was started by the Astronomical Society of the Pacific, which for more than a century brought together professional and amateur astronomers and teachers. With support from the National Science Foundation, in 1993 the organization was able to play a more active role in improving science in Grades 4 through 9. The designers of Project ASTRO provided more than the organization for teachers and scientists to work together. They also tried to address some of the concerns voiced by teachers and industry. The staff was aware that most scientists have little knowledge of how children think and that teachers have little content knowledge of astronomy. To address these challenges, future partners were introduced to one another at a two-day workshop that provided training in hands-on activities and a brief background in the conceptual difficulties that students encounter when learning astronomy. In addition, each team was given a variety of resources for teaching astronomy at a level appropriate to the reasoning skills of the students. The scientists visited the schools on at least four occasions during the school year and were given tips on interacting with students. Formative evaluations during the course of the project provided additional insights that were passed on to new participants.