In an effort to increase student interest in science, teacher science content knowledge, and Middle School teacher retention, this GK-12 collaboration will focus on providing new resources and developing strong interactions between graduate students and Middle School teachers, science curriculum coordinators, and research faculty within a natural regional boundary, the Neponset River watershed. Student attitudes towards science are important because they are believed to influence future behavior such as choosing courses, supporting scientific inquiry, and visiting museums, because attitudes have been correlated with achievement, and because the majority of students' attitudes towards science are negative by the third grade (Weinburgh, 2000). In fact, the percentage of students with positive attitudes towards science drops dramatically in Middle School (Weinburgh, 2000). It has been shown that attitudes towards science can be improved through Experiential Learning (Jelinek, 1998). Students that DO science rather than learn about science are more interested in science.

The schools indicated on the map below are the initial schools that participated in the first academic year, 2003-2004, of the WISP Program. As WISP progressed, existing schools were replaced by different schools thereby reaching a wider student audience living in other parts of the city.