COSEE NETWORK NEWS 2010
April 2010
 In This Issue CNN Vol. 3 No. 4 | April 2010 
Focus On...COSEE Great Lakes Subscribe
Tools That Work: Success Stories
New on COSEE.net
Network News
Central Coordinating Office News
Working Group Updates
Ocean Hall Update
COSEE at Conferences
Ocean Literacy News
Center News
COSEE Network Calendar
Announcements
NSF Solicitations
Resources
COSEE Centers and Council Representatives
Focus On...COSEE Great Lakes
 
A team of teachers sorts benthic organisms
 
What's new at COSEE Great Lakes? Visit the April Center of the Month and find out!
 Tools That Work: Success Stories
The COSEE Excellence in Networking Tools Sub-Group (ENTs) is reviewing all of the online networking tools that COSEE Centers have tried. This is a place to showcase the tools that have worked - and why!

ENTs and Wiki The ENTs have been working on a Tools Guidebook for the COSEE Network, and chose to use a Wiki to both work on and present this project. Find out how it’s going here.
 New on COSEE.net
Poster image
 
From time to time we add new features on the COSEE Network website, COSEE.net. Here are the most recent additions.

COSEE Conference Resources Posters, lists of opportunities for teachers and students, and other conference presentation materials are displayed here. We already have a good selection of presentations from the recent Ocean Sciences conference. If your Center would like your conference materials included please send them along with an abstract or introduction to Lisa Taylor.

COSEE Publications We'll be starting a page for COSEE publications similar to our Conference Resources listing. If you have a publication you'd like posted, send it (or a link to it) to Lisa Taylor. Please confirm that we have permission from the publisher to post your material on our website.

Notices At the bottom of the COSEE.net homepage is where you will find Network-wide notices, such as program solicitations.

NSF Program This is a new button on the top navigation bar, for those visitors seeking more information on the NSF COSEE program.
 Network News
COSEE China The CCO congratulates Bob Chen and the COSEE delegation to China on a highly successful visit to explore the potential of a COSEE China. Many thanks go to Bob for expanding COSEE's mission to China and to the Network members who gave their time and energy to the week-long trip. Thanks also go to COSEE NOW for developing and hosting a blog of the trip so we could follow along. Read the COSEE China blog.

Articles in The Earth Scientist Three Centers - COSEE NOW, COSEE Ocean Systems, and COSEE California - combined forces to publish a suite of articles in the Spring 2010 Special Edition of The Earth Scientist (published by the National Earth Science Teachers Association). The series of articles, by Janice McDonnell, Annette deCharon and Cheryl Peach, highlight how each Center is taking advantage of evolving Ocean Observing Systems technology and systems-oriented thinking to educate students, teachers and the general public about the ocean’s impacts on humans and the environment.

Included are stories from COSEE NOW about the transatlantic journey of an autonomous underwater glider and their podcast series Ocean Gazing; from COSEE Ocean Systems about their use of concept mapping to engage workshop participants in "systems thinking" and their refinement of the online multimedia tools Ocean Climate Interactive and Concept Map Builder; and COSEE California's use of ocean observatory data and their development of an Xbox "serious game" to reach young audiences. Also featured in this same issue were two additional articles by our very own Chris Petrone and Annette deCharon about the Bridge Data Analysis and Teaching Activities (developed by Virginia Sea Grant and used by COSEE NOW) and about NASA’s Aquarius SAC-D satellite mission to measure Sea Surface Salinity, respectively. These articles can be viewed in the latest issue of The Earth Scientist.

