The Aquarius mission is brimming with educational content that hits all four areas of STEM: science, technology, engineering and mathematics. The design and engineering of the satellite, the science of ocean observing, the technical specifications for the mission and the importance of understanding global processes through data can all be illustrated using Aquarius as an example.
In this poster, NASA’s education and outreach team illustrates their multi-pronged approach to creating educational products and opportunities for educators to utilize information and data about Aquarius.
The OAO (Oceanographic Autonomous Observations) team operates automatic platforms such as gliders and profiling floats and is also strongly implicated in the technological development of their "new generation" in terms of scientific payloads. The acquired multi-sensor data, particularly focusing on marine biogeochemically-relevant data (e.g. oxygen, nitrate, chlorophyll-a, amount of light penetrating the Ocean) together with temperature and salinity, then serve within the wide fields of fundamental research and operational applications. Within this framework and making use of the exceptional characteristics of such autonomous platforms (e.g. multidisciplinary real-time data in high resolution, possibility for sub-regional to global perspectives), the OAO team also seeks to contribute the more and more towards educational and outreach activities. On a local/and international basis, thus several activities are proposed and the development of attractive outreach approaches is undertaken.
Process studies employing autonomous underwater vehicles (AUVs) off central California have advanced the scientific understanding of harmful algal blooms (HABs), as well as the educational resources to explain them. These process studies gathered multidisciplinary observations from AUVs, moorings, ships, aircraft, and satellites. Moored systems included autonomous robotic biochemistry systems for in situ detection of HAB species and toxins.
Integrating the knowledge gained from a series of process studies, we developed a visualization of processes that influence bloom ecology in Monterey Bay, California. This visualization, rendered to static and dynamic content, emphasizes how HAB ecology is profoundly influenced by processes that originate at the boundaries of coastal marine ecosystems. In its dynamic form, the illustration is presented in language that is accessible to resource managers and the general public.
A poster presentation of the Lamont-Doherty Secondary School Field Research Program in Piedmont Marsh, including a description of the marsh, list of participants, and information on plankton tows, sediment accretion, fish, phragmites, soil carbon, hydrology, and nutrients concentrations.
The Mediterranean, a semi-enclosed regional sea with more than twenty riparian states, has its specificities and characteristics from an environmental and societal point of view. It represents a challenging “playground” for all concerned, including actors within the fields of research or decision-making. In the light of this, it also seems necessary to develop strategies and collaborations to educate and outreach on “Mare nostrum” and the today’s challenges associated.
We believe that public outreach is one of our duties to society. We organize activities in order to popularize oceanography and the impact of climate change on marine ecosystem in the schools. The activities are mainly proposed to 10-12 year old children and they are organized in two meetings. These activities started in the framework of the European IP Project SESAME (Southern European Seas: Assessing and Modeling Ecosystem changes), but they continue today.
In 2007, The Island School launched the BESS Program targeting the next generation of Bahamian leadership who will be most important for the social, environmental, and economic stability of this island nation.
BESS students enroll in a year-long, high school post-graduate program that includes a semester at The Island School and a six-month internship at a conservation-related organization such as Bahamas Reef Environment Education Foundation, the Bahamas National Trust, or the Cape Eleuthera Institute. The internship gives students real-world work experience and helps them develop an understanding of the environmental and conservation issues that are of primary importance to The Bahamas.
This site offers a variety of downloadable maps, images (photos and posters), and videos that showcase the marine life and research in the Papahanaumokuakea Marine National Monument.
The Centers for Ocean Sciences Education Excellence (COSEE) is a national network with the collective mission to engage scientists and educators and transform ocean science education. The network is comprised of twelve centers that are either regional or thematci in focus. As a thematic center, COSEE Ocean Sytems has worked to create and develop a suite of interactive tools that can be used to enhance ocean and climate literacy by emphasizing the connections between the ocean and the Earth's climate system.
In two linked applications - The Ocean Climate Interactive (OCI) and the Concept Map Builder (CMB) - concept mapping is used as a foundation for learners to make connections between fundamental concepts in ocean and climate science. These cost-free online tools have been incrementally developed, tested, and refined through a series of teacher/scientist professional development workshops to maximize their efficacy.
The Centers for Ocean Sciences Education Excellence-Ocean Systems (COSEE-OS) aims to bring ocean literacy and current scientific content into both formal classrooms and informal education settings across the country. As part of a COSEE-OS grant that builds on the success of an interdisciplinary, semester-long class offered by the University of Maine, the University of New Hampshire has developed a new academic collaboration between the Departments of Education and Earth Sciences. Ongoing during spring semester 2010, the novel Exploring Informal Science Education Through Ocean Inquiry course explores the potential an ocean context offers for teaching a range of science topics. This program integrates fundamental concepts with “big picture” connections and resources in a highly flexible and engaging delivery system.
The Center for Ocean Sciences Education Excellence Central Gulf of Mexico has implemented a five-day Teacher Scientist Institute in several states each year during its first and second grant periods. These Institutes are designed to be similar in format and provide abundant opportunities for scientists and teachers to work together, learn each others’ cultures, and develop a relationship for future work together.
