HR: 1330h
AN: ED12B-0135 INVITED     [PDF]
TI: School-Based Multidisciplinary Teacher Team-Building Combining On-Line Professional Development (ESSEA) and Field-Based Environmental Monitoring (GLOBE)
AU: * Low, R
EM: rlow@cce.umn.edu
AF: University of Minnesota, 107 Armory Bldg. 15 Church St. SE, Minneapolis, MN 55455 United States
AB: The multidisciplinary nature of Earth system science provides a strong foundation for integrated science teaching at the K-12 level. In a Minneapolis-St. Paul based project, urban middle school teaching teams composed of language arts and math specialists as well as physical, Earth, and biological science teachers participate in the NASA Earth system science course (ESSEA) and in the international GLOBE environmental monitoring project. For students, the goal is to integrate science throughout the curriculum as well as involve classes from different subjects in a high-interest school science project. For teachers, the project provides greatly-needed classroom support and teacher team building, as well as professional development. The on-line course provides continuity and communication between the different team members. Face-to-face meetings with the instructors on site are conducted every 4 weeks. The problem-based learning approach to environmental issues developed in the ESSEA course lends itself to application to local environmental issues. New ESSEA modules developed for the project highlight environmental problems associated with flooding, introduced species, and eutrofication of lakes and rivers located near the participating schools. In addition, ESSEA participants are certified as GLOBE teachers, and assist their students in monitoring water quality. The synergistic partnership of ESSEA and GLOBE provides an attractive package upon which long-term school-based environmental monitoring projects can be based.
DE: 6605 Education
SC: Education and Human Resources [ED]
MN: 2003 Fall Meeting