Environmental sciences

A Youth-Led Citizen Science Network for Community Environmental Assessment

Georgia Bracey — Tue, 06 Aug 2024 17:46:19 +0000

A Youth-Led Citizen Science Network for Community Environmental Assessment

Georgia Bracey Tue, 08/06/2024 - 13:46

A Youth-Led Citizen Science Network for Community Environmental Assessment

Description

This curriculum was developed in an informal STEM context through after-school programs, however this versatile content can be implemented in a variety of formal and informal settings, including classroom use at the high school level. In this curriculum, students design, carry out, and communicate findings from technology-rich community-focused environmental citizen science projects. Students learn about various types of pollution, environmental health, and human impacts on the environment, as well as develop research and science communication skills and utilize various technologies and scientific tools. In addition, students connect with professional scientists and become a part of the scientific community themselves through conducting authentic research as citizen scientists. We approached the development of this curriculum with the theoretical framework of science identity development, and the goal of each student coming to believe that they are a ‘science person’. Carlone and Johnson (2007) posited that the prototypical 'science person' would have a certain level of competence, be able to demonstrate it, and be acknowledged for it by others, creating a model of identity with these three basic aspects. We used Carlone and Johnson's three science identity components of performance, recognition, and competence, as guiding goals for the curriculum, and you will see these highlighted at the top of each activity plan. Through engaging in real citizen science research and opportunities to demonstrate and be recognized for their skills as scientists, we hope all participants who engage with this curriculum will emerge with a strengthened sense of science identity.

Resources submitted by ITEST projects may be hosted on third-party sites or require a fee or membership for access. Permission to use these materials must be obtained from the publisher or the author listed on each resource.

Project Curricula Details

Website

https://ycitysci.wordpress.com/get-the-full-free-curriculum/

Target Setting(s)

Middle school (6-8)

High school (9-12)

Discipline(s)

Environmental sciences

Drones in Alaska Elementary Curriculum

Lynda McGilvary — Fri, 02 Aug 2024 23:10:47 +0000

Drones in Alaska Elementary Curriculum

Lynda McGilvary Fri, 08/02/2024 - 19:10

Drones in Alaska Elementary Curriculum

Description

This collection of three teacher's manuals, five videos, and one career exploration guide were created with and for Alaska Native communities as part of the Drone Research and Opportunities for Native Elementary Students project, funded by NSF I-TEST Grant Nos. 1850561 (Univ. of Alaska Fairbanks) and 1850556 (Univ. of Alaska Anchorage). The Drones in Alaska base curriculum has three versions, one with lexicon in Sugs'tun, one with lexicon in Lower Tanana Athabascan, and one with lexicon in Lower Koyukon Athabascan. The Teacher's manual for the Drones in Alaska base curriculum is applicable to all three student guides. The three place-based curricula introduce how drone-obtained data and imagery can be used to understand challenges faced in each of the three communities involved in the development of the resources. For Nenana, Alaska, the Luk'a and Drones unit focus on identifying salmon spawning grounds in the Nenana river. Associated lexicon is translated into Lower Tanana Athabascan (LTA). For Nulato, Alaska, the Studying Tokk'aano with Drones unit examines river erosion and related hazard mitigation. Associated lexicon is translated into Lower Koyukon Athabascan (LKA). For Valdez, Alaska, the Robe Lake unit addresses restoration of a culturally significant salmon harvesting site. Associated lexicon is translated into Sugs'tun. The base curriculum should be instructed prior to any of the place-based units. There is a Drones in Alaska student guide version that pairs to each dialect represented in the place-based units. Five videos supplement these print resources: the Drones in Alaska and Drone Safety videos are intended to pair with the Drones in Alaska base unit. Each of the place-based units have a corresponding video of the same name. The resources were pilot-tested with students in grades 4-6, however, due to the multi-grade classrooms in rural Alaska, some students in grades 2 and 3 also were able to interact with the curricula during pilot-testing.

