Funded by a grant from the Bay Watershed Education and Training (B-WET) progrm of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), Channel Mappers  promoted geospatial analysis of the Channel Islands National Marine Sanctuary (CINMS) and the Santa Barbara Channel watershed as a way to engage grade 9-12 students in meaningful watershed experiences. CIPE conducted the project in partnership with the Ventura County Superintendent of Schools Office, CINMS, and the Marine Science Institute of the University of California, Santa Barbara,  The project  provided ready-to-use instructional materials, professional development training, software, and templates for involving students in environmental action to teachers in the Oxnard, California, region.

The project objectives were: 

• Enhance lessons from the Mapping an Ocean Sanctuary materials co-developed by CIPE and CINMS.
• Promote implementation of the adapted Mapping an Ocean Sanctuary materials by converting them for use with the My World GIS software of the GEODE Initiative at Northwestern University.
• Implement the adapted materials at a workshop for teachers in grades 9-12 in the Oxnard, California, region.
• Provide follow-up support for participating teachers and an opportunity for the participants to share their implementation experiences with one another, CINMS staff, project advisors, and local communities.
• Evaluate the impact of the project on the workshop participants and the usefulness of the materials for their teaching practice.
• Revise and publish the materials for dissemination locally and sustained distribution to a national audience.

Download and view the final project report.

Download and view the final evaluation report.

Instructional materials created by the Channel Mappers project will be posted soon.