That 4th and 5th grade students could engage in authentic scientific research was a revolutionary idea in 1993, but Children's Discovery Museum of San Jose garnered the support of the Howard Hughes Medical Institute and matching funds from Cisco Systems, Inc. to create BioSITE (Students Investigating Their Environment).
Through the BioSITE program, over 500 students in the San Jose Unified School District are involved in a comprehensive environmental program focused on the banks of the Guadalupe River, where students collect and test water samples, look for plant and animal species, and document their findings.
Inquiry-Based Science The Museum's BioSITE program is based on the belief that through the process of scientific inquiry all children can successfully grow and learn to make sense of the world in which they live. As students explore and observe their environment, their experiences are grounded in an authentic research and water quality monitoring project. Every student, each session, participates in water quality testing at one of three study sites along the Guadalupe River. Data collected over the past seven years includes bimonthly readings for Dissolved Oxygen, pH, Temperature, Conductivity, Turbidity, Rate of Flow and River Height.
"I just want to share with everyone that I was a genius today!" -15 year old BioSITE student	To give elementary school students the support they need in the field, students are divided into small groups, each working with a high school or college age facilitator.
The elementary students benefit from more individual instruction and attention while the older students build valuable teaching, mentoring and science skills. Designed to build knowledge and process skills in science, BioSITE offers students the opportunity to engage in real world "action-science" research, vividly demonstrating the relevance of science to their lives.
"At BioSITE I have a lot of fun learning about things, but not in, like, a boring way, like sitting down listening to the teacher . . . It's better learning like that, by looking at it in front of you, seeing it, touching it, and hearing it." -4th grade BioSITE student	Environmental Awareness The unique partnership between Children's Discovery Museum, local schools, environmental educators and community groups is an exemplary model for informal educators, formal educators, and organizations working together to strengthen science education and community awareness.
Regarded as "a model program to be replicated" by the architects of River Alliance, a systemic reform initiative of the San Jose Unified School District, BioSITE partnered with River Alliance in 1997 and expanded the Museum's program from the original 140 participants to include 30 Pioneer High School students, 150 Muir Middle School students, and the 4th and 5th grades from three additional elementary schools.
Curriculum & Resources In addition to water quality research and monitoring, students are engaged in field-based science activities throughout the school year. Students learn first hand about animal adaptations as they catch and observe macroinvertebrates. As they study fish habitats and life cycles, students incubate, hatch and release native steelhead trout. BioSITE bird lessons coincide with annual migrations along the river.	"The middle schoolers are not only learning science by getting their hands and feet wet; they are participating in real research for an environmental conservation project." -Howard Hughes Medical Institute Bulletin
Recent highlights of the program include: High school students receive class credit for BioSITE through Pioneer's innovative service learning program. Middle school students participate in weekly BioSITE sessions designed to integrate environmental science activities with Muir's existing 6th grade science curriculum. With support from the City of San Jose's Watershed Grants Program, the Museum provides each student with a custom field journal focused on data collection, observations, resource materials and reflection. BioSITE's future includes a new on-line database which will provide worldwide access to water quality data collected each week by BioSITE students. Our hope is that this database will connect the work of BioSITE students with other students, educators, scientists and environmental organizations from the local to the international level. Funders Howard Hughes Medical Institute's Precollege Initiative Lucent Technologies Foundation Cisco Systems, Inc. City of San Jose Watershed Grants Program Santa Clara County's Urban Non-Point Source Pollution Prevention Program Robert Brownlee Foundation Santa Clara Valley Water District Grant In Aid Program
"Best thing about this program is learning science in a fun way . . . in this program I actually learn in a way I like." -high school BioSITE student	Community Partners Adopt A Watershed Program California State Department of Forestry City of San Jose Environmental Services Department Kids in Creeks Program San Jose Unified School District Santa Clara Valley Audubon Society Santa Clara Valley Water District S.T.E.P. (Salmon and Trout Education Program) Youth Science Institute Santa Clara Valley Water District Grant In Aid Program