FY 1999 Geoscience Education Awards

Timothy F. Slater, Montana State University
“Development of Active Learning Materials for Undergraduate Introductory Astronomy for Non-Science Majors” (DL)

This project is developing a series of innovative classroom instructional materials for the large-enrollment, introductory science survey course for non-science and pre-service education majors. The final materials package, called Lecture-Tutorials, is a self-contained, classroom-ready product for use with collaborative student learning groups. The materials are designed specifically to be easily integrated into the conventional lecture course. As such, this product directly addresses the needs of busy researchers and heavily loaded teaching faculty for effective, student-centered, classroom-ready materials that do not require a drastic course revision for implementation. The Lecture-Tutorials developed for this project are based upon educational research on student misconceptions, demonstrated effective instructional strategies, and extensive pilot and field-testing. The materials-development procedure serves as a national model for other science disciplines that provide similar large-enrollment introductory courses. The project investigators are primarily disseminating these materials through workshops at professional science meetings in addition to making print and Web versions readily available.

Melanie A. Wetzel, Desert Research Institute
“The Ultraviolet Impacts Network: Linking Education in Atmospheric and Health Sciences”

The proposed project will establish an Ultraviolet Impacts Network (UV-IN), a geosciences education network of community college faculty and students.  The UV Impacts Network is designed to improve instruction in the physical concepts and processes which control ozone depletion and the resulting influences on ultraviolet (UV) climatology and health risk. This program addresses several of the recognized needs in the advancement of geosciences education and incorporates enhanced knowledge related to climate change processes, physical interactions between the sun, atmosphere, and Earth surface, as well as relevance to human health risk and environmental management. Faculty and students at each college participating in the network will have access to an extensive UV data network and will attend a team-training workshop. The faculty-student team training workshop will be held during the summer of 2000, at which a total of 20 teams will have hands-on experience with instrument selection and installation, data collection and posting of data on web pages, methods training for accessing auxiliary information such as climate and health databases, instruction on the scientific aspects of ozone climatology and atmospheric transmittance of UV radiation, and demonstration of methods for health impacts assessment.  After training and presentations at the workshop, participating faculty-student teams will work together to develop site-specific curriculum plans for monitoring UV flux climatology and interpreting local and regional characteristics of UV exposure risk. These plans will be required to involve monitoring and assessment activities which engage multiple classes at each college, such as Meteorology, Geography, Ecology, Health Science, Recreation, Medical Technology, and Environmental Sciences. Each plan will also include involvement of local health and environmental agencies, and the provision of new career information and internship opportunities. The participating colleges will develop a "distributed knowledge" resource by exchanging course plans, datasets, and analysis and discussion via Internet (Web) communications. The combined data and interpretive information will be used for student inquiry projects and lab exercises to allow study of how spatial and temporal trends and variability of ozone and other climate parameters influence the risk factors for ultraviolet exposure. A follow-up conference/workshop will be held during the second summer, to allow discussion of the UV Impacts Network progress and to assist faculty in continued implementation of the Network activities at their colleges.  This project will build on participation in the USDA national UV-B monitoring network, as well as an NSF-sponsored educational project entitled Nevada Student Teacher Education Program, and will foster increased capabilities of community college faculty and students in geoscience research and environmental assessment.

Lawrence W. Braile, Purdue University
“Development of Inquiry-Based Earth Dynamics Lessons Using SeisVoIE
(An Earthquake and Volcano Plotting and Analysis Computer Program)for Grades 7-9”

The project will develop a module for an Earth science unit that emphasizes earthquakes and related seismology and plate tectonics and is inquiry-based, using the computer program SeisVolE. The module will include sample lesson plans in the form of detailed descriptions (for both teachers and students) of investigations that can easily be conducted using the SeisVolE software and commonly available tools such as spreadsheet and word processing software. The investigations will serve as examples of templates for teacher-and student-generated investigations of research questions related to earthquakes. The module is meant to be a part (a few days to a few weeks of study depending on the class and the interests of the teacher and students) of an Earth science unit, not an entire curriculum, and will be appropriate for use in a range of grade levels (depending on scope, complexity and level of quantitative analysis of the investigations selected by the teacher). Thus, the module could ultimately be utilized by tens of thousands of teachers (middle and secondary level) and their students. The developed lesson plans will be made available at no cost on the Internet (by printing of Web pages or download of pdf files which can then be printed with imbedded formatting by using freely available Adobe software). At least 15 Earth-science related lessons involving plate tectonics, structure of the earth, earthquake and volcanic hazards, the relationship of plate tectonics to occurrences of earthquake and volcanoes and to other Earth features such as mountain ranges, mid-ocean ridges, deep-sea trenches, fault block mountains, etc., and the causes of earthquakes, will be developed. The lessons will facilitate extended student inquiry and the integration of education and research experiences. During the project, 80 teachers will be trained in the use of these materials as part of field-testing and evaluation of the materials. Many more teachers will be provided with the materials through in-service efforts of the 80 teachers, through distribution of the full lessons on the Internet, and through dissemination at a booth and in presentations at two NSTA national meetings. Field-testing will be conducted and data on the quality and effectiveness of the lessons will be collected from the 80 teachers and from students in their classes during the project. These data will include pre- and post-tests of attitude, skills and achievement in the content area. The data will be used to refine the lessons and provide an assessment of the materials and of the project. An external evaluator who is familiar with science education, Earth sciences, exemplary curriculum materials, and NSF-supported projects will conduct the assessment.  An advisory committee of science educators will also provide feedback on the materials during development

