FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Contact: Alex Lyda (212) 854-5276 or mal2133@columbia.edu

NEW YORK, June 28, 2006 - Today’s teachers know it often takes more than the story of Sir Isaac Newton and his falling apple to enthrall young minds about gravity!

Indeed, one of the biggest challenges facing educators today is how to make everyday math and science lessons not just informative, but stimulating enough to hold students’ attention. Several hands-on workshops for New York City middle school science and math teachers offer exciting and free opportunities to learn firsthand about innovative approaches that promise to deliver on this challenge. The workshops are free and open to the media.

When: Thursday, June 29, and Friday, June 30. Registration runs from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m., both days.

Where: Havemeyer Hall, Columbia University, Morningside Campus, enter @ 116th St. and Broadway. A campus map is available at http://www.columbia.edu/about_columbia/map

Who: Jointly sponsored by Columbia's NSF-funded Graduate Teaching Fellows in K-12 Education (GK-12) programs in the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences (GSAS) and The Fu Foundation School of Engineering and Applied Science (SEAS), workshop leaders are Columbia University graduate students in chemistry, physics and biology, among others.

What:  Workshops that teach creative new approaches to learning about digital probes, genetics, energy conservation, robotics and forensics. More than 100 educators from across the New York City area have already registered to participate.

Some of the science and math workshops include:

• LEGO Robotics in the Classroom: This hands-on workshop will offer examples of how to integrate Lego Robotics into math and physical science classes and after-school programs.

• Learning Science and Math by Writing Stories: Teachers and the graduate student fellows will describe and recreate multiple projects they executed during the last school year to engage students in science and mathematics through the innovative use of narrative. By writing and telling original stories and interpreting well-known movies, students learned the real-life applications of science and mathematics. Workshop participants will engage in a miniature version of such a project, learning how to incorporate science and mathematics material within the students’ writing projects.

• Diverse Ways of Powering Our World: Combustion, Charges, and Carbohydrates: The modern world requires new forms of energy and ways of conserving the energy sources we are currently able to access. This workshop will explore how energy is converted between chemical, electric, and solar forms in areas ranging from nanotechnology to protein catalysis. These themes can be used to connect grades 6-8 curriculum in life, physical and earth sciences, using “easy-to-conduct” investigative activities.

For a complete list of workshops and for more information, please visit http://elements.columbia.edu or contact Dr. Stacey Brydges at (212) 854-4598 or sb2415@columbia.edu

About Columbia University
Founded in 1754 as King’s College, Columbia University in the City of New York is the fifth oldest institution of higher learning in the United States and today is one of the world’s leading academic and research institutions. For more information about Columbia University, visit www.columbia.edu