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BY SHERRY F. PRUITT

JONESBORO -- Arkansas State University is on the receiving end of four federal grants, but the beneficiaries will be Northeast Arkansas teachers and their students.

The Department of Higher Education Coordinating Board has awarded four grants, each more than $30,000 each, to the university. Funding is provided under Title II of the omnibus federal No Child Left Behind Act of 2001.

The teacher training is designed to increase the number of highly qualified teachers, especially in math and science and to strengthen content and instructional skills.

Dr. Tanja McKay, assistant professor of entomology, and Dr. Alan Christian, assistant professor in the Department of Biological Sciences, were awarded $33,700 for a project titled "Understanding Biodiversity Using Aquatic Macroinvertebrates."

With the support of the Harrisburg School District, the duo will sponsor an intensive 1-week graduate-level workshop at ASU-Jonesboro for K-12 teachers during the summer.

"(It) represents an excellent opportunity for Arkansas life science teachers to improve their skills in order to provide optimum learning experiences for their students based on the Arkansas Science Frameworks," said Dr. Al Romero, chairman of the Department of Biological Sciences.

Instructors will use aquatic macroinvertebrates, such as insects, leeches, clams, shells, worms and rollie pollies to teach about biodiversity and various habitats and aquatic systems.

Participants will have hands-on exercises that will emphasize the differences in biodiversity: among various aquatic ecosystems, among species and among individuals of the same species to illustrate genetic variability, Christian said.

They will investigate how organisms within an aquatic ecosystem are dependent on one another and on non-living components of the environment.

The direct and indirect impacts of human activity on aquatic life will also be discussed. Activities will include lectures, field trips and laboratory sessions that will have a research and technology component.

Teachers will collect macroinvertebrates and make clear observations of the characteristics of each habitat. In the lab the teachers will identify and quantify the aquatic macroinvertebrates collected on trips.

With the data they collect, they will become familiar with the various food webs within each ecosystem and the difference between species.

"Macroinvertebrates can be used as a health indicator of the system," McKay said.

Participants will also become familiar with the biomonitoring techniques that employ aquatic invertebrates to gauge the health of freshwater habitats, Romero said.

"From a teacher's perspective, it will increase science content and science literacy," Christian said.

Dr. Staria Vanderpool, assistant professor of botany, and Dr. Ann Ross, assistant professor for elementary education, were awarded $36,842 in funding for the project "Higher Order Thinking in Science" through same federal program.

The grant will provide support for two summer workshops that emphasize learning science as an active, integrated process involving experimentation, investigation, communication, reasoning and problem solving. The workshops are designed to teach participants through hands-on, investigative activities that allows participants to build their own content base and connections, Romero said.

The hands-on, investigative design of the project is based on materials developed through the Arkansas Science Crusade. Target groups for the workshops include teachers seeking 4-8 certification and teachers teaching in grades 5 or 6 with pre-K-4 certification. While one section of the course will be offered on the ASU-Jonesboro campus, the other will be taught at the Highland School District in Sharp County, ASU's partner in the project.

Based on a survey, 80 respondents expressed interest in the course, Vanderpool said.

With Vanderpool's program, three follow-ups will extend into the beginning of the 2005-06 school year, and one of those will be conducted at the teacher's home school, she added.

Dr. Michael Hall, assistant professor of mathematics, received $32,681 for a "Northeast Arkansas Geometry Project." Hall partnered with the Southside School District in Batesville for the project.

The aim of the project is to improve math content for in-service teachers and is directed at geometry content. It's a course for those teachers who have undergraduate geometry and are trying to improve content knowledge, he said.

A major component of the course includes use of instructional technology, such as Smart Boards and geometer's sketch pads, Hall added.

Dr. Ron Towery, professor of elementary education in the Department of Education, was awarded $33,674 for "Integrating Math, Science and Literacy in the Elementary Grades" in partnership with the Blytheville School District.

The classes are available to any teacher, and the cost is general graduate tuition. Continuing education credit will be awarded for completion of the class.

sherry@jonesborosun.com