HR: 17:30h
AN: ED24A-07    [Abstracts]
TI: The Ridge 2000 Program: Promoting Earth Systems Science Literacy Through Science Education Partnerships
AU: * Simms, E
EM: esimms@ucsd.edu
AF: Ridge 2000 Program, University of California - San Diego, UCSD/IGPP-0225, 9500 Gilman Dr., La Jolla, CA 92093-0225, United States
AU: Goehring, E
EM: exg15@psu.edu
AF: Ridge 2000 Program, Penn State University, 208 Mueller Laboratories, University Park, PA 16802, United States
AU: Larsen, J
EM: jllarsen@globe.gov
AF: The GLOBE Program, 3300 Mitchell Lane, Rm. 2104, Boulder, CO 80301, United States
AU: Kusek, K
EM: kristenkusek@aol.com
AF: InterRidge Program, 266 Woods Hole Rd., MS #24, Woods Hole, MA 02543, United States
AB: Sponsored by the National Science Foundation, Ridge 2000 (R2K) is a mid-ocean ridge and hydrothermal vent research program with a history of successful education and public outreach (EPO) programs and products. This presentation will share general science and education partnership strategies and best practices employed by the R2K program, with a particular emphasis on the innovative R2K project From Local to EXtreme Environments (FLEXE). As a new project of the international NSF and NASA sponsored GLOBE earth science education program, FLEXE involves middle and high school students in structured, guided analyses and comparisons of real environmental data. The science and education partnership model employed by FLEXE relies on experienced education coordinators within the R2K and international InterRidge and ChEss science research programs, who directly solicit and facilitate the involvement of an interdisciplinary community of scientists in the project based on their needs and interests. Concurrently, the model also relies on the GLOBE program to facilitate awareness and access to a large, established network of international educators who are interested in the process of science and interacting with the scientific community. The predominantly web-based interfaces that serve to effectively link together the FLEXE science and education communities have been developed by the Center for Science and the Schools at Penn State University, and are based on researched educational pedagogy, tools and techniques. The FLEXE partnership model will be discussed in the context of both broad and specific considerations of audience needs, scientist and educator recruitment, and the costs and benefits for those involved in the project.
UR: http://flexe.psu.edu
DE: 0805 Elementary and secondary education
DE: 0815 Informal education
DE: 0820 Curriculum and laboratory design
DE: 0845 Instructional tools
DE: 0850 Geoscience education research
SC: Education and Human Resources [ED]
MN: 2007 Fall Meeting