Sharing the Message of Global Change Through Multimedia, Vertically Integrated Outreach Curriculum

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This project is developing a Web-based curriculum about how different regions are affected by climate change. It is an expansion of education programs currently being implemented by the PI, which target graduate, undergraduate, and K-12 students. The new curriculum is based on the near-real-time ecophysiological data being collected at the PI's research sites in arctic Alaska, San Diego's Mediterranean-type ecosystem, and the La Paz desert in Mexico. The new curriculum highlights the importance of climate change, the real-world application of scientific data and concepts, and how climatic events in one region (e.g., El Nino events) affect climate change in other regions (e.g. arctic oscillations). Through the NSF-sponsored GK-12 "Partnerships Involving the Scientific Community in Elementary Schools" (PISCES) Project, a limited number of Web-based lessons are in early development. The current project is not only enhancing existing lessons with additional on-line components and structure, but also improving teacher and parent content knowledge, reaching a larger public audience, and impacting undergraduate ecology courses. The curriculum is designed to be more dynamic, more intensive in its links to additional sources of global change research and project information, and to reach a broader spectrum of users. Data to be used in this project include temperature, precipitation, carbon flux, soil moisture, soil radiation, wind speed and direction, evapotranspiration, and soil and air temperatures. Access to the curriculum and the results of the project will be disseminated through (1) Internet-accessible curriculum lessons for classroom and public use; (2) videoconference feeds between students in different regions; (3) "science night" opportunities for the community and parents to learn about global change; (4) a public lecture series introducing the curriculum to teachers and the community; (5) involvement of students in two undergraduate ecology classes at San Diego State University with enhancements to the curriculum; and (6) freestanding, interactive kiosks with Internet-connected computers to be installed at central community areas (heritage or community centers, schools, or museums) in Barrow, Alaska, San Diego, California and La Paz, Mexico. Workshops via videoconference have been highly successful in the past at reaching K-8 teachers and students in Alaska and La Paz, utilizing facilities at San Diego State University, the San Diego County Office of Education, the North Slope Borough School District, and the Centro de Investigaciones Biologicas del Noroeste (CIBNOR). The Web-based component of the project provides a versatile means of reaching the geographically diverse intended audience, as well as potentially reaching other audiences around the globe.