Teachers conduct a water quality analysis during a project event.

Ocean Explorers gave support to a select group of educators over an extended period of time. It formed teams of teachers that served as local user groups for the exploration of GIS as an educational technology. Teachers participating in the project received mentoring, software, equipment, funding, and training on how to design inquiry-based activities that support achievement of state and national science, technology, mathematics, and reading standards. Ocean Explorers recruited twenty teams of three to five teachers from middle and high schools in California, thus creating for each participant a local cadre of peers implementing the new technology. Schools participating in the project included large, inner-city high schools such as Roosevelt High School and Woodrow Wilson High School in east Los Angeles; a charter high school in Venice, California; suburban middle schools and high schools; private middle schools; and three alternative schools. Each team committed to participation for the entire duration of the three-year project. Likewise, the project committed to support and mentor each team for three years.

In its first year, Ocean Explorers provided each team with basic and advanced training with ArcView 3.x GIS and handheld global positioning system technologies. The training continued during project year two. Activities engaged in at project workshops were designed to demonstrate how the technologies could be used to study the ocean. Project workshops were held on beaches, aboard vessels, and on the Channel Islands. Field research institutes were also held during the summer of year one, providing teachers with grounding in transect sampling, water quality and beach assessments, marine life observations, and documentation techniques commonly employed in ocean science. CIPE’s Mapping an Ocean Sanctuary materials and ESRI’s Mapping Our World book and CD-ROM were used as the primary teaching materials at the workshops and institutes.

During the first year of the project, training was provided on how to employ the Understanding by Design methodology of Wiggins and McTighe to begin with targeted reading, mathematics, science, and technology standards (the “Content standards for California public schools” to  develop GIS-based educational activities for students. From the standards, the teams created activities and assessments that involved students in GIS-based learning about the ocean in a manner that supports state mandates for satisfactory achievement by students and schools.

The activities and assessments were developed during years two and three of the project with mentoring and assistance by project staff, education specialists and scientists from CINMS, practicing and retired teachers, faculty from academic institutions, education specialists from ESRI, and other advisors. Extended “think tanks,” teleconferences, and weekend work sessions were employed to engage the teachers, give them time to work together, and provide needed support and troubleshooting. Special training on alternative GIS software programs—particularly ArcExplorer – Java Edition for Education (ESRI 2007); My World (GEODE Initiative 2006); and ArcGIS 9.x (ESRI 2007)—was provided at project events. Teachers eventually developed activities on four GIS platforms (ArcView 3.x, ArcExplorer – Java Edition for Education, My World GIS, and ArcGIS 9.x).

Activities developed by the teams were tested during field experiences for students conducted after school, during weekend field trips, and during the summer. The field experiences were implemented with the teachers’ own students. After testing, the activities were revised and prepared for sharing on the project Web site (http://www.exploreoceans.org).
During the summer of year three, seven teachers from Ocean Explorers—with the support of project staff—conducted a three-day workshop for teachers. The workshop was attended by 15 middle school and high school teachers from the region and across the United States. At the workshop, the teachers led the participants through the activities they had created during their tenure with Ocean Explorers. A unique component of the workshop was that instruction was provided on three GIS software programs: ArcView 3.x, My World, and ArcGIS 9.x.

Capping off Ocean Explorers were presentations by the teacher-teams at the 2006 ESRI Education User Conference (EDUC) in San Diego. The project rented exhibit booth space in the EDUC Expo and teachers presented their activities from computers in the booth.

Visit the project Web site.

Download and view the final project report.

Download and view a paper on the project presented at the 2007 ESRI Education Users Conference.