RAPID: Enriching Education with Authentic Science and Outreach Using Cyberinfrastructure and Partnering Research Experiences for Teachers, High School Students and Undergraduates

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RAPID: Enriching Education with Authentic Science and Outreach using Cyberinfrastructure and Partnering Research Experiences for Teachers, High School Students, and Undergraduates The Gulf Coast oil spill offers terrific opportunities for educational impact at multiple levels, specifically in areas of scale, the role of scientific models and modeling, and the molecular sciences. The problem is of intrinsic interest to the population at large, and more specifically, those inhabitants of Gulf Coast states including Texas. This interest is fertile ground for questioning, learning, and research. Experience suggests that teachers, middle and high school students and undergraduates can all benefit from contextual settings offered to the curriculum through the rich data sets and the multidisciplinary nature of the disaster. Cyberinfrastructure and on-campus research opportunities increase their exposure and understanding of authentic science and the scientific method. Based on the timeliness of the events and proximity, the participants will be supported from the start of the school term and throughout the academic year and summer while the events are still unfolding, and activities and information is most available. These activities are enabling and synergistic in that the proposed efforts train undergraduates in a lab-course setting (REU-like) and teachers (RET-like) in a traditional research experience focusing on the creation of polymers that gel hydrocarbons as opposed to dispersing them. During the academic year, teacher-undergraduate teams will also prepare materials related to the spill and research activities using webcams, video conferencing, and other cyberinfrastructure tools for the classroom. Other spill activities will include interviews with other scientists participating in Gulf spill research. Summer research experiences (REU and RET) will provided for those with continued interest, and will include high school students in the team structure. Further, the efforts will deliver and offer for dissemination, e-resources for education and the building of a virtual organization of novices and experts interested in the Gulf Coast oil spill to engage and empower citizen-scientists.