The project was developed in collaboration with the Utah State Office of Education (USOE), the Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ), and in consultation with representatives of business/industry and the environmental community. It addresses the EPA priority of "Community Issues" designing and implementing model projects to educate the public about environmental issues in their community through community-based organizations.

The project is designed to:

• Provide teacher with the skills to teach 10th, 11th and 12th grade science student how to identify, characterize and solve environmental problems.

• Enhance the knowledge of science students concerning community environmental problems.

• Provide science students with the opportunity to actually develop and implement projects to help resolve environmental problems in the community, thereby enhancing their critical thinking and problem-solving skills.

• Provide an opportunity for science students to learn that they can make a difference in solving and preventing environmental problems in their community.

An environmental workshop for science teachers will be held in Salt Lake City, November 11, 2000, to review and discuss the environmental education materials, including a Request for Proposal (RFP), that teachers will use to guide their students in the development of project proposals addressing environmental problems in their community. Once completed, the project proposals are to be submitted to the University of Utah by January 12, 2001. The proposals will then be reviewed and evaluated by an external evaluation group of business and environmental representatives. The evaluation recommendations suggesting areas where such proposals can be strengthened will be returned to each science teacher for review prior to the formal implementation of each project.

Other key features of the project include the following:
The inservice will be held at the University of Utah Merrill Engineering Building, in the Cliff Briner Lecture room on the second floor.  Registration at 8:00 AM.  with the session will begin at 8:30 AM .

(1) A grant of $250 or more will be awarded to each science class that submits a proposal addressing an environmental problem in their community. This grant will help cover the cost of materials that will be required to resolve an environmental problem in the community.
(2) Each environmental project will be posted on the USOE Web site.
(3) The target audience for the project will include approximately 50 10th, 11th and 12th science teachers and 2,049 students from urban, suburban and rural high schools in Utah.
(4) A stipend of $750 will be paid to each science teacher that elects to participate in the project.
(5) In-service credit will be awarded to each participating science teacher.