HR: 1330h
AN: ED22B-1234    [PDF]
TI: The Sombrero Marsh Education Program: Diverse partnerships building strong Earth System science programs
AU: * Smith, L K
EM: smithlk@cires.colorado.edu
AF: Cooperative Institute for Research in Environmental Sciences, University of Colorado, Boulder, CO 80309-0216 United States
AU: Bierbaum, V
EM: Veronica.Bierbaum@colorado.edu
AF: Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, University of Colorado, Boulder, CO 80309-0215 United States
AB: Broad-based science education partnerships can create exemplary education programs because each partner brings their particular expertise to the table. The Sombrero Marsh Education Program provides an example of such a program where a school district, a local government agency, a non-profit organization, and an institute of higher learning developed a field-based watershed curriculum for upper elementary students at Sombrero Marsh, a recently restored rare saline marsh located in Boulder Valley. The partners' expertise, ranging from wetland ecology and restoration to pedagogy, yielded a curriculum that includes many of the characteristics that are highlighted within the National Science Education Standards, such as inquiry-based, hands-on activities where students serve as scientists and collect real data that will be used to monitor the progress of marsh restoration. Once established, these diverse partnerships can attract further funding and expand their programs from the local to the national level, thus providing a successful model with a widespread impact. The Sombrero Marsh Program will soon be making this transition because the Cooperative Institute for Research in Environmental Science (CIRES), along with 4 other departments of the University of Colorado, was awarded a NSF GK-12 Grant to expand the marsh program to the secondary science level. Using the initial Sombrero Marsh Program as a guide, eight GK-12 Fellows from the departments of Chemistry and Biochemistry, Geological Sciences, Environmental and Evolutionary Biology, and Astrophysical and Planetary Sciences will develop a secondary science level program at Sombrero Marsh, which initially will be delivered to schools with a significant population of students from under-represented groups. Several dimensions of the marsh program, such as community-based research and ecological sterwardship, can serve as a national model for similar science education programs that aim to promote Earth System science.
DE: 1890 Wetlands
SC: Education and Human Resources [ED]
MN: 2003 Fall Meeting