A series of teacher workshops has been developed to prepare teachers and teacher aides to incorporate the health and biomedical science lessons into the existing curriculum and to develop student skills in scientific investigation and experimentation. Teachers are introduced to current biomedical research and to patients/families who have diseases included in the curriculum. Workshops take place at school sites, the Hall of Health, and CHORI.

At each site, the workshops have a different focus:

Hall of Health: K-5 teachers are introduced to the museum; receive a presentation on nutrition, body image, or the human body; examine the expectations of the Health Framework for California Public Schools; and try out a variety of hands-on activities for the classroom. The activities for all six grade levels are related to the SEPA curriculum, but do not duplicate the SEPA lessons.

CHORI: Children’s Hospital Staff and CHORI researchers give presentations on the SEPA curriculum topics and discuss these topics with K-5 teachers. The teachers also visit state-of-the-art research laboratories.

School Sites: 4th and 5th grade teachers are introduced to the SEPA curriculum units and to the program. Presenters demonstrate classroom activities, and the teachers have an opportunity to discuss how the curriculum meets the particular needs of their students.