HR: 1340h
AN: OS23A-1280    [Abstracts]
TI: Teachers at Sea with the ARMADA Project
AU: * Farrell, J
EM: jfarrell@gso.uri.edu
AF: Graduate School of Oceanography, University of Rhode Island South Ferry Rd, Narragansett, RI 02882 United States
AB: Two science teachers accompanied an international scientific party of the Integrated Ocean Drilling Program on a 6-week expedition to the high Arctic Ocean this summer. Kathy Couchon, a middle school science teacher from Narragansett, RI, was sponsored by the NSF-funded ARMADA Project (www.armadaproject.org), directed by the Office of Marine Programs at the University of Rhode Island. Erik Zetterberg, a high school teacher from Sweden, was sponsored by the Swedish Polar Research Secretariat. The purpose of the expedition was to collect rock and sediment cores in order to reconstruct environmental and climatic conditions in the polar region over the past 60 million years. The $12.5M expedition involved over 200 people from more than 10 countries, three icebreakers, and two helicopters. Cores collected on one vessel were transferred to a laboratory on another, where 20 scientists analyzed microfossils as well as sedimentology, chemistry, and lithology. The teachers participated early in all aspects of the expedition, including coring operations, helicopter flights for ice reconnaissance, laboratory work, and science meetings. Formal education, such as learning how to prepare sediment samples for micropaleontological analysis, was complemented by informal education during one-on-one conversations with scientists over meals, or in social gatherings. The teachers posted reports regularly on websites (e.g., http://tea.rice.edu tea_cuchonfrontpage.html) and participated in a teleconference via Iridium satellite phone. When asked to compare preconceived notions with actual experience, the teachers noted the following: (1) there are many things that scientists don't know (and they are often the first to admit this); (2) the excitement of scientific exploration and discovery does not diminish with age and experience; (3) teamwork among the scientists was greater than expected, and competition among individuals was not observed; and (4) much in the natural world is unknown and opportunities exist to make major discoveries (in other words, science isn't dead). The scientists made the following observations regarding participation by the teachers: (1) they assisted in the laboratory, and got a taste of scientific research; (2) conversations revealed what they know, and how they convey it to students, and thus how scientists may assist in the educational process; (3) the teachers did not hesitate to ask basic questions, a healthy exercise, because it required the scientists to re-examine and re-explain some of their fundamental assumptions; (4) the presence of the teachers encouraged the scientists to describe their results in a manner that is more accessible to a wider audience; and (5) the teachers increased awareness among the scientists by reminding them about their responsibilities to the broader world, beyond their particular subdisciplines. Suggestions for enhancing the experience, for both the teachers and the scientists, will be presented.
DE: 0800 EDUCATION
DE: 0805 Elementary and secondary education
DE: 0830 Teacher training
SC: Ocean Sciences [OS]
MN: 2004 AGU Fall Meeting