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PROVO -- Utah Valley University is trying to make science cooler and less scary for teens. High school students in Utah County now can do college science work and hands-on experiments with UVU's help.
For the past year UVU has distributed about $1 million in biotechnical science equipment to eight area high schools.
"Science teachers can actually create a lab experience for high school students. They are learning about something that they would just learn about in a textbook otherwise," says Louis Illes, the assistant dean for the College of Health and Science.
UVU trains the teachers too, and offers college credit. Illes says a Workforce Innovation in Regional Economic Development (WIRED) grant allowed all of this.
Illes says teens sometimes move away from science or math during junior high and high school, and this equipment and experiments should help them not be afraid of science.
"They fear that it's too much, too hard, and they often don't have a lot of experience that can relate to that directly," says Illes. "(This is) a hands-on way, what we call an engaged way, for students to get exposed to science in a very non-threatening way."
The equipment includes everything from thermal cylinders to spectrophotometers. It has been donated to science labs at Mountain View, Lone Peak, Pleasant Grove, Provo, Salem Hills, Springville and Timpanogos high schools.
E-mail: mrichards@ksl.com
