HR: 0800h
AN: ED11E-1131    [Abstracts]
TI: Outreach to Hispanic/Latino Communities With a Spanish-Language Version of the Earthscope Website
AU: * López, A M
EM: alberto@earth.northwestern.edu
AF: Northwestern University, 1850 Campus Drive Locy Hall, Evanston, IL 60208 United States
AU: Stein, S
EM: seth@earth.northwestern.edu
AF: Northwestern University, 1850 Campus Drive Locy Hall, Evanston, IL 60208 United States
AU: DeLaughter, J
EM: jdelaughter@earthscope.org
AF: EarthScope, 1200 New York Ave, NW, Suite 700, Washington, DC 20005 United States
AB: Spanish is estimated to be the fourth language in the world based on number of speakers, the second as a vehicle of international communication and the third as an international language of politics, economics and culture. Its importance in the U.S. is illustrated by the fact that the Hispanic/Latino population is becoming the largest minority group because it has the fastest growth rate of all ethnic groups in the U.S. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, in 2004 there were ~41 million people in the U.S. (~14% of the total population) of Hispanic or Latino origin. Although the Spanish-speaking population is growing rapidly, the same cannot be said about the number of Hispanic/Latino high school and college graduates. Studies by the National Center for Education Statistics show that Hispanic/Latino students are as likely to drop out are to complete high school. Similarly, although more Hispanic/Latino students enroll in college and/or universities than a decade ago, few complete degrees. For example, in the geosciences only 3% of bachelor's degrees were granted to people identifying themselves as Hispanic or Latino. Over the last 28 years, only 263 of the 20,000 geoscience Ph.D.s awarded in the U.S. went to Hispanic Americans. Bilingual educational offerings are one technique for addressing this discrepancy. For example, scientists and research programs such as EarthScope, NASA, NOAA, and ODP frequently reach out to students and the general public using the internet. Many well-made and useful websites with scientific themes in the U.S. are available to millions of users worldwide, providing a resource that is limited or non-existent in other countries. Unfortunately, few geoscience education sites are available in languages other than English. To address this need, Earthscope is developing a Spanish version of its website describing its goals, techniques, and educational opportunities. Currently, approximately 90% of the educational content on this site (http://www.earthscope.org/education/index.php) is available in both English and Spanish. As time and resources permit, more of the site will be translated. This effort is already having an effect; in a recent Google search using the term "Ferias Científicas" (Science Fairs), EarthScope's site ranked second. Such Spanish material will hopefully have several applications relevant to Earthscope goals. They should encourage Spanish-speaking students to explore the geosciences, and help Hispanic populations become more knowledgeable about the Earth by providing information about the geologic processes and hazards in their area in a language they truly understand. In addition, such web sites can provide useful resources to people in Latin American countries, many of which have geologic processes that are an important aspect of their lives.
DE: 0805 Elementary and secondary education
DE: 0810 Post-secondary education
DE: 0850 Geoscience education research
DE: 0855 Diversity
SC: Education and Human Resources [ED]
MN: Fall Meeting 2005