Grants from Dow to Spark Students’ Exploration of the Environment

PHILADELPHIA--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Science students from two Montgomery County schools will be rolling up their sleeves and heading outdoors thanks to support from The Dow Chemical Company. Shady Grove Elementary and Wissahickon High School will use DowGives grants to build their science curricula with hands-on, interactive elements to excite students through science exploration.

Shady Grove Elementary will launch a program called Fiddleheads that brings leading scientists and organizations such as The Franklin Institute to the school and into the classroom. Named after a young plant that resembles a violin and when fully opened is the familiar fern, the program cultivates students’ learning through experiences in the natural world. Through DowGives – Dow’s signature program that directs company funds to where they’re most needed in the community – students in grades K – 5 will enjoy a two-hour field experience, a grade-specific assembly and annual classroom lab. Parents who chaperone the field and classroom experiences will be offered a training session and teachers will be provided with a workshop on utilizing the outdoors in science instruction. The program will also include a website with science projects for home, information on ‘out of school’ community science activities and links to K- 5 science websites.

Wissahickon High School will launch the Wissahickon Watershed Project with a second Dow grant. Created for students in grades nine to 11, the program includes half-day field trips for 9^th graders to do a stream study, including turbity, velocity and bioindicators. They will collect samples for use in 10^th and 11^th-grade science classes. In 10^th grade, biology students will assess the water as a habitat for aquatic ‘critters.’ Eleventh-grade chemistry classes will analyze the water for nitrogen and phosphates. Other classes will model ground water pollutants and leaching. Teachers will attend a workshop on watershed conservation activities and in 2012, students will present the first ‘Wissahickon High School Watershed Symposium’ presenting data from their experiences.

“In a global economy where innovation provides a competitive edge, science education is a top priority in schools,” said Barbara Del Duke, Public Affairs for Dow. “As a company grounded in science and committed to contributing to our communities, Dow is funding science curricula, science fairs, teacher education and summer science enrichment to get our kids engaged and interested.”

These grants are two local examples of Dow’s continued commitment to foster interest among the worlds’ youth in science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) education. Dow also recently announced its partnership with the IUPAC as the first global partner for the International Year of Chemistry (IYC) in 2011. Designated by the United Nations, IYC events in 2011 will celebrate achievements in science and the potential of chemistry to address world challenges through education, innovation and international collaboration. The North American launch event takes place February 1 in Philadelphia.

About Dow

Dow combines the power of science and technology with the “Human Element” to passionately innovate what is essential to human progress. The Company connects chemistry and innovation with the principles of sustainability to help address many of the world’s most challenging problems such as the need for clean water, renewable energy generation and conservation, and increasing agricultural productivity. Dow’s diversified industry-leading portfolio of specialty chemical, advanced materials, agrosciences and plastics businesses delivers a broad range of technology-based products and solutions to customers in approximately 160 countries and in high growth sectors such as electronics, water, energy, coatings and agriculture. In 2009, Dow had annual sales of $45 billion and employed approximately 52,000 people worldwide. The Company’s more than 5,000 products are manufactured at 214 sites in 37 countries across the globe. References to "Dow" or the "Company" mean The Dow Chemical Company and its consolidated subsidiaries unless otherwise expressly noted. More information about Dow can be found at www.dow.com.

The Dow Chemical Company
Barbara Del Duke
Public Affairs
215-785-7333
bdelduke@dow.com