Robert L. McPherron, University of California-Los Angeles
“L.U.C.I.D.: Lectures Using Common Internet Devices” (DL)

The project will make teaching materials more readily accessible to instructors of space science at the undergraduate and graduate college level. Space science is the study of the interaction of the Sun with planetary magnetospheres, ionospheres and atmospheres. It is a difficult subject characterized by large, complex, time varying three-dimensional systems that are difficult to visualize. Much of its subject matter is concerned with the interaction of neutral gases made up of charged particles (plasmas) with electric and magnetic field generated by the Sun, planets, and by the particles themselves. There are only a few textbooks available for this field, and specialists write these books for advanced students.  Because of a limited market there are almost no teaching aids available to the instructor. To prepare lectures, study units, and student exercises a teacher must have intimate familiarity with the scientific literature to find and interpret images, data plots, drawings, and data files. Outside of major research universities there are few teachers with these skills. Even at these institutions it is a difficult and time-consuming task to convert the materials into lecture slides and student study units. The primary goal is to simplify this task by assembling a large indexed collection of teaching materials that can be placed on a CD-ROM. The material will be organized in such a way that it can be viewed with a standard Internet browser on a personal computer.  No remote server or Internet connection will be required. The materials will be formatted as HTML documents that contain images, movies, glossary references, citations, and links to other documents. The CD-ROM will not be a book or a study program but will instead be hierarchical database from which an instructor can develop lectures or study units to be distributed to students. Initially the materials will be derived from the lectures prepared by the two investigators. They plan a "shareware" approach in which they trade organized materials with colleagues in return for raw materials or finished documents to add to the database. To facilitate this they will develop a set of guidelines, HTML templates, and a JavaScript library that will allow anyone to convert existing work processor documents and slide presentations to appropriate formats for entry into the database.  These will be examined, modified if necessary, and added at appropriate points in the database. The CD-ROM will also include a Java based program for selecting and assembling lectures or study units. This program will enable the user to submit a query that selects all documents that contain the terms of the query. The selected documents will be displayed as thumbnails that may be opened if necessary to study detailed contents. Selected documents are added to a shopping cart and the selection process is repeated until all documents relevant to a particular lesson plan have been chosen. At this point the user may rearrange the documents into any order that satisfies his needs. Then a packaging program allows the user to prune links that go beyond the boundaries of the lesson plan. The program next revises hypertext links referenced in the selected documents so they are accessible to the lesson plan.  Finally it creates a lesson plan glossary and reference list. The entire package is written into a directory structure that may be downloaded to a student or teacher's computer. At this point an instructor familiar with HTML may modify the package by adding URLs to the ASCII file containing the lesson plan sequence. These may point to new documents added by the instructor or to Internet locations outside the user's computer.  Buttons and arrows within the document pages allow the user to step through the lesson plan in the sequence chosen by the instructor. Branches to hyperlinks are supported provided the instructor did not prune them.  The final product will be a CD-ROM containing both the space science database and the programs necessary to create stand-alone study units.

Kent C. Kirkby, University of Minnesota
“Integrating Research Data into K-16 Geoscience Education with Visualization” (DL)

This project has developed techniques to translate research data sets and numerical models into three-dimensional interactive computer visualizations.  These innovative visualizations represent one of the most effective ways to integrate research into all levels of elementary, secondary, and undergraduate geoscience education. The visualizations run on personal computers so that educational institutions, Independent Study and Distance Learning programs can use them. The visualization modules can effectively expand geoscience education well beyond traditional lecture and lab settings and allow students to manipulate data sets in a manner that has previously been limited to research environments. The current projects expands these visualization efforts into a number of new research areas, translates additional data sets for educational purposes and develops partnerships with existing geoscience initiatives to disseminate the materials and develop K-12 versions of the undergraduate modules. The project will produce three new computer modules centered about visualizations of research data sets and quantitative models. These visualizations are integrated into text, animations, and still images that provide background for the visualizations, a framework in which to explore the material, and establish the relevance of the material to modern Earth Systems and human society. The modules are specifically designed to cross-traditional discipline boundaries and tie diverse subjects together. This gives the modules a unique pedagogical perspective compared to more traditional course materials. A flexible format greatly expands the modules utility, allows them to be used as visuals in a lecture, self-guided students tutorials or resource material. The modules can be distributed over the Internet or as  CD-ROMs. They will work on Macintosh or Windows-based personal computers and are in HTML format so the materials run on commercial browsers.  This technology allows the material to be presented in a computer environment that is already familiar to students and educators. Reliance on commercial software and Internet technology also maximizes the accessibility and longevity of the materials.

