So your 16-year-old wants the keys to the car? Let him bribe you with his knowledge of physics-make him explain the planned rate, velocity and distance.

That's one trick 25 Miami-Dade Public School teacher learned this past week during a series of workshops at Miami Beach High School.

The middle and high school physical science and physics teachers learned to demonstrate how science applies to real life, courtesy of a share of a $15 million grant from the National Science Foundation.

"It's a lot more hands-on, a lot more doing," says star high school teacher Jim Doller, of Katonah, NY, flown in to present the "Active Physics" method. "It's not just chalk and talk, up there babbling for 40 minutes. Students learn more from themselves by doing."

And, it seem, teachers learn more by doing, too. The new system of participatory lessons required teachers to team up and then construct science projects ­ like a pamphlet for a doctor's office explaining to patients the workings of an ultrasound or a safety manual for first-time drivers.

Even seasoned pros like Nadia LeBohec of Southwood Middle School got something extra out of the "Active Physics" class.

She created a Velcro model of a womb and fetus where the ultrasound waves would be indicated with glued yarn loops bouncing off the baby.

"When you're at your job site, you tend to get stuck in the day-to-day, the mundane," said LeBohec, who wants to pick up tricks on converting visual aids for a blind student in her class. "You gotta get out there, talk to other people, get new ideas. Your brain just starts cooking at a much better level and you bring it back there."

The teachers who signed up for this summer's professional development course may have had to hit the books a week early, but they didn't miss out on much sun.

They made a trip to the Center of Environmental Education on Key Biscayne to check out eco-life.

John Taffoni, who has taught at Allapattah Middle since it opened 34 years ago, felt the class was "a shot in the arm" and looks forward to taking his class the Nature Center this year.

"There is a live specimen center, a lab to make comparisons of the organisms, a grass bed out there. It attracts all the animals," Taffoni said. "What's nice about it is the kids can pull it out, look at it and put it back without messing anything up in the environment."

The teachers were also rewarded in more tangible ways: Those who stayed the week got a $300 stipend and got to keep the books they used in class.

"Physics is something that sometimes is a little scary, even for science teachers," said Joyce Bervaldi, who runs science competitions for the Miami - Dade school system. "It's about establishing a comfort level."