Collaborative Research: Teachers on the Leading Edge: Linking K-12 Earth Science Teachers to EarthScope

EarthScope USArray和板块边界观测站（PBO）仪器目前正在监测太平洋西北部的变形和地震活动。地球科学家正在利用地球望远镜的数据来加深对我们大陆“前沿”活动大陆边缘的了解。前沿教师（TOTLE）是一个教师专业发展项目，以太平洋西北地区地质学、相关地质灾害和地球镜科学为特色。TOTLE邀请K-12教师成为地球物理学家新手，使用地球范围科学来提高学生对板块构造，地震和海啸以及火山的理解。通过这个项目，TOTLE:(1)将120名K-12和社区大学的地球科学教师引入EarthScope项目；(2)使教师沉浸在以探究为基础的活动大陆边缘地质学研究中；(3)与联合国教科文组织、地震学联合研究所和地球望远镜国家办公室的科学教育工作者协调，编写教材，向K-12学生和全国公众传达地球望远镜科学的奇迹；(4)在一名社区大学教师的带领下，组建教师-学习者团队，促进将地球观测科学融入K-12课程；(5)为地球科学教育工作者提供了一个模板，以便在USArray在全国范围内开展工作时，建立基于地点的项目，将EarthScope科学与区域地质学联系起来。TOTLE提供了一个K-12科学教师、大学科学教育者、联邦和州政府科学家之间协调的例子，以开发一个科学教育计划，在保留前沿研究的真实性的同时，使科学对K-12教师和学生具有吸引力、可访问性和有用性。

EarthScope USArray and Plate Boundary Observatory (PBO) instruments are currently monitoring deformation and seismicity in the Pacific Northwest. Geoscientists are using EarthScope data to advance understanding of the active continental margin at "the leading edge" of our continent. Teachers on the Leading Edge (TOTLE) is a teacher professional development program featuring Pacific Northwest geology, associated geologic hazards, and EarthScope science. TOTLE invites K-12 teachers to become novice geophysicists using EarthScope science to enhance their students' understanding of plate tectonics, earthquakes and tsunamis, and volcanoes. Through this project, TOTLE: (1) introduces 120 K-12 and community college teachers of Earth Science to the EarthScope Project; (2) immerses teachers in inquiry-based studies of active continental margin geology; (3) coordinates with science educators at UNAVCO, the Incorporated Research Institutes for Seismology, and the EarthScope National Office in developing instructional materials that convey the wonder of EarthScope science to K-12 learners and the general public nationwide; (4) forms teams of teacher-learners, led by a community college instructor, that promote integration of EarthScope science into the K-12 curriculum; and (5) provides a template for Geoscience educators to build place-based programs that connect EarthScope science with regional geology as USArray steps across the country. TOTLE provides an example of coordination between K-12 science teachers, university science educators, and federal and state government scientists to develop a science education program that preserves the authenticity of cutting-edge research while making that science inviting, accessible, and useful to K-12 teachers and students.