Project Curricula Details

Topic(s)

Partnerships and Collaboration

Youth Motivation and Interests in STEM

Other

Website

Drones in Alaska Elementary Curriculum

Target Setting(s)

Elementary school (K-5)

Discipline(s)

Data Science

Environmental sciences

Geosciences

Life sciences

The Climate Action Simulation and 10,000 Pounds Project: A Team Based, Interactive Curriculum With Near-Peer Mentoring to Drive Students' STEM/ ICT Career Interests

Beth Mercer-Taylor — Mon, 06 May 2024 04:25:39 +0000

The Climate Action Simulation and 10,000 Pounds Project: A Team Based, Interactive Curriculum With Near-Peer Mentoring to Drive Students' STEM/ ICT Career Interests

Beth Mercer-Taylor Mon, 05/06/2024 - 00:25

The Climate Action Simulation and 10,000 Pounds Project: A Team Based, Interactive Curriculum With Near-Peer Mentoring to Drive Students' STEM/ ICT Career Interests

Pillar 1: Innovative Use of Technologies in Learning and Teaching

Combining a scientifically rigorous computer model with an engaging, richly social roleplay, the project offers a promising approach for aligning analytic, social and affective learning pathways. It combines simulation of the energy-climate system with simulation of the social aspects of group decision-making through roleplay. Playing the roles across industry, government, and activism, students are empowered to make decisions and to influence others’ decisions. Their collective aim, over rounds of negotiation, is to cr

Pillar 2: Partnerships for Career and Workforce Preparation.

Prior research shows that using the En-ROADS model and simulation is positively associated with changes in students’ climate science knowledge, affective engagement, and desire to learn more, thus enhancing STEM career readiness and interests in students, including those underrepresented in STEM fields. With the 10,000 Pound Project, students use STEM and teamwork skills to design an authentic (serving a real purpose) project that benefits their community. We know that such learning aligns well with the higher-level thi

Pillar 3: Strategies for Equity in STEM Education

Research shows that high impact educational practices, such as the simulations and project-based learning in this project, attract, engage and retain underserved students. Also, when instructional content is personally relevant and provides meaningful experience, learning outcomes are enhanced. With climate change and justice front of mind for many students, particularly those underrepresented in STEM fields and for whom climate disparities may be personally relevant, the focus of this project aims to open green job pa

Discipline(s)

Environmental sciences

Target Gradespan(s)

High school (9-12)

Target Participant(s)

Youth / students

Project Setting(s)

Formal Education

Category

Developing and Testing Innovations (DTI)

IntegrateAI: Integrating AI Learning into Middle School Science through Natural Language Processing

Bronwyn Taggart — Mon, 29 Apr 2024 21:14:15 +0000

IntegrateAI: Integrating AI Learning into Middle School Science through Natural Language Processing

Bronwyn Taggart Mon, 04/29/2024 - 17:14

IntegrateAI: Integrating AI Learning into Middle School Science through Natural Language Processing

Pillar 1: Innovative Use of Technologies in Learning and Teaching

Natural language data is everywhere: news articles, social media posts, YouTube transcripts, TikTok comments, and more. Large amounts of this data are related to scientific phenomena such as weather, health and diseases, engineering, and conservation. Our project leverages the power of artificial intelligence to process huge amounts of data in fractions of a second. This powerful field of artificial intelligence is called Natural Language Processing (NLP), and our project is applying it to middle-school science teaching

Pillar 2: Partnerships for Career and Workforce Preparation.

The Integrate AI Project is a partnership among the University of Florida, North Carolina State University, and Indiana University, carrying out a participatory co-design effort with teachers to develop an NLP+Science curriculum for middle-school students. This curriculum will increase students’ knowledge and interest in STEM and ICT careers.

Pillar 3: Strategies for Equity in STEM Education

The research team will provide potentially transformative experiences to 12 teachers and over 1,000 students, leveraging existing partnerships within a multi-district, two-state effort in Florida and Indiana in diverse schools with approximately 50% African-American students and the majority of students eligible for free or reduced-price lunch.

