In this June, the American Museum of Natural History will introduce 1. ______ its first Master of Arts in teaching program, which students with a 2.______ background, if not a career, in science can spend 15 months learning to become earth science teachers. Fare is free, thanks to the New York State Board of Regents, and 3.______ students will receive $30,000 stipends and health benefits. The goal is to produce 50 new science teachers over two years for New York States middle and high schools, which has long coped with a critical 4.______ short of math and science instructors. 5.______ As with nearly some attractive offer, there is a catch: Graduates must 6.______ commit to spending four years teaching in a high-needs public school, and may be assigned anywhere in the New York State. 7.______ The open house, which drew about 90 peoples, gave the museum an 8.______ opportunity to pitch the program — which also meant selling the museum- as-classroom concept. Staff members gave the prospective applicants a private tour of the museum. Rosamond Kinzler, the senior director of science education at the museum, leads the prospective applicants through the gem and minerals 9. ______ collection, casually testing their knowledge of rock formation and plate tectonics. The curriculum that the graduate students will study (and that they will eventually be teaching) focuses slightly on planets and their orbits, water 10.______ and weather, and basic geology. New Yorks physical environment — including Central Park, across the street from the museum — will also play an important role in the courses, several instructors said.