Grades 9-12

Community Lead Research Lab

You will learn to be a Community Lead Research Practitioner that investigates lead contamination levels in your home and in an urban outdoor setting. 

Our dynamic science programs are designed to build new research practitioners that tackle environmental contamination and injustice. At the East Bay Academy for Young Scientists (EBAYS) we give youth the tools to engage in real-world research that makes a difference. You will:

  • Assess your home and up to 4 other homes for the presence of lead,
  • Collect, produce, and analyze data with scientific rigor,
  • Create your own mechanism to share your research.

This experience is embedded in a framework of advocacy, justice, and equity. Students don’t just learn—they take action.

Participants must be in grade 9, 10, 11 or 12 on the date the program begins.

Students on a city sidewalk doing environmental science research.

Program Info

Saturdays, Oct 4 – Nov 8 (no meeting Oct 11)

Time: 1:00–5:00 p.m.

Program Tuition: $800

Register

 

About the Program

Most urban environments contain lead concentration levels that exceed healthy limits set by state and federal agencies.  This is largely the result of the addition of lead in consumer products including gasoline and paint prior to the 1980s.  Unfortunately, in many locations this particular additive has left a toxic legacy that puts children at risk of lead poisoning.  For example, published reports indicate that every year more than 250 children are poisoned by lead in Alameda County, many sustaining neurodevelopmental injuries that will affect them for the rest of their lives.