Discipline(s)

Environmental sciences

Emerging Tech (Artificial Intelligence, Quantum Computing, and Blockchain)

Target Gradespan(s)

Middle school (6-8)

Target Participant(s)

Youth / students

Educators

Project Setting(s)

Formal Education

Category

Developing and Testing Innovations (DTI)

Embedding LLM-powered conversational tutors in STEM videos through teacher-AI collaboration

Xu Wang — Fri, 26 Apr 2024 03:22:10 +0000

Embedding LLM-powered conversational tutors in STEM videos through teacher-AI collaboration

Xu Wang Thu, 04/25/2024 - 23:22

Embedding LLM-powered conversational tutors in STEM videos through teacher-AI collaboration

Pillar 1: Innovative Use of Technologies in Learning and Teaching

This project aims to embed conversational tutors to help students learn videos, which is an innovative learning experience for students. Moreover, this project innovates teacher-AI collaborative mechanisms in supporting teachers to configure and customize dynamic tutoring experience for students’ interaction with AI. This project will experiment with and combine LLM alignment techniques, RAG techniques, multi-agent approaches, and human-AI collaborative techniques in novel ways.

Pillar 2: Partnerships for Career and Workforce Preparation.

We partner with WGBH Educational Foundation (GBH), Boston’s PBS station, to support teachers to create and customize intelligent tutor accompanying the STEM learning resources available on PBS LearningMedia, a platform already popular among teachers nationwide, for its comprehensive library of over 5,000 high quality STEM-focused videos and millions of users. Our prototype will embed conversational tutors in STEM videos on PBS LearningMedia.

Pillar 3: Strategies for Equity in STEM Education

First, the conversational tutors would in particular benefit students who have limited access to expert teachers. One of the aims of this project is to provide personalized learning experiences at scale with the conversational tutors. Second, the conversational experience provides scaffolding during the students’ question answering process. This may in particular help the students who do not do well in traditional problem-solving or question answering activities.

Discipline(s)

Environmental sciences

Target Gradespan(s)

High school (9-12)

Target Participant(s)

Educators

Project Setting(s)

Formal Education

Category

RAPID

Embedding LLM-powered conversational tutors in STEM videos through teacher-AI collaboration

Xu Wang — Fri, 26 Apr 2024 03:01:20 +0000

Embedding LLM-powered conversational tutors in STEM videos through teacher-AI collaboration

Xu Wang Thu, 04/25/2024 - 23:01

Embedding LLM-powered conversational tutors in STEM videos through teacher-AI collaboration

Pillar 1: Innovative Use of Technologies in Learning and Teaching

Pillar 2: Partnerships for Career and Workforce Preparation.

In this project, we partner with WGBH Educational Foundation (GBH), Boston’s PBS station, to support teachers to create and customize intelligent tutor accompanying the STEM learning resources available on PBS LearningMedia, a platform already popular among teachers nationwide, for its comprehensive library of over 5,000 high quality STEM-focused videos and millions of users. Our prototype will embed conversational tutors in STEM videos on PBS LearningMedia.

Pillar 3: Strategies for Equity in STEM Education

Discipline(s)

Environmental sciences

Target Gradespan(s)

High school (9-12)

Target Participant(s)

Educators

Project Setting(s)

Formal Education

Category

RAPID

Hybrid Immersive Learning Environments for the Diné

Shawn Jordan — Fri, 26 Apr 2024 02:32:40 +0000

Hybrid Immersive Learning Environments for the Diné

Shawn Jordan Thu, 04/25/2024 - 22:32

Hybrid Immersive Learning Environments for the Diné

Pillar 1: Innovative Use of Technologies in Learning and Teaching

The immersive virtual environment will support science investigation in the past and present through situated, place-based investigation, with connections to cultural and historical context, and visualizations not accessible in real world environments. The hands-on engineering design activity will involve culturally sustaining Diné engineering design activities to engage students in designing solutions in the present and for the future of energy and water on the Navajo Nation.

