GEOLOGIC SEQUESTRATION AND CLIMATE CHANGE: DEVELOPING AN INTEGRATED APPROACH FOR PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT WORKSHOPS

Educational curriculum, a geologic sequestration demonstration model, and a series of educational workshops have been designed to highlight geologic carbon sequestration efforts being deployed by the Midwest Geologic Sequestration Consortium (MGSC) during Phase II of a DOE carbon sequestration project. Geologic carbon sequestration is being tested in the Illinois Basin as a method for controlling the amount of carbon dioxide being released into the atmosphere. Charged with public and educational outreach, the MSGC is incorporating content from the scientific portion of the sequestration project into a teacher workshop setting to connect carbon sequestration with climate change, global warming, and the greenhouse effect.

Climate change is a complex, global issue and the newly developed educational materials, in conjunction with the workshops, provide an opportunity to contribute to science education through a great number of teachers in Illinois, Indiana, and Kentucky, the MSGC partnership area. Phase I of the carbon sequestration project was the development phase for our materials and demonstrations. Phase II educational efforts focus on broadening and deepening the quality of our educational outreach effort through professional development workshops for teachers, which will be piloted in July 2006 and will continue throughout 2009.

The early workshops will be an opportunity for testing and vetting of these educational materials. The newly developed curriculum includes six individual activities focusing on petroleum uses, climate change, geologic structure, enhanced oil recovery (EOR), coal bed methane, and geologic sequestration. Each activity is divided into sections: (a) grade level, (b) learning standard assignment, (c) objectives, (d) background, (e) procedure, (f) references, (g) materials needed, and (h) student worksheets. In addition, pre-existing materials from additional sources, such as the Keystone Center Global Climate Change curriculum, will be used and distributed. A demonstration model is used to help illustrate EOR and saline reservoir characteristics. The workshops are content driven, with activities developed to demonstrate difficult to understand concepts and address commonly held misconceptions and misunderstandings about global warming and climate change.