Muawia Barazangi, Cornell University-Endowed
“Web-Based Learning and Research Tools for Earth System Science Education” (DL)

While major research efforts are currently underway to develop digital information systems in geosciences or improve existing systems, educators are looking for new and more effective ways to exploit these systems for use in Earth system science education. This project will take advantage of one such research information system, and build an educational module to make it a valuable resource for undergraduate teaching. The core geoscience information system is currently being developed for research purposes at Cornell University. An add-on educational module will provide the education communities access to large volumes of digital data sets, analysis tools, and programs via WWW browsers. The core information system to be used includes large volumes of digital geoscience data, such as topography, bathymetry, earthquake locations, faults, volcanoes, satellite imagery, etc., and data analysis tools. It is Geographic Information Systems (GIS) based and Internet accessible. It is unique in its design, because it provides not only digital data sets, but also tools to analyze the data, manipulate them and plot them using user provided parameters. Up until now, educational usage of this system has not been exploited. The potential value of using such a research environment in education is great. This system will provide undergraduate students the same data sets and tools that are used by research scientists.  Educational training modules will tap the same data sets and methods to provide entry into the knowledge system. These modules will be tested and evaluated both at Cornell University and Hartwick College before releasing them on the web. Educators and students will be able to study any region on earth by simply starting a Web browser in their classrooms and schools and access all data sets available for that region instantly.  This will allow a fair and uniform access to state-of -the-art information, data, and tools by all colleges-schools regardless of their infrastructure and geographic location.

Robert J. Semper, Exploratorium
“Live @ the Exploratorium: The Faultline Project”

The Exploratorium will produce Live @ the Exploratorium: The Faultline Project, a series of Webcasts, related Internet resources, and museum activities that provide the public with an interactive connection to research on earthquakes.  The project, conducted in partnership with NSF-funded research efforts, will link scientists and experts to on-site and online audiences, providing the public with the opportunity to directly experience seismic research and to interact with experts in the field. This project is intended to explore the use of new interactive technologies to develop a connection between geoscientific research and the Exploratorium's audiences, which include the general public visiting on field trips and using Exploratorium Internet resources. The objectives of the twelve-month project are 1. To produce a multi-episode Webcast program from points along California faults using innovative remote communications technology, in which geoscience experts and interesting geologic sites are remotely connected to museum visitors and Internet visitors for interactive presentations and discussions moderated by Exploratorium scientific staff; and 2. To develop Internet content, including original materials, interactive online exhibits, archives of the live Webcasts, and links to other sites, that enable Internet users to access in-depth information about earthquakes. The Exploratorium will enlist the support of partner organizations, including the American Geological Institute, the Southern California Earthquake Center, the U.S. Geological Survey, and geoscientists engaged in seismic research to develop Web resources, produce the Webcast programs from remote science research stations and geologic formations, and to promote the project to a wide public audience. Evaluation will include tracking Internet visitor patterns of use and responses to an online questionnaire regarding educational value. Results of the project will be disseminated through the Exploratorium Web site to partner organizations, and through presentations at national science and museum conferences. The project will serve as a pilot project for a full-scale Webcast program linking the public with scientific research activities around the world.

Dave Hendry, Foundation for Advancement in Science and Education
“High Hopes: Careers in the Atmospheric Sciences”

The project will produce and distribute motivational and instructional programming for classroom use that will stimulate student interest in the sciences. The materials will consist of a demonstration videotape and supplementary materials for use by middle and high school teachers, career counselors, and university admissions departments. The overall goal of this project is to draw more young people, particularly students of color, into careers in the sciences. The videotape will feature interviews with UCAR's Significant Opportunities in Atmospheric Research and Science (SOARS) students and mentors as well as footage from field experiments. It will give students, beginning at the 6th grade level, an opportunity to hear from ethnically diverse, young adult role models who have gone through the process of making a commitment to the atmospheric sciences. Supplementary materials, featuring activities developed with guidance from teachers within the teacher enhancement programs, Project LEARN (Laboratory Experience in Atmospheric Research at NCAR) and LEARN: Atmospheric Science Explorers at the National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR), will give middle and high school students an idea of what it is like to do scientific research, both through classroom activities and through gathering data in the field. High Hopes will be distributed through several channels, including the National Educational Telecommunications Association (NETA), an organization that, for many years, has been responsible for arranging U.S. distribution of classroom television programming.  High Hopes will also be distributed and tested through UCAR's consortia of universities and colleges totaling 83 institutions. The ultimate goal of High Hopes is to help every student understand that, if they work hard and seek effective support, they too can pursue the opportunities of the students who are featured in the video program. High Hopes will equip teachers to better help their students come to this realization.  It will play a role, so critical in this country as demographics evolve, in increasing the ethnic diversity of students committing to careers in the sciences.

