Great Discoveries Teacher Workshop 2008
Great Discoveries Workshops were held in two locations during the summer of 2008:
- June 16th - 27th at Central Oregon Community College in Bend
- August 4th – 15th at Southwestern Oregon Community College in Coos Bay
Thirty-two (32) teachers from around the state attended this initial training.
The teachers explored each of the five curriculum units in depth and left the workshop with all of the materials to instruct one complete unit.
Meals and dormitory-style lodging were provided during the workshop. Upon completion, each participant received a $250 stipend and a mileage reimbursement. An additional $250 stipend was paid to participants after classroom implementation and evaluation of the curriculum. Graduate credits were available for purchase through Eastern Oregon University (EOU) at the individual’s expense.
Funding for the Great Discoveries Workshop was provided by the Howard Hughes Medical Institute (HHMI): http://www.hhmi.org/grants/.
What is Great Discoveries?
Great Discoveries is an integrated curriculum that fosters student engagement in science, health and literacy. Units in the curriculum have both a global and local perspective. Each begins with a compelling story, continues with science investigations and ends with a challenge for students to apply their learning.Components of the curriculum:
- The Human Machine - Inclined planes and wheelchairs, bones and levers, pulleys, pneumatics, and prosthetics.
- The Human Camera - Anatomy of the eye, lasers and lenses, analogs to understand the physiology of the retina, inventing gel lenses.
- The Human Receiver - The nature of sound, frequency and volume, the structure of the ear, hearing and hearing loss, technology associated with enhancing hearing.
- The Human Refinery - The anatomy and physiology of the digestive system, nutrition, biochemistry of digestion.
- The Human Zoo - communicable disease and epidemics, hunting for microbes, the physiology of yeasts, bacteria cultures in milk, antibiotics