COSEE West conducted online workshops to disseminate ocean science content to larger audiences than could be reached using in-person activities. Teachers and educators not served by a COSEE Center could be reached through distance learning.
Three different online workshop models were created. A base model had online presentations by scientists, with scientists available to answer participants’ questions online. A professor model had scientists presenting ocean science content during an undergraduate course, followed by an online workshop in which undergraduates served as mentors for ocean science content (supervised by the professor and graduate students) and teacher leaders served as pedagogy mentors to educator participants. An undergraduate field research model built upon the professor model: scientists presented ocean science content to undergraduate students during a field research course, followed by an online workshop in which undergraduates conducted field research a nd exchanged findings online with participants. Participants also had an opportunity to observe field research being conducted.
COSEE West and other COSEE Centers have conducted a variety of education outreach activities, including one day professional development workshops with scientists and educators. Although the literature indicates limited benefits of one day professional development workshops for implementation of science content in the classroom, there are other benefits to these workshops.
COSEE Central Gulf of Mexico engages scientists in summer institutes in two ways: (1) During a week-long face-to-face experience and (2) During a three-week long on-line experience. In the face-to-face experience, scientists and teachers are teamed together to develop lessons/materials the teachers can take back to their classrooms. During the on-line experience the scientists prepare a presentation using a variety of interactive electronic formats and also engage with the teachers through a discussion board.
Partnerships between scientists and educators have been occurring as mechanisms for science education reform over the last two decades. The work they have done together includes: scientists providing science content as part of professional development for teachers and development of curriculum; and graduate students teaching lessons in K-12 classrooms. In most of these instances, the scientists provide their science expertise, which the educators use to ensure the scientific accuracy and credibility of their activities. For this project, informal science education institutions are explored as venues for scientists to communicate with the public and engage in a different model of partnership. In this instance, ocean scientists and educators develop new understanding and practice, as they co-teach a college course.
The CIRES Education and Outreach Program offers a suite of programs aligned with the Essential Principals of Ocean Sciences (EPOS) and the Essential Principles of Climate Sciences (EPCS). One such program, the COSEE West – Colorado Collaborative, provides a means by which scientists can participate in ocean and climate sciences education outreach through a teacher professional development program. The purpose of the program is to bring the global oceans to inland audiences.
COSEE Ocean Learning Communities has developed a learning community of marine volunteer organizations, resource managers, University and State agency scientists and formal educators who through organized events/workshops have worked to increase ocean literacy and stewardship of the marine environment through public engagement. This learning community offers ocean/marine scientists opportunities to improve their outreach skills, spread the word about their research, and get help with research efforts.
COSEE Ocean Learning Communities experiments with strategies to catalyze and support a community of ocean scientists, learning science researchers, educators, and citizens interested in the marine environment. COSEE Ocean Learning Communities has experimented with adapting the poster session of scientific conferences as a tool for connecting ocean scientists and learning science researchers and their research with the public.
Concept maps are a useful educational tool to examine the costs and benefits of injury and regeneration, particularly linking the impacts from individuals and ecosystems. Such maps effectively show these linkages and encourage exploration of the processes that control and connect the immediate effects of injury on individual infauna with larger scale habitat and ecosystem changes. Our goal is to expand on the resources that are currently available to middle, high school, and post secondary educators using the COSEE-OS Concept Linked Integrated Media Builder (CLIMB) to create an interactive concept map of how injury affects marine benthic invertebrates, communities, and ecosystems.
To communicate science effectively there are challenges scientsts should consider when trying to craft audience-appropriate messages. The use of concept maps, people as facilitators, and effective teaching strategies can help scientists communicate effectively.
This study looks at challenges which can occur during message packaging and understanding. Specifically it focuses on the use of concept maps as an effective tool for creating audience appropriate packages. Concept mapping allows both specialists and learners to see connections among related concepts. It shows the big picture, while also allowing one to focus in on details. When a learner makes connections between concepts, her/his understanding of the material deepens.
The Center for Ocean Sciences Education Excellence – SouthEast (COSEE SouthEast) develops strategies for engaging scientists and educators for increased ocean literacy. COSEE SouthEast employs innovative methods at the pivotal junction of science and education to: 1) extend scientific research to the public, 2) teach educators about the nature of science, and 3) connect informal science education (ISE) facilities with research and formal education communities.
An ever growing number of scientists recognize the need to increase awareness about ocean science research, especially in regard to policy initiatives on climate change. Howerver, scientists may find it difficult to reach an audience outside of their community. At the same time, educators are searching for accurate and engaging science education resources to inspire students to become interested in scientific discovery.
Collaborations between scientist and educators can meet both of these needs and provide unlimited access for students to learn about science. If increased access to scientific knowledge requires research, focused objectives and a transfer of knowledge between scientists and educators, then scientist-educator fellowship teams are a way to bring the appropriate people together around a specific project that can help bring scientific knowledge to a broader audience.
