APPLY NOW
2010 STEM Teaching Institutes Information
Each 2010 Rochester STEM Teaching Institute supports the NYS Learning Standards using active learning to deliver a high quality professional development experience. However, the conclusion of the intensive summer experience is truly just the beginning for the participants.
Each course provides opportunities for sustained professional development throughout the year including, but not limited to scheduled contacts and peer-to-peer networking. These are not optional activities, but rather an integral part of the Institute coursework. STEM Institute participants will:
- Receive materials that will enable them to implement the instructional activities developed during the Institute in their classroom
- Attend followup sessions with the instructor during the school year
- Participate online with fellow participants and the course instructor
- Access resources and sustained support from participating institutes
In addition participants will be encouraged to share information with colleagues in their own district and collaborate with participating teachers to share information with the broader community of educators at a RAC-CEMS STEM Educators' Collaboration Event.
|
|
Developing Mathematical Ideas: Making Meaning of Operations
 |
Elementary
Math
(K-5th) |
|
|
The goal of this Institute is to deepen the mathematical content knowledge of participants in the area of the four basic operations. (NOTE: pre-requisite is DMI: BST)
|
|
|
Inquiry in Earth Sciences
|
Elementary and Intermediate
Science
(3rd-8th) |
|
|
Teachers will become stronger and more confident teaching at the elementary and intermediate levels in the areas of
(1) Geological processes
(2) Weather and Climate Change
(3) Astronomy
|
|
|
|
A Tale of Two Lakes: Scientific Inquiry into Keuka and Seneca Lakes
|
Intermediate/High School (6th-12th) |
|
|
The Finger Lakes Institute at HWS and Keuka College will host teachers for a four day/three night exploration of the aquatic ecology of Keuka and Seneca Lakes.
|
|
|
Inquiry-based Interdisciplinary Mathematics, Science, Technology and Literacy (MSTL)
|
Elementary
(K-6th) |
|
|
A four-day intensive summer workshop for K-6 teachers will provide the opportunity for teachers to participate in projects and activities that will focus on MSTL content enrichment with the integration of photography, literacy, and living environment and physical setting concepts.
|
|
|
Inquiry-Based Chemistry Institute
|
High School
(9th-12th) |
|
|
Teachers will learn about two approaches to inquiry, Process Oriented Guided Inquiry Learning (POGIL) and the Modeling Method that will aid them in developing appropriate learning activities for their students.
|
|
|
Hands-on Environmental Science Activities using GLOBE
|
Intermediate
&
Secondary Science
(6th-12th) |
|
|
Preference will be given to teachers who apply in groups of two or three. GLOBE (Global Learning and Observations to Benefit the Environment) includes a series or protocols for hands-on activities and a mechanism for sharing student-collected data via the internt. |
Developing Mathematical Ideas: Making Meaning of Operations
Overview
The institute uses Module 2 of the Developing Mathematical Ideas (DMI) professional development program developed by Deborah Schifter, Virginia Bastable and Susan Jo Russell. The pre-requisite for participation in Module 2: Making Meaning of Operations, is DMI: Building a System of Tens.
In this second module participants examine the actions and situations modeled by the four basic operations. The seminar begins with a view of young children's counting strategies as they encounter word problems, moves to an examination of the four basic operations on whole numbers, and revisits the operations in the context of rational numbers. Using video and written cases, participants will explore their own ideas about numbers and operations; learn how core mathematical develop across the grades; examine student work and learn to recognize key ideas students grapple with; appreciate the power and complexity of student thinking; and enhance their capacity to ask questions that help student deepen their understanding of numbers and operations.
Dates and Locations
August 2-6, 2010 (8:30 am-3:30 pm) at Gates-Chili School District
Point of Contact:
Dr. Cynthia Callard, Director of Mathematics Outreach
Warner Center for Professional Development & Education Reform
University of Rochester
Dewey Hall PO Box#270425
Rochester, NY 14627
Phone: 585-273-4915
FAX: 585-276-0312
ccallard@warner.rochester.edu
Instructors:
Stephanie Martin and Laurie King, mathematics educators for decades, are also experienced facilitators of professional development for the Warner Center for Professional Development and Education Reform at the University of Rochester. In addition to having been trained in and having facilitated a variety of professional development offerings in mathematics, both were specifically trained in the use of the Developing Mathematical Ideas: Making Meaning of Operations materials. Laurie King is a full-time teacher in the Greece Central School District and Stephanie Martin is a former teacher in the Rush-Henrietta Central School District and is currently the Mathematics Outreach Coordinator for the Warner Center for Professional Development and Education Reform at the University of Rochester.
