Telling Your Story at University of Southern Maine
- Suzy Ryan
On Thursday May 29, 2008, COSEE-NE and the Census of Marine Life’s Gulf of Maine Area program sponsored a Telling Your Story workshop to promote Ocean Literacy by strengthening the connection between marine science and education. The workshop helped scientists to learn what teachers do every day – how to reach children in a way that is meaningful to them.
Marine scientists and educators shared insights, created concept maps and made plans to bring the two worlds of research and education together, to inspire the next generation of scientists and teachers.
Eight educators from South Portland, Falmouth, and Saco, Maine, as well as area nonprofits, joined ten scientists from the University of Maine, University of Southern Maine, Southern Maine Community College, and University of New England in Maine, as well as Suffolk University (MA), for the workshop.
Telling Your Story helps scientists and educators to collaborate in ways that wouldn’t previously have been open to them. As a result of this workshop, Saco middle school teacher Pattie DeMaria took part in an intertidal research project in Cobscook Bay with Dr. Tom Trott of Suffolk University, as part of the History of the Nearshore project of the Census of Marine Life. Pattie's webjournal tells all about her experience.
For more information, or to find out if one of the TYS scientists might be able to visit your classroom, contact Susan Ryan, sryan[at]usm.maine.edu or Pam DiBona, pdibona[at]neaq.org.