Geoscience Education Opportunities: Partnerships to Advance TeacHing & Scholarship (GEOPATHS)

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Geoscience Education Opportunities: Partnerships to Advance TeacHing & Scholarship (GEOPATHS)The GEOPATHS project (Track 2) is implementing a program to increase the participation of underrepresented students in the geosciences within the framework of Phase III of the Louis Stokes Missouri Alliance for Minority Participation (LSMoAMP). The project is being conducted through a partnership between the University of Missouri-Kansas City (UMKC) and the Kansas City Missouri School District (KCMSD). Project objectives are to: 1) Increase middle school and high school teacher knowledge content in geosciences to help meet the new science curriculum and Missouri grade level expectations; 2) Increase the performance of KCMO School District students on statewide science exams by integrating inquiry-based geoscience educational modules into the new science curriculum; 3) Increase student awareness of earth systems and environmental science and the potential for careers in the geosciences; and 4) Increase the number of underrepresented minorities entering geoscience fields at the undergraduate college level. Thirty KCMSD teachers will participate in rigorous professional development activities during two summers, leading to up to 9 graduate credits in the geosciences that can be used for certification. These inquiry-based activities, based on the GLOBE and IRIS program curricula, will utilize concept mapping and learning cycle strategies. During the school year, these teachers will develop and field test instructional units that mirror active scientific inquiry and field based problem solving in the geosciences. During the third and fourth year, UMKC faculty will mentor teachers who completed the two-year professional development course and help them to obtain certification to teach college level environmental science at KCMSD high schools. Teachers who have trained through the GEOPATHS program will be asked to nominate up to 5 motivated upper level high school students for participation in a paid 6-week summer research internship program working with geoscience faculty at UMKC each year. In addition, 5 Excellence in Geoscience Scholarships ($5,000 each) will be offered each year to a select group of incoming minority students with interests in the geosciences who are applying to any of the LS-MoAMP colleges and universities. Continuation of these scholarships is dependent on academic performance and continuing interest in the geosciences. Outreach to local schools and communities through a science guest lecture program and community events during Earth Science Week will be used to advertise the GEOPATHS program and increase awareness about educational and career opportunities in the geosciences.