Daniel J. Fornari, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution
“Assessing Inner Space Through Exploration of the Deep Sea Floor Facilitating Education and Outreach Through Scientific Discovery” (DL)

The oceans cover two-thirds of our planet, and yet the Earth's “inner space” is largely unknown to students and the general public. Marine scientists work from ships all over the globe to study the seafloor using towed systems, remotely operated or autonomous vehicles, and submersibles, such as Alvin. Every day they make new discoveries as they study and learn about the ocean floor environment-the volcanoes that erupt beneath the ocean, the spectacular hot springs that are driven by heat from the interior of the Earth, and the exotic communities of organisms that form oases of life around the hot springs. The advent of real-time, Web-based communications now provides an unparalleled opportunity for students and the general public to share and participate in the exploration of the deep ocean. The project will develop a Web site for middle school (grades 6-8) and the general public that will provide near real-time, daily access to deep submergence and oceanographic research that is conducted using the facilities of the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI).  Multidisciplinary field programs will take place over the next two years (1999-2001) in the Pacific and Indian Oceans. These cruises involve scientists from many leading oceanographic institutions and universities, and focus on various problems associated with mid-ocean ridge volcanism and the chemical, physical and biological processes associated with hydrothermal venting at the ridge axis. Backed by educational modules, the Web site will allow students and the general public to share in the daily challenges and discoveries of scientific research at sea, and to learn about basic scientific principles through studies of the natural environment.  The "Access to Inner Space (AIS)" Web site will consist of two major components.  A series of Information Modules (InfoMods) will provide both general information about the oceans and the people that study them, as well as cruise-specific information about the natural systems to be studied during each cruise, the participating scientists, and the data and sample-collecting methodologies and technologies to be used. Various Seagoing Modules (SeaMods) will provide the mechanism to enable students and the public to access daily updates of the progress of the cruise, including data modules with suggestions of how students might use the data to discover something interesting, and images of seafloor features and animals, and shipboard activities.  Post-cruise, the material will be edited and repackaged so that students can follow the progress of the voyage through the SeaMods, with illustrative materials to explain the scientific principles underlying the collection of data and its analysis. This material will then be made available both on the AIS web site and on CD-ROMs. The project will draw on teaching organizations, partnerships and societies (Sea Education Association, Massachusetts Marine Educators, Woods Hole Science and Technology Education Partnership), as well as educational materials developers (Turnstone Publishing Group) to 1) develop the educational modules, 2) correlate materials with National Science Education Standards, and 3) test the modules in the classroom.  The Web site will be advertised through these same groups, as well as through the National Science Teachers Association (NSTA) and the National Marine Education Association (NMEA). Finally, the web site will be provided through "kiosks" in selected museums and aquaria. These would house a computer link to the Web site, thereby allowing the general public to participate in the daily activities of the cruises when they are in progress, or to look at the results from the most recent cruise and its educational modules. This project represents the first stage of a long-term goal to provide routine access to daily oceanographic research using ships and vehicles based at WHOI. The intention is that the conceptual approach developed as a result of this work will have broad application for ocean-going marine scientists and for universities and institutions that operate research vessels, and will allow them to use similar techniques to promote ocean science education and public outreach at their institutions in the future.  In consideration of these long-term objectives, WHOI has committed a significant amount (~2.5 times the funds requested from NSF) of cost sharing for this project.

Edward E. Geary, Geological Society of America
“The Earth and Space Science Standards Project”

Many states and school districts have recently developed and adopted new science content standards for grades K-12 containing one-third each life, physical, and Earth and space science. This is the first time in decades that the Earth and space sciences have received such prominent attention in K-12 science programs. To take advantage of this new opportunity, the Earth and Space Science Standards Project (ESSSP), will bring together a broad spectrum of science, education, business, and policy organizations to create a five-year Earth and Space Science Standards Action Plan. This Action Plan will assist school districts across the country with the integration of high quality, standards-based, Earth and space science curricula into their secondary science education programs. The Action Plan will be based on the specific needs of teachers and administrators with respect to student learning and proficiencies in the Earth and space sciences. During the next twelve months, the project will identify and bring together key people in the areas of professional development, teaching, curriculum and materials, assessment, teacher preparation, education policy, and science education reform. Many of these people will be experts from within the Earth and space sciences, but many individuals will be experts from organizations outside of the Earth and space sciences.  The culmination of these initial planning efforts will be a three-day “Earth and Space Science Standards: Action Plan Development Conference”.  Approximately 80 secondary science educators, administrators, scientists, business leaders, and policy experts will be invited to participate in this conference. Participants will create a five-year plan of action that will: (1) unite the Earth and space science communities around a common set of standards-based, educational goals and objectives, (2) bring together key science education resources, (3) guide the development of new Earth and space science education initiatives, and (4) focus on funding and implementing the Action Plan.

