BACK TO SCHOOL: GRADUATE STUDENTS AND UNIVERSITY RESEARCHERS IN ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES IN K-12 CLASSROOMS

In 2002 the National Science Foundation awarded funds to The University of Texas at Austin for the GK-12 Program in Environmental Science. Directed by the Environmental Science Institute (ESI), UT Institute for Geophysics, and UT Marine Science Institute, the GK-12 program partners graduate students in the natural and social sciences with K-12 teachers in Texas to enhance environmental science education through new classroom activities, workshops, and field projects. Graduate student fellows serve as mentors to the K-12 teachers and students and help to work to increase their content knowledge. Fellows benefit from improved communication and teaching skills. Teachers are offered professional development opportunities and bring the content gain to the classroom. The result is a more exciting learning environment for the K-12 students.

The ESI GK-12 program has established partnerships between UT and school districts in the Austin area (including Austin, Round Rock, Leander, and Del-Valle Independent School Districts). Other school districts are also directly impacted by associated outreach programs. These outreach initiatives include workshops and directed field activities throughout the year that are led by UT scientists, as well as the ESI Outreach Lecture Series.

This year the ESI GK-12 Program at UT received two supplemental grants to expand the program. The Research Experience for Teachers (RET) supplement offers K-12 teachers an opportunity for active research participation with UT faculty. RET participants will work on hydrogeologic, chemical and biological investigations of central Texas ground and surface waters. Our other supplement adds social science to the program to create interdisciplinary curriculum based on planning and development in central Texas. Also this year, the Jackson School of Geosciences sponsored a graduate fellow to help produce carbon cycle learning modules for K-12 classrooms.