In addition, the facilitators will be supported by Dr. Cynthia Callard, Director of Mathematics Outreach and the staff of the Warner Center for Professional Development and Education Reform at the University of Rochester.
Additional Information:
Participation will include 5 full, 7-hour days (8:30 am – 3:30 pm) that will provide ~35 Professional Development hours total including some work to be done outside of the Institute sessions.
Participants will receive the DMI: MMO casebook to keep as a reference for the strategies and ideas learned throughout the institute.
Plans will be made to hold a follow-up meeting after school in the fall of 2010, on a date to be determined by participants and facilitators. It will focus on the trials and successes of integrating the mathematical key concepts from Making Meaning of Operations, and the groups' analysis of student work brought from the participants' classrooms. Participants will have acess to a list-serve and the support of the Institute facilitators.
TOP
Inquiry in Earth Sciences - Intermediate and Elementary Curriculum
Overview:
Teachers will become stronger and more confident teaching at the elementary and intermediate levels in the areas of: 1) Geological processes (History of the Earth, Earthquakes, Plate Tectonics, Landforms, Rocks, Minerals and fossils, Weathering, Erosion, Deposition, and Glaciation) 2) Weather and Climate Change, and 3) Astronomy.
The Rochester Museum & Science Center (RMSC) offers a unique opportunity of exploration and learning in the Earth Sciences through the use of hands-on inquiry-based exhibits, experimentation supported by take away materials, and facilitation by content specialists and professionals in the fields of formal and informal education. Participants will have the unique opportunity to take advantage of key components in the newly expanded Expedition Earth, the Strasenburgh Planetarium, the Time Warner Weather exhibition and extensive museum collections, as well as content-area experts.
Teachers will collaborate to create lesson plans grounded in inquiry, incorporate multidisciplinary approaches, and support New York State MST learning standards. They will share their ideas and lessons with the group, and reflect upon the experiences gained by participation in the Institute.
Teachers will return to their classrooms with supplies and equipment to use in the classroom as well as a compact disk with reviews of lesson plans, experiments conducted throughout the week, web links, and supply lists. To promote sustained learning, teachers will be provided with support from the network of museum professionals and colleagues with three points of contact over an approximately ten-month period.
Dates and Locations:
August 9-13, 2010 (9:00 am.-5:00 pm) at the Rochester Museum & Science Center
RMSC
657 East Avenue
Rochester, NY 14607
Point of Contact:
Deborah Massey
Head of School and Teacher Programs
Rochester Museum & Science Center
657 East Avenue
Rochester, NY 14607
Phone: 585-271-4552 ext. 521
FAX: 585-271-0492
Deborah_massey@rmsc.org
Deborah Massey, workshop facilitator, is the Head of School and Teacher Programs at RMSC and has ten years of experience in adult education, including the development and facilitation of inquiry-based learning as an Assistant Professor of Chemistry at Finger Lakes Community College. She grounds her pedagogical methods in twelve years of research experience in both academic and industry in the fields of academic chemistry, biochemistry, marine toxicology, and molecular biology.
Dr. Calvin Uzelmeier, Director of Museum Education is a scientist with experience in government, industrial and academic research settings and has 17 years experience in both formal and informal science education settings, including exhibit development and program delivery for grades P-16. Dr. Uzelmeier has taught as adjunct faculty in Chemistry at Monroe Community College, Nazareth College, and the University of Rochester.
Dr. George McIntosh, RMSC Director of Collections, has pursued his dual interests in geology and public science education at RMSC, working closely with the education and exhibit departments to uphold standards of collection quality, care and scholarly interpretation. Dr. MacIntosh served as the chief natural scientist, exhibition curator and collections/content specialist for Expedition Earth, funded in part by NEH.
Steve Fentress, Director of the Strasenburgh Planetarium, has worked as a lecturer at the Griffith Observatory in Los Angeles, CA and in the public affairs division of the Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, and mission control for the Viking Mars and Voyager outer-planet missions.
