BES Education News – Teacher Institute

The Baltimore Ecosystem Study, in Partnership with Towson University, just wrapped up another year of its Math Science Partnership (MSP) Teacher Institute.  The Institute consisted of a 7-day workshop held during the summer of 2012 plus five Saturday workshop sessions during the 2012-2013 school year.  Middle and high school science teachers participated in activities designed to bolster their confidence in teaching carbon, water and biodiversity topics to their students, understanding how their students think and learn about topics in the Environmental Sciences, and using their urban, rural and suburban neighborhoods as ecosystems that students can study.  Saturday workshop topics included Biodiversity, Groundwater, Sustainability, Climate Change and Energy Production.  The project was grateful to have the assistance of many BES scientists, graduate students and collaborators in running these workshops.  A special thanks to Dr. Chris Swan (UMBC), Aditi Bhaskar (UMBC), Abbey Cocke (Baltimore City Office of Sustainability), Marcus Griswold (University of Maryland, Center for Environmental Science), and Theodore Atwood (Baltimore City Energy Office) for delivering exciting and educational presentations to our teachers during these workshop. 

In total, 22 teachers participated in the Institute.  These teachers taught a variety of modules to their students designed by project staff to increase student understanding of key topics in environmental science.  In total, 25 modules developed by project staff were delivered to students.   Teachers received teaching support from project staff including Molly VanAppledorn, Natalie Mollett and Molly Charnes.  Molly VanAppledorn, a graduate student at UMBC, was a first time participant in the project.  In addition to assisting teachers with implementation of modules she contributed to the professional development research group by curating, coding and analyzing databases on national educational activities, assisted in the water research working group, and helped coordinate professional development workshops for Baltimore city and county teachers throughout the school year.  Natalie Mollett, a graduate student at Towson University, was participating in the program for a second year.  Natalie contributed tremendously to the carbon research working group, analyzing student assessment responses and assisting teachers in integrating the modules into their existing curriculum.  Molly Charnes, a high school science teacher from Oregon, came to the MSP project in summer 2012 as a Teacher-in-Residence.  She spent a full year working with the project, assisting teachers in their classrooms and working with the biodiversity team to develop teacher materials for assessing and understanding student thinking.  She has recently returned to the classroom back in Oregon.  

Submitted by Bess Caplan, BES Ecology Education Program Leader

Baltimore Teachers Research at Toolik Lake, Alaska

In July and August of 2012, the Baltimore Ecosystem Study sent two Baltimore area science teachers to the Toolik Field Station in Toolik Lake, Alaska [ http://toolik.alaska.edu/index.php ] to participate in research funded by the NSF Arctic LTER.  

The teachers were part of a volunteer research effort to identify and catalog species of vegetation in the Tundra.  The teachers spent up to 10 hours a day for six straight days doing field and lab work.  Work included harvesting plants from research plots, breaking down the plants and sorting by species, separating out different parts of each plant, and bagging and labeling. 

A special thanks goes to John Moore of Colorado State University for helping to organize and sponsor the trip for our teachers. 

Please click below links to see slideshow and read about the teachers' experience at Toolik Lake.

 http://beslter.org/teasers_ajax/toolik-landing-page/Toolik-Lake---An-Alaskan-Research-Haven_files/frame.htm 

http://beslter.org/teasers_ajax/toolik-landing-page/Toolik-Alaska-write-up-wafle.html

Contributed by: Bess Caplan, BES Ecology Education Program Leader

Another Year of BPESL Workshops Comes to an End

The Baltimore Partnership for Environmental Science Literacy (BPESL) has completed another year-long Institute working with middle and high school science teachers from Baltimore City and Baltimore County.  The program began in the summer of 2011 with an 8-day intensive Institute where teachers were immersed in learning about carbon, water, biodiversity, citizenship practices, and pedagogical techniques to improve attention to student thinking in the classroom.  The summer program was followed by five Saturday workshops during the 2011-2012 school year.  Topics included:  Microbes, Disease Ecology, Environmental Justice, Phenology and Urban Farming.

The BPESL team would like to thank all participating teachers for their enthusiasm and involvement in the program.  We also wish the best of luck and a fond farewell to two of our exiting graduate students:  Tamara Newcomer (University of Maryland, College Park) and Julie Baynard (Towson University).  We look forward to our next Institute set to begin on June 25^th.

