FEATURE ARTICLE

UMCES/Sea Grant
'03 Science Programs

Here are some great summer opportunities for K-12 teachers
from research fellowships to workshops that will
help "energize your science skills"

Summer Research Fellowship

There are a great number of programs that offer professional development during the summer months that focus on improving science teaching methods and activities in the classroom. However, there is an even greater need to immerse science teachers in research fellowship opportunities that emphasize the process of science and how current research can be applied in the classroom setting. One focus of the UMCES~Sea Grant Environmental Science Education Program (ESEP) is a necessary expansion of "a meaningful Bay experience" to include a greater emphasis on the classroom teacher. Teachers are the individuals that will ultimately make the student experiences meaningful by weaving together what they have learned during a field day or overnight trip with current critical issues that impact the watershed and how these issues are being addressed. This summer research fellowship will enable teachers to gain a greater understanding of the watershed and how the scientific process becomes the first step in gathering critical information to make decisions.

In this 8-week program, teachers will spend the first week in an introductory course, June 23-27, (Ecology of the Chesapeake Watershed) traveling to the various fellowship sites learning how current research is addressing critical watershed issues. Following this course, teachers will spend 7 weeks in a research lab working side by side with University scientists on a research project that they will be able to translate into practical "hands-on" classroom activities for their students. In addition, teachers will present their work at the annual MAEOE conference held in Ocean City, MD, on January 31, 2004.

Other Benefits:

1. Classroom applications that enhance the "processes of science";
2. Written materials (and appropriate supplies) that partner the applied activities and science research at a fellowship site;
3. upport, communication and follow-ups with ESEP education specialists beyond fellowship commitment through personal communications, an interactive web site, and annual meetings.

Chesapeake 2000:
Incorporating the Chesapeake Bay Agreement into the Classroom

This summer, teachers will have the opportunity to take part in a unique course that brings together University-based research and data with the Chesapeake Bay 2000 agreement. This course will give educators field and lab-based experiences in living resources, habitat and water quality protection and restoration, sound land use practices and environmental stewardship. Specifically, the objectives of the course are as follows:

• Familiarize educators with the Chesapeake 2000 Agreement
• Provide a historical context to the current state of the Chesapeake Bay and its living resources
• Introduce ongoing research and accessible data sources that support C2000 goals
• Provide classroom applications
• Introduce opportunities that facilitate the C2000 goal of a "meaningful Bay or stream outdoor experience" Information

Requirements

Educators will be required to:

• Keep a journal throughout the course.
• Prepare a lesson/activity integrating course materials/concepts for application in the classroom.
• Present their lesson/activity to all participants at a final session to be held one Saturday in the fall of 2003.

Support

Course participants will be chosen competitively from among applicants who submit materials requested on the application form. Participants will receive:

• Integration of all workshop themes to MSDE Core Learning Goals and Learning Objectives.
• Materials, Supplies and Teaching Media

Microbes for Hire Workshop

This summer, 15 Maryland middle and high school science teachers will be able to participate in the Microbes for Hire Workshop at the Center of Marine Biotechnology (COMB). The Microbes for Hire Workshop is designed to translate the applied microbial research at COMB into laboratory activities for teachers and students in Maryland. Here are some topics to be explored:

• Bioremediation and the Effectiveness of biosurfactants
• Bioluminescence and the Application of Biosensors
• Bacterial Biofilms and Their Relationship to biodiversity
• The Science of Winogradsky Columns and Marine "Microbial" Sediment
• Biofilms in Biological Filtration for the Aquarium
• Using extremophiles in the classroom, labs activities with halophiles.

For more Information, contact:
J. Adam Frederick
Maryland Sea Grant Extension
Center of Marine Biotechnology
701 East Pratt Street
Baltimore, MD 21202

Chesapeake Bay Aquarium
in the Classroom Workshop

The University of Maryland Biotechnology Institute (UMBI) is funding an opportunity for teachers to participate in a week long workshop that will allow them to set up a 20 gallon Chesapeake Bay fish tank in their classroom. The seminar will take place at the University of Maryland's Biotechnology Institute's downtown location in Baltimore. Participants will be given all the necessary equipment as well as instruction on maintenance of the tank. Two days will be set aside to collect organisms from Bay locations to live in the aquarium. The purpose is to utilize an aquarium as a hands-on instructional tool for the students and to develop curriculum associated with the Chesapeake Bay. The program will allow up to 15 participants.

Teachers will gain a better understanding of :

• The Ecology of Chesapeake Bay
• Preparation of Fresh and Salt Water
• Maintaining Living Organisms
• Species Identification
• Bay Conservation Issues
• Estuary Management

For more information contact:
Jeff Morgen, Education Specialist
UMBI Science and Technology Education Programs
701 East Pratt Street
Baltimore, MD 21202
(410) 576-5778
morgen@umbi.umd.edu

http://www.mdsg.umd.edu/Extension/msgsnn/msgsnn05_2/index.html