George Matsumoto
Award Winner COSEE National Advisory Committee member George Matsumoto won the QuikScience Ocean Science Leadership Award for Commitment to Education. This annual award serves to recognize educators who make outstanding contributions to ocean science education and who have demonstrated an interest and commitment to developing and implementing effective and innovative approaches to learning and teaching of ocean sciences. Congratulations George!
 Central Coordinating Office News
Network Meeting The COSEE Network Meeting will be held in Seattle on May 3-5, hosted by COSEE Ocean Learning Communities. The National Advisory Committee and Decadal Review Committee will also be meeting. For details contact Andrea Kecskes.
 Working Group Updates
Scientist Engagement Working Group The Scientist Engagement Working Group (SEW-G) will be meeting by telecon again on April 20. The SEW-G production team is hard at work with a full slate of scientists from each Center and will continue to visit each of them and create an engaging case study regarding his or her education and outreach effort. After a successful visit to Dr. Carrie Thomas of COSEE SouthEast in March, the production team is looking forward to finalizing the details on webpage layout, which will reduce the production time for each case study. SEW-G’s work will be presented to the COSEE Council at the May Network Meeting in Seattle, where the production team will also work with its third scientist, Dr. Rick Keil. For further information on SEW-G please contact its Chair Jessica Kastler.

ENTS Sub-Group The Excellence in Networking Tools Sub-Group (ENTs) is preparing the Online Tools Guidebook for dissemination to the COSEE Network. Recent feedback from the Web Working Group is being incorporated, and the plan is to present the guidebook at the May Network meeting. A second joint call with the Professional Development Ad Hoc Committee is planned for April, in which ENTs will provide training on best tools for successful online workshops. For more information contact ENTs co-chairs Carla Companion and Catherine Cramer.

Screenshot of COSEE California's home page
Web Working Group The Web Working Group (WWG) continues to make headway on the non-CMS (Content Management System) Center and partner pages under construction by Raytheon Web Solutions. These pages will be administered by these Centers and partners and, as currently envisioned, will display Directory names, News, and Events in addition to About Us information. Also under development: individual Center blogs that will be tied to COSEE.net. For more information, contact Annette deCharon, WWG Chair.
 Ocean Hall Update
New Ocean Portal The National Museum of Natural History, in collaboration with more than 20 partner organizations, invites you to preview and give feedback on the Ocean Portal. The portal is a new educational tool designed to transport visitors to the coastline, the open water, and the deep ocean through rich, interactive Web content. The site is still a work in progress, and we’re looking for your input to fine-tune it before we launch it publicly.

The portal combines informational articles, lesson plans, and classroom resources with multi-media features such as slideshows, video clips, and flash animation to help bring the ocean to life. As you explore the site, you will also see that topic-specific educational resources appear in context alongside each species, ecosystem, and science page. The site is also multidisciplinary, highlighting not only science but human and cultural connections as well. Dive in and explore.

Share your thoughts by leaving comments or using the feedback form in the upper right-hand corner of each page. You may also email your comments to ocean@si.edu or connect with the Ocean Portal on Twitter and Facebook.
 COSEE at Conferences
COSEE at NSTA COSEE had a very successful presence at NSTA 2010 in Philadelphia, March 18-21. Read the report.

REMINDER: COSEE at NSTA 2011 NSTA is currently accepting proposals for the 2011 National Conference (March 10 - 13, 2011) in San Francisco. Please consider submitting a proposal as we would like to continue to build a strong COSEE presence at the NSTA conference. The strands for the 2011 conference are: Embracing Technology in the 21st Century Classroom; Accessing Language Through Science and Mathematics Content; Exploring Earth, Wind and Fire; Building Scientific Minds: Inspiring Teaching and Effective Learning. Proposals are due April 15, 2010. Please use the online system to submit a proposal.
 Ocean Literacy News
Ocean Literacy report
Ocean Literacy Report from NMEA The National Marine Educators Association (NMEA) has just published the NMEA Special Report #3 on Ocean Literacy Featuring the Ocean Literacy Scope & Sequence. The Ocean Literacy Scope & Sequence describes a few big ideas that students should know in grades K-2, 3-5, 6-8 and 9-12 in order to be considered "ocean literate" by the end of high school. The developers believe that students cannot be considered science literate without being ocean literate.