Mark B. Moldwin, Florida Institute of Technology
“Accessible Space Physics: Developing a National High School Magnetometer Array”

The project offers schools across the country the opportunity to measure and experiment with Earth's natural environment, to contribute data to the nation's space weather program, and to have effective teaching tools to educate young scientists about the space environment. It will develop a relatively inexpensive, robust, sensitive magnetometer in kit form that can be purchased and distributed to schools, assembled by students, then set up and used to take research-quality data. Teachers will be trained in their operation and how to use them in classroom activities that demonstrate "space-weather." The data will be transmitted through the GLOBE Program infrastructure, so that students can compare their local readings with those of students at other sites around the continent and can be used by university and other researchers to study geomagnetic Ultra-Low Frequency (ULF) waves. Low-to mid-latitude magnetic pulsations provide important information about the solar wind-magnetosphere interaction and the dynamic coupling of the magnetosphere and ionosphere. The project will train high school science teachers in the use of induction coil magnetometers, provide the basic space science content needed for the understanding of magnetic pulsation data in space physics research, and develop mentoring relationships between space physicists and local high school science teachers and their students. These relationships will allow the magnetometer data to be fully utilized both scientifically as well as educationally.  The planned data-collection interval overlaps with the main data collection phase of ISTP/Solar Max, thus enhancing scientific collaborative opportunities.  This project directly impacts graduate, undergraduate, and pre-college education by providing high schools with real-life space physics instrumentation and undergraduates and graduate students ULF data for analysis.

Genevieve F. Healy, University of Miami Rosenstiel School of Marine and Atmospheric Science “North Carolina Science Teacher Institute”

The North Carolina Science Teacher Institute (NCSTI) is a complimentary expansion of the successful South Florida Science Teacher Institute initiated in Miami, Florida, in the summer of 1998. This geoscience education program provides an innovative approach to science teacher professional development focused on geoscience education and technology training in coastal marine environments. The institute proposes to improve the quality of geoscience education by offering North Carolina middle and high school teachers geoscience content, laboratory, field, and technology training in coastal themes relating to barrier island systems, meteorology, hydrogeology, nearshore environments, and marine biotoxins. The 1999 Institute will build closer relationships between K-12 education, universities, business, industry, government, and community partners in both North Carolina and Florida. The participation of these partners will play a fundamental role in bringing about widespread science educational reform in the local schools. The objectives of the proposed North Carolina Science Teacher Institute compliment the priorities and recommendations of the National Science Foundation's Directorate for Geosciences (GEO), the Geoscience Education Working Group Report (1996), the National Science Education Standards (NRC, 1996), and the North Carolina Science Education Standards.  The primary objectives of the program are to develop a stronger teaching force to improve the knowledge, understanding, appreciation, and implementation of geoscience content and technology at the middle and high school level, and to promote long-term collaborations between university research and K-12 education, and local government agencies, businesses, industries and the community in an effort to keep the K-12 education abreast of the rapid advances in science and technology. The expansion of this Institution to other coastal states offers an innovative approach in changing, developing, and strengthening partnerships between research and education throughout the nation. The Institute also provides teachers with innovative approaches to geoscience knowledge and problem solving skills through a combination of research and technology-based learning tools.

Roger A. Pielke, Sr., Colorado State University
“Community-Based Rain and Hail Studies-Practical Geoscience Education For all Ages”

Rain is the simple outcome of complex atmospheric processes, the most universally apparent portion of the hydrologic cycle, and the lifeblood of agriculture. Hail is a less common but more dramatic form of precipitation that can damage property and crops and, on occasional, injure animals and humans. In 1998 a project was initiated in Colorado using interested students grades 4-12, along with adults and senior citizens, to observe and record the detailed local rain and hail patterns associated with summer precipitation. This project was very successful in getting kids involved with scientists and community leaders in simple but very important and practical local research examining small-scale variations in rain and hail and their consequences. This project will build on the successes of the highly regarded 1998 demonstration. The enthusiasm of students and teachers, and the universal weather curiosity of adults and senior citizens, will be tapped to help create community-based rain and hail observation networks. Volunteers, teachers, student leaders, community business partners, local scientists, and interested government officials will work together, using Internet communications and other helpful tools, to generate maps showing very detailed local patterns in rain and hail associated with each passing storm. These maps, and what goes into making them, become the scientific information source for classroom education, applied research, business and utility applications, media distribution and community interest and support. This project is called the Collaborative Community Rain and Hail Study (CoCo RaHS). A variety of tools will be developed so that communities across the country can set up their own local projects.  Tools and materials will include a promotional training video, a leadership handbook detailing steps in setting up a project, high quality but simple low-cost instruments for measuring rain and hail, computer software for handling data, and a CoCo RaHS website. Educational materials and lesson plans for teachers will be written to take advantage of this unique participatory science education project and help achieve several of the educational standards that are now a foundation for science education.  Strategies for encouraging community participation and support will be developed to help connect local scientists and practitioners with classroom teaching opportunities, to provide student opportunities to work with scientists in research discovery, and to demonstrate the direct and immediate local impacts derived from observed rain and hail patterns. One scientific application of national importance will be emphasized. Doppler radar has been used increasingly in recent years to remotely estimate rainfall rates, locate areas of flash flooding, determine where hail is occurring and locate other severe weather events. This technology is extremely useful, but is still prone to error and uncertainty. Through collaboration with radar scientists with the National Science Foundation-supported CSU-CHILL National Radar Facility, new algorithms for remotely distinguishing rain from hail will be tested and rainfall estimation procedures will be evaluated from the perspective of polarimeteric radar (CSU-CHILL) and conventional Doppler radar (NEXRAD). This project will demonstrate that science does not need to be incomprehensibly complex to be significant. It will show that community members of all ages can make scientific contributions that help their community and also support national research efforts.  This project will help propel a new generation of application-minded young scientists.

