Summer 2002

Fellows in the GK-12 program met on August 21st to discuss their new web-based tool for sharing curriculum and information.

Students in the Research Experience for Undergraduates Program successfully completed and presented their research projects.  

Students in the Colorado Youth Naturally Program visited the SGS-LTER research site for a slide show and tour of the shortgrass steppe.

Students in the Explorations in Science program visited the SGS-LTER research site for a slide show, demonstration of research equipment, picnic, and a tour of a prairie dog town.

Students in the Bugs to Biospheres program participated in a program about mammal diversity and the mammals of Colorado.

Participants in the GK-12 program met on May 30th to discuss successes and plans for the upcoming year.

Spring 2002

LTER scientists participated in "Amoebas to Zebras - A Celebration of Biodiversity" at the Denver Museum of Nature and Science.  Jim Detling and Laurel Hartley taught visitors about "Biodiversity on a Prairie Dog Town".  John Moore and Mark St. John taught visitors about soil organisms in "Biodiversity Beneath Your Feet".

Schoolyard LTER students took their projects to the Colorado Eastern Regional Science Fair and the State Science Fair.  Congratulations to Tyler, Amber, Broc, and Kori.

Schoolyard LTER students from Rocky Mountain High conducted an arthropod inventory and a study of the effects of prairie dogs on plant community on the Cathy Fromme Prairie Natural Area in Fort Collins.  Thank you to LTER graduate students and scientists who helped lead the field trips -  Howard Horton, Nicole Kaplan, Erin Powell, Sallie Sprague, John Sovell, and Jason Woodard.  Take a look at the article from the Fort Collins Coloradoan.

LTER staff taught Highland Middle School students about the shortgrass prairie during a camping trip to the Crow Valley Campground on the Pawnee National Grasslands.

LTER staff and scientists visited classrooms at Olander Elementary and Rocky Mountain High School in Fort Collins.

Fall 2001

LTER scientists celebrated International Biodiversity Observation Year (IBOY) with visitors to the Denver Museum of Nature and Science.  Our educational booth included an interactive display about biodiversity on a prairie dog town and natural history specimens from the shortgrass steppe.  Visit the IBOY website at  http://www.nrel.colostate.edu/iboy/nreliboy/.

This semester, LTER staff and scientists visited classrooms at Highland Elementary, Ridgeview Elementary, High Plains Elementary, and Rocky Mountain High School.

LTER students and staff participated in the NSF GK-12 meeting in Washington, D.C..

Summer 2001

SGS-LTER gave a staff training workshop at the Environmental Learning Center in Fort Collins.  We presented information about the shortgrass prairie and helped with ideas for showcasing remnant prairie at the ELC.

SGS-LTER hosted a joint meeting for Schoolyard LTER and members of a newly funded GK-12 grant.  Both programs have a mission to bring real world science into the K-12 classrooms.  At the meeting, educators, scientists, administrators, and representatives from non-profit organizations shared their ideas, successes, and failures and discussed goals for the upcoming school year.

LTER staff members and researchers from the Agricultural Research Service presented a slide show about our research and the plains ecosystem to 30 1st-6th grade students, their parents, and their teachers.  The students visited us from Boulder County and were on the last day of a 5-day trip through the plains of Colorado. 

LTER staff members presented an interactive program about the shortgrass steppe ecosystem to Ms. Cooper's third-grade class at Pierce Elementary School in Pierce, Colorado.  

Spring  2001

LTER staff members presented an interactive program about the shortgrass steppe ecosystem to Mrs. Sudduth's kindergarten class at Pierce Elementary School in Pierce, Colorado.  Pierce Elementary is the closest school to the SGS-LTER Research Station.

Students from High Plains School  in Seibert, Colorado visited the SGS-LTER office at Colorado State University to present results of their research and to get feedback about their new research proposals.  

SGS-LTER presented a program about the North American prairie at Mountain View Elementary's Science Discovery Day  in Windsor, Colorado.  Over 100 students attended the event.

SGS-LTER researchers volunteered to judge the East Central Science Fair in Flagler, Colorado.  Students in this region live and attend school on the plains of Colorado.  Many of their research projects related directly to the shortgrass steppe ecosystem, livestock grazing, agriculture, and exotic plant species. 

Winter 2001

SGS-LTER participated in Super Science Night at Timnath Elementary.  Students examined comparative natural history specimens, learned about adaptation, and put together a model of a food web on a prairie dog town.  Over 200 students attended the event.

SGS-LTER scientists submitted  proposals to the National Science Foundation to continue three of our successful programs : Research Assistantships for Minority High School Students, Research Experience for Undergraduates, and Schoolyard LTER.

SGS-LTER researchers attended a Discovery Class at the Denver Museum of Nature and Science.  Museum educators taught elementary school students about the different ecosystems in Colorado, including the plains.  The purpose of our visit was for LTER researchers to gain ideas for education, and to provide information and specimens from the shortgrass steppe to the Education Collection at the DMNS.

Fall 2000

SGS-LTER scientists and staff traveled to Snowbird, Utah to attend the All Scientists Meeting for LTER. We attended a series of symposia on education, met other educators and scientists, and learned about what other LTER education programs are accomplishing.

Summer 2000

We held a planning meeting for the SGS-LTER Schoolyard program. On day one of the workshop, we met at the Edwards House Inn to discuss the history of our involvement with secondary education, facts and philosophical views on education, and ideas for Schoolyard LTER. On day two of the workshop, we met at the SGS-LTER field station for a tour and to discuss the upcoming national Schoolyard LTER planning meeting and options for a new SGS-LTER site.