Science Enrichment After School Program

Park City Magnet

This is a new after school Science program for middle school students in the City of Bridgeport.  Middle school students have a natural curiosity about life science and how all of the various systems work cohesively to provide them with the ability to lead full, healthy lives.  The Science Enrichment After School Program is an inquiry-based/ hands-on science instructional program which taps into the students’ curiosity and provides an informal venue for them to extend their scientific knowledge regarding the life sciences.

Participating Schools and Instructors

Eight to twelve weeks of instruction will be provided. Students trace nutrients as they are processed by the digestive system, pass into the blood, and are transported to body cells.

Students explore how oxygen enters the body, passes into the blood, and is transported to body cells, where it combines with digested food to release energy. An exploration of the transport system-the heart and blood vessels-focuses on how oxygen and nutrients are transported to body cells and how wastes are carried away for eventual elimination. Students then use a siphon-pump model to explore the double-pump action of the heart, which leads to an investigation of heart rate and the factors that affect it.

A series of lessons deals with the use, by the musculoskeletal system, of the energy released during respiration. Students investigate the nature of joints and how muscles, bones, and nerves work together.