TOP
Additional Information:
|
Day and Time |
Topic - Facilitator(s) |
|
Monday
am |
Registration, Intro, & Overview - D. Massey
Geology Clues
Intro to Inquiry |
|
lunch |
Catered Lunch – all facilitators invited. Massey, Uzelmeier, McIntosh, Fentress |
|
pm |
Weather - C. Uzelmeier, D. Massey |
|
Tuesday
am |
The Weather Exhibit - C. Uzelmeier
Exhibition Earth & the Geology of the Rochester Area - G. McIntosh
Reflection and Feedback |
|
lunch |
Brown Bag or On Your Own |
|
pm |
Volcanoes & Tectonic Plates - D. Massey
Earthquakes, structures, seismographs
Reflection and Feedback |
|
Wednesday
am |
Field Trip to Genesee Valley Gorge - G. McIntosh, D. Massey |
|
lunch |
Brown bag or On Your Own |
|
pm |
Rocks, Minerals, and Fossil Activities - G. McIntosh, D. Massey
Reflection and Feedback |
|
Thursday
am |
Erosion and Deposition Activity - D. Massey |
|
lunch |
Brown Bag or On Your Own |
|
pm |
Curriculum Design - D. Massey
Reflection and Feedback |
|
Friday
am |
Activity: Earth Ball - S. Fentress |
|
lunch |
Brown Bag or On Your Own |
|
pm |
Culminating Activity –Lesson Plan Design and Sharing - D. Massey
Reflection and Feedback / Day 5 Survey |
TOP
ATale of Two Lakes: Scientific Inquiry into Keuka and Seneca Lakes
Overview:
The Finger Lakes Institute (FLI) at Hobart and William Smith Colleges (HWS),in collaboration with Dr. Meghan Brown, Assistant Professor of Biology, Hobart and William Smith Colleges, and Dr. Tim Sellers, Associate Professor of Biology and Environmental Studies, Keuka College, will host 15 middle and high school teachers from school districts in the Finger Lakes region (including the Rochester City School District) for a four day/three night workshop focused on aquatic science inquiry. Participants will include teachers of living environment, environmental science and earth science. The course content is based on an enrichment program developed by Ann Smith, a high school teacher at South Seneca SD, for her students who participate in Science on Seneca (SOS), an EPA award winning environmental education program at HWS which brings students aboard the Colleges' 65-foot research vessel The William Scandling to conduct limnological research on Seneca Lake. The web-accessible lesson plan developed by Ms. Smith is available at http://www.hws.edu/sos/ for other teachers to use when bringing their students to the HWS campus to participate in the SOS program.
This program will combine content learning as well as scientific inquiry to allow the participants to explore and compare the aquatic environments of Seneca and Keuka Lakes in a 4-day program that utilizes the lakes as a laboratory. The participants will receive an introduction to aquatic ecology and the lake ecosystems as well as the methods scientists use to study lakes. They will then be assigned to work in teams to develop research questions to investigate in the field and lab. Utilizing the data collected, teachers will develop poster exhibits illustrating their findings for a meeting at a later date in the late fall or early winter during the academic year to emulate how scientists and students disseminate information about their scientific inquiry projects on college campuses or at such professional settings as conferences and science fairs. The FLI Education Outreach Coordinator will coordinate this program in conjunction with collaborating faculty and lead teacher Ann Smith and provide ongoing assistance and resources to the teachers.
At the conclusion of the workshop, the participating teachers will be asked to evaluate the workshop and discuss with their group how best to work together in their learning community to further develop their research findings. Working with resources available from the FLI, the teachers will receive the scaffolding necessary to follow-through with a poster presentation. The FLI Outreach Coordinator will maintain regular contact with the teachers via email once a month to determine additional needs and to provide instructional materials or background information to the teachers. The poster presentations will occur in the late fall or early winter during the academic year.
The participating teachers will be paid 50% of their stipend at the conclusion of the workshop and the other 50% following their participation in and completion of a group presentation to their colleagues.
Dates and Locations:
August 2-5, 2010 (4 days and 3 nights)-Finger Lakes Institute/Hobart and William Smith Colleges, Keuka College and selected field sites.