Pillar 2: Partnerships for Career and Workforce Preparation.

This study will directly impact 1800+ middle school students and 60+ teachers across 15+ schools across all 5 agencies of the Navajo Nation by providing opportunities to learn about the history and contemporary issues surrounding energy and water conservation affecting the future of their communities. A train-the-trainer (TTT) model for PD will be used to promote tribal sovereignty by building internal capacity to scale and sustain implementation of the curricula.

Pillar 3: Strategies for Equity in STEM Education

A Community Participatory Design-Based Research (CP-DBR) approach will be used to collaborate with Diné community members (including elders, leaders, teachers, and engineers) to co-design and improve the virtual environment, integrate Diné traditional ecological knowledge (TEK), hands-on engineering design curriculum, and teacher professional development. CP-DBR is a responsible and ethical data-driven process to collaborate with the Diné community on research that benefits both Diné and research communities.

Discipline(s)

Engineering

Environmental sciences

Interdisciplinary

Target Gradespan(s)

Middle school (6-8)

Target Participant(s)

American Indian/Alaska Native participants

Project Setting(s)

Formal Education

Category

Developing and Testing Innovations (DTI)

Research Study

Youth-Based

Molly Community Science: Supporting Science Exploration and Environmental Identity Development with PBS KIDS’ Molly of Denali

Jessica Andrews — Thu, 25 Apr 2024 20:48:48 +0000

Molly Community Science: Supporting Science Exploration and Environmental Identity Development with PBS KIDS’ Molly of Denali

Jessica Andrews Thu, 04/25/2024 - 16:48

Molly Community Science: Supporting Science Exploration and Environmental Identity Development with PBS KIDS’ Molly of Denali

Pillar 1: Innovative Use of Technologies in Learning and Teaching

In rural Alaska, cutting-edge media technologies can be expensive and challenging to implement without reliable internet access. Instead, our project incorporates innovative uses of more established media. We are creating Molly of Denali animations that show characters exploring nature using observation tools like field journals and hand lenses; live-action video that highlights scientists and Elders working together to care for the environment; and a mobile app that helps children illustrate and narrate their learning.

Pillar 2: Partnerships for Career and Workforce Preparation.

Informed by research findings, our project is working closely with three rural Alaska Native communities—Bethel, Hoonah, and Northway—to co-create and test the community science program and supporting media resources. This is being done in collaboration with a community liaison and a co-design team (made up of parents, educators, Elders, scientists, and culture bearers) in each community. Public media stations AKPM and KUAC are also assisting with the development of the program and sharing information about the project.

Pillar 3: Strategies for Equity in STEM Education

Alaska Native communities possess vast environmental science knowledge, yet Alaska Native people are underrepresented in STEM fields. Building on research that links environmental identity with pursuit of science careers, our project takes an assets-based, culturally responsive approach in order to create a community science program that helps children develop a stronger affinity for science while validating and celebrating their personal environmental and cultural identities.

Discipline(s)

Environmental sciences

Target Gradespan(s)

Elementary school (K-5)

Target Participant(s)

Youth / students

Educators

Parents / caregivers / families

Girls (or women)

American Indian/Alaska Native participants

Project Setting(s)

Informal Education

Category

Developing and Testing Innovations (DTI)

WATERS: Watershed Awareness using Technology and Environmental Research for Sustainability

Nanette Marcum-Dietrich — Wed, 24 Apr 2024 21:15:33 +0000

WATERS: Watershed Awareness using Technology and Environmental Research for Sustainability

Nanette Marcum… Wed, 04/24/2024 - 17:15

WATERS: Watershed Awareness using Technology and Environmental Research for Sustainability

Pillar 1: Innovative Use of Technologies in Learning and Teaching

The WATERS project leverages Universal Design for Learning (UDL) technologies to tailor educational experiences, ensuring accessibility for all students. By integrating UDL technologies, interactive tools and GIS modeling technologies into our curriculum, we enhance student engagement and understanding of complex watershed issues. This approach significantly boosts learning outcomes, particularly for students with disabilities, by adapting content delivery to diverse learning needs.

