Summer 2011 Chesapeake Bay Academies
The week-long experiences vary depending on the location, but all are a summer learning experience for middle and high school science teachers and are designed to closely support the implementation of the Science Standards of Learning. The Academies will provide detailed training, field experiences, print materials, and hands-on resources supporting the science standards content and skills. Special emphasis is being given to provide instructional resources that will support the science standards related to watersheds and the Chesapeake Bay in sixth-grade science, Life Science, Earth Science, and Biology. Instruction will also integrate classroom and field teaching demonstrating effective meaningful field investigations.
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- River's Edge Field Course (Registration is closed.)
Rappahannock River
June 20 - 24, 2011 Chesapeake Coastal Academy (Registration is closed.)
June 27 - July 1, 2011
St. Margaret’s School
Tappahannock, VAThe Intersection of Life & Land
Mary Baldwin College
June 27 - July 1, 2011Virginia Coastal Ecosystems Field Course (There is now a waiting list for this course.)
VIMS
July 10 - 14, 2011SOLstice: Summer of Learning – Science Teachers Investigating the Chesapeake Environment
Longwood University & Hull Springs Farm
July 11 - August 5, 2011- From the Mountains to the Ocean
State Arboretum of Virginia
August 8 - 11, 2011
Description
FOR will host a five day professional development workshop, training teachers in how to develop investigative, integrated, and sustained Meaningful Watershed Educational Experiences (MWEEs) within class curricula. Teachers will participate in hands-on activities and on-water programs designed to enhance their understanding of water quality and MWEEs. Furthermore, they will learn how to design a MWEETarget Audience
Middle and High School Science TeachersDesired Outcomes/Learning Objectives
The training will focus on the importance of water quality and how to design and lead a MWEE to help their students better understand their watershed, human impacts on the watershed, and what actions they can do to prevent further damage. One goal of this workshop will be to prepare teachers to implement the "action" segment of a MWEE through student field investigations, student restoration projects, and community outreach projects. Through field excursions teachers will visit sites to learn about successful student restoration projects and experience some of the actions for student MWEE engagement.Academy Type
CommuterFriends of the Rappahannock
VA Outdoor Center
3219 Fall Hill Ave
Fredericksburg, VA 22401Dates
June 20 - 24, 2011Academy Sponsor
Friends of the Rappahannock
Description
The Coastal Bay Academy will focus on the coastal portion of the Chesapeake Bay and its watershed and will be held in Tappahannock, Virginia, and Port Isobel Education Center near Tangier Island, Virginia.Topics covered will include:
- natural and social systems
- water quality
- field investigations of Bay habitats (including wetlands, oyster reefs, and underwater grass meadows).
Participants will learn how to lead a “meaningful watershed educational experience” (MWEE) with their students by modeling one throughout the week.. Virginia natural resource professionals will participate and assist in conducting this field-based course.
- Teachers will learn to integrate authentic scientific investigations and stewardship actions into existing classroom curriculum, specifically focused on SOLs.
- Teachers will create and submit a unit plan that describes how the information learned in the course will be integrated into their classroom curricula.
- Teachers will plan how to implement at least one MWEE, which can be conducted through CBF’s Outdoor Field Education Program, another environmental education provider, or independently.
Target Audience
middle school and high school science teachers: 6-12, with priority admission awarded to teachers of grades 6, 7 (life science), earth science, biology, and environmental science/ecology.Desired Outcomes/Learning Objectives
- Support teachers as they engage students in meaningful Bay or stream outdoor experiences.
- Create and complete standards-based lessons and investigations that meet SOLs.
- Implement schoolyard or community-based projects.
- Provide skills, experience and knowledge to teach environmental issues through hands-on projects and outdoor experiences.
- Learn ecology, culture, history, and water quality issues of the Chesapeake Bay.
