HR: 11:50h
AN: ED51D-07 INVITED     [PDF]
TI: Developing Authentic Research Experiences Using EarthScope Data
AU: * Hall-Wallace, M K
EM: hall@geo.arizona.edu
AF: University of Arizona, Department of Geosciences, 1040 E 4th St, Tucson, AZ 85721 United States
AB: EarthScope, a decade-long experiment to understand the formation, structure, and evolution of the North American continent, will carry-out active investigations in nearly every county in the US. The excitement of a huge science experiment in one's own backyard piques interest, but teachers need resources and professional development experiences to capitalize upon this excitement and create opportunities for their students' learning. The EarthScope Education and Outreach Network will provide the interface to make EarthScope science, and the advanced technology and modern approaches used to understand Earth, relevant and beneficial to K-16 educators vested in advancing Earth science education. Three obstacles must be overcome for success in carrying out authentic EarthScope research in the classroom. First, scientists and teachers must work together to identify relevant and developmentally appropriate research questions for the target audience. Second, teachers will need professional development experiences that engage them in authentic research and that provide support for introducing a similar research experience in their own classroom. Third, the outcome of the research experience must have value to the scientist, teacher and student to motivate sustained participation by all. \\ The dense array of seismometers being deployed in the USArray component of EarthScope will permit students and the public to see first-hand Earth's dynamic response to both human and natural events in their hometown and around the country. Targeted local experiments will make EarthScope's scientific investigations and discoveries relevant for educational efforts on a region-by-region basis. Combining the real-time seismic data streams from USArray with data and instrumentation from the growing US Educational Seismic Network (USESN) opens up endless possibilities for student-centered research. In this paper, I will discuss the lessons learned from eight years of leading a high school educational seismology program in Arizona and how those lessons can be applied to developing research experiences for teachers and students within EarthScope and USESN.
DE: 6605 Education
SC: Education and Human Resources [ED]
MN: 2003 Fall Meeting