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Main Body of the 2000 Schoolyard LTER Development Proposal (submitted January 31,2000) Dear Dr. Collins: Enclosed are the rationale and budget ($15,000) in request for supplemental funding under the Schoolyard LTER development program. Dr. James Detling and I will serve as the lead LTER scientists for the project. Both Dr. Detling and I have been members of the Shortgrass Steppe LTER team for some time. I have added Dr. Jrene Rham to the request as a Co-PI. Dr. Rham is a faculty member in the Department of Educational Psychology at UNC with expertise in assessing the effectiveness of outreach programs on K-12 education. Her involvement will assist us in strengthening this and future outreach efforts. This program is timely and will augment efforts that we currently have in place. We established, with funding from NSF-DUE (spring 1998), schoolyard LTER demonstration plots on the campus of UNC that mimic an experiment at the SGS-LTER site. Baseline samples were taken in the summer of 1998 and the treatments were imposed in the fall of 1998. The samples taken to date have been analyzed by first-generation, low-income high school students that are part of the UNC Upward Bound Program (funded by the DOEd) and that are receiving fellowships from the 1998 and 1999 RAMHSS supplements, and undergraduates and graduate students taking courses at UNC (ecology, microbiology, mycology, and botany). We have also submitted lab modules based on these efforts for publication and dissemination to the schools (Moore et al. in press). We have worked to include greater teacher involvement with the past funding. As you are aware, teacher involvement is critical if the schoolyard effort is to have any influence on systemic change in science education. The supplemental funds will help solidify our efforts, bring teachers on board, and provide tangible products (the plots, web pages and curricula) that can be used as instruments of change. Schools We will involve 6 schools from school districts along the Northern Front Range of Colorado (Denver to Ft. Collins) and the K-12 Laboratory School on the campus of UNC. We will make every effort to target schools in rural, suburban and urban districts. The following schools have expressed an interest in the program: School Poudre Valley High School, Ft. Collins, CO Rocky Mountain High School, Ft. Collins, CO Trademark High School, Greeley, CO UNC Laboratory School, Greeley, CO High Plains High School, Seibert, CO Weld Central High School, Keenesburg, CO Windsor High School, Windsor, CO Plan of Operation Science teachers from the schools have met with an SGS-LTER graduate student in Biology Education from UNC (Ms. Heather Miller). The teachers will meet with LTER scientists to visit the SGS-LTER site and the demonstration plots at UNC. The group will then hold a two-day workshop to discuss potential experiment designs, data collection, protocol on maintaining databases, and means by which the projects can be integrated into curricula. All data collected will be maintained as part of the SGS-LTER database and made available to the teachers and students. Site Visit and Workshop: LTER scientists will host a site visit at the Shortgrass Steppe LTER and the UNC Campus Ecology demonstration plots. The objectives of the visits are to familiarize the teachers with the TER site and experiments, and provide an example of how a field experiment can be scaled-down to a schoolyard setting. We do not request funding for the site visit for fiscal year 2000 since we have funding left over from a previous award. NSF has been notified of these funds; we requested and have been granted an extension. The agenda for the workshop will include deciding on the type(s) of experiments to be conducted at the school, guidelines for supplies and equipment, the variable to be samples, protocol for data collection, guidelines for webpages (format, databases, etc…), and plans to disseminate the materials developed by the group (e.g., data, curricula, lab modules). Plot Design and Preparation: At the workshop we will decide on one of the three scenarios. One scenario would be to replicate the experiment at the UNC demonstration plots (which is patterned after an LTER experiment) at each of the schools. A second would be to have each teacher decide which LTER experiment (from the SGS or any other LTER site) is best suited for their site and curriculum. The third scenario would have the group develop a unique experiment for the schoolyard that was patterned after the LTER model. Our studies to date (Miller et al. 1999) indicate that the third option is the more likely scenario given the unique features of each site and the different needs of the students at each site. Web pages: All materials developed from the projects, databases, and a profile of the project's objects and participants will be incorporated into the web pages for the Shortgrass Steppe – LTER, the Department of Biological Science at UNC, and those of the participating schools (if they have one). The data manager for the SGS-LTER will lead this discussion. We recognize that we are behind on this effort. We have constructed different versions of the web page and are slated to choose one this spring for display. Curriculum Reform: LTER scientists and the teachers will work to incorporate the schoolyard LTERs into curricula. We will use the guidelines proposed by NSF and the National Science Education Standards (National Research Council, National Academy Press, Washington, DC, 1996) to develop curricula and lab modules that are age-appropriate and inquiry-based. It is unrealistic to offer this as a deliverable in this proposal. However, given the current discussions nationally, the mediocre performance of US high school students in the Third International Math and Science Survey, and the desire to reform math and science curricula, it is imperative that this program be used as one of several forums to initiate discussions. We made better than expected progress in this area. As mentioned above, we have published a laboratory module based on work conducted at the plots and elsewhere (Moore et al., in press). Furthermore, we proposed to Kendall/Hunt Publishers, a curriculum based on the soil ecology that is being conducted at the plots and the connections between this work, research at other LTER sites, and the ease by which the work could be tied to state and national standards. We received word from the publisher that they are interested and to proceed with a full proposal to formalize the agreement. Budget We request $10,000 in summer stipends to be divided amongst the 6 non-UNC teachers for their involvement and input. Of these funds $9,000 will be split equally amongst the teachers ($1,500 each) and $1,000 will be allocated for the establishing the website and database. We request no funds for the workshop as these funds are already in place (see discussion above). The remaining $5,000 will be divvied amongst the schools for supplies to set up the site and data collection. Concluding Remarks We see this as an excellent opportunity for outreach to the community and as a means to influence science education. We thank you in advance for consideration of this proposal. If there are any questions or additional information that you may require, please contact me by phone or e-mail. Literature Cites and Presentations Miller, H.C., Andrews, E., and Moore, J.C. (submitted). Student attitudes and career aspirations towards ecology as surveyed on Colorado’s Front Range. Ecological Society of America meetings, Spokane Washington, August 1999. Moore, J.C., B.B. Tripp, R. Simpson, and D.C. Coleman (in press). A springtail in the classroom: Folsomia candida as a model for inquiry-based laboratories. American Biology Teacher.
John C. Moore, Professor
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