HR: 10:50h
AN: ED22A-03
TI: Bringing Experience from the Field into the Classroom with the NOAA Teacher at Sea and PolarTREC Teacher Research Experience Programs
AU: * Eubanks, E D
EM: hoocaca@yahoo.com
AF: St. Mark Catholic School, North East 6th Ave., Boynton Beach, FL 33435, United States
AU: Kohin, S
EM: Suzanne.Kohin@noaa.gov
AF: National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Fisheries Resources Division, Southwest Fisheries Science Center, 8604 La Jolla Shores Drive, La Jolla, CA 92037, United States
AU: Oberbauer, S
EM: oberbaue@fiu.edu
AF: Florida International University, Dept. of Biology, #OE 167, University Park Campus, 11200 S.W. 8th Street, Miami, FL 33199, United States
AB: As a participant of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), Teacher at Sea (2007) and the Arctic Research Consortium of the U.S., PolarTREC (2008) programs, I have had the opportunity to participate in hands-on research with leading scientific researchers from the tropics to the Arctic. These Teacher Researcher Experiences (TRE's) and the resulting relationships that have developed with the scientific community have been an asset to my professional development and have greatly enhanced my students' learning. The opportunity to participate in data collection and hands-on research with a NOAA researcher, Dr. Kohin, helped me bring shark, ocean, and ship science from my expedition onboard the NOAA Ship David Starr Jordan in the Channel Island region into my classroom. The new knowledge, experiences, and resources that I brought back allowed me to create lesson plans and host Shark Month--an activity that involved all 300 students in my school. My students were able to link real data regarding the location of sharks to practical application and still meet state standards. Likewise, the scientist from my PolarTREC expedition, Dr. Oberbauer, is assisting me in a long-term plan to incorporate his data into my classroom curricula. Already, my experiences from Barrow, Alaska, have been shared through webinars with my community and as a keynote speaker to over 600 Palm Beach County science teachers. We are also working together to develop a yearlong curriculum, in which my entire school of 300 students will discover interdisciplinary polar science. Participation in TRE's has been beneficial for my students and my community, but what is the return on the investment for the scientists who invited me to participate in their research? Both scientists have transferred their knowledge out of the laboratory and made a link between their research and a different generation--our future scientists. They become instrumental science leaders in a community of young impressionable learners. Additionally, I've been invited to participate in a future research project in Costa Rica with Dr. Oberbauer--allowing his research to continue to reach a broad audience of students and community members interested in learning about fascinating science from around the world. I have found that the best way to be an effective science teacher is to be a scientist. Having the opportunity to work in the field with researchers, allowed me to become a scientist. Participating in TRE's has rejuvenated my career, allowed me to acquire new and innovative ideas for my classroom and school, and has given my students the opportunity to work with renowned oceanographers and climatologists and real data--something most kids will never get the chance to do. Teachers and researchers only stand to benefit from these unique relationships. As a Zoology major and teacher, these experiences were life changing for me during a time when I had contemplated leaving my profession due to boredom. The expeditions rekindled my love for science and desire to share and teach through the eyes of a scientist. The more we bridge the gap between teachers and researchers the more science comes alive for our future scientists. We need to our youth to continue the research that is already underway.
UR: http://www.polartrec.com
DE: 0800 EDUCATION
DE: 0830 Teacher training
DE: 0850 Geoscience education research
DE: 1600 GLOBAL CHANGE
DE: 4899 General or miscellaneous
SC: Education and Human Resources [ED]
MN: 2008 Fall Meeting