Contributed by BES Ecology Education Program Leader Bess Caplan

Gunpowder Days at Hereford Middle School

The Baltimore Partnership for Environmental Science Literacy (BPESL) held a learning station at Hereford Middle School’s annual Gunpowder Days held at Gunpowder Falls State Park in Parkton, Maryland on May 31, 2012.  Julie Baynard and Natalie Mollett, both BPESL graduate students from Towson University, led a leaf pack activity for eighth grade students.  Students dissected and investigated stream leaf packs that had been placed in the adjacent Gunpowder Falls for the previous month.  Students also dissected leaf packs that had been in Towson Run, located on the Towson University campus.  Macroinvertebrates were found living in all the leaf packs and were identified by students using ID cards and sorting sheets.  By assessing and comparing the species of macroinvertebrates living in both streams, students discovered that Gunpowder Falls supports more pollution-sensitive species of macroinvertebrates than Towson Run.   

Contributed by BES Ecology Education Program Leader Bess Caplan

Seeking BES Mentors for Research Experience for Teachers (RET) 2012-2013

Baltimore Partnership for Environmental Science Literacy

Towson University, MD ● Cary Institute of Ecosystem Studies, NY

In Brief:

Four Research Experiences for Teachers (RET) Fellows will join the Baltimore Partnership for Environmental Science Literacy’s unique research and education community to carry out an independent research project, participate in teacher workshops, and develop plans they will implement in the 2012-2013 school year.
The RETs will be an integral part of the Pathways to Environmental Science Literacy Math Science Partnership Project funded by the National Science Foundation and taking place at the Baltimore Ecosystem Study and three other Long Term Ecological Research (LTER) sites around the nation.  RET Fellows are expected to complete a research project in the summer of 2012, and then to develop and pilot test an enhancement to one of the project’s curricula during the 2012-2013 school year.

Each RET mentor will:

·        Provide guidance and support to an RET Fellow for six (6) weeks during the summer.  The Fellow will design and implement an independent research project in environmental science.  Research projects in 2012 will be aligned with one of the three focal areas of the Pathways Project: 1) carbon cycling and climate change, 2) water flows, quality and habitats, and 3) biodiversity.

·        Help the Fellow produce a final report or paper based on her/his summer research.

·        Support the Fellow in developing an enhancement to one of the project’s curriculum units (carbon, water, biodiversity, citizenship) based on her/his summer research project.  This might be a new lesson or a modification of an existing lesson in the unit.  The RET Fellow will pilot test this enhancement in their own classroom.

·        Spend time (1 or 2 sessions) in the Fellow’s classroom during the 2012-2013 school year while her/his unit is being pilot tested.

·        Complete pre- and post-program assessment surveys about the RET Fellow’s growth and contribution to your work.

·        Participate in occasional meetings (2-3) with other mentors, RET Fellows and project staff during the summer and following school year.

Eligibility to serve as an RET mentor:

·        Be resident in the Baltimore region during the summer of 2012 (July 9 –August 17), or at least a significant portion of this time period.

·        Willingness and ability to support a research project related to one of the project’s three focal areas: 1) carbon cycling and climate change, 2) water flows, quality and habitats, and 3) biodiversity.

·        Provide a project topic title and brief (1-2 sentence) description for inclusion in program announcements and application forms.

·        Have space and other required resources to mentor a teacher during that time.

·        Willingness to do the above list of duties.

·        Enthusiasm for working with teachers.

RET Program Details:

·        Dates:

o   Summer Workshop: June 25-29, July 2-3, 2012

o   Summer Research Period: July 9 – August 17, 2012

o   School Year: 5 Saturdays, to be determined

·        Work site: Mentors will provide RETs lab space and other logistical support during the summer intensive research period.  Office space is available at the Center for Science and Mathematics Education at Towson University.

·        Supplies: each Fellow has a $500 supplies supplement to support their research and/or teaching activities.

Interested mentors should contact:

Alan R. Berkowitz, Ph.D.

