EXPLORING EARTH: INTERNET-BASED MATERIALS FOR HIGH SCHOOL EARTH SCIENCE CLASSES

This presentation will highlight Exploring Earth, a set of NSF-funded, Internet-based investigations and visualizations developed to accompany the latest edition of the Spaulding/Namowitz high school Earth science textbook distributed by McDougal Littell. The program includes 71 chapter-level investigations, 8 larger unit investigations and, 103 visualizations, all referenced at the appropriate point of use throughout the textbook. The program of Internet resources, developed at TERC (Technical Educational Research Centers) represents a cooperative effort between content specialists, curriculum developers, graphic artists, and technical specialists. The investigations and visualizations are not just sets of links to external Web sites for students to follow and glean what information they can—the activities contain specific age-appropriate content pages that reside on the McDougal Littell server. In addition to the investigations and visualizations, the Internet resources of Exploring Earth include data centers, local resources, and Earth news. The investigations were built around three core concepts: 1- the Earth as a system; 2- science as inquiry; 3- the use of interactive technology that includes high quality images to learn about Earth features and processes. Investigations include a teachers guide with background information and implementation suggestions along with student answer sheets. Investigations were designed so students are "active" while completing the Internet-based investigations instead of simply reading information, viewing images, and answering questions. In a typical investigation, students may interpret images and graphs, draw on images, overlay various types of information, or manipulate images. Assessment of student learning is gauged by student answers to questions that are imbedded in the Internet investigations. Currently, TERC is developing tools to gauge the effectiveness of the program in enhancing student learning in Earth science. The details of the assessment are still being developed, but will likely include teacher and student feedback as well as Web log analysis to evaluate how the various resources are being used in classrooms.