Points of Contact:
Marion Balyszak, Director
Finger Lakes Institute
Hobart and William Smith Colleges
Sheila Myers, Education Outreach Coordinator
Finger Lakes Institute
Hobart and William Smith Colleges
601 S. Main Street
Geneva, New York 14456
Phone: 315-781-4381
FAX: 315-781-4399
smyers@hws.edu
Website: http://fli.hws.edu
TOP
Instructors:
Megan Brown, Ph.D. is an expert in aquatic biology and has substantial experience in environmental studies and teacher education. She is an Assistant Professor of Biology, Environmental studies, and Russian area studies at HWS and received her B.S. (1999) in Biology and Education from the University of Michigan and her M.S. (2002) and Ph.D. (2006) from the University of Minnesota in Water Resources Science. Her thesis and published work focuses on modern ecological changes in the North American Great Lakes, specifically Lake Superior (the largest lake in the world by surface area) and Lake Michigan and their surrounding watersheds. Professor Brown is the author of numerous articles that have appeared in peer-reviewed journals including Biological Invasions, Aquatic Invasions, Canadian Journal of Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences, Journal of Great Lakes Research, Freshwater Biology, and the Journal of Plankton Research.
Megan Brown has taught courses in aquatic biology, conservation biology, and invasive species ecology since her arrival at HWS in 2006. She has also taught a variety of secondary courses during her high school teaching career, including interdisciplinary courses in Water Resources and Foundations of Science and traditional disciplinary courses across the math and science curriculum. She has remained an active leader in primary and secondary teacher training through seminar programs with the Inland Seas Education Association (Suttons Bay, Michigan) and the Finger Lakes Institute (Geneva, New York). She currently is an instructor for the FLI's Science on Seneca program which trains regional teachers each spring and fall and offers over 400 middle and high school students annually an opportunity to study Seneca Lake aboard the Colleges' research vessel. Brown regularly takes part in seminars for teachers at the FLI that focus on providing interdisciplinary training for the next generation of environmental researchers, educators, and policy makers. Additionally, she is a faculty leader for the Environmental Studies Summer Youth Institute (ESSYI), an in-residence, two-week, summer program at HWS that annually introduces 30 to 40 high school students to environmental field research throughout New York State.
John Halfman, Ph.D. John Halfman received his Ph.D. from Duke University a M.S., University of Minnesota and B.S. at the University of Miami. Halfman is a Professor in the Department of Geoscience and Environmental Studies Program at Hobart and William Smith Colleges. He is also intimately linked with creation and development of the Finger Lakes Institute at the Colleges. Building on Lake Superior and the East African Rift Lake research before coming to HWS, his current research interests focus on the Finger Lakes and include the collection of limnological and hydrogeochemical data to investigate records of environmental change. Current projects include the hydrogeochemical impact of zebra mussels on these lakes, the source and fate of non-point source pollutants within these watersheds, and water quality variability between watersheds. He also investigates the high-resolution records of climate change that is preserved in the Holocene sediments of the Finger Lakes. Halfman will assist with the field-work scheduled on Keuka Lake.
Sheila Myers, M.S., education outreach coordinator for the Finger Lakes Institute at Hobart and William Smith Colleges, has an M.S. in environmental science from SUNY College of Environmental Science and Forestry and has spent over 15 years teaching diverse audiences about watershed science and environmental issues. During her tenure as outreach coordinator for Cornell University Cooperative Extension (1996-2004), Myers co-authored the 1999 Skaneateles Lake Watershed Management Plan and developed several newsletters and educational pamphlets on lake water quality issues for area residents of Skaneateles, Oneida and Onondaga Lakes. In her position as education outreach coordinator at the Finger Lakes Institute (2006-present), Myers has authored a number of professional development programs for teachers and conducted educational programs in schools and at the FLI to over 1500 students and teachers throughout the 14 county Finger Lakes region. During the past two years, Myers has worked with over 50 teachers developing lesson plans as part of the Science on Seneca program, and on the development of a regional environmental curriculum, My Place in the Finger Lakes. Both initiatives have websites that provide information and lesson plan ideas on-line for over 1,000 teachers in the Finger Lakes region. Ms. Myers is currently the Section Area Representative for Environmental Science for the Central Western Science Teachers Association of New York State, and an adjunct faculty at the Finger Lakes Community College.
Tim Sellers, Ph.D. earned his BA in Environmental Science from the University of Colorado in Boulder. He completed his M.S. in Biology at the University of Louisville, and his thesis research focused on population dynamics of zebra mussels and Asiatic clams and their resulting ecosystem-level effects. He later finished his PhD in Environmental Biology from the University of Louisville developing mathematical models of plankton dynamics. Sellers was a postdoctoral research fellow in the Ecosystem Modeling Group in the Oceanography department at Texas A&M University where he developed quantitative models on seagrass growth and population dynamics for coastal ecosystems. He has published numerous papers in peer-reviewed scientific journals and now continues his research work in the Finger Lakes where he created and directs the Center for Aquatic Research at Keuka College. He has been a faculty member at Keuka College for eight years and is an Associate Professor of Biology and Environmental Science.
