On behalf of the Paleontological Research Institution (PRI), we would like to invite you to participate in an exciting new initiative to improve Earth science education across the nation!

Program Information and Application

WHAT ARE WE DOING?

PRI and its Museum of the Earth is a non-profit organization based in Ithaca, New York. Composed of scientists and educators, its outreach program aims to make the Earth and its life—and the science by which we understand it—accessible to audiences of all ages and backgrounds. As part of that mission, we are currently developing a series of Teacher-Friendly Guides to North American Earth System Science. Supported by the National Science Foundation, the project is a five-year initiative that will bring regional and local Earth system science into classrooms across the nation.

At the end of the project, seven guides—based on geographic regions—will exist:

1. •Northeastern (ME, VT, NH, MA, NY, RI, CT, NJ, PA, DE, MD)
   

2. •Southeastern (DC, VA, WV, KY, NC, SC, TN, GA, AL, FL, MS)
   

3. •Midwestern (OH, MI, IN, IL, WI, MN, IA)
   

4. •South Central (KS, MO, OK, AR, TX, LA)
   

5. •Rocky Mountain (ID, MT, ND, WY, SD, NE)
   

6. •Southwestern (AZ, UT, CO, NM)
   

7. •Western (WA, OR, CA, NV, AK, HI)
   

The guides will be posted for free download at www.teacherfriendlyguide.org.

Also, a library of teacher-created virtual fieldwork experiences (VFEs) will complement the guides. VFEs allow teachers to bring the field into their classrooms and serve as support for actual fieldwork with your students.

The Teacher-Friendly Guides coupled with VFEs will promote the merging of standard geologic concepts with local geologic history, opening the door to inquiry by allowing teachers and their students to apply basic science concepts to situations outside the classroom’s walls.

DIG, DISCOVER, & LEARN!  PLEASE JOIN US!

We welcome your application to participate in a professional development program that is focused on the Teacher-Friendly Guide and the Virtual Fieldwork Experiences. This program will be held from July 29th to July 31st and will  include:

1. 1.A two and a half day workshop hosted by the Sam Noble Oklahoma Museum of Natural History (Norman, OK).  The workshop will focus on actual field work near the Museum, with discussions on how to document a field site to bring your field experience back to the classroom and on how to bring your students into the field.  Stipends and support for travel and lodging total $800.00 per participant.
   

2. 2.Ongoing virtual study groups where teacher groups of about four use Internet conferencing technologies to share their work and support one another in the development of virtual fieldwork. 
   

3. 3.The creation of virtual fieldwork experiences of both the workshop site and of sites near teacher participants’ schools. 
   

The project’s professional development program design is grounded in research on effective professional development, inquiry science and research on how people learn.    See a more detailed description of the research underlying program design here. 

WHO?

We hope to host teachers from across the South Central region and from across the range of teaching experience.  So, whether you are from an urban, suburban, or rural school, or whether you have little background in geology or years of experience, we’d love for you to apply!

Commonalities that we hope all participants share include:

1. 1. a desire to further their skills,
   

2. 2. a desire to include more inquiry in their instruction,
   

3. 3. a desire to bring the field into the classroom and (if possible) students into the field,
   

4. 4. a desire to collaborate with others
   

WHAT WILL YOU LEARN & WHAT WILL YOU HAVE TO DO?

Before the workshop:

1. •Complete a pre-assessment.  We want to be able to help you the best we can! Completion of a short pre-assessment form will allow us to tailor the program to your wants and needs.
   

2. •Create a “Powers of Ten” Google Earth Tour.  Participants will be asked to complete an online tutorial that will produce a Google Earth Tour centered on the participant’s school.  This is not a true VFE as it’s very directed, but it is a useful instructional tool to show both scale and the power of mapping.  It is also intended to introduce those who have not used Google Earth to the software.  How long this will take depends on technological skills, but it should take no more than a few hours to create a usable tour.
   

At the workshop:

1. •You will be introduced to an early draft of the Teacher-Friendly Guide to the Geology of the South Central US.
   

2. •Collaborate in the creation of a virtual fieldwork experience at the workshop site.  Most of the workshop time will be spent in preparing for and then jointly creating a VFE of an interesting field site near the museum.  Teachers will work in small groups (with support from program staff), with each group focusing on a particular aspect of the site to create a module.  Modules will be combined into a Google Earth tour that will serve as a VFE that you can then use in the classroom! 
   

After the workshop:

1. •Create a VFE of a site near your school.
   

2. •Participate in a virtual study group.  These study groups of about four teachers each will meet approximately every two weeks for one hour.  After the first two sessions, teachers will take turns leading the discussion, based on the development of their VFE and on supporting inquiry teaching of Earth system science.
   

3. •Post your VFE to the VFE database.  The database is still very much in development, but a primitive prototype is here. 
   

4. •Assemble a portfolio of project related work and provide feedback on other participants’ portfolios. 
   

APPLICATION DEADLINE: June 26, 2009, 5:00 pm, CDT.

THANK YOU!

Thank you for taking the time to complete the below application!  If you have any questions, please don’t hesitate to contact Don Duggan-Haas at [email protected] or 607.821.0910.

PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT PROGRAM APPLICATION FORM: