OSEI Update July 2005
The second year of OSEI (Ocean Science Education Institute) was overwhelmingly successful in forging collaborations between researchers and educators, and also in developing sustainable curriculum and materials. The third year of OSEI is already well underway, with two collaborative projects funded and in full swing.
OSEI II
The culminating OSEI II event took place at WHOI on April 29th. Some exciting outcomes include: extraordinary curriculum (including materials posted on this website); additional grant-writing activities as a result of OSEI collaborations; and an interest in presenting projects at other national conferences. OSEI’s successes are apparent, as observed by Carol Baldassari, COSEE-NE evaluator: “It was an honor viewing the extraordinary work that you have done together on your COSEE-NE OSEI projects. The curriculum that you created collaboratively was impressive, and the time and energy that you provided was clearly evident. There was a real sense that these units will be further developed, refined or extended in each of the schools/districts in the future. One could definitely see that the COSEE-NE and OSEI goal of integrating rich, inquiry-based, content-laden, accurate, and relevant OS research into middle school science programs was achieved.”
In addition, classroom materials developed in the mud snail, plankton and Stellwagen projects are now an integral part of Boston Public Schools curriculum. Two ongoing OSEI projects (mud snails and plankton) with BPS will be funded during 2005-2006. Program facilitators will also expand the program to include two, week-long Filene-funded institutes this summer. These workshops will add training on the STC (Science and Technology for Children) Ecosystems unit for 5th grade, which is being adapted to specifically address the Massachusetts Bay ecosystem in place of the originally designed Chesapeake Bay focus of this nationally recognized science curriculum module.
Full Option Science System (FOSS) curriculum developers are interested in reviewing the OSEI curriculum for potential incorporation into existing FOSS kits. (FOSS is used in all BPS middle schools.) In addition, the Maritime and Heritage Museum in Gloucester has requested the use of materials from OSEI projects for an upcoming installation. And some of the materials were published in the June newsletter of the Southeastern New England Marine Educators (SENEME).
All OSEI participants are expected to present at regional or national meetings. Locally, OSEI teams are invited to present at the Boston Harbor Educators Conference being held October 1, 2005. This past spring, COSEE-NE was an important part of the annual Massachusetts Marine Educators conference held on April 30th. Jack Crowley, an MME board member and OSEI facilitator, has played an instrumental role in bringing MME and COSEE-NE together. During the conference Bob Chen and OSEI researcher Brad Harris both received awards for their contributions and outstanding leadership in ocean science education. In addition, Dr. Ralph Stephen and the OSEI Plymouth team presented their `Waves And Tsunamis’ project at the conference. Furthermore, Ralph is interested in presenting at the American Geophysical Union conference this fall.
OSEI III
An RFP for OSEI III was sent out in late winter 2005, and has been successful in engaging new COSEE-NE partners. Two proposals have been funded.
The goal of the Mass Audubon project, a partnership between scientists participating in the Plum Island Ecosystems Long Term Ecological Research (LTER) Network; Mass Audubon’s Salt Marsh Science Project; the Gulf of Maine Institute (GOMI); and public school systems, is to enhance and strengthen ocean science education. This one-year program will build upon relationships already created through extensive collaborations, and will provide the opportunity to incorporate a greater emphasis on ocean science in school curriculum. The target Massachusetts school districts are Newburyport, Salem, and Chelsea, where participants will work with teachers, curriculum coordinators and administrators, helping them to learn how current ocean science research and scientists working on these issues can impact grade 5-12 science education.
The project began in Woods Hole with an orientation and first workshop held May 5 and 6 that included all stakeholders. Presentations were given by 27 ocean scientists who were participating in research in the Plum Island Ecosystem LTER. Attendees also included teams of teachers from the Salem, Newburyport, Ipswich and Gloucester Public Schools, as well as informal educators who will serve as facilitators from Hands On Boat Based Education and Science; Mass Audubon; the Parker River National Wildlife Refuge; Gloucester Maritime Heritage Center; and GOMI. Orientation to OSEI and expectations for participants were introduced at this event.
This was followed by the full OSEI Summer Institute, held July 17 – 20, hosted by GOMI and held at Endicott College in Beverly, Massachusetts. Through GOMI, teams of teachers, youth and scientists come together every year to learn how to be better stewards of the Gulf of Maine Watershed, including coastal and ocean habitats. The focus this year is on how participants can learn to work together to promote healthy local watersheds, and become cognizant that improvement to local watersheds helps the bioregion as a whole. COSEE-NE Ocean Literacy Concepts will be articulated throughout the program. In November, all participants will be invited to share their work at Mass Audubon’s Coastal Science Conference held at the Nock Middle School in Newburyport. Finally, there will be a follow-up workshop in early summer 2006.
Project Plymouth Schools Oceanographic Studies (PSOS) is a partnership involving Bridgewater State College (BSC), Plymouth Public Schools, Captain John Boats and a select group of WHOI ocean scientists working in the New England area. This collaboration of institutions, organizations and individuals will develop an interactive, standards-based, oceanography program for all 7th grade students in the Plymouth school district. Project PSOS is designed to complement and enrich an established 7th grade Oceanography Unit currently being taught in Plymouth Public Schools. The SEMAST listserv and network will be used to recruit science teachers from surrounding districts to participate on the September and October boat trips as chaperones. The teachers will be able to see the curriculum in action and will be more likely to use the web-based curriculum. The project will include networking with ocean scientists working in New England and providing authentic scientific experiences, onshore and offshore, to participating middle school students.
In August participating scientists will review curriculum frameworks and prepare for the full OSEI workshop with teachers, which will be held a couple of weeks later. In early September teachers and scientists will review the equipment and stations for boat activities. Boat trips with teachers and students will take place throughout September and early October. There will then be three follow-up workshops scheduled throughout the fall, winter and spring 2005-2006.
All OSEI I, OSEI II, and OSEI III participants are invited to attend the first annual COSEE-NE Community Conference on March 4th, 2006 at UMass Boston, an opportunity to share and celebrate their work and to both continue and expand these successful collaborations and partnerships.
Text by Kim Frashure and Catherine Cramer
Links:
Maritime and Heritage Museum in Gloucester
Boston Harbor Educators Conference
Massachusetts Marine Educators
Plum Island Ecosystems Long Term Ecological Research (LTER) Network
Mass Audubon’s Salt Marsh Science Project
the Gulf of Maine Institute (GOMI)