Pillar 2: Partnerships for Career and Workforce Preparation.

The WATERS project collaborates with local water agencies and environmental professionals via career videos to connect classroom learning with real-world water career opportunities. These partnerships provide students with practical insights into the water industry, enhancing their readiness for STEM careers. By bridging academic concepts with professional practices, we prepare students to meet the future demands of the workforce in water-related fields.

Pillar 3: Strategies for Equity in STEM Education

The WATERS project adopts a multifaceted approach to equity in STEM education by integrating UDL principles, ensuring that all students, including those with disabilities can access and engage with the curriculum. We focus on hands-on, inclusive activities that highlight diverse career paths in water-related fields, aiming to inspire a broader demographic of students to pursue STEM careers.

Discipline(s)

Environmental sciences

Target Gradespan(s)

Middle school (6-8)

Target Participant(s)

Youth / students

Project Setting(s)

Formal Education

Category

Scale-Up

Data Jam: Engaging Students with Local Ecological Data in Puerto Rico

Steven McGee — Wed, 24 Apr 2024 20:35:39 +0000

Data Jam: Engaging Students with Local Ecological Data in Puerto Rico

Steven McGee Wed, 04/24/2024 - 16:35

Data Jam: Engaging Students with Local Ecological Data in Puerto Rico

Pillar 1: Innovative Use of Technologies in Learning and Teaching

Students use CODAP to conduct their analyses of data. CODAP’s drag-and-drop interface creates an accessible environment for creating a variety of high-quality visualizations. The Data Jam project has curated Luquillo LTER datasets about hydrology, shrimp populations and dragonfly populations to scaffold students in using CODAP to investigate their own research questions. Data Jam provides students with structured challenge activities that build data science capacity and empower them to develop their own projects.

Pillar 2: Partnerships for Career and Workforce Preparation.

Luquillo LTER scientists serve as Data Jam mentors for both teachers & students. They meet regularly with a team of teachers to provide feedback on Data Jam progress. They also present to each teacher’s class, describing their professional journey and providing an example of Luquillo research. At the end of Data Jam, the mentors attend the symposium and provide students with feedback on their posters. Both teachers and students have commented on the importance of the mentors for building students’ scientific identity.

Pillar 3: Strategies for Equity in STEM Education

An important pillar of Ladson-Billings’ culturally relevant pedagogy model is student empowerment. She stresses that schools should empower students to apply what they are learning to their daily lives. Data Jam exemplifies this empowerment by engaging students in conducting research about their environment. For many teachers, Data Jam is the 1st time they have been able to introduce students to authentic data from a local iconic forest. Data Jam has provided students with a new perspective on their local environment.

Discipline(s)

Data Science

Environmental sciences

Life sciences

Target Gradespan(s)

Middle school (6-8)

High school (9-12)

Target Participant(s)

Youth / students

Educators

Project Setting(s)

Formal Education

Category

Developing and Testing Innovations (DTI)

Environmental sciences

A Youth-Led Citizen Science Network for Community Environmental Assessment

A Youth-Led Citizen Science Network for Community Environmental Assessment

A Youth-Led Citizen Science Network for Community Environmental Assessment

Description

Project Curricula Details

Drones in Alaska Elementary Curriculum

Drones in Alaska Elementary Curriculum

Drones in Alaska Elementary Curriculum

Description

Project Curricula Details

The Climate Action Simulation and 10,000 Pounds Project: A Team Based, Interactive Curriculum With Near-Peer Mentoring to Drive Students' STEM/ ICT Career Interests

The Climate Action Simulation and 10,000 Pounds Project: A Team Based, Interactive Curriculum With Near-Peer Mentoring to Drive Students' STEM/ ICT Career Interests

The Climate Action Simulation and 10,000 Pounds Project: A Team Based, Interactive Curriculum With Near-Peer Mentoring to Drive Students' STEM/ ICT Career Interests

Pillar 1: Innovative Use of Technologies in Learning and Teaching

Pillar 2: Partnerships for Career and Workforce Preparation.

