HR: 16:30h
AN: ED32E-03    [PDF]
TI: Ridge 2000 Education and Outreach: Past, Present and Future
AU: * Goehring, L
EM: exg15@psu.edu
AF: Ridge2000 / Penn State University, Department of Biology 208 Mueller Lab, Univeristy Park, PA 16802 United States
AB: Ridge 2000 is a multidisciplinary NSF sponsored research initiative to explore Earth's spreading ridge system as an integrated whole. The program's science plan aims at a comprehensive understanding of the relationships among the biological, geological, and chemical processes associated with plate spreading at mid-ocean ridges. Ridge 2000 replaces its predecessor program RIDGE, started in 1989, and begins a new decade of mid-ocean ridge research. Two main research themes of the new program are Time Critical Studies and Integrated Studies. The Ridge 2000 community is comprised of scientists from universities and research institutions across the country, and administration of the program rotates among institutions every three to four years. Several exemplary education outreach efforts (e.g., REVEL, Dive and Discover, Extreme 2000, NeMO, Voyage of the Deep Sea IMAX film) have been developed by individual scientists to share various aspects of deep-sea ridge research with the public and K-12 audiences. However, no RIDGE program outreach effort has been developed. Since 2001, the new program has sought ways to develop a coordinated, community-wide education outreach plan to help promote Ridge2000 research to the public. Our goals include helping Ridge2000 researchers develop ideas for their own outreach efforts as well as orchestrating community-wide efforts entraining scientists from multiple institutions. Community-wide efforts offer the advantage of serving larger audiences and provide an avenue for those individuals interested in E\&O but with less time or experience. These programs also offer a means of developing program recognition. To identify ways to use the uniqueness and excitement of deep-sea research to enhance science education throughout our nation, we conducted a 3-day teacher workshop with 26 invited participants. The workshop was designed to obtain expert opinion on how to help meet the needs of students in today's science classroom with the unique skills and resources of our research community. As a result of the workshop, we have identified a plan for outreach to the K-12 community that includes educational products, dissemination and teacher professional development to ensure the offerings reach the students in an effective manner. Four Ridge2000 community outreach efforts currently in development include (1) SEAS - Student Experiments At Sea, (2) a coordinated outreach effort for the Lau Integrated Study Site expeditions, (3) R2K-based Data Tips, and (4) a Ridge2000 Distinguished Lecturer Series. We are also developing plans to work with COSEEs to disseminate these and other Ridge2000 outreach products.
DE: 0400 Biogeosciences
DE: 6605 Education
DE: 7220 Oceanic crust
DE: 8135 Hydrothermal systems (8424)
SC: Education and Human Resources [ED]
MN: 2003 Fall Meeting