Science Education

S.A.P.E.L.O.

Scientists and Professional Educators Learning Outdoors
LTER Schoolyard Workshop for K16 Teachers
June 14-22, 2002
July 19-27, 2002
Sapelo Island, Georgia

We have a few slots still available for these two programs. The grant pays for administration fees, room and board, mileage reimbursement, plus books and materials. If you are interested, please contact us as soon as possible. We must close the first class on June 8th and the second class on the 30th of June. Both are eligible for 3 SDU Credits. Those participants enrolled in a University System of Georgia school are eligible for 3 graduate credits in ESCI 6000 - Special Topics. The details of the program are discussed below.

sapelo

Welcome to the second Georgia Coastal Ecosystem - Long Term Ecological Research (GCE-LTER) Schoolyard Workshop for teachers. You are invited to be a participant who will 'invent' the future of the outreach programs for one of the newest LTER sites (www.lternet.edu). For those of you who have already perused the LTER website - a large and rich site - you already know that this is a serious undertaking both in North America and now world wide. The GCE- LTER is beginning its third year of official NSF/LTER operation. Georgia is fortunate to contain one-third of the remaining salt marsh ecosystems on the East Coast of the United States, with Sapelo protecting the richest and most studied. The Sapelo region itself has been the site of extensive ecological research for over five decades. Though chaperoned day trips to the south end of the island are accessible to the general public, residential programs involving the entire island and current research programs are highly restricted. Great care is being taken to maintain a balance between the education of teachers, researchers and the long-termed preservation of this ecosystem. Other than supporting graduate student research, this will be only the second year of funded educational outreach tied to the research program. It is proposed by the principal investigators to develop an LTER Schoolyard program that will complement the existing educational programs focused on the Georgia coast. These existing programs include summer courses for educators that are taught at the Skidaway Institute of Oceanography, day tours for school groups by the Sapelo Island National Estuarine Research Reserve, and the many wonderful programs for student groups and teachers conducted by a variety of private and public facilities along the coast. The schoolyard program will differ from these existing programs in that it will focus on a permanent, long-termed partnership between a cadre of teachers and scientists with special attention to areas of field research conducted at the GCE-LTER site. Because of rapid coastal development coupled with declines in the fisheries industry, ecological integrity and water quality, there is both a need for improved scientific education and a heightened awareness of the importance of science in addressing local problems. This combination of factors creates an ideal opportunity to strategically support 'local' science education by facilitating the efforts of key teachers. That would be you!

As a first step towards developing this schoolyard program, the principal investigators applied for and received "seed" funding for continuing a joint effort between the GCE-LTER, the University of Georgia Department of Science Education, the Georgia Association of Marine Educators, and the University of Georgia Marine Institute. The workshop will have three purposes:

1. By presenting a variety of materials to the teachers, the researchers will be able to evaluate the usefulness of various resource materials, the appropriateness of different levels and methods of instruction, and the level of interest in different topics. Thus, the workshop will help to develop a basic curriculum or focus for the schoolyard program.
2. By bringing together LTER personnel with educators from the University of Georgia, local schools, and other agencies, a network of contacts that will facilitate the continued development of a schoolyard program will be established.
3. End-of-workshop discussions and post-workshop evaluations will serve as a guide for designing a schoolyard program that will be embraced by teachers. Those teachers will be supported as they incorporate LTER research results into the everyday aspects of their classroom regardless of the students' age or the school's distance from this rare system.

The first two days of this 9-day workshop will combine informal classroom lectures with extensive field trips and brainstorming sessions - including the ever-so-productive strolls on a deserted beach! The goal will be to share knowledge of coastal science among the participants and to establish interest groups. The next five days of the workshop will be led by LTER scientists, who will give in-depth yet accessible presentations on various scientific fields covered by the LTER program, which include coastal hydrology and oceanography, water quality, biogeochemistry, microbiology, plant ecology and invertebrate ecology. The focus will be on science as inquiry. In addition, participants will spend a large part of each day conducting field research under the guidance of an LTER scientist. The primary goal of these five days will be to develop or enhance teacher appreciation for and understanding of the science behind the LTER. The remaining time will be spent in discussions focusing on how the GCE-LTER might assist you - the teachers - in implementing localized science instruction in the classroom and to begin developing long termed classroom activities based upon or paralleling the LTER investigations. Participants will be asked to identify:

1. Obstacles to communicating local science information to their students,
2. Topics that are priorities for improving their students' understanding of the coastal ecosystems in Georgia, and
3. Ways in which the LTER program could assist you in teaching concepts required by state and local education standards.

The materials we develop as a team will be the foundation of support and direction for the outreach program of the GCE-LTER. It is not the intent of the facilitators to develop a collection of curriculum materials, but to keep alive permanent, on-going collaborative research between the teacher/participant, their students, and the LTER scientist. The size and serious nature of the LTER system's Schoolyard program is evident for those of you who have visited the web sites and have made yourself familiar with the objectives of the Schoolyard LTER program. They are specific and can be found at www.lternet.edu. Follow the links for education. Read what other sites have established successfully. What things do you see as common elements? What do you think are the successful components of workshops in your own experiences? Ponder these types of questions as you consider the challenge to help develop a program to support teachers who wish to focus their teaching on the science found here in our own State.

Patricia Hembree, Program Coordinator
UGA Science Education
212 Aderhold Hall
Athens, GA 30602
706 542 1763
phembree@uga.edu

Dr. Joe Riley
UGA Science Education
212 Aderhold Hall
Athens, GA 30602
706 542 1763
jriley@uga.edu