David C. Gosselin, University of Nebraska-Lincoln
“Integration of the Earth System Science Research and Education: Involving Teachers in Scientific Research and Scientists in Inquiry-Based Learning”

Better Linkages need to be established between University science departments, teacher colleges and K-12 educators to create systemic change in science education. These groups have distinctly different perspectives regarding science education and the implementation of systemic change. The primary goal of this project is to improve communication and understanding between the aforementioned groups. The specific objectives are to: 1. Develop a program to involve in-service and undergraduate pre-service teachers in meaningful earth systems research, which will improve their knowledge and understanding of scientific principles and practices; 2. Improve scientists understanding of the culture of K-12 education and appropriate pedagogy and classroom practices, which will enhance student learning at the University; 3. Employ relevant evaluation and assessment tools to improve the program, refine objectives and document the integration of the research and teaching process; 4. Disseminate information and data obtained from this project. To accomplish these objectives, the primary activity of the proposed work will be to develop an eight-week earth systems research/education experience, which will become part of both the undergraduate and graduate secondary science education programs at UNL. This experience will help develop "scientific habits of the mind," "reasoning from evidence" and good "scientific practice." As a result, teachers will be more comfortable with the methods and processes of scientific inquiry so that they, in turn, can engage their students in investigating their environment.  Participating scientists will be introduced to the National Science Education Standards and related pedagogy. Improving the scientists' knowledge of inquiry-based learning will provide new opportunities for students to apply scientific principles and practices. Through the use of World-Wide-Web technology and scholarly publications, the experiences and results relate to this project will be shared with others. A conceptual model will be developed for building bridges and linkages between science departments and K-12 teacher preparation programs. Initially the model will be implemented at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln but can be refined for use in other teacher preparation programs.

Jean Berchem, University of California-Los Angeles
“Geoscience Interactive Simulations for Teaching – GIST”

This is a one-year project to create World Wide Web and CD-ROM based educational software that uses an interactive approach to teach geoscience phenomena related to Sun-Earth interactions and Space Weather at the high school level. During the development of GIST, the PIs, who are members of the Space Plasma Simulation Group at the UCLA Institute of Geophysics and Planetary Physics (IGPP), will leverage their involvement with NSF Space Weather and NASA Sun-Earth Connection research projects. The novel aspects of the proposed project are to deliver the content as multimedia activities centered around interactive simulations controlled by student research projects. The highly interactive nature of numerical simulations makes this approach to learning a more active experience, rather than a passive one, and promotes and maintains interest in science. In addition, the use of research tools and data will provide challenging hands-on activities for students that will allow close contact with the traditionally inaccessible world of scientific research. Although the Geoscience content will be created primarily to supplement science curriculum for grades 9-12, the activities will include advanced topics of interest to college undergraduates.  The software will be distributed as Java applications over standard Internet web browsers to achieve platform neutrality. For those without an Internet connection, all of the content and necessary software will be placed on CD-ROM for distribution. Content creation will be carried out with the involvement of high school science teachers from the Los Angeles area. The software will first be tested in a pilot program at Van Nuys and Venice High Schools and other schools of the Los Angeles Unified School District (LAUSD) before being released nationwide. Teacher training workshops conducted by the project researchers will be held at UCLA. On-site visits will be made to LAUSD high schools by UCLA students involved with the project to work directly with high school students.  These on-site visits will be made, not only to help high school students use the software applications, but also to receive feedback on their experience with the program for use in further refinement of the software.

Matthew W. Becker, SUNY at Buffalo
“A Web-Based Interactive Teaching Database Advanced Hydrology: The Mirror Lake Watershed” (DL)

Every geoscience instructor recognizes the value of learning-by-doing, and the motivational advantage of real-world data. Real hydrologic data is available on the Internet and other sources, but rarely are the data sets comprehensive or placed in the context of a larger Earth system.  This Interactive Teaching Database (ITD) will offer over 40 years hydrologic information collected at the Hubbard Brook Experimental Forest, in a form that will allow for effective implementation in the classroom. Detailed hydrologic data concerning the atmospheric, surface, and ground water fluxes to Mirror Lake will be provided, along with more general information about the hydrology, geology, and ecology of the Hubbard Brook Valley.  Thus, the instructor of hydrology will be able to create instructional exercises involving these data in the context of a larger environmental system. In addition, the hydrologic ITD will include an interactive companion study guide that provides students the opportunity to practice advanced hydrologic quantitative methods. This guide will take advantage of the latest in Internet-based scientific visualization technology, including Java applets and VRML based three-dimensional interactive objects.  The skills to be practiced include estimating baseflow and ground-water recharge using streamflow recession, estimating evapotranspiration using an energy balance, calculating the hydrologic budget of a watershed, and developing a numerical model of ground-water flow. Calculations will be carried-out using spreadsheets, simple Java-based algorithms, and the ground-water model MODFLOW. Educational problems and the underlying data will be based on published studies by the U.S. Geological Survey to ensure data quality and to provide a resource for upper-level undergraduate and entry-level graduate instruction. The ITD will also be the first comprehensive digital compilation of data resulting from the intensive hydrologic study of the Mirror Lake surface and ground water basin.  The ITD will be designed with an open architecture, so that in the future it may be expanded to include more of the tremendous amount of ecologic, hydrologic, and geologic data that have been collected at Hubbard Brook Experimental Forest.

