Students and teachers have faced some big challenges with online learning all year, especially students of color and low-income students. One big barrier? Laboratory work for important science courses like AP Biology. But one Massachusetts non-profit made sure that lab work was never missed.
A course like AP BIO is a big one for high school students, and labs are a crucial part of the learning process – 25% of the coursework. But for 200 Boston students, when distanced learning began in the fall, lab kits came home to them. Non-profit group Mass Insight created the “Science from Home” program.
In 2020, the MLSC funded Mass Insight’s pilot program, Science from Home: Lab Kits for Distance Learning. The program was designed to allow high school students taking AP Biology to continue their studies at home. The lab kits gave students safe, at-home interactive lab experiences while maintaining educational standards. The MLSC grant helped fund 225 individual kits for AP Biology classes at eight public high schools throughout Boston.