Cyber-Enabled Earth Exploration: Development of Materials for Middle School Earth Science Instruction

该项目将为中学科学教师开发新的教学材料，帮助创造一种引人注目的科学发现课堂文化，让学生参与科学中丰富的创造性机会，并激励他们追求未来科学职业所需的高中科学课程。 这些材料将结合谷歌地球等新兴和广泛使用的技术，让中学生探索一个基本的科学问题，“地球的结构会影响你吗？“计算机技术的使用已被证明可以成功地激励中学生，使用综合地球系统科学方法提供了知识基础，方法和全球背景，使科学对中学生来说是可访问的，相关的和有意义的。 一个完整的学习单元和教师指南将由K-12课程设计，地质学和地理学的专家团队使用学习使用课程设计框架开发。这些材料将在蒙大拿州大约10个教室进行易用性和有效性测试，其中包括大班和小班，城市和农村社区，以及白色和美洲原住民学生。参与的教师将提供反馈，以帮助指导材料的修订，随后将分发给全国K-12社区。

This project will develop new instructional materials for middle school science teachers that help create a compelling classroom culture of scientific discovery, engage students in the creative opportunities that abound in science, and inspire them to pursue the high school science coursework needed for future careers in science. The materials will incorporate emerging and widely available technologies such as Google Earth to engage middle school students in exploring an essential science question, "Does the Earth's structure affect you?" The use of computer technologies has been shown to successfully motivate middle school students, and the use of an integrated Earth System Science approach provides the knowledge base, methodologies, and global context to make science accessible, relevant and meaningful for middle school students. A complete learning unit and teacher's guide will be developed by a team of experts in K-12 curriculum design, geology, and geography, using a Learning-for-Use curriculum design framework. The materials will be tested for ease-of-use and effectiveness in approximately ten classrooms across Montana, which include both large and small class sizes, urban and rural communities, and white and Native American students. Participating teachers will provide feedback to help guide revision of the materials, which will subsequently be disseminated to the national K-12 community.