STEMworks

Cereal City Science

Impact

Cereal City Science serves a substantial portion of the school districts in the State of Michigan, engaging students in figuring out phenomenon and solving engineering challenges. On-going research and evaluation of the program demonstrates that through Professional Development and the three-dimensional lessons in the curriculum, teachers have been able to take their classrooms from work sheets and step-by-step directions to student-led, inquiry-based teaching and learning.

  • Target Audience
    • All Students
    • Teachers/Educational Leaders
    • English Language Learner
  • Program Type
    • Curriculum/Instructional Materials
    • Teacher Development/Training
    • Hands-on/Project-Based
  • Location
    • Nationwide
  • Grade Level
    • K
    • 1
    • 2
    • 3
    • 4
    • 5
    • 6
    • 7
    • 8

Contact

Timeka Wells
Outreach Specialist

Email ProgramLaunch Website

Accomplished Program has been evaluated and meets the Design Principles for quality.

  • Need Accomplished
  • Evaluation Accomplished
  • Sustainability Accomplished
  • Replication & Scalability Developing
  • Partnerships Accomplished
  • Capacity Accomplished
  • Challenging & Relevant Content Accomplished
  • STEM Practices Accomplished
  • Inspiration Developing
  • Under-Represented Groups Developing

See full results

Cereal City Science has all the tools and training needed to teach the Next Generation Science Standards using 3-Dimensional, multiple literacy practices. My students are so engaged and look forward to science every day. I’ve seen an increase in the use of science vocabulary and practices in their daily lives. They use critical thinking skills across the curriculum and instead of looking to me for answers, they are now looking to one another to figure things out. Though it’s not what learning and teaching are all about, testing is always on a teacher’s mind. My students make wonderful gains on both the NWEA and MSTEP tests.

Elisha Laninga

3rd Grade Teacher, Three Lakes Academy in Curtis, Michigan

Design Principles

The programs in this database clear a high bar. STEMworks reviewed each program against the Design Principles for Effective STEM Philanthropy. Programs must be Accomplished (accomplished) across all Design Principles, or be Developing (developing) in a maximum of three areas.

Overarching Principles

  • Need Accomplished

    Identify and target a compelling and well-defined need.

  • Evaluation Accomplished

    Use rigorous evaluation to continuously measure and inform progress towards the compelling need identified.

  • Sustainability Accomplished

    Ensure work is sustainable.

  • Replication & Scalability Developing

    Demonstrate replicability and scalability.

  • Partnerships Accomplished

    Create high impact partnerships.

  • Capacity Accomplished

    Ensure organizational capacity to achieve goals.

STEM Principles

  • Challenging & Relevant Content Accomplished

    Offer challenging and relevant STEM content for the target audience.

  • STEM Practices Accomplished

    Incorporate and encourage STEM practices.

  • Inspiration Developing

    Inspire interest and engagement in STEM.

  • Under-Represented Groups Developing

    Identify and address the needs of under-represented groups.

Program Overview

Cereal City Science (CCS) offers a phenomenon-based Kindergarten through 8th grade science curriculum designed for the Next Generation Science Standards and the Common Core State Standards by integrating science, mathematics and literacy through an interdisciplinary approach. CCS provides STEM curriculum, materials, and professional learning all designed to support district and classroom implementation of 3-Dimensional Learning and to build science leadership capacity within an organization. The Cereal City Science program provides three-dimensional science curriculum in the classroom for students to engage in all four domains of science proficiency (physical science, earth science, life science, and engineering). Designed with the 5E Learning Cycle (engage, explore, explain, elaborate, evaluate), the curriculum provides teachers with instructional units that inspire classroom interaction as students:

  • figure out phenomenon
  • raise questions and carry out investigations
  • talk and write about their observations and work together to revise their thinking and build knowledge
  • discuss and carry out ways to test their understanding.

Through Cereal City Science, students take on the role of scientists and engineers, and as a result, they’re talking about science at a deeper level than ever before. Each CCS unit undergoes an extensive development process and independent evaluations are conducted using the Achieve EQuIP Rubric for Science.

Funders and Partners

The Cereal City Science program has developed into a self-sustaining not-for-profit. The partnerships in the Battle Creek community are supportive and generous when there is a need to deliver special programs to underserved populations and to improve upon the CCS curriculum. CCS has received the support of:

  • Kellogg Company – start-up and development support
  • WK Kellogg Foundation – program improvement and realignment support
  • Binda Foundation – program improvement and realignment support
  • Battle Creek Community Foundation – program improvement and realignment support
  • United Way of Greater Battle Creek – Science and Literacy Integration
  • Duncan Aviation – Student scholarships, business and warehouse management guidance
  • Denso Manufacturing – Business and warehouse management guidance/curriculum realignment
  • Davis Oil – Curriculum realignment
  • TRMI – Curriculum realignment
  • AAAS – Curriculum realignment