Ann Lyon-Smith has a B.S. in Biology-Geology from the University of Rochester and a Masters in Science Education from SUNY Brockport. She is in her sixth year of teaching Earth Science at South Seneca High School, where she has developed and implemented outdoor programs based on New York State standards. Prior to this she worked for the U.S. Geological Survey for five years developing and implementing scientific research projects focusing on mineral resources. In her role as assistant Geo-chemist she worked on interdisciplinary teams to carry out scientific experiments from idea to published product.
Additional Information:
Institute Schedule
|
|
Monday |
Tuesday |
Wednesday |
Thursday |
|
9 am |
Arrive on Campus |
|
|
|
|
9-noon |
Introduction to topics speaker; assessment of teacher knowledge |
Field trip on The William Scandling. |
Keuka Lake field trip |
Lab time |
|
Noon-1 |
Lunch |
Lunch |
Lunch |
Lunch |
|
1-4 |
Introduction to field equipment and methods. |
Lab time. |
Lab time. |
Wrap-up |
|
4-5 |
Break |
Break |
Leave Keuka |
|
|
5-6 |
Dinner |
Dinner |
Dinner |
|
|
6-8 |
Teachers break into groups and brainstorm research questions. |
Watershed research topics: guest speaker. |
Workshop session: Myers and Smith discussion of how to replicate in classroom |
|
TOP
Inquiry-based Interdisciplinary Mathematics, Science, Technology and Literacy (MSTL) for Grades K-6
Overview:
We will be offering a four-day intensive summer institute for K-6 teachers. This institute will model an interdisciplinary, inquiry-based approach to teach MSTL content. Teachers will become students for portions of the institute, experiencing first hand activities that allow incorporation of photography (time-lapse, stop-motion, and photo-documentation), literacy and subject content which may include animal adaptations, plant response to the environment, the water cycle, and weather. Teachers will leave the Institute with at least one classroom-ready lesson plan, access to resources to implement their activity, and on-going support from Institute faculty and Master Teacher Coaches during the 2010-2011 school year.
See our brochure
Dates and Locations:
August 9-12, 2009, Nazareth College(Four days, 7 hours/day plus 1 hour preparation time per day)
Eligible for 32 PD hours for the summer workshop, plus 3 hours for two follow-up meetings during the school year: one evening date to be determined in the fall and one evening date to be determined in the spring
Point of Contact:
Dr. Beverly Brown, Ph. D.
Associate Professor
Biology Department
Nazareth College
4245 East Avenue
Rochester, NY 14618
Phone: 585-389-2555
FAX: 585-586-2452
email
Instructors:
Dr. Beverly J. Brown is an Associate Professor at Nazareth College in the Biology Department and has been Director of the summer Institute since its inception. She was awarded the Bessey Teaching Award in 2008 by the Botanical Society of America for her innovative work in education.
Ms. Lynn Gatto (Retired Rochester City School District Teacher and Master Teacher Coach) is new to the MSTL faculty this year. Ms. Gatto currently has her own STEM teaching excellence consulting firm. She has received numerous grants and awards including New York State Teacher of the Year 2004. She is currently an adjunct faculty member and a Doctoral Candidate at that Warner School of Education, University of Rochester.
Dr. Nicole Juersivich (Mathematics Education) is a faculty member at Nazareth College in the Mathematics Department and has worked with pre-service K-12 teachers for the past 5 years. She has also led professional development courses in using technology to teach secondary mathematics for in-service teachers.
Julia Walsh Postler, M.S. Ed. is a Visiting Instructor of Education who specializes in early childhood literacy. She has directed professional development and community based projects within the last four years.
Additional Information:
Master Teacher coaches will be available for individuals or teams of teachers who want to implement additional inquiry-based STEM curriculum.
Year-round access to consulting services from summer institute faculty will be available.
Teachers will be able to choose beginner or advanced tracks for the first three days.
Teachers will generate at least one class activity that will be ready for implementation in the coming school year in order to receive the PD hours certificate.
Teachers will commit to attending two follow-up evening meetings, one in fall and one in spring. These sessions will introduce additional inquiry-based projects that teachers may use in their classes.
Teachers will commit to becoming active participants in a learning community supported by teacher "coaches" during the school year.