Academy Type
Residential or commuter residentialDates
June 27, 10:00 a.m. – July 1, 2011, 1:00 p.m.Academy Sponsor
Chesaeake Bay Foundation, 6 Herndon Ave., Annapolis, MD 21403Academy Coordinator
Randy Shank
rshank4@msn.com
804-769-2968The Intersection of Life & Land
Description
This course is designed as a model of the environment-based learning process. Students will participate in an investigation of a local environmental issue, focusing on the integrated relationship of environment to people and culture. Students will explore area history, related books/literature/articles, basic ecological/scientific principles (including math), and cultural connections to conduct a detailed investigation of the issue. Participants will explore issues of land use (i.e. land development, farming) to the impacts on the watershed and water quality (i.e. environment, culture, economy, etc.). The course will involve field trips for cultural and scientific investigations. The course will also include MWEE defined strategies to help K-12 students identify local problems and develop plans for problem solving/implementation.Academy Type
CommuterDates
June 27 - July 1, 2011Academy Sponsor
Mary Baldwin CollegeAcademy Coordinator
Tamra Willis, Ph.D
twillis@mbc.edu
540-887-7135Virginia Coastal Ecosystems Field Course
Description
Academy participants will be introduced to selected marine science topics and field techniques in the distinctive surroundings of Virginia’s Eastern Shore. Activities will take place over five consecutive days in July, 2011, with additional pre- and post-Academy activities conducted via various modes of online and verbal communication. There will be a minimum of 40 hours instructional time in the classroom, lab, field and online. The classroom and lab portions will include content that supports Virginia Standards of Learning and integrates online resources and existing environmental education curricula. The field component will provide basic marine science content, current scientific research information, field research methods and classroom applications for middle and high school science courses. Participants will receive information and educational resources, including online resources to improve their content knowledge, specifically in marine science, natural resources and social studies relevant to a specific area of the Chesapeake, i.e. Virginia’s Eastern Shore. Academy staff will also provide participants with teaching resources and laboratory and field activities directly transferable to their own students and their region of Virginia. Participants will also receive guidance and resources to assist them in planning and conducting their own Meaningful Watershed Educational Experiences.Target Audience
middle school and high school science teachersDesired Outcomes/Learning Objectives
- Describe high and low tech methods for conducting water quality testing, fauna sampling and beach profiling;
- Characterize observed habitats typical of the Chesapeake Bay and mid-Atlantic region based on biotic and abiotic parameters;
- Describe the biodiversity and key interactions and relationships of major groupings of flora and fauna of representative habitats;
- Differentiate the chemical and physical parameters measured or observed at each habitat;
- Describe how the chemical, physical, geological and temporal parameters (salinity, temperature, dissolved oxygen, tides, currents, sediment transport, etc.) shape, and are shaped by, the biological communities of Virginia's Eastern Shore.
- Plan and implement Meaningful Watershed Educational Experience (MWEE) with their students
- Integrate online and print environmental education resources obtained at the Academy into their existing curricula
Academy Type
ResidentialDates
July 10 - 14, 2011Academy Sponsor
Virginia Sea Grant/Virginia Institute of Marine Science, School of Marine Science, College of William & Mary
P.O. Box 1346, Route 1208 Greate Road
Gloucester Point, Virginia 23062Academy Coordinator
Christopher J. Petrone
petrone@vims.edu
804-684-7175For more information, visit the course website.
SOLstice: Summer of Learning – Science Teachers Investigating the Chesapeake Environment
Description
This pilot institute will bring together university faculty, practicing middle-school teachers and pre-service middle-school science teachers (i.e., Liberal Studies students) to work collaboratively as “teacher-researchers.” For this pilot institute, the Chesapeake Bay will be the context in which these teacher-researchers will conduct research and consider critical curricular linkages to the middle-school classroom. Specific decisions about curricular emphases will be informed by data from the science SOL tests for the schools in the Southside and Northern Neck areas.*This academy is a 4 week long session that includes 4 graduate credits from Longwood University.
