As a 2nd year physics graduate student with a strong background in education, I know first-hand that teaching science is difficult.  The motivation for my outreach project is to make teaching science less daunting for elementary school teachers.  My project consists of creating lesson plans for the Children's Museum Tucson that go along with their outreach programs.  Their Adventures to Go program visits schools and libraries to teach a lesson from a wide range of topics from space exploration to art.  For each one of their outreach programs, I am designing a set of science lesson plans that adhere to the Arizona state academic standards.  These lessons use easily obtainable materials, so any teacher or librarian can use them.  Additionally, they will include detailed instructions for every activity and demonstration, as well as an FAQ sheet formed specifically for the teacher to gain a stronger foundation for the material within the lesson.  A main purpose of these lessons is to engage the students in hands-on experiments, often including a finished project they can take home to share with their parent or guardian and continue using to make observations.  Overall, the goal is to maximize teacher confidence in science as well as student interaction with hands-on experiments, and to enhance the museum's outreach programs.

Fall 2016 Update:

In partnership with the Children's Museum of Tucson, I am creating lesson plans based on their current content as well as analyzing data.  The museum's Adventures to Go program visits schools and libraries to teach a lesson from a wide range of topics from space exploration to art.  For each one of their outreach programs, I am designing a set of science lesson plans that adhere to the Arizona state academic standards (they can be seen here: http://www.childrensmuseumtucson.org/learn/outreach).  A main purpose of these lessons is to engage the students in hands-on experiments, often including a finished project they can take home to share with their parent or guardian and continue using to make observations.  Additionally, the museum keeps data on student attendance by date and program, and funding/Title I status to name a few.  By analyzing the data I am able to determine how to better reach teachers and educators in the community.  Overall, the goal is to maximize teacher confidence in science, interaction with the Tucson community schools, and to enhance the museum's outreach programs.