The Institute will provide funds (Maximum $400) for small grants ($50/successful applicant) that teachers may use to implement their class projects.
The Institute will maintain the MSTL Wiki (www.mstlnaz.pbwiki.com) for teachers to communicate with each other during the Institute and the following school year.
Summer Institute leaders will also be available to assist with implementation of summer lesson plans and/or the development of additional inquiry-based lesson plans.
TOP
Inquiry-Based Chemistry Institute
Overview:
This summer institute for chemistry teachers will use inquiry activities to help chemistry teachers improve their own content knowledge. In these activities, participating teachers will experience a group process to help them learn about chemistry concepts and to build on their existing knowledge by linking those concepts in new ways. Building on these inquiry experiences, teachers will learn about two approaches to inquiry – Process Oriented Guided Inquiry Learning and the Modeling Method – that will aid them in developing appropriate learning activities for their own students. Using these approaches, the teachers will have opportunity to develop and modify some activities, implement those activities with their peers, and receive feedback on those activities.
Dates and Locations:
August 9-13, 2010-St. John Fisher College
5 days, 8:30 a.m. – 4:30 p.m.
Point of Contact:
Dr. Kristina Lantzky
Department of Chemistry
St. John Fisher College
3690 East Avenue
Rochester, NY 14618
Phone: 585-385-5284
Email: klantzky@sjfc.edu
Instructors:
Dr. Kristina Lantzky is an Assistant Professor in the Chemistry Department. Trained as a POGIL facilitator, she has led workshops for chemistry teachers across the United States for the last four years. She has been instrumental in implementing active learning in introductory chemistry courses at Saint John Fisher College.
Dr. Bernard Ricca is a science educator with secondary and post-secondary teaching experience. He is the Director of the Graduate Program in Mathematics, Science and Technology Education at Saint John Fisher College, which focuses on developing teachers who use inquiry-based methods. He has led professional development for teachers for over 15 years, is a recognized author in ways to support teachers, and has taught chemistry at both the secondary and college level.
Additional Information:
Both POGIL and Modeling are student-centered approaches to teaching science that have shown great effectiveness in helping students learn. POGIL (http://pogil.org) is based on cognitive research that shows students learn a concept better when they construct the knowledge from their own experience and has been recognized by the National Science Foundation. The Modeling Method of Physics Instruction (http://modeling.asu.edu) was recognized in 2001 by the U.S. Department of Education as one of two exemplary programs for teaching science. More recently, Modeling has begun to work with chemistry instruction.
Both approaches focus on developing student learning skills - such as information processing, critical thinking, problem solving, teamwork, communication, management, and assessment – in addition to helping students learn content. Both approaches rely on students working in small collaborative groups and both approaches rely on the development of argumentation skills as a vehicle for student learning. The instructor's roles are to develop the learning environment, assist the students in focusing on important parts of the concepts, model appropriate ways of questioning and arguing, and then to assist students with difficulties as they arise, intervening and scaffolding as necessary.
This institute will provide high quality professional development for the participating teachers by engaging them in a series of inquiry-based chemistry activities, guiding them through the process of developing activities for use in their own classrooms and following-up with the teachers to examine the effectiveness of those activities: (proposed schedule)
Day One: Teachers will undertake several inquiry investigations in chemistry
Day Two: Teachers will reflect on their experiences as learners and investigate established methods to develop and facilitate inquiry activities in chemistry. POGIL (Process Oriented Guided Inquiry Learning) will be the basis of the investigation, augmented with ideas from the Modeling Method of Instruction (Modeling)
Days Three and Four: Teachers will develop an activity, "teach" the activity to other institute participants and have an opportunity to refine the activity.
Day Five: Data will be gathered to guide teachers in assisting students to developing deeper understandings of chemistry.
The activities developed will be shared among the institute participants so that they can be used in their own classrooms.
In addition to the activities developed during the workshop, institute participants will receive materials to assist them in implementing these activities. While laboratory skills are an important part of being scientifically literate, what is more important is using laboratory data to develop conceptual models. Hence, all participants will receive data, technological tools and resources to use during the academic year.
After the institute, there will be ongoing formal and informal collaboration between institute participants and institute leaders. Online communities, follow-up meetings, and classroom observations will be used to both provide ongoing support to the teachers as well as to determine the effectiveness of the institute.
