Impact and History

Education Impact

Sanford Lab's education team uses hands-on learning and 3-Dimensional instruction to transform teaching and learning in K-12 STEM classes.
Students conduct experiments at the Lab
10,000

Students reached

The Sanford Lab Education and Outreach team reaches more than 10,000 K-12 children every year with its curriculum modules, assembly programs and field trips.

2,500

People attending events

Sanford Lab hosts several public events every year, including Neutrino Day and Deep Talks, reaching more than 2,500 people.
Map showing all the counties the E&O team have been to.

Across South Dakota

Sanford Lab's Education and Outreach team hopes to reach every student in the state. The darker shaded areas in the map identify counties in which students have participated in assembly programs,  teachers have incorporated curriculum units into the classroom, and/or schools that have come to Sanford Lab for field trips.

From September 2015 to December 2017, the team had direct contact with students in 66 of the 149 school districts in 71 percent of the counties in South Dakota.

Education and Outreach recognizes the diverse student populations that exist across our large and sparsely populated region, including urban, rural and tribal schools. Equity of science education opportunities varies greatly. We are attempting to level the playing field by providing enriching activities for all student populations across the state and region.

Students and teacher in the class room

Teacher impacts

The curriculum units developed by our Education and Outreach team provide K-12 teachers with 10-20 hours of instruction. Teachers receive training on how to facilitate the units, all of which are based on a science experiment hosted underground at Sanford Lab. Each unit is aligned with South Dakota science standards.
Students engaging in 3-d learning

3-Dimensional teaching and learning

Based on a student-centered model, our curriculum units bring together disciplinary core ideas, science and engineering practices, and crosscutting concepts. Students work as scientists to gain critical thinking skills that allow them to design solutions to real-world problems and make sense of natural phenomena.

Related

Kids building a hoist in an E&O activity
feature

K-12 STEM education

Based on South Dakota's science standards, our education specialists work to create and advance innovative educational programming at the local, state and national levels.
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