Head of Education

Cary Institute of Ecosystem Studies

PO Box AB

Millbrook, NY 12545

Phone: (845) 677-7600 ext. 311 Fax: (845) 677-5976

Email: berkowitza@caryinstitute.org

Wrapping up a Summer of Professional Development Programs

This summer, fourteen science teachers from Baltimore County and Baltimore City schools participated in the Baltimore Partnership for Environmental Science Literacy Summer Institute.  The teachers spent eight days with Baltimore Ecosystem Study, Towson University staff and graduate students.  They learned about the science behind carbon, water and biodiversity and engaged in thinking about student understanding of these topics.  The teachers visited three BES research sites: Gwynns Falls at Carroll Park, Gwynns Falls at Glyndon and Baisman’s Run.  They met with Dan Dillon (BES) at the Gwynns Falls sites and Ed Doheny (USGS) at Baisman’s Run where they learned about the data collected at each site.  Ed and Dan engaged our guests in a question and answer session.  By the end of the eight days, teachers developed plans for implementing lessons they learned during the workshop into their school curriculum.  Plans are in place to assist teachers throughout the school year with implementation of these lessons and to collect data on student understanding of these topics through a series of pre and post assessments and student interviews. 

In addition to the Summer Institute, five teachers participated in the Research Experiences for Teachers (RET) fellowship program.  This 6-week program engaged teachers in conducting research with a mentor scientist while taking a 2-credit graduate course designed by BES and Towson University staff.  They were taught by an array of scientists and professors dedicated to our teacher education efforts.  The five RET 2011 projects are described below:

·        Ms. Dana Riskalla, a science teacher at North Harford High School, conducted research with mentor scientist, Vanessa Beauchamp (Towson University).  Her research took place at locations in Patapsco Valley State Park and throughout the Baltimore metropolitan region.  Her research focused on the identification of wavy leaf basket grass, a common streamside invasive species.

        Mr. Mark Kather, a science teacher at Western School of Technology, conducted research with mentor scientist, Andrew Miller, (BES & University of Maryland, Baltimore County (UMBC)).  His summer research was related to an NSF-funded urban hydrology project that involves analysis of data from a series of stream gages distributed throughout the Gwynns Falls watershed using Geographical Information Systems (GIS).

·        Mr. Shanshivani Rajendran began his Research Experiences for Teachers work in June 2011 and is scheduled to complete his project by spring 2012.  Mr. Rajendran, a science teacher at Dunbar High School, is conducting research with mentor scientist, Alan Berkowitz, (BES & the Cary Institute of Ecosystem Studies).  His research focuses on a qualitative study examining whether summer professional development workshops conducted by the four sites participating in the MSP Pathways project support teachers in building their confidence levels in environmental science content and pedagogy.

        Ms. Lauren Catts, an elementary school teacher at Sandy Plains Elementary School, conducted research with mentor scientist, Dan Boward, (Maryland Department of Natural Resources).  Her research took place at the Department of Natural Resources in Annapolis, Maryland and focused on using stream macroinvertebrate communities as a bioindicator of stream health.

·        Ms. Tia Bossiwa began her RET work in June 2011 and is scheduled to complete her project by winter 2011.  Ms. Bossiwa, a science teacher at Coppin Academy, is conducting research with mentor scientist Ken Belt, (USDA Forest Service).  Her research focuses on feeding habitats of aquatic organisms in streams. 

BES Graduate Students Engage Incoming Freshman at Dunbar High in Environmental Science

On Tuesday, August 9^th, BES-MSP G6-12 Fellows went to Dunbar High School to help teacher Shan Rajendran get entering freshman at summer orientation pumped about environmental science.  The 190 students who rotated through Mr. Rajendran’s classroom that day were greeted with several engagement questions:  1) Does air have mass?  2) How do substances and water move through the environment?  and, 3)  Do plants respire like people?

Students wrote the questions and their hypotheses in their laboratory notebooks and then discussed their predictions as a class.  Then students recorded the mass of an Alka-Seltzer tablet and a cup of water.  After they dropped the Alka-Seltzer in the water they observed fizzing bubbles rising out of the mixture and many students noticed that the mass went down.  Some of the students thought that a mistake had been made but others helped them realize that the mass had gone down because of the gas in the bubbles leaving.  They had just demonstrated that air has mass!

Then the students broke into groups of fifteen and rotated among stations.  Grad Fellow Julie Baynard taught the students how to use Vernier Labquest probes and chambers with oxygen and carbon dioxide probes.  Grad Fellow Natalie Mollett had students work with a watershed model and predict how water would move across the model surface and why.  Grad Fellow Tammy Newcomer gave students jars of substances such as motor oil, fertilizer, and leaves and had students discuss how substances move with water through their schoolyard environment   It looks like these Freshmen are in for many enlightening scientific discoveries in the upcoming year!