Target Audience
- 10 practicing middle school science teachers (grades 6-8)
- 10 Longwood pre-service middle school science teachers
Desired Outcomes/Learning Objectives
- Understand and articulate the complex scientific and civic issues of the Chesapeake Bay
- Identify relevant and interesting scientific questions and carry out field-based investigations
- Apply and practice methodologies from various STEM fields
- Analyze data and use the findings in a meaningful way, including making comparisons with those of other researchers
- Reflect on the meaning of field experiences and scientific investigation with regard to scientific, economic and social implications
- Create and present student-centered, inquiry-based Meaningful Watershed Educational Experiences
Academy Type
- One week online (preparation)
- One week in the field – residence required (action)
- One week on campus – residential or commuter option (action and reflection)
- One week online (reflection)
- Public presentation of project findings (more reflection)
Dates
- July 11-15 – online assignments and pre-workshop reading
- July 17-23 – field work at Hull Springs Farm
- July 25-29 – field/lab work and analysis on Longwood campus
- August 1-5 – online reflection and project completion
- TBA – public presentations of projects
Academy Sponsor
- Longwood University’s Cook-Cole College of Arts and Sciences
- Hull Springs Farm of Longwood University
- Clean Virginia Waterways
Academy Coordinators
Patricia Lust, Director of Liberal Studies – General Coordinator
lustpd@longwood.edu
434.395.2049Alix Fink, Associate Professor of Biology – Academic Coordinator
finkad@longwood.edu
434.395.2576Kathleen Register, Executive Director of Clean Virginia Waterways
Virginia Resource-Use Education Council Partner
registerkm@longwood.edu
434.395.2602From the Mountains to the Ocean
Description
The From the Mountains to the Ocean Chesapeake Bay Academy introduces middle and high school teachers to environmental science research and policy development that is relevant to understanding and teaching about the interconnection of the northern Shenandoah River watershed with the Chesapeake Bay estuary ecosystem. The Academy draws on the expertise of University of Virginia Department of Environmental Science faculty, Blandy Experimental Farm education specialists, Virginia Commonwealth environmental agency educators, and Potomac Conservancy policy and land-use professionals to provide professional development training in current environmental science content knowledge and skills necessary for providing place-based, authentic and meaningful watershed experiences for the teachers’ students. Teachers gain knowledge in hydrology, biogeochemistry, geology, and aquatic and marine ecology and are exposed to new technologies that can be used in the field and the classroom to investigate watershed science topics. Each day, participants engage in investigative activities that model the processes of science outlined in the appendix of the VA Science Standards of Learning (VDOE 2003). Teachers also examine the connections between their daily knowledge and skills gains with several content strands in the VDOE Science Standards including applicable standards in Physical Science, Life Science, Biology, Earth Science, and Chemistry. The interdisciplinary nature of watershed science is emphasized.Target Audience
Middle school and high school science teachersDesired Outcomes/Learning Objectives
- Field research skills, specifically wetland ecological site survey and analysis; water chemistry testing and analysis; aquatic macro-invertebrate collecting, identification, and analysis
- Awareness of new technologies that can be used in the field and classroom for MWEE investigations
- Increased skill in developing and presenting student-centered, inquiry-based MWEE science lessons
- Expanded resource tool kit (including web, print, personnel, and grant resources)
- Commitment to providing outdoor based MWEE experiences for students
- Lesson plans developed by themselves and other Academy participants for use with their students that integrate their new watershed science knowledge, investigation, and analytical skills
Academy Type
ResidentialDates
August 8-12, 2011Academy Sponsor
Foundation of the State Arboretum (FOSA) & Blandy Experimental Farm/The State Arboretum of Virginia (BEF), University of VirginiaAcademy Coordinator
Candace Lutzow-Felling, Director of Education
Blandy Experimental Farm
University of Virginia
lutzow-felling@virginia.edu
540-837-1758 ext. 230