Jacksonville was selected as one of 15 cities in the United States to participate in the Comcast and Science Channel Science Matters! challenge, a program aimed at fostering students' interest in science in a fun and interactive way.
Beginning February 1, Middle school students throughout Duval County will have the opportunity to create a PSA with their class demonstrating why science matters. Each PSA will be evaluated by a panel of judges in May, and the grand prize-winning class will receive $25,000 for the school's science program, a video iPod for each student in the class and production of their PSA concept to air nationally on Science Channel. Additionally, the class will have access to Discovery Education Science, a middle-school science product aligned to state science standards for learning.
The initiative was announced at a Science Matters! assembly at Edward Waters College, and students from James Weldon Johnson Middle School were able to participate in the event. During the assembly, students saw science demonstrations performed by "Jake the Science Guy," the scientist and head judge of the annual Discovery Channel Young Scientist Challenge. They also heard from former NASA astronaut Robert "Hoot" Gibson, who spoke about his experiences in space and why he loves science.
To prepare for the Science Matters! challenge, all middle-school science teachers will be given kits containing lesson plans and materials complementing national educational standards to use in their classrooms. The guidelines for the PSA challenge and DVDs of programming from Science Channel are also included in the kit.
Additional cities chosen to participate in Science Matters! include Albuquerque; Boston; Chicago; Denver; Detroit; Houston; Huntsville, Ala.; Memphis; Philadelphia; Portland; Sacramento; Salt Lake City; Seattle; and Tucson. For more information about Science Matters!, visit
SchoolScienceMatters.com on Feb. 1.
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