ISP partnership brings agriculture into Missouri classrooms

How do plants grow? Where does food come from? Who grows your food? Agriculture is the No. 1 industry in Missouri. The state is home to 95,000 farms, according to the Missouri Department of Agriculture, covering two-thirds of the state’s total land acreage, with the top commodities being soybeans, corn, cattle, hogs, and turkeys. But despite […]

Institute for School Partnership finds new ways to be ‘in St. Louis, for St. Louis’

The Institute for School Partnership (ISP) at Washington University in St. Louis is developing a new strategic plan to support the university’s mission to be “In St. Louis, for St. Louis.”   To that end, the institute has hired Nikki Doughty, head of school at City Academy and a regional leader in urban education, to serve as […]

ISP Spotlights COVID Response Efforts at International Symposium

For 30 years, Washington University’s Institute for School Partnership has spearheaded efforts to provide high-quality STEM learning and teaching in the St. Louis region. As the COVID-19 pandemic unfolded across the globe, disrupting schools, the ISP worked quickly to adapt, design, and implement resources to support the continuation of teaching and learning locally.   This past […]

mySci Summer Professional Development Institutes 

We are excited to share our summer professional development offerings for mySci educators. Sessions are open to mySci teachers as well as administrators in mySci districts. Would you like to grow your science instructional practice this summer? Choose the professional growth option that suits your needs and aligns with your PD goals.  Intro to YOUR mySci: […]

Sunlight Makes Colors Fade

Activity:  Have you ever noticed that sunlight makes colors fade? Gather brightly colored paper, several pennies or other shapes like legos or building blocks. Find a spot outside that gets several hours of sunlight and arrange them to form a pattern or design. Wait 4-6 hours and then remove the pennies or blocks and observe […]

Are All Seeds the Same?

Activity:  Using a packet of mixed wildflower seeds or bird seed, ask your child to sort the seeds by properties they observe. Maybe they can sort the seeds by size, by color, or by shape. Count how many different kinds of seeds there are. Safety Tip: Some seeds can be eaten, like sunflower seeds, but all […]

From Sun to Food

Explore the interactions of living (plants, animals) and nonliving (water, light and air) parts of the environment. Then think about what living things need to grow. Activities: If you have dry beans at your house, soak them and see if they sprout. See if they can grow without air, without water, without light, or without […]

How Do Clouds Form in the Sky?

Activity: Using a mason jar with a lid, boiling water, a little hairspray and some ice cubes you can make a cloud in a jar. First boil about 1/3 cup of water and add it to the jar. Quickly spritz a bit of hairspray in the jar and add the lid upside down to the […]

ISP to improve math education in local schools through Math314

Stagnant scores, frustrated students, daunted educators — such is the state of math education across the nation and in the region. That’s why the Institute for School Partnership (ISP) at Washington University in St. Louis is introducing Math314, an innovative professional development program that will improve math instruction and boost student enthusiasm and scores. The program already […]

South City Academy teacher calls mySci program "a game changer"

The Institute for School Partnership’s mySci curriculum program is being used by students in nearly 250 schools in the Greater St. Louis region. Recently, we caught up with fourth-grade teacher Allison Webster, who was named the 2019 teacher of the year at Confluence Academy – South City. She’s been using mySci in her classroom for two years. Find […]