Stephen Reynolds, Arizona State University
“The Hidden Earth – Visualization of Geologic Features and their Subsurface Geometry”

This project will create a series of computer-based modules in geology that will improve introductory geology student's spatial skills and their ability to visualize geologic structures expressed in landscapes or hidden beneath the Earth's surface. Computer-based materials largely will be built with the program Bryce3D. This program allows the creation of detailed and realistic, two-dimensional representations depicting three-dimensional perspectives of simple and complex geologic structures and landscapes.  The 3D models can be rotated, sectioned, disassembled, or successively unburied. A series of images can be used to depict sequential geologic histories, such as deposition of successive layers, followed by erosion into realistic-looking landscapes. This approach is an analog of strategies that have been shown in previous research to be effective in the development of spatial reasoning. This project will embed spatial learning in the context of real-life, complex problems that are authentic.  They will be taken from among actual problems that geologists deal with in everyday life. The hypothesis is that this will increase the development of spatial ability and improve the transfer to relevant problem solving.  Materials will be designed to encourage various aspects of critical thinking, such as development and testing of hypotheses. The model used for the treatment will be one in which students are pre-tested, trained to a criterion level of success, and post-tested. Experimental methods will be both experimental and quasi-experimental, and data will be both qualitative and quantitative. Support is being provided jointly by the Directorate for Geosciences and the Division of Undergraduate Education/Directorate for Education and Human Resources.

Deborah K. Smith, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution
“Women in Marine Science (WIMS)”

The project will develop a Web site that will engage the public and school children in the day-to-day science of women marine scientists.  The primary goal is twofold: to encourage young women to pursue careers in science and to remove the mystery that surrounds being a scientist.  Over the course of a year, the site will highlight 12 woman scientists in a monthly magazine format. While the Web site would have impact on all the sciences, we will focus on women marine scientists since this is one of the fields within which women remain inadequately represented.  In addition, it will underscore the diversity of career paths in science and the diversity of the women who choose science as career. The science of the women on the Web site will cover many of the subdisciplines within marine science. The women will have backgrounds in chemistry, biology, physics, engineering, mathematics, geology, or geophysics.  The women will be at different career paths directed toward research, teaching, administration, or perhaps a combination of these and at various universities and research institutions across the country. Other of the women will have gone directly into marine science from a bachelor's degree working, for example, as programmers, laboratory technicians, and data analysts.  The project will use the unique capabilities of the World Wide Web to profile each of the 12 women marine scientists. The science of each of the women will be presented in a way that shows how their interests fit into understanding the Earth. What are they trying to understand?  What do they do to understand it? What have they learned to date?  What are their future goals? The site will make several types of information available. The basic principals of the science of each woman will be explained clearly in a mini science lesson. It will also provide views of the scientist's offices and laboratories and the daily activities therein, a recently published paper, and a short scientific talk. By placing all of this information on the Web, users will be able to pick and choose what interests them most and they will be able to follow paths to areas that they want to learn more about. In addition, there will be a forum for the public to ask their own questions.  In order to reach students in an effective way, the site will identify one or two schools in the local area of each of the women scientists and make them aware of the Web site and its goals and provide the teachers with a guide to using the Web site. A separate but important part of the Web site will offer an historical perspective on women in marine science. The objective in this section is to tell the stories of pioneering women in marine science and to convey to the public the way in which women's roles in marine science have changed in the last half-century.  As the new millennium approaches it is appropriate to step back and assess what women scientists have accomplished, how they are no longer considered 'unique' but instead are an accepted and integral part of the scientific community. Finally, the WIMS Web site will be a first step towards Web-based women in science seminar series. The World Wide Web provides opportunities for students, teachers, and the public to draw on the knowledge of myriad, geographically dispersed educators and experts without the necessity of travel. This type of resource is critically needed to enhance the learning experience for under-represented groups.

