Your School can be an ECOS School!

Application (pdf format)

What is the ECOS Program? ECOS is a partnership program for enhancing science education in K-12 schools in western Montana by using the schoolyard and adjacent open areas as outdoor laboratories. 

What is the ECOS mission?  No Child Left Indoors!  Ecology graduate and undergraduate students from the University of Montana are showing K-12 students and their teachers how to use an ecological lens for viewing their schoolyard.  Instead of a playground, they learn to see an ecological laboratory filled with organisms with interesting adaptations and interactions.  The ECOS teams model what ecologists do by immersing themselves in ecological investigations in their schoolyard and classroom laboratories. 

Who is on a school ECOS team?  ECOS schools have a team of scientists in residence to support the teaching of science for an entire academic year.  Two lead teachers from work together to submit an application for their school.  During the 2006-2007 school year they will work with 2 graduate and one undergraduate student in the sciences at UM to bring ecology investigations to your classrooms and schoolyard. Lead teachers from ECOS schools attend two summer institutes as well as three meeting days during the school year (sub costs provided. 

What is involved in making an application?  Application forms and eligibility information can be found on the ECOS Website at www.bioed.org/ECOS.  The application is comprised of a letter of support from the School Principal, along with application forms from each of the school’s two lead teachers.

Are the lead teachers paid?  Each ECOS teacher receives a total of $4,000, paid in installments over the 12 month period.   Interested teachers may also apply for small grants to make presentations about their ECOS experiences at national science teacher conferences.

Can the ECOS Program help schools develop resources for science teaching?  Over the ECOS year, school teams work together to develop science curriculum materials that uniquely address opportunities for using the schoolyard and adjacent habitats to teach about the environment.  These materials also align with local, state and national science standards.  Moreover, all ECOS schools are eligible for mini-grants of up to $1500 to support the development of an outdoor science learning laboratory.

Can a school apply again if they have already been an ECOS partner school? Yes.  However, two new lead teachers need to be identified, and the school will be asked to address how continued participation will build on what was accomplished during the first year.

Where can we learn more about ECOS?  Please visit our web site at www.bioed.org/ecos or call our Project Coordinator, Jen Marangelo, at 406.243.6016.

When is the application period?  Applications will be accepted by mail between February 1 and 4:00 pm on March 10, 2006.  Selected schools will be notified on April 10, 2006.  Please send them to:

ECOS Project, Division of Biological Sciences, University of Montana, Missoula MT, 59812. 

If you prefer you can drop the application of in the Biology Office, Health Sciences Building Room 104, UM Campus.