanical education
has been promoted via the TULIP Project by (1) sponsoring K-8 teacher
retraining workshops, funded through a 3-year Eisenhower Professional
Development Program grant; (2) interacting with science educators
(University faculty in the Curriculum and Instruction Department and
graduate students) to provide botanical expertise in teacher training;
(3) working with pre-service teachers to improve their botanical
knowledge; (4) promoting the use of plants for the teaching of Science
Standards (American Association for the Advancement of Science at
http://www.project2061.org/ and National Research Council's National
Education Science Standards at
http://stills.nap.edu/readingroom/books/nses/html/) and (5) informing
the general public about this project by providing information to
local media outlets. This presentation is a report of the activities
involved in setting up the TULIP Project to promote botanical
education for K-8 teachers in the School District of Onalaska,
Onalaska, WI.
Key words: educational outreach, science standards