Project Profile

The project, “DataTools" (formerly named "Expanding the Data Cycle: Empowering Middle Level Teachers and Students to Integrate Information Technology, Data Skills and Science Content”) provides middle–school teachers with the ability to access and analyze Earth science datasets, use data analysis tools (IT), and adapt them in a way that addresses both the interests and curricular needs of their students. It also enables the students of the participants to use Earth science data in a meaningful way and teach them skills with IT tools that they will carry with them in the future. The project produces customized educational activities, based on chapters in the Earth Exploration Toolbook (serc.carleton.edu/eet), which use Earth science data and data analysis tools. These customized educational activities will be made available to the broader educational community through the project Web site, the Going Further section of the relevant Earth Exploration Toolbook chapter, the Using Data in the Classroom Portal (serc.carleton.edu/usingdata), the National Science Digital Library (NSDL: www.nsdl.org) and the Digital Library for Earth System Education (DLESE: www.dlese.org). By having these tools on the web these resources are discoverable and thus usable to teachers nationally and internationally. The program involves 75 middle–school teachers over three years, 150 middle–school students in the summer workshops, and up to 9,000 students during the school year as the teachers implement the activities they developed during the summer with their students. Teachers are involved in a year-long teacher professional development program that includes a summer workshop and year–long support through online discussions, teleconferences and two one–day meetings.