Outdoor Learning Inspires Teachers and Students to Use Science and Math to Solve the World's Most Challenging Environmental I...
06 Juin 2016 - 5:13PM
The Northrop Grumman Foundation and Conservation International have
selected the 16 teachers – four teams, with four participants each
– who will participate in this year's ECO Classroom program. After
receiving applications from close to 100 educators this year,
teachers were selected based on their motivation, qualifications,
and recommendations from colleagues. The teachers selected for the
program represent a wide range of backgrounds and experiences -
crucial elements of the program's success.
The teams going to Costa Rica on the 2016 ECO Classroom program
are:
1) Highland Hellbenders (Gate City, Virginia) – A team of
mid-career teachers from rural Virginia that are eager to bring
home new techniques in teaching biodiversity. They will compare
biodiversity between Virginia and Costa Rica, looking at both
terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems.
2) Tropical Smoothies (Smithtown, New York) – Veteran science
teachers from Long Island with history of getting students involved
in fieldwork. They will compare biodiversity between different
habitats (agriculture vs. forests) and quantify abiotic factors
(pH, soil moisture, temperature, etc.) and see how these affect
biodiversity.
3) Douglas County (Castle Rock, Colorado) – A mixed team of
young and experienced teachers from Colorado with a global mindset
and focus on meaningful group inquiry lessons and fieldwork. This
team will investigate how carbon sequestration changes across
different forest types and ages.
4) The Science Alliance (Los Angeles, California) – A young and
ambitious team from California with positive energy that seeks to
make their science classes relevant to an urban community with
little access to nature. They are comparing the levels of
biodiversity between California and Costa Rica.
The potential for project-based learning and real-world examples
to generate students' interests in math and science led the
Northrop Grumman Foundation and Conservation International to
partner in 2012 to create ECO Classroom - a unique professional
development program for middle and high school science teachers in
the U.S. The program improves environmental literacy in the
classroom and help teachers motivate their students to pursue
careers in science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) so
they can develop the skills they need to tackle the world's most
pressing environmental issues and become the next generation of
environmental stewards.
The ECO Classroom program offers an intensive two-week
experience at an active field site in Costa Rica where teachers can
learn first-hand from local researchers how to collect ecological
data and work toward completing a group research project. Teachers
use this experience when they return to their classrooms, giving
students practical, hands-on involvement with environmental
sustainability and STEM topics.
Conservation International's Tropical Ecology Assessment and
Monitoring (TEAM) Network, oversees the ECO Classroom program. The
TEAM site in Costa Rica, based out of La Selva Biological Station,
produced some 200 scientific papers last year, making it an ideal
location for educators to learn how science is done in the field.
In the past four years, ECO Classroom has provided training to 64
teachers from 13 different states, reaching a total of nearly
24,000 students over the length of the program.
"Going to La Selva was such a wonderful experience for me," says
Robin Rumery, a former participant in the program from Ocean
Springs High School in Ocean Springs, Mississippi. "I use the
information and activities from Costa Rica in my lessons as often
as I can and also received a grant for my very own camera traps.
The students loved them. We have been doing biodiversity studies on
the wet pine savanna behind our school for both species richness
and species evenness."
Since 1987, Conservation International has been working to
improve human well-being through the care of nature. With the
guiding principle that nature doesn't need people, but people need
nature for food, water, health and livelihoods—CI works with more
than 1,000 partners around the world to ensure a healthy, more
prosperous planet that supports the well-being of
people. Learn more about CI and the "Nature Is Speaking"
campaign, and follow CI's work on Facebook, Twitter,
and YouTube.
Northrop Grumman and the Northrop Grumman Foundation are
committed to expanding and enhancing the pipeline of diverse,
talented STEM students globally. They provide funding to
sustainable STEM programs that span from preschool through
collegiate levels, with a major emphasis on middle school students
and teachers. In addition to ECO Classroom, Northrop Grumman and
the Northrop Grumman Foundation continued education outreach
efforts in 2015 by contributing more than $17 million to diverse
STEM-related groups and activities such as the Air Force
Association (CyberPatriot), the REC Foundation (VEX Robotics),
National Science Teachers Association and the National Action
Council for Minorities in Engineering. For more information,
please visit www.northropgrumman.com/foundation.
CONTACT: Mark Root
Northrop Grumman Corporation
703-280-2739 (office)
571-425-2132 (mobile)
mark.root@ngc.com
Kevin Connor
Conservation International
703-341-2405 (office)
410-868-1369 (mobile)
kconnor@conservation.org
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