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Practical Uses of Math And Science -- PUMAS (poo' · mas) -- is a collection of one-page examples of how math and science topics taught in K-12 classes can be used in interesting settings, including everyday life. The examples are written primarily by scientists and engineers, and are available to teachers, students, and other interested parties via the PUMAS Web Site. Our goal is to capture, for the benefit of pre-college science education, the flavor of the vast experience that working scientists have with interesting and practical uses of math and science...

WHY WE CREATED PUMAS

For many of us who have made careers as scientists, doing science is not simply a matter of earning a living. I often like to think of science in terms of its "usefulness" -- as a way to figure out things I didn't already know. And I always enjoy hearing about the clever way a colleague has found to apply scientific reasoning to questions that arise in everyday life.

Some of the best of these ideas rely only upon really understanding how to use the basic tools of math and science that are taught in pre-college classrooms.

For the past several years, NASA program directors and other leading representatives of the scientific community have been asking working scientists to contribute to science education. Although part of the motivation for these requests is to encourage and train future scientists, the emphasis has been on helping teach basic "science literacy" to all students.

What can we do that will really help? Few of us have the time or the background to teach long-division to third graders, or to develop middle-school science "curricula."

One thing we all know is how the science and math taught in pre-college classes is used. So it occurred to me that providing a forum for collecting and disseminating examples of the Practical Uses of Math And Science might actually be of help. And many teachers I spoke with said they would like to see more good, practical examples of how we use the material they cover in pre-college math and science classes.

Both teachers and scientists also supported the idea that for PUMAS, scientists be asked to provide examples, rather than "curricula." This puts squarely on the shoulders of teachers the responsibility for selecting, adapting, and presenting the material to students. Teachers, after all, are best equipped to understand the students' needs, abilities, and interests. The PUMAS examples are intended to help pre-college teachers enrich their presentation of topics in math and science.

THE PUMAS VENUE

The "Journal" format was an easy choice. In the scientific community, we have a long tradition of publishing in journals. A journal can provide the kind of open, participatory venue we want for PUMAS. And there is a built-in mechanism for giving credit to contributors, through formal literature citations.

We make use of "peer-review," a process well-understood by scientists, as an arbiter of quality. For PUMAS, since we bridge two communities with different expertise, each contribution is peer-reviewed by at least one scientist with a relevant background, and at least one teacher at an appropriate grade level. Submissions are evaluated based on originality, accuracy of content, clarity of presentation, and grade-level appropriateness.

We faced a challenge in organizing the PUMAS Collection according to curriculum topics. This is needed to help users select examples, and also to give contributors some assistance in targeting their examples to particular needs. The organization of examples by curriculum topic represents one of the main communications links which PUMAS must establish between the Education and the Science communities. Our approach is still in an experimental stage.

For Curriculum Topics, we adopted benchmarks developed at the Mid-continent Regional Educational Laboratory (McREL). These benchmarks represent a synthesis of content guidelines established by nationally recognized leaders in science education in the United States: the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS), the National Science Teachers Association (NSTA), and the National Research Council (NRC). For mathematics, the work represents a synthesis of content guidelines from the AAAS and the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics (NCTM).

The entire subject matter of K-12 math and science is divided into broad curriculum areas, called Science and Math "Standards." Under each Standard are numerous "Benchmarks," which are specific curriculum topic statements, arranged by grade groupings. The Grade Groups are: Primary [K-2], Upper Elementary [3-5], Middle School [6-8], and High School [9-12]. Each PUMAS example is referenced to one or more Benchmarks, and can be accessed by Hierarchical Search or the Benchmark number.

With the limited resources available to PUMAS, the Internet is the only way we can afford to process contributions, and to distribute examples widely. We realize that this creates a hardship for teachers without Internet access.

Those with access have the advantage of using PUMAS interactively. Participants can submit comments, lesson plans, or "suggestions for classroom use," to be appended to an example for the benefit of future users. Contributions and reviews can be written and submitted on-line. And there is an "Examples Wanted" bulletin board, where requests for new examples can be posted.

Perhaps projects such as PUMAS will encourage more school districts to make Internet access a high priority. In the meantime, we hope that people will pass copies of their favorite examples to teachers who are still beyond the network's reach.

NEXT STEPS

We began designing the PUMAS Web Site (http://pumas.jpl.nasa.gov) in the spring of 1996. PUMAS first went on-line in November 1996, and has been in continuous operation ever since.

PUMAS exists as a result of the efforts of many hands. Most of the work developing the Site, contributing examples, and peer-reviewing, is volunteered by professional scientists, software engineers, and teachers.

Interested in participating? We need teachers at all grade levels, scientists, and engineers to volunteer for the Pool of PUMAS Reviewers. [Just go to the Participant Volunteer / Update page.] And we are always looking for good examples of the Practical Uses of Math And Science.

Thanks for your interest, and welcome to the PUMAS Community!

Ralph Kahn
PUMAS Editor and Founder

PUMAS FLYER

Download a PDF version of the PUMAS Flyer (92 K).