Science Education Beyond the Classroom

by Effie Jean Harle, Science Applications Int Corp, Las Vegas, United States,
Dale Van Natta, Science Applications Int Corp, Las Vegas, United States,
Max L. Powell, Science Applications Int Corp, Las Vegas, United States,



Document Type: Proceeding Paper

Part of: High Level Radioactive Waste Management 1993

Abstract:

The Yucca Mountain Site Characterization Project (YMP) sponsors a variety of classroom-oriented projects and activities for teachers who request them. Also available, though, are extra-curricular programs. One notably successful program is a workshop designed to award girl and boy scouts with geology and atomic energy merit badges. There was a tremendous response to this workshop - it attracted 450 requests within the first week of its announcement. Since October 1991, the YMP has sponsored five such girl scout workshops and four boy scout workshops, attended by a total of 400 scouts. These workshops demonstrate that highly technical subjects can be taught simply through hands-on activities. The idea behind them is not to teach scouts what to think but, rather, how to think. For adults, meanwhile, the YMP offers a monthly lecture series, with each lecture averaging 45 minutes in length with 35 people in attendance. These lectures center on such subjects as volcanoes, earthquakes and hydrology. They are usually delivered by YMP technical staff members, who have learned that complex technical issues are best addressed in a small-group format.

Subject Headings: Engineering education | Radioactive wastes | Project management | Volcanoes | Geology | Earthquakes | Hydrology

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