2061 Connections
An electronic newsletter for the science education community

July/August 2008

Wide Range of Educators Count on Project 2061 Workshops

An Atlas workshop at AAAS headquarters in Washington, DC

An Atlas workshop at
AAAS headquarters
in Washington, DC.

Project 2061’s “Using Atlas of Science Literacy” workshop continues to make connections, both on and off the pages of Atlas’s unique strand maps. At AAAS headquarters in Washington, DC, and at science centers around the country, the popular three-day workshop is introducing a wide range of educators this year to Project 2061’s tools and strategies for improving science teaching and learning. As they delve into maps showing how science learning goals connect and build on one another from K to 12, participants also explore how a standards-based approach to science literacy can bring together schools and science centers, classrooms and administrative offices.

Since 2002, Project 2061 has co-hosted a series of workshops with science centers and museums. A July workshop in Columbus, Ohio, at COSI, the Center of Science and Industry, carried on this commitment to helping informal science institutions bring professional development to teachers in their region (read AAAS article on COSI workshop). Project 2061 is currently customizing its Atlas workshop to respond more specifically to the needs of informal science institutions. Expected to launch in 2009, the redesigned workshop will help keep the education and outreach staff at science centers, as well as the K–12 teachers they serve, up to date in areas such as science content standards, assessment, and research on student learning.

Project 2061 also customizes workshops for particular science topic areas and for groups within the formal education community. A 2007 workshop for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) helped participants develop a framework for climate and weather education. Most recently, Project 2061 hosted 11 members of the Council of State Science Supervisors (CSSS) in Washington, DC, at a June workshop that showcased Project 2061’s set of resources for educators and policy makers (read AAAS article on CSSS workshop). The state science officials shared how they have already put resources like Benchmarks for Science Literacy and Atlas of Science Literacy to use in designing science curricula and pointed the way toward further engagement with Project 2061.

Ted Willard, project director at Project 2061 and a frequent workshop leader, values his interactions with workshop participants. “The educators who come to our workshops learn research-based approaches to improving science teaching,” says Willard. “But the feedback from workshop participants helps us make our resources better. Every workshop yields new insights.”

We invite you and your colleagues to attend an Atlas workshop this year. Register for one of these upcoming Project 2061 workshops:

  • Washington, DC, AAAS
    October 15–17, 2008
    Scholarship application deadline: September 5, 2008

  • San Francisco, CA, University of California, SF, Parnassus Campus
    November 5–7, 2008
    Scholarship application deadline: October 10, 2008

Read AAAS’s news coverage of recent Project 2061 workshops:

Learn more about Project 2061’s “Using Atlas of Science Literacy” workshops and co-hosting opportunities.

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For additional information about Project 2061’s professional development workshops, please contact:

Communications Director: Mary Koppal, (202) 326-6643

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