Collaborative Research: Model My Watershed - Teaching Environmental Sustainability

该项目将为高中教室开发环境/地球科学学科课程。它将通过基于当地数据和问题的实践活动，教授解决问题的系统方法。这将为学生提供一个机会，在解决他们感兴趣的问题的同时，在他们的社区中行动，并需要综合先前的学习。“我的流域模型”（MMW） v2应用程序将把新的环境数据集和地理空间功能带入课堂，提供一个基于云的学习和分析平台，可通过任何计算机或移动设备上的网络浏览器访问，从而克服将地理信息系统技术整合到中学教育中的成本和技术障碍。它还将集成新的低成本环境传感器，允许学生收集和上传自己的数据，并将其与新的MMW v2上显示的数据进行比较。这个项目将改变全国教师在课堂上引入地理空间分析实践活动的能力，探索项目特定课程重点之外的广泛的地理、社会、政治和环境概念和问题。《下一代科学标准》指出，真实的研究经验是加强STEM学习的必要条件。计算建模和数据收集与分析的结合将集成到该项目中，以满足这一需求。将STEM内容置于基于地点和问题的框架中可以提高STEM学习。学生们以小组为单位工作，不仅要设计解决方案，还需要在应用程序门户中通过创建多媒体产品（如视频、文章和web 2.0演示）来捍卫这些解决方案。研究计划测试了一个整体假设，即如果为学生提供基于问题的、基于地点的、使用真实数据、真实地理空间分析工具和模型的实践学习经验，以及收集自己的支持数据的机会，他们更有可能对需要系统思维和/或空间思维的职业产生兴趣，比如环境科学。MMW v2 web应用程序将包含一个数据可视化工具，用于传输与建模应用程序相关的数据。该数据库将进行修改，以整合学生数据，以便教师和学生可以轻松地将自己的数据与其他学生、政府和研究数据收集的数据进行比较。所有数据都可以很容易地下载，以便学生可以更多地使用真实数据来支持教学练习。作为基于模型的活动的补充，项目合作伙伴将设计、制造和分发一种低成本的环境监测设备，称为“分水岭跟踪器”。这个装置将允许学生收集真实世界的数据，以增强他们对流域动态的理解。Watershed Tracker具有温度、光线、湿度和土壤湿度传感器，可通过所有这些设备通用的音频插孔连接到平板电脑和智能手机。

This project will develop curricula for environmental/geoscience disciplines for high-school classrooms. It will teach a systems approach to problem solving through hands-on activities based on local data and issues. This will provide an opportunity for students to act in their communities while engaging in solving problems they find interesting, and require synthesis of prior learning. The Model My Watershed (MMW) v2 app will bring new environmental datasets and geospatial capabilities into the classroom, to provide a cloud-based learning and analysis platform accessible from a web browser on any computer or mobile device, thus overcoming the cost and technical obstacles to integrating Geographic Information System technology in secondary education. It will also integrate new low-cost environmental sensors that allow students to collect and upload their own data and compare them to data visualized on the new MMW v2. This project will transform the ability of teachers throughout the nation to introduce hands-on geospatial analysis activities in the classroom, to explore a wide range of geographic, social, political and environmental concepts and problems beyond the project's specific curricular focus. The Next Generation Science Standards state that authentic research experiences are necessary to enhance STEM learning. A combination of computational modeling and data collection and analysis will be integrated into this project to address this need. Placing STEM content within a place- and problem-based framework enhances STEM learning. Students, working in groups, will not only design solutions, they will be required to defend them within the application portal through the creation of multimedia products such as videos, articles and web 2.0 presentations. The research plan tests the overall hypothesis that students are much more likely to develop an interest in careers that require systems thinking and/or spatial thinking, such as environmental sciences, if they are provided with problem-based, place-based, hands-on learning experiences using real data, authentic geospatial analysis tools and models, and opportunities to collect their own supporting data. The MMW v2 web app will include a data visualization tool that streams data related to the modeling application. This database will be modified to integrate student data so teachers and students can easily compare their data to data collected by other students and the government and research data. All data will be easily downloadable so that students can increase the use of real data to support the educational exercises. As a complement to the model-based activities, the project partners will design, manufacture, and distribute a low-cost environmental monitoring device, called the Watershed Tracker. This device will allow students to collect real-world data to enhance their understanding of watershed dynamics. Featuring temperature, light, humidity, and soil moisture sensors, the Watershed Tracker will be designed to connect to tablets and smartphones through the audio jack common to all of these devices.