The GK-12 SCWIBLES program, or Santa Cruz-Watsonville Inquiry-Based Learning in Environmental Sciences, was an exciting graduate training program at the University of California Santa Cruz in partnership with Watsonville High School. The National Science Foundation awarded the University of California Santa Cruz a $2.1 million, 5-year grant (NSF GK-12 DGE-0947923, 2010-2015) to support graduate student researchers in environmental sciences, to train them to effectively communicate with non-scientists about science, and to enrich science education in our schools.
The program partnered 26 UCSC graduate students in Environmental Studies and Ecology and Evolutionary Biology with 18 teachers at Watsonville High School from Natural Sciences, Social Sciences, Math, and English. Together, they worked as co-researchers in the field and in the lab, developed and implemented inquiry-based science curricula, brought exciting learning opportunities to thousands of high school students, and inspired a new generation of environmental problem-solvers.
This site is part of the legacy of the SCWIBLES program, ensuring continuing access to the dozens of exciting, effective, field-tested inquiry-based learning modules developed by SCWIBLES fellows and teachers, and helping facilitate a transition to NGSS standards.