Teacher Field Research Experiences:Building and Maintaining the Passion

forK-12 Science Education

Ken DuntonSusan Schonberg

The University of TexasMarine Science Institute

with special acknowledgement tothe National Science Foundation

Teacher Research Experiences (TRE)

Provide K-12 teachers with “authentic” research experiences to enhance their understanding of scientific methods in developing content-rich, inquiry-based approaches in K-12 schools that excite students.

Some Major TRE Objectives

Enhance the level of interaction in science, mathematics, engineering, and technology education among K-12 schools and higher education

Develop long-lasting linkages and relationships with scientists from institutions of higher learning

Enhance the development for content-rich, inquiry-based approaches in K-12 schools

Why TRE models may be important…..

TAKS science exam results for studentswith and without GK-12 Fellows in the classroom, for Austin-area (Del Valle; n = 73, 91) and Corpus Christi area (Flour Bluff; n = 139, 118) schools.

Examples of three K-12 outreach programs that provide teacher research experiences

Tier 1: Take advantage of existing TRE programs (e.g. ARMADA, TREC) that provide training and funding to selected teachers that can join funded field research programs as research assistants.

Tier 2: Build a modest K-12 outreach program from an existing grant that identifies funds for K-12 outreach activities to include a teacher as a member of your field team (e.g. Participant Support costs in a NSF proposal or supplement).

Tier 3: Develop your own large multi-year and multi-investigator outreach program that incorporates teacher competitive selection, training, deployment, and evaluation (e.g. NSF GK-12 grant).

TIER 1 K-12 Teacher Field Programs

Patty Cie (Spring 2004): Yelm Middle School Science Teacher (WA). Sponsor: TREC (Teachers & Researchers Exploring and Collaborating) and NSF (ARCSS-SBI).

Peggy Deichstetter (Summer 2006): St. Edward High School Science Teacher (IL). Sponsor: ARMADA and MMS.

Patty Cie, Yelm Middle School Science Teacher - WATREC, Spring 2004

Patty participated in a six-week research cruise on the ice breaker USCGC Healy that started in Nome, Alaska and tracked north into the Chukchi and Beaufort Seas.

She helped Master’s student Craig Aumack and researcher Susan Schonberg from the University of Texas collect water, plant, and animal samples to assess changes in trophic structure.

USCGC Healy Healy’s helicopterMeasuring ice thickness

Patty’s activities on the Healy Cruise

Benthic invertebrates

Patty created daily journal postings to the TREC web site about shipboard life and scientific research.

She organized and ran interactive conference calls via satellite phone to her classroom in Washington State. Several other schools from around the nation also participated. TREC supplied the logistical support.

She participated in ice reconnaissance missions by helicopter and sampled from small boats and the ice surface.

Sights from the Healy Cruise

WalrusBear chewing equipment

Snow bow

Glowing blue ice

Big bird

Peggy Deichstetter, Science TeacherSt. Edward High School - Elgin, IL

Summer 2006

Peggy participated in a three-week research expedition to Prudhoe Bay, located on the Beaufort Sea. She was selected under the ARMADA program.

She worked with professor Ken Dunton and other scientists from Texas and the University of Alaska, Fairbanks.

Research objectives were to monitor underwater light, measure kelp growth, and study invertebrate community diversity in the Stefansson Sound Boulder Patch located offshore of Prudhoe Bay, Alaska.

Peggy’s Activities in Alaska

Measuring kelp

Sieving mud coresWeighing filtersPressing algae

Peggy worked from a 27’ Boston Whaler in the ice to collect water samples from 30 sites in Stefansson Sound. In the lab she filtered samples for total suspended solids, chlorophyll, and entered data into a spreadsheets.

She also sieved benthic mud cores to look for invertebrates, pressed algae, helped measure kelp, and maintained an exhibit of live organisms collected by divers. She documented her work in a journal on the ARMADA web site.