Paul R. Bierman, University of Vermont State and Agricultural College
“Human-Induced Landscape Change – A Digital Archive Created by Students” (DL)

Human hands have changed dramatically the New England landscape over the past 250 years. Only 100 years ago, much of now-forested New England was cleared of trees as agriculture and development drove the rapid conversion of forest to farmland. The bare hills of post-colonial Vermont eroded rapidly and sediment surged down hillslopes, choking the region's rivers. Just as importantly, landscape response to natural events including floods and windstorms affected post-colonial settlers and their livelihood. Currently, geologic archives of landscape response to climate change and human impact (pond and alluvial fans sediments) are being read by NSF CAREER-funded graduate and undergraduate students pursuing a variety of research projects at the University of Vermont. The investigators will integrate this funded research with the hands-on education of high school students and explore another archive, one that preserves evidence of human-induced landscape change at an instant of time.  In an integrated research and education program designed to involve high school science students and their teachers directly in active, on-going geologic research, the project will build a digital library of photographs documenting two centuries of landscape change. Specifically, students across Vermont will compile historic photographs that show human/landscape interaction in New England including clear-cutting, gully erosion, storm damage, and landslides. Students will scour their own community and personal resources locating images that show Vermont landscapes as they were 75 to 150 years ago. Such photographs can be found in the student's homes, in the homes of their older relatives, in local historical societies, and in local libraries. The investigators will work directly with teachers and their classes in 18 different Vermont high schools.  Using for guidance a standards-based manual, teachers will assist students as they find at least two historic photographs clearly showing human/landscape interaction. The students will attempt to relocate the place from which each photo was taken. The site will be mapped using hand-held GPS and the scene rephotographs in detail using local reference sources including interviews, library research, and field observations. All images will be brought to the students' schools and scanned using equipment that will be loaned to each school for 6 to 8 weeks. The final result will be a pair of photographs, new and old, georeferenced and captioned by the student to explain the historic impact and the landscape response.  As each class finishes its town, a statewide database, housed and available publicly on the Web, will grow. Created by students involved in on-going research using modern technology, this photo archive will be a digital resource for people around the world. The impact will be long lasting in terms of both formal and informal science education. The long-term goal is for the archive to include photographs from every town in Vermont showing human-induced geologic change. The effort will be supported by the University and local foundations interested in education reform.

Kim A. Kastens, Columbia University
“Adding “Real-Time” Data to the Black Rock Forest Digital Library to Enable Students to Engage in Predictive Investigations” (DL)

The project will (a) implement a system for delivering data from environmental sensors within an instrumented forest to classroom computers immediately after the data are collected (i.e. in near "real-time"), and (b) demonstrate that the "real-time-ness" of the data makes it possible to accomplish educational objectives that could not be accomplished with archived data. The instrumented forest is the Black Rock Forest (BRF) in the Hudson Highlands region of New York. Two terrestrial sensor stations and one stream sensor station automatically monitor and record environmental parameters such as air, water, and soil temperature, solar radiation, precipitation, relative humidity and stream discharge. The project will bring these environmental data into a professionally managed digital data library, onto the World Wide Web, into an easy-to-use data visualization tool, onto student computers, and into student imaginations-all within a few hours after it is collected. In addition, the project will develop and test an exemplary undergraduate investigation, which will showcase the value of real-time data for education, and exercise the real-time data link under realistic conditions. Students will examine archival precipitation and stream discharge data, develop a model linking the two, and then use their model to predict what the stream discharge will be a few days into the future. Most adult geoscientists have spent most of their education and their careers thinking about the past. But today most of the questions that society is posing to the geoscience community have to do with the future. We need to find ways to train our students to think rigorously but boldly about the future. Predictive investigations are one way to do this.

Donald R. Johnson, Universities Space Research Association
“A Peer Reviewed Electronic Journal of Earth System Science Education Resources (JESSE)” (DL)

This award supports a planning process for a peer reviewed online Journal of Earth System Science Education (JESSE) for the purpose of creating a common repository of quality Earth system science education resources for undergraduate and graduate classroom instruction. JESSE peer review will offer to the authors of these materials the recognition deserved for their commitment to education, and may assist in institutional reward and tenure decisions. An editorial/advisory board has been established to refine and implement the review process and establish review criteria, including content accuracy, pedagogical effectiveness and presentation format/ease of use. An innovative and open peer review process will be implemented, encouraging reviewer-developer communication, with provision for confidential exchange. Final reviewer attribution will be on open record to optimize commentary and exchange among authors and users. JESSE will draw upon the experience of the ongoing ESSE network of institutions, and will work in close coordination with the funded Geoscience Digital Library (GDL). JESSE will also work in close coordination with the Columbia University Press Columbia Earthscape project, an interactive library resource on the global environment also under development. JESSE aims to develop a common review mechanism for each of these efforts.

John T. Snow, University of Oklahoma
“Establishing a Digital Library to Support Education in Earth and Space Science” (DL)

The award supports a national meeting of key leaders and educators in Earth and Space Science. The meetings participants will be charged to develop an action plan for the establishment of a national digital library to support undergraduate education in Earth and Space Science. The term “national digital library” refers to both a collection of electronic materials and the community based organization that manages the collection, develops new software tools, and provides consulting and training services to library users. This national digital library is recognized as the central organizing tool for dissemination and coordination of curricular materials and instructional methods, and for developing interfaces with primary data needed for effective inquiry based study of the Earth System.