Pillar 3: Strategies for Equity in STEM Education

Employing Peer Mentoring to Empower Youth to Become 21st Century Energy Leaders

IntegrateAI: Integrating AI Learning into Middle School Science through Natural Language Processing

IntegrateAI: Integrating AI Learning into Middle School Science through Natural Language Processing

IntegrateAI: Integrating AI Learning into Middle School Science through Natural Language Processing

Pillar 1: Innovative Use of Technologies in Learning and Teaching

Pillar 2: Partnerships for Career and Workforce Preparation.

Pillar 3: Strategies for Equity in STEM Education

Integrating AI Learning into Middle School Science through Natural Language Processing

Embedding LLM-powered conversational tutors in STEM videos through teacher-AI collaboration

Embedding LLM-powered conversational tutors in STEM videos through teacher-AI collaboration

Embedding LLM-powered conversational tutors in STEM videos through teacher-AI collaboration

Pillar 1: Innovative Use of Technologies in Learning and Teaching

Pillar 2: Partnerships for Career and Workforce Preparation.

Pillar 3: Strategies for Equity in STEM Education

Empowering Teachers to Collaborate with Generative AI for Developing High-Quality STEM Learning Resources

Embedding LLM-powered conversational tutors in STEM videos through teacher-AI collaboration

Embedding LLM-powered conversational tutors in STEM videos through teacher-AI collaboration

Embedding LLM-powered conversational tutors in STEM videos through teacher-AI collaboration

Pillar 1: Innovative Use of Technologies in Learning and Teaching

Pillar 2: Partnerships for Career and Workforce Preparation.

Pillar 3: Strategies for Equity in STEM Education

Empowering Teachers to Collaborate with Generative AI for Developing High-Quality STEM Learning Resources

Hybrid Immersive Learning Environments for the Diné

Hybrid Immersive Learning Environments for the Diné

Hybrid Immersive Learning Environments for the Diné

Pillar 1: Innovative Use of Technologies in Learning and Teaching

Pillar 2: Partnerships for Career and Workforce Preparation.

Pillar 3: Strategies for Equity in STEM Education

Culturally situated immersive virtual learning and engineering design to build STEM capacity in Dine communities

Molly Community Science: Supporting Science Exploration and Environmental Identity Development with PBS KIDS’ Molly of Denali

Molly Community Science: Supporting Science Exploration and Environmental Identity Development with PBS KIDS’ Molly of Denali

Molly Community Science: Supporting Science Exploration and Environmental Identity Development with PBS KIDS’ Molly of Denali

Pillar 1: Innovative Use of Technologies in Learning and Teaching

Pillar 2: Partnerships for Career and Workforce Preparation.

Pillar 3: Strategies for Equity in STEM Education

Investigating environmental identity development among children in rural Alaska Native communities through intergenerational, culturally responsive community science programming

WATERS: Watershed Awareness using Technology and Environmental Research for Sustainability

WATERS: Watershed Awareness using Technology and Environmental Research for Sustainability

WATERS: Watershed Awareness using Technology and Environmental Research for Sustainability

Pillar 1: Innovative Use of Technologies in Learning and Teaching

Pillar 2: Partnerships for Career and Workforce Preparation.

Pillar 3: Strategies for Equity in STEM Education

Watershed Awareness using Technology and Environmental Research for Sustainability (WATERS)

Data Jam: Engaging Students with Local Ecological Data in Puerto Rico

Data Jam: Engaging Students with Local Ecological Data in Puerto Rico

Data Jam: Engaging Students with Local Ecological Data in Puerto Rico

Pillar 1: Innovative Use of Technologies in Learning and Teaching

Pillar 2: Partnerships for Career and Workforce Preparation.

Pillar 3: Strategies for Equity in STEM Education

Supporting the Scientific Practice of Data Analysis through Creative Investigations of Long-Term Ecological Datasets