In response to a 2003 challenge from former president of The National Academies, Dr. Bruce Albetrts, the Botanical Society of America and several K-12 Educators from the National Academies Teacher Advisory Council began this endeavor in an effort to bridge scientific research and education.
PlantingScience was designed to integrate the partners’ expertise and capitalize on the contributions scientists and teachers could make working together to improve scientific literacy.
As the project evolved, more Scientific Societies, scientists and educators joined our efforts. In 2006, the American Society of Plant Biologists came on board as a partner, adding to the depth of the team and the long-term vision for the project. Dr. Paul Williams of Wisconsin FastPlants also played an important role in setting the foundation for the site.
In 2007 we joined with Texas A&M University to establish an educational research component to the program.
We are pleased to report that the following Scientific Societies now have partnership roles as we move forward:
In 2009, 4-H became our first "user" partner. They strategically use the program as a means of enhancing their ability to support the goals of the 4-H Science, Engineering and Technology Program. And just in this the past year, the Missouri Botanical Garden and science centers with education outreach programs are working to incorporate PlantingScience into their own science education programs.
And every year, our online interface evolves and improves after each session based on results and consultation with participants — students, teachers and scientists. We have have developed the idea, implemented the program, modified our delivery in conjunction with the needs/specifications of our stakeholders, and qualitatively assessed our ability to support our goals.
Industry/Corporate Partners
We want to heartily thank the following corporate and federal organizations for stepping forward in support of PlantingScience. Their support has brought the program to this stage in its life cycle.
The Monsanto Fund — As our first corporate partner, the Monsanto Fund provided support for topic development.
The National Science Foundation — The National Science Foundation, a key partner, provided funding for teacher development and educational research components for the program.
Funded in part by the National Science Foundation under Grant No.DRL-0733280. Any opinions, findings and conclusions or recommendations expressed in this material are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of the National Science Foundation (NSF).
