Graduate Teaching Fellows in STEM High School Education: An Environmental Science Learning Community at the Land-Lake Ecosystem Interface

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GRADUATE TEACHING FELLOWS IN K-12 EDUCATIONABSTRACTPROPOSAL #: 0742395PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR: Stepien, CarolINSTITUTION: University of ToledoTITLE: Graduate Teaching Fellows in STEM High School Education: An Environmental Science Learning Community at the Land-Lake Ecosystem Interface The proposed program, ?Graduate Teaching Fellows in STEM High School Education: An Environmental Science Learning Community at the Land-Lake Ecosystem Interface? partners advanced graduate students at the University of Toledo and nearby University of Windsor with high school teachers and their students to build an Environmental Science Learning Community at the land-lake ecosystem interface. The objectives are to: 1) Generate student enthusiasm for science careers by engaging them in hands-on research into environmental problems, 2) Exchange knowledge and pedagogies between graduate students and high school teachers resulting in cutting-edge environmental science content and increased teaching and communication skills, and 3) Develop hands-on solutions to environmental problems along schoolyard stream ecosystems feeding the Great Lakes. Graduate fellows, teachers, and high school students will gain hands-on experience in the role of urban and agricultural influences on watersheds in the history, social development, and future vitality of the Great Lakes region; disseminated through the project website, presentations, and publications. Research on environmental problems is a real method through which students can give back to their own local communities, thereby helping to build an educational network focused on making lifestyles more interactive with the natural environment. This program thus embraces the public scholarship philosophic concept of merging scientific research with civic responsibility to benefit the public and the community.