UMd. "Materials Camp" to Train High School Teachers in Engineering
Clark School Sessions Will Help Teachers Excite Students About Science

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
June 26, 2006
CONTACT: Faye Levine
(301) 405-0379
flevine@umd.edu

Lee Tune
(301) 405-4679
ltune@umd.edu

WHAT: ASM (American Society for Metals) Materials Camp: An innovative approach for training high school teachers in the area of materials science and engineering. The camp will consists of a five-day training experience, where teachers will learn the basics of materials science technology as taught at the high school level through hands-on learning with metals, ceramics, polymers, composites and nanostructures. The training is project-based and includes introductory lectures, demonstrations and experiments as well as student projects.

WHO: The ASM Materials Camp at the University of Maryland's A. James Clark School of Engineering is funded by grant through the National Science Foundation and the ASM Education Foundation. The camp will be directed by materials science and engineering professors Aris Christou and S. Ankem. More than 30 high school teachers from the Washington, D.C. area are expected to participate.

WHEN: June 27-30, beginning at 8 a.m. daily; ending 5 p.m. Tuesday and Wednesday, 12 p.m. on Thursday, and 3 p.m. on Friday.

WHERE: The Jeong H. Kim Engineering Building, University of Maryland, College Park, Md.

WHY: "The teachers will see how this heavily project-based learning experience excites students to learn science concepts as they complete projects of personal worth to them. Whether teachers use the information and concepts as a basis for teaching their own MSE course or merely infuse the concepts into an existing science course to increase relevancy, they will finish the week prepared to make some important instructional changes as a result of their participation." - Professor Aris Christou.

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