Science Approach has been awarded $1,035,020 by the Information Technologies for Students and Teachers (ITEST) program at the National Science Foundation (NSF) for its CoastLines project (NSF award number 0737706). The project start date is 1 January 2008.

Introduction

CoastLines is a Comprehensive Project for Students and Teachers that will introduce fundamental concepts about information technologies (IT) to grade 7-12 schools. It will accomplish this goal by involving teachers and students in using geographic information systems (GIS) and global positioning systems (GPS) to conduct scientific studies of coastal ecosystems in the National Science Foundation’s Long-Term Ecological Research (LTER) network. CoastLines will build on lessons learned by CIPE and other practitioners about offering GIS-based training to K-12 educators.

Overview

To facilitate rapid deployment of GIS in schools, reach diverse populations that are underrepresented in the IT industries, and lay the foundation for sustained implementation of project strategies, CoastLines will leverage educational outreach programs conducted at four sites in the LTER network: Florida Coastal Everglades, Moorea Coral Reef, Santa Barbara Coastal, and Virginia Coast Reserve. These sites will afford attractive coastal settings and exciting research scenarios to engage the “hearts and minds” of participants and provide concrete examples of how IT is used in professional practice. Active involvement of LTER site educational staff and research investigators as mentors and advisors will personalize LTER science, make IT relevant as a human enterprise, and support teachers as they adapt and create projects for their students. Skill development and teaching practice facilitated by CoastLines will build comfort and competence with using geospatial technologies as tools for research, decision making, communication, and teaching. The five core areas of research for the LTER network—primary production, population studies, movement of organic matter, movement of inorganic matter, and disturbance patterns—will provide foci for teacher and student work and afford connections to the curriculum taught at participating schools. Having teachers create activities in which participants apply the five steps of geographic thinking to investigate topics in these areas of research will teach basic science process and help students understand the importance of science and IT as tools for solving problems and improving conditions on Earth.

Broader Impacts

Coastlines will further the LTER network’s goal of “[improving] the diversity, training, and support of future generations of ecologists” by offering new teacher professional development and student enrichment opportunities to minority, inner-city, rural, and low-income schools already engaged by the participating sites. The project will appeal to female teachers at these schools by providing role models of innovative women who have been leaders in introducing GIS-based instruction in K-12 schools. Coastlines will strive for national relevance by testing a model of professional development that promotes commitment, comfort, competence, empowerment, and relevance as key ingredients in encouraging successful implementation of GIS technology in schools. This model will be tested at the participating LTER sites, encouraged within the LTER network, and packaged for dissemination to educators nationwide.

For more information about CoastLines, visit the project Web site.