TOP
Hands-on Environmental Science Activities using GLOBE
(Global learning and Observations to Benefit the Environment)
Overview:
In recent years, there has been an increased interest in learning about environmental issues in K-12 classrooms. A variety of environmental educational materials have been developed by individuals and organizations over the past two decades, which allow teachers to involve their students in hands-on activities for learning about the natural world. One of these is the GLOBE (Global Learning and Observations to Benefit the Environment) program, which includes a series of protocols for hands-on activities and a mechanism for sharing student-collected data via the internet (www.globe.gov).
This institute will introduce teachers to some of the GLOBE protocols for studying soil and water and allow them to practice using these protocols with their students in follow-up visits to Alfred University's outdoor field laboratory at Foster Lake in Alfred, NY. The specific protocols we will cover include atmospheric, hydrology, soil and land cover/biology protocols. Participants will be provided with the equipment necessary for these outdoor activities (a GLOBE "kit"), which they can then take back to their respective school systems.
The initial institute will take place over a 2-day period in Alfred, NY in late August and will be followed by a visit of the institute instructor to each particpant's school during the fall semester to help each techer implment the institute activities into their curriculum ("field day".) Later in the school year, we will convene a follow-up meeting of the participants to share successful strategies, how they have adapted exercises for their age group or demographic, what challenges they have faced, and evaluations of how the new activities have increased their students' knowledge of the environment. Follow up visits to individual schools by institute personnel will provide additional support for the development of exercises and activities.
Dates and Locations:
August 25 and 26, 2010-Alfred University, Alfred NY and Foster Lake
Two follow-up days (one for the institute instructor visit "field day" and one for the conference)
Points of Contact:
Dr. Michele Hluchy
Environmental Studies and Geology Division
Alfred University
Alfred, NY 14802
Phone: 607-871-2838
FAX: 607-871-2697
email
Dr. Ann Monroe-Baillargeon
Education Division
Alfred University
Alfred, NY 14802
Phone: 607-871-2221
email
Instructors:
Dr. Michele Hluchy:
Dr. Hluchy organized and co-taught middle and high school teacher development workshops during the summers of 2006, 2007, and 2008 on the effects of acid precipitation on Adirondack Ecosystems funded by the National Science Foundation (as part of the outreach component of a research grant) and the New York State Department of Education. She also co-taught 18 workshops on environmental themes for college faculty since 2001, also funded by the National Science Foundation. Her current research is the investigation of the effects of calcium depletion in Adirondack ecosystems as a result of exposure to decades of acid precipitation. She has been monitoring local watersheds in the Alfred area and hosting field days at AU's Foster Lake property for several years. Dr. Hluchy is trained as an earth scientist, with emphases on hydrology, geochemistry, and mineralogy, and has been teaching in AU's environmental studies and geology programs since 1988. She has chaired the Division of Environmental Studies and Geology since 1996. Dr. Hluchy has been trained in GLOBE protocols and uses some of them in her undergraduate classes. She is co-director of AU's Children's Learning Initiative and has received two grants from the John Ben Snow Foundation to fund after-school science activities for that program, partnering with local school districts, and is a recent recipient of an Environmental Protection Agency Environmental Education grant.
Dr. Ann Monroe-Baillargeon
Professor Ann Monroe-Baillargeon is chair of AU's Division of Education. Her degrees are in Teaching and Curriculum, Educational Administration, and Special Education, and she holds teaching and administrative certifications in New York State. She will contribute her expertise on the evaluation of student learning to this project as well as input on the efficacy of different teaching methods and curriculum development/adaptation for specific needs. She will also lend her expertise in Special Education to helping teachers who want to adapt exercises for students with special needs.
Jean Bilson, Alfred University Environmental Studies Technical Specialist
In addition to the faculty, whose qualifications are described above, the project will also benefit from the assistance of one of the AU's Environmental Studies technical staff, Jean Bilson. Jean has received training in GLOBE protocols, and has a background in microbiology. She maintains all of the field instruments and trains undergraduate students in their use. Part of her job description is to assist with outreach programs such as this summer institute.
Finally, several AU undergraduate students and graduate students will serve as assistants for the project.
Additional Information:
Teams of two or three teachers are encouraged to apply. Teachers will be provided with equipment (GLOBE Kit) that they can use during the institute and then take back to their respective schools.
A stipend of $150/teacher will be provided for instructional support
.
Sustained support will be provided by the implementation of a Yahoo group site as a communication tool as well as access to the GLOBE program network.
TOP