Site-Specific Environmental Education

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This project builds on a successful pilot program in site- specific environmental education. Teams of elementary/middle school teachers will participate in a two-week field course in site-specific environmental education. Materials developed by the investigators for the Goose Lake Wildlife Area, Wisconsin, site for the project, include specific glacial, bedrock, and historical geology, limnology, botany, soils, and water information, as well as ecological generalizations and teaching activities suitable for the elementary/middle school classroom.The participants will learn the natural and human history of the area, participate in field work to reinforce instruction, and participate in and develop cross-curricular teaching activities. During the second phase of the project the participant teachers will return to the University of Wisconsin-Madison campus to begin development of site specific materials for a site of their choosing. Following completion of their own site-specific teachers guide, in the final phase of the program, the teachers as "teacher leaders" will use their new materials and their site to provide inservice opportunities for other teachers in their districts. The proposed project will support two cycles of teacher teams, eight teams of three teachers per cycle. Desired outcomes are increased content knowledge in the environmental sciences, increased capability and enthusiasm for teaching environmental education, development of site-specific materials for local use by districts, and the dissemination of information and materials to other teachers in the participating districts.