Earth Science
Education – summer in-service for teachers 2009 –
SEPTEMBER 19 and 26,
2009
TITLE:
BRIEF COURSE DESCRIPTION:
This Earth science course encourages teachers to go outside with their
students and discuss local evidence of climate change, specifically evidence of
Ice Age Lake Bonneville in contrast to present-day
SYLLABUS:
GOALS: Teachers will go outside with their students, share what they know about climate change and topography, develop hypotheses of what conditions were like at their school during the Ice Age, and examine their neighborhood setting for evidence of Ice Age Lake Bonneville.
OBJECTIVES:
· The Overarching Objective is quality teaching: this course will deepen teachers’ content knowledge and provide them with instructional strategies to inspire students to learn more about their physical environment, specifically, effects of past and future climate change.
· Knowledge: Know how to read contour maps; and distinguish shoreline evidence in urban settings.
·
Comprehension: Understand how closed-basin lakes
such as
· Analysis: Analyze landscapes of Wasatch Front neighborhoods as evidence of present-day climate and Ice Age climate.
APPROACH: This course introduces the shorelines of
PROJECTED OUTCOMES: After this course, teachers have
increased confidence and competence to go outside and teach what they see in
ways that are relevant to their students. They can describe Ice Age conditions,
show evidence of
BRIEF COURSE DESCRIPTION:
This Earth science course encourages teachers to go outside with their
students and discuss local evidence of climate change, specifically evidence of
Ice Age Lake Bonneville in contrast to present-day
CONTENT: (a) Earth science concepts of the water cycle,
water balances, and climate change; (b) the history of
REQUIREMENTS: Participants must attend both all-day Saturday sessions. The course assumes an hour of homework for every class contact hour. Participants complete several in-class exercises, one reading assignment, and a written assignment. The written assignment is to tell the story of climate change over the past 30,000 years at the teacher’s schoolyard or neighborhood. The story is for classroom use as content literacy appropriate to grade.
GRADING: The grade for the course is about 50% based on the literacy project (homework #1); 20% class participation and evidence of understanding; 30% on homework #2 – key concepts.
NOTE: Participants (current teachers) receive approximately $50 of text materials and classroom supplies funded by Earth Science Education, Kennecott Utah Copper, and USMagnesium.
INSTRUCTOR: Genevieve Atwood, Ph.D., former State Geologist of Utah; and, presently, Chief Education Officer, Earth Science Education, and Adjunct Assistant Professor, Department of Geography, University of Utah.
K-12 especially 4th grade (water cycle, weather
and climate; erosion; fossils,
|
DATE: |
TIME |
PLACE |
|
Saturday, Sept 19 |
9:30AM – 5PM |
Meet at the Ranch House, east side of The Park will waive entrance fees for teachers who have registered. PARTICIPANTS…should bring lunch and fluids. No concessions at the Ranch House. Wear sensible shoes and clothes. We’ll walk through some brambles and may encounter some mud. |
|
Saturday, Sept 26 |
8:30AM – 5PM |
Field trip on school bus. Meet at the |
NUMBER OF CLOCK HOURS OF CLASSROOM INSTRUCTION: 15 hours = 1 credit hour.
REGISTRATION – TWO
options, for more information go to http://www.earthscienceeducation.org
For CACTUS: register
through P.L.A.N. or Granite or
For
1 credit hour of SUU university credit, register through P.L.A.N. or Granite
District.
CLASS LIMIT: 40.
OUTLINE OF CLASS SESSIONS --
FIRST SATURDAY: Bring lunch and plenty to drink. Meet on
GOALS: Review concepts of the water cycle and global climate
change. Examine evidence of global climate change and local climate change
along the Wasatch Front including
Schedule:
9:30 AM Examine evidence of 1980s flooding
10:30 AM Water cycle, water balance, and
Noon Apply concepts to
1:30 PM Tell the story of the past
35,000 years for
3:00 PM Re-examine evidence
4:30 PM Self-guided return trip with narrated CD to park entrance.
HOMEWORK #1
Write the story of
SECOND SATURDAY: Bring a sack lunch and plenty to drink.
GOALS: Develop and test hypotheses about the shorelines of
8:30 AM. Parking lot,
9:30 AM. Board school bus.
10:30 AM Stansbury Island Bonneville Scenic Trail
12:30 PM USMagnesium ponds
2:30 PM Benson Grist Mill (Gilbert level lagoons)
4:30 PM return to
HOMEWORK #2 – Reviews major concepts.
TEACHING AND LEARNING APPROACHES:
Collaborative learning (first Saturday). Writing to learn (homework literacy project); Progressive development of skills (from walkabout along active shoreline, to application at other island locations, to personalizing the story for their own schoolyard); Role modeling teacher as investigator (predicting evidence of geoantiquities); Assessment (e.g. participant evaluation of their own understanding); Learner centered, knowledge centered, and assessment centered exercises.
Based on research including but not limited to: National Research Council, 2000. How People Learn, Chapter 6, The design of learning environments; National Research Council, 2000. Inquiry and the National Science Education Standards; Center for Earth and Space Science Education, 2002. Revolution in Earth and Space Science Education, blueprint for change; and Harris, M.T. 2002. Developing geoscience student-learning centered courses, vol 50, Journal of Geoscience Education, p 515-523.
This in-service is the subject of an article in the Journal of Geoscience Education published by the National Association of Geoscience Teachers, November, 2004: Atwood, Chan, and Felton “Teacher workshop using geoantiquities: case history of modern Great Salt Lake and Pleistocene Lake Bonneville shorelines, Utah.” Outdoor classroom activities attempt to incorporate concepts of Last Child in the Woods, by Richard Louv, 2006.