Funded by the MetLife Foundation
The Da Vinci Science Center has presented its new Family Inquiry Project in
thanks to a grant it garnered from the MetLife Foundation. The sessions for
2007-2008 have been held. Further details will be announced.
The MetLife Foundation-funded Family Inquiry Project has worked to educate
children on weekends alongside their parents and grandparents or caregivers
in inquiry-based learning – learning through asking questions and finding
answers by performing hands-on experiments. The project’s purpose has
been to develop the community’s understanding of, and support for, outstanding
science education.
Building
on the Da Vinci Science
Center’s existing work with science
learning communities in schools, the
Family Inquiry Project has enabled families
to gain access to the same inquiry and
problem-solving skills for science that the Center facilitates with area school
districts.
It has given gamilies a better grasp of the
science learning they should be looking for in their child’s classroom
and engaging themselves in a “family learning community” at home.
The Family Inquiry Project consisted of six sessions during the 2007-2008
year. Each session was designed to stand alone, but were also of value to
those who participated in more than one session. Each session included a period
of reflection and discussion among parents or caregivers while continued to
investigate separately.
