Cataclysms and Catastrophes--The Role of Science

灾难和灾难--科学的作用这个项目正在开发和实地测试基于科学在造成和/或理解灾难中的作用的课程材料。这些材料的目标是帮助高中教师将地球科学融入物理、数学、化学和生物的教学中。这是德克萨斯大学地球物理研究所(UTIG)、经济地质局(BEG)和位于奥斯汀的私立教育公司4Employment共同努力的结果。激发教师和学生想象力的事件--例如洪都拉斯米奇飓风造成的破坏、希克苏鲁伯小行星撞击事件和俄克拉荷马城爆炸事件--是使用UTIG和BEGE科学家收集的数据进行基于探究的动手学习活动的基础。活动范围扩大到熟悉激光雷达(光探测和测距)、钻探、地震反射和折射、地球物理测井和互联网等技术。除了教授科学和数学的概念外，“大灾难和灾难”主题对灾害预防、认识和决策也有影响。例如，使用地震学来识别核爆炸(监测全球核试验)对国家安全很重要。为该项目开发的课程材料被张贴在4Empower的网站Cyberways和Water上，并通过电子信件以及与州和国家科学和数学教育机构和组织的合作进行宣传。课程材料还提供给地球系统教育数字图书馆(DLESE)和全国数学、科学和技术专科中学联合会的76个机构成员。该项目建立在正在进行的TEXTEAMS(德克萨斯州数学和科学成就授权教师)领导力培训计划的基础上，该计划由UTIG研究人员于2000年开发，用于德克萨斯州高中科学课程--地质、气象和海洋学(GMO)。TEXTEAMS是一项针对K-12教师的专业发展和领导力培训认证计划，由美国国家科学基金会和德克萨斯州教育局赞助。为“大灾难和灾难--科学的作用”编写的课程材料也将补充围绕“从德克萨斯到南极洲”这一主题设计的TEXTEAMS转基因生物课程。

Cataclysms and Catastrophes-The Role of ScienceThis project is developing and field-testing curricular materials based on the role of science in causing and/or understanding catastrophes. The goal of the materials is to help high school teachers incorporate geoscience into the teaching of physics, mathematics, chemistry and biology. This is a collaborative effort involving The University of Texas Institute for Geophysics (UTIG), the Bureau of Economic Geology (BEG), and 4empowerment, an Austin-based private education company. Events that capture the imagination of teachers and students alike-for example, the devastation caused by Hurricane Mitch in Honduras, the Chicxulub asteroid impact event, and the Oklahoma City bombing-serve as the basis for inquiry-based, hands-on learning activities using data collected by UTIG and BEG scientists. Activities are expanded to include familiarity with technologies such as Lidar (LIght Detection And Ranging), drilling, seismic reflection and refraction, geophysical logging, and the Internet. In addition to teaching concepts in science and mathematics, the "Cataclysms and Catastrophes" theme carries implications for disaster prevention, awareness, and decision-making. Using seismology to identify nuclear explosions (monitoring nuclear testing worldwide), for example, is important to national security. Curricula materials developed for the project are posted to 4empowement's Web site, Cyberways and Waterways, and promoted through e-letters and collaborations with state and national science and mathematics educational agencies and organizations. Curricular materials are also available to DLESE (Digital Library for Earth System Education) and to the 76 institutional members of the National Consortium for Specialized Secondary Schools of Mathematics, Science and Technology. The project builds on the recent success of the ongoing TEXTEAMS (Texas Teachers Empowered for Achievement in Mathematics and Science) Leadership training program for the Texas high school science course, Geology, Meteorology and Oceanography (GMO), developed in 2000 by UTIG researchers. TEXTEAMS is a certification program of professional development and leadership training for K-12 teachers sponsored by the National Science Foundation and the Texas Education Agency. The curricular materials developed for "Cataclysms and Catastrophes-The Role of Science" will also complement the TEXTEAMS GMO offering designed around the theme "From Texas to Antarctica".