Based on Ocean Literacy: The Essential Principles of Ocean Sciences K-12, the Scope & Sequence was developed by hundreds of scientists and educators with support from COSEE, NMEA, NOAA, College of Exploration and Lawrence Hall of Science. The Ocean Literacy Scope & Sequence is intended to provide guidance to teachers, curriculum developers, educational researchers and the committees developing or revising science standards. This historic Special Report is the culmination of the efforts of dozens of COSEE staff, scientists and educators; NMEA members, NOAA, College of Exploration and Lawrence Hall of Science. NMEA members will automatically receive the Special Report. Others can explore the Special Report on the re-designed Ocean Literacy Website or write to outreach@noaa.gov and request a complimentary copy.

New Ocean Literacy Website The College of Exploration has launched an all-new Ocean Literacy website, which contains several new additions. The complete set of scope and sequence charts are available and can be viewed as web pages or downloaded in a variety of different formats. Visitors are invited to add events to the Ocean Literacy Calendar and to sign up on the Keep Me Informed list. In addition, news feeds are beginning to be aggregated on ocean topics according to each of the OL principles. Feedback about the website is welcome!
 Center News
Concept map
COSEE Ocean Systems Since 2005, COSEE Ocean Systems has been creating and testing models of collaboration, particularly with respect to reaching rural and inland audiences, engaging ocean researchers, and creating transferable activities for classroom education. Click here to read more about how COSEE-OS scientist-educator partnerships enhance rural ocean literacy and about classroom activities that use transferable ocean science content.

COSEE Alaska Visit SEANET for blog posts, resources, and more.

A participant takes part in an orientation activity
COSEE Coastal Trends A recent article published in the NSTA journal Science Teacher featured several classroom activities developed by the "Dead Zones" Scientist-Educator Partnership team. More news in the Coastal Trends e-Newsletter.

COSEE Networked Ocean World Check out the new COSEE NOW community portal! Listen to new episodes of the Ocean Gazing podcast.

COSEE California will be running a Communicating Ocean Science Instructors’ Workshop in June. COSEE California is also administering an Ocean Literacy Index to measure public understanding of the ocean among several subgroups; developing curriculum materials to provide students (Gr. 3-8) with opportunities to learn the content of ocean literacy; and is conducting a Learning Study to better understand how students build their understanding of ocean sciences concepts.

Mariculture workshop
COSEE Pacific Partnerships is sponsoring a workshop at the Northwest Biology Instructors Organization (NWBIO) conference, Mariculture in Our Coastal Zones Examined Through Ecological Science examining local and global mariculture and how science can provide ecological data to assist management and potentially inform legislation in the quest for sustainability of these multi-use ecosystems.

COSEE SouthEast The 2010 Ocean Sciences Education Leadership Institute: Seas of Change: Exploring Southeastern Climate Change will run from June 23 - July 1, at NC State (Raleigh) and Trinity Center (Morehead City).

COSEe West/Colorado Collaborative logo
COSEE West A free online workshop Arctic Sea Ice: An Introduction will be held April 10, in conjunction with the COSEE West Colorado Collaborative. A free online workshop Coral Reefs: Moorea, French Polynesia will be held in April-May 2010, co-produced with the College of Exploration. A Teacher Exchange Workshop will be held in conjunction with COSEE West Colorado Collaborative, June-August 2010. Boulder Colorado Workshop | Los Angeles Workshop
 COSEE Network Calendar
For the up-to-the-minute list of upcoming COSEE events, visit the COSEE.net Events page.
 Announcements
Boston Science Partnership Showcase The Boston Science Partnership (BSP) has changed the culture of science education in Boston by creating a vibrant, highly qualified, high-achieving community of instructors and students from kindergarten through higher education. In five years, the project has tripled the number of students succeeding in Advanced Placement (AP) science, added 260 licenses to teachers’ resumes, formed long-lasting partnerships between higher education and schools, and created an active network of teacher leaders in science education. Come celebrate our success, learn from our experience, and envision the future of urban science education, April 12 at UMass Boston. For program information, registration and other details, visit the BSP website.