Sights around Prudhoe Bay

The crew

Docking the boatStefansson Sound

Boulder Patch

Aquarium animals

TIER 2: K-12 Outreach since 2000

Climate Change in the ArcticAn Interactive Program Linking Scientists with K-12 Students

Our goal was to develop interactive exchange between scientists studying climate change at the University of Texas Marine Science Institute and K-12 students and teachers from the Port Aransas Independent School District

The focus was on living arctic resources and Native cultures in the context of climate change

University of Texas Marine Science Institute

Port Aransas Independent School District

Project Coordinators Ken Dunton, Professor (UTMSI)

Billy Wiggins, Superintendent (PAISD)

Program BeginningsOffered to give lectures at various grade levels in science,

geography, and history

Volunteered to serve as a “shadow” for middle and high school students interested in careers in aquatic sciences

Built rapport with teachers, principals, and district superintendent

Hosted science classes on field trips to our institute

Wrote small supplement to NSF grant to support K-12 activities

Overall goal: to use existing arctic global change research to provide an opportunity for interactive exchange between scientists and K-12 teachers and students

Our theme: impacts of climate change in the Arctic on ecosystems and native American cultures

Texas StudentsLearn About the Arctic

TIER 3 (GK-12): Linking Graduate Fellows in Environmental Science with K-12 Students & Teachers: 2002-2005

Goal: To partner graduate students in the sciences with K-12 teachers and students in Texas to enhance science education through innovative activities.

PI: Kenneth Dunton

Co-PI’s: Jay Banner, James Barufaldi, Ian Dalziel, Katherine Ellins

Partner School Districts: Austin, Flour Bluff, Port Aransas, Merkel

Budget: $1.8 million

No. Fellows/year: 10 graduate fellows

Disciplines: environmental science, chemistry, aquatic science, geology, meteorology, and oceanography

GK-12: From Aquifers to Estuaries – Tracing a Drop of Water via an Interactive Program Linking UT Scientists

with K-12 Students and Teachers: 2007-2010

PI: Kenneth Dunton

Co-PI’s: Jay Banner, Jill Marshall, Chris Bell, Michael Marder

Partner School Districts: Austin, Flour Bluff, Port Aransas

Budget: $1.8 million

No. Fellows/year: 8 graduate fellows

Disciplines: environmental science, chemistry, marine science, geology, physics, biology, geography and mathematics

Goal: To partner graduate students in the sciences with K-12 teachers and students in grades 5-8 to enhance science education through field experiences and an influx of current scientific knowledge.

The thematic focus of this project, Tracing a Drop of Water”, provides a unifying concept that highlights the linkages between watersheds, drainage basins, and the coastal ecosystem.

Paula Fluhrer, Chemistry TeacherDublin Coffman High School, OH

Summer 2004

Paula Fluhrer participated in a six-week research expedition to Oxapampa, Peru, a town located deep in the rain forest to study nutrient cycling in the rain forest of the Peruvian Andes.

She worked with Amy Townsend Small, a University of Texas Marine Science Ph.D. student who was interested in the exports of nitrogen and carbon from high altitude drainage basins to the Amazon.

Paula developed a research project to measure the impact of sewage inflow from the town of Oxapampa into the Chontabamba River. She measured 15N, nutrient and bacteria levels. Her study also looked at the differences in effects of open ditch versus closed pipeline sewer systems.

Sampling a closed sewer Nutrient analysis

Paula’s activities in Peru

Sights around Oxapampa

Waterfall

Making tamales

Amy & Paula

Chontabamba River

Summary: TRE Challenges and Benefits

Faculty Sponsors: Existing work loads are significant, but participation can be achieved through the involvement of graduate students as mentors.

Teacher Selection: Absolutely critical for field team chemistry. Ideally, science project PI’s (or designee) should participate in interview/selection process.

Funding: Granting agencies (not only NSF) need to encourage and facilitate the allocation of funds for K-12 outreach.

Benefits to K-12 Students/Teachers: Science is fun, long-lasting partnerships with academic scientists, larger pool of science learners, inquiry and critical thinking.