Red River Geoscience Education Pilot Project

红河地球科学教育(RRGE)试点项目将为北达科他州东部的中学生提供一个学习机会，使他们了解影响流域水质的问题，特别是北方红河的水质(在北、南达科他州、明尼苏达州和马尼托巴省)。这一地球科学教育计划结合了在明尼苏达州分水岭部分启动的支流监测活动的补充扩展，利用该地区的主要地质特征，为科学教师发展和学生教育提供了一种协作方法。该项目的一个目标是为地区教育工作者提供有效的地球科学活动和方法，重点放在水问题上，供实地和课堂使用。学生的目标包括发展批判性思维和解决问题的技能，参与科学研究，并促进对地球科学特别是一般科学的兴趣。这些目标与国家科学基金会地球科学理事会、工作组报告以及国家和州科学教育标准的优先事项和建议相辅相成。根据参与的城乡学校的个人需求，试点项目将通过将体验式地球科学内容整合到课程中来提高科学教育的质量。这些学生将接受与河岸生境、水文学和人类对水质的影响有关的主题的实地、实验室和技术培训。在老师和地球科学家的指导下，学生们将在红河及其两条支流沿线地点监测水质参数并检查河岸状况，在每月的实地考察中收集数据并分析水样。学生将使用EPA批准的方法进行湿化学和仪器技术，以在学校实验室评估水样。随着学生在观察、采样、分析和数据整理技术方面获得经验，重点将转移到明尼苏达州分水岭部分学校的结果的相关性上，并纳入关于河流系统、降水、土壤和近地表地质、地面覆盖、景观和水生物种的信息。该计划将借鉴现有的课程，如教师水教育项目，以补充研究活动，并提供背景，以解释分析结果，并就影响生态系统质量的因素得出结论。他们将加深对决定河流健康的自然和人类之间的相互作用的理解。为区域科学和水质会议准备和发表的研究论文将总结学生的研究经验，并将他们的发现的意义与其他地球科学家联系起来。这些活动将通过在科学和县集市以及社区开放日等场所展示成果，帮助提高成年人和学生的科学素养。来自几个教育和专业领域的合作伙伴的参与将在北达科他州和明尼苏达州的K-12教育、大学和政府机构之间建立更紧密的关系。该计划将把当地的科学家和从业者与课堂教师联系起来，并为学生提供与科学家合作进行研究发现的机会。实践学习方面将通过在课堂上发展的技能的实际应用和联系来加强科学和数学教育。将研究放在当地环境的背景下，将赋予学生对地球的责任，并点燃他们的好奇心。该项目活动的影响将是提高参与该计划的社区的科学素养，并为红河分水岭的高中提供一个成功的模式，将“动手”的地球科学教育方法带到高中。由于试点既包括农村学区，也包括城市学区，因此可以探索和解决与这两个群体相关的独特问题，从而产生一个可以输出到整个红河流域和更远地区的项目。

0085583HartmanThe Red River Geoscience Education (RRGE) Pilot Project will give secondary school students in eastern North Dakota a learning opportunity that will prepare them to understand the issues that affect watershed water quality in general and, specifically, the water quality of the Red River of the North (in North and South Dakota, Minnesota, and Manitoba). Incorporating a complementary expansion of the tributary monitoring activities initiated in the Minnesota portion of the watershed, this geoscience education program provides a collaborative approach to science teacher development and student education using the major geological feature of the region. One objective of the project is to provide area educators with effective geoscience activities and methods, focused on water issues, to be used in the field and in the classroom. Objectives for the students include developing critical-thinking and problem-solving skills, participating in scientific research, and promoting interest in geoscience in particular and science in general. These objectives compliment the priorities and recommendations of the NSF directorate for Geosciences, Working Group Report, and national and state science education standards. Tailored to the individual needs of the participating urban and rural schools, the pilot project will improve the quality of science education by integrating experiential geoscience content into the coursework. The students will receive field, laboratory, and technology training in themes relating to riparian habitats, hydrology, and human impacts on water quality. Under the guidance of their teachers and geoscientists, students will monitor water quality parameters and examine riparian status at sites along the Red River and two of its tributaries, gathering data and analyzing water samples during monthly field trips. The students will perform wet-chemistry and instrumental techniques using EPA-approved methods to evaluate water samples in their school laboratories. As the students gain experience in observation, sampling, analysis, and data reduction techniques, the emphasis will shift to the correlation of the results from schools in the Minnesota portion of the watershed and incorporation of information on fluvial systems, precipitation, soil and near-surface geology, ground cover, landscape, and aquatic species. The program will draw from established curricula such as Project WET (Water Education for Teachers) to supplement research activities and provide the background to interpret the analytical results and draw conclusions on the factors affecting the quality of the ecosystem. They will develop an understanding of the interactions between nature and humans that determine the health of the river. The preparation and presentation of research papers for regional scientific and water quality conferences will summarize the students' research experience and relate the significance of their findings to other geoscientists. These activities will help raise the scientific literacy of adults as well as students through the presentation of results at venues such as science and county fairs and community open houses. The participation of partners from several educational and professional fields will build closer relationships between K-12 education, universities, and government agencies in North Dakota and Minnesota. This program will connect local scientists and practitioners with classroom teachers and provide student opportunities to work with scientists in research discovery. The hands-on learning aspect will enhance science and math education through the practical application and connections of skills developed in the classroom. Placing research in the context of their local environment will empower students with responsibility toward the Earth and ignite their curiosity. The impact of this project's activities will be greater science literacy in the communities participating in the program and a successful model for bringing the "hands-on-minds-on" approach to geoscience education to the high schools of the Red River watershed. Because the pilot includes both rural and urban school districts, the unique problems associated with both groups can be explored and addressed, yielding a program exportable throughout the Red River watershed and beyond.