NSF-Funded Study on Women in STEM Why So Few? Women in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics is a comprehensive report on the controversial issue of the continued underrepresentation of women in these fields. The report was funded by a grant from the National Science Foundation, the AAUW Letitia Corum Memorial Fund, the AAUW Mooneen Lecce Giving Circle, and the AAUW Eleanor Roosevelt Fund. Download the report.

U.S. Gets Poor Grades in Nurturing STEM Diversity Read the article in Education Week.
 NSF Solicitations
FIRE Program Fostering Interdisciplinary Research on Education (FIRE) is a new strand of the Research and Evaluation on Education in Science and Engineering (REESE) program (NSF 09-601) and it is anticipated that after this first competition, FIRE will be incorporated into the REESE solicitation. FIRE Program Solicitation

NSF Graduate STEM Fellows in K-12 Education (GK-12) This program provides funding for graduate students in NSF-supported science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) disciplines to bring their leading research practice and findings into K-12 learning settings. GK-12 Solicitation

Climate Change Education Partnership NSF’s Climate Change Education Partnership program seeks to establish a coordinated national network of regionally- or thematically-based partnerships devoted to increasing the adoption of effective, high quality educational programs and resources related to the science of climate change and its impacts. CCEP Program Solicitation
 Resources
Google Ocean Showcase features multimedia tours of shipwrecks and underwater mountains, surf and dive spots, and more. The tours incorporate more than 1,000 images and video from a variety of sites and scientific organizations, and include underwater topographical maps, narration, and photos. Google Ocean Showcase

NOAA Social Media NOAA is using social media tools to share information on whale disentanglements, sea turtle rescues, underwater volcanoes, oil spills, marine debris, corals, dam removals, fisheries management, weather and climate, and more. Media used includes Twitter, Facebook, YouTube, Podcasts, and RSS Feeds. NOAA Social Media

Ocean Acidification FAQs The U.S. Ocean Carbon and Biogeochemistry (OCB) program, supported by the European Project on Ocean Acidification (EPOCA) and the UK Ocean Acidification Research Programme, has compiled a list of frequently asked questions (FAQs) about Ocean Acidification. These questions were widely distributed to the research community with the request to draft concise replies summarizing current knowledge, yet avoiding jargon. The replies were then subject to an open peer-review and revision process to ensure readability without any loss of scientific accuracy. In total, 27 scientists from 19 institutions and 5 countries contributed to the whole process. Read the FAQ sheet.

EOL Podcast The Encyclopedia of Life's latest podcast features polar bears, including interviews with scientists Heather Craig and Dr. Steve Amstrup. Listen to the podcast on the Encyclopedia of Life Learning+Education website where you will also find images of research in the Arctic, a Meet the Scientist feature page and relevant educational materials.
Contribute to CNN! Send news and announcements of interest to the COSEE Network community to the editor, Catherine Cramer.

 COSEE Centers and Council Representatives
COSEE Alaska (Nora Deans, North Pacific Research Board)
COSEE California (Craig Strang, UC Berkeley)
COSEE Central Gulf of Mexico (Sharon Walker, Institute for Marine Mammal Studies)
COSEE Coastal Trends (Laura Murray, U of Maryland Center for Environmental Science)
COSEE Great Lakes (Rosanne Fortner, Ohio State University)
COSEE Networked Ocean World World (Janice McDonnell, Rutgers University)
COSEE New England (Billy Spitzer, New England Aquarium)
COSEE Ocean Learning Communities (Phil Bell, University of Washington)
COSEE Ocean Systems (Annette deCharon, Darling Marine Center, University of Maine)
COSEE Pacific Partnerships (Jan Hodder, Oregon Institute of Marine Biology)
COSEE SouthEast (Lundie Spence, South Carolina Sea Grant Consortium)
COSEE West (Linda Duguay, University of Southern California)