Washington Business Winter 2018 | Washington Business | Page 45
business backgrounder | education & workforce
Real Science for Real Science Teachers
When PNNL researchers and public school teachers
spend the week together, they both benefit.
Brian Mittge
The scientists at Pacific Northwest National Laboratory spent a week this summer working
alongside middle and high school science teachers from around the state to join them in
research. The resulting STEM Institute makes science more relevant for teachers and their
students — and extends the cutting-edge discoveries of PNNL throughout Washington.
At A Glance
Middle and high school teachers
visited PNNL for a week in August for
the STEM Institute. They visited parks
and electrical infrastructure sites,
working alongside researchers to learn
the way science is done at a national
laboratory.
The AWB Institute collaborated with
the PNNL to bring together public
school teachers and the publicly
funded researchers at the Department
of Energy lab in the Tri-Cities.
Two important but distinct worlds — sophisticated scientific research and public school
science education — came together this summer in a new way that enhances the power
of both.
The Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL) and the AWB Institute teamed up in
early August to bring middle and high school teachers together with world-class research
scientists. The goal was to create a cadre of outstanding science teachers with the content
knowledge and teaching skills to serve as leaders and agents of positive change in their local
and regional school communities.
The weeklong STEM Institute was based at PNNL’s offices in the Tri-Cities. The
curriculum included time in the lab and in the field, including trips to Puget Sound Energy’s
Wild Horse Wind & Solar Facility near Ellensburg, as well as a detailed plant survey
expedition at Horn Rapids Park.
It also had a challenge: design a sophisticated green power arrangement for a nearby
community, Benton City, that incorporated wind and solar energy in a resilient way. It was
a real-world challenge — and a hard one.
The goal was to increase educator
access to on-the-ground science so
teachers could bring that research
perspective back into their classrooms.
The program focused on two
important elements of science literacy:
1) The nature of science; and 2) The
cutting-edge science of a national
laboratory in context of the Next
Generation Science Standards.
Teachers who want to participate in
the next STEM Institute, or employers
who want to help sponsor it, should
contact Amy Anderson, director of the
AWB Institute, at 360.943.1600
or [email protected].
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