High school students in Kansas studying oceanography.

'Oceanography is alive and well, in the center of the continent,' says Carol Williamson, science coordinator for Olathe (Kan.) Unified School District. Williamson is referring to the 21st Century Learning program's three-year geosciences concentration that covers meteorology, paleontology, geology and space science.

When they're not studying microorganisms in the marine lab, students could be tracking or predicting storms in the weather center, observing jellyfish in the freshwater tank, or studying marine and aquatic life in the saltwater tank. Or they might be checking out fossils in the geology lab, such as the triceratops donated by the University of Kansas, or learning how to use and care for telescopes. Students also practice data manipulation, file management and graphing skills to satisfy the district's initiative to teach technology skills.

As seniors, they can do projects or internships, such as working with scientists in Kansas City's GIS department as two kids are currently doing. For the three years, students also participate in extended learning activities like field trips, such as the annual Spring Break visit to a Texas beach to conduct ongoing scientific investigations, summer internships or environment-related community service.

Williamson says the program was designed in part to provide the students with opportunities to pursue interests and contribute to society.

Sarah Coddington, the geoscience facilitator, expects that a lot of the programs' graduates will go into science, but stresses the importance of learning to make scientific decisions for any adult activity. "Overall, we want the kids to be lifetime learners," she says. Being part of an exciting program like this is a great start.

www.olatheschools.com