PARTNERING WITH THE NATIONAL PARK SERVICE: IMPROVING EARTH SCIENCE EDUCATION NATIONWIDE

The Michigan