Recently, I was introduced to Larry Sernyk who is engaged with implementation of the Chemical Educational Foundation (CEF) educational programs in Indiana. He shared with me some of the exciting programs CEF has created to help highlight the importance of Chemistry in our everyday lives. CEF particularly targets the K-8 classroom and Larry provided the following description for these programs which is excerpted from CEF’s website which I am happy to share with the ChemEdX community.
The Chemical Educational Foundation's (CEF) You Be The Chemist® (YBTC) programs are designed to enhance K-8 science education by introducing the central role of chemistry in all the sciences and in our everyday lives. To accomplish its mission, CEF relies on the collaboration of industry, educators, and all members of a community to enhance science education among every generation, beginning with our youth. See CEF website for more information: https://www.chemed.org/ybtc/
CEF's currently offers three YBTC programs:
YBTC Essential Elements: YBTC Essential Elements is designed to assist K–8 educators—our “essential elements” in education—in teaching chemistry concepts through hands-on learning and connecting those concepts to students’ everyday lives. During an Essential Elements workshop, the instructor will lead educators through a full 5E learning cycle utilizing a lesson from the YBTC Activity Guides. The 5E model is a constructivist learning cycle focused on inquiry-based learning. Following the lesson, educators will have the opportunity to discuss the lesson further and ask questions. The workshop will then proceed with additional lessons from the Activity Guides. Visit the Essential Elements pagehttps://www.chemed.org/ybtc/essential/ for more information on the 5E learning cycle format and how to bring an Essential Elements workshop to the schools in your community! If you are interested in scheduling a workshop for your school or school district or participating in an open workshop, please contact essential.elements@chemed.org.
YBTC Activity Guides: The YBTC Activity Guides: Lesson Plans for Making Chemistry Fun offer a variety of exciting science lesson plans, enabling educators to bring hands-on learning to students, inside and outside of the classroom. The Activity Guides are divided according to grade level, one for grades K–4 and the other for grades 5–8. Together the Activity Guides contain almost 1,000 pages of educator-reviewed experiments, activity sheets, supplements, and a resource guide filled with safety information, and much more. The content of the guides aligns to the national framework established for the Next Generation Science Standards. The Fourth Edition Activity Guides are now available in a flash drive format for purchase or as downloadable PDF's for free! Check out the Activity Guide pagehttps://www.chemed.org/ybtc/guides/ to see how to download them.
YBTC Challenge: The YBTC Challenge is a fun and interactive academic competition that engages grade 5–8 students in learning about important chemistry concepts, scientific discoveries, and laboratory safety. Challenge competitions are exciting events that take place across the country, encouraging the collaboration of industry members, schools, and community organizations, as together, they educate students about the value of science education and the role of chemistry in their everyday lives. The Challenge cycle culminates in the National Challenge in June, held in Philadelphia and organized by CEF. For more information, please visit the Challenge page https://www.chemed.org/ybtc/challenge/. If you are interested in participating or want more information, please contact challenge@chemed.org. Please note that school registration for the 2015Local Challenges closes January 31, 2015.