The idea for a comprehensive, technology-based science outreach program for Alabama's high schools was based on one already in place at Juniata College in Huntingdon, Pennsylvania. The Alabama model, with four-year public universities involved to encompass all school districts in the state, was designed with the Juniata program as its basis. The approach for Science in Motion is two-pronged. Teachers are trained for two weeks each summer on the technical aspects of the labs available and the use of the equipment for each lab.
Participation is voluntary.
A certified teacher for the discipline conducts each training program in the summer, supplemented by University faculty and resources, and operates the van during the school year. During the academic year, the operator will make monthly visits to bring equipment and help the participating teachers in their own labs with their students. The chemistry Science in Motion program at UAB serves teachers in the Metro Birmingham area. There are twenty-seven chemistry teachers in eighteen area schools who are participants during this school year. All of these teachers spent part of their summer learing new labs to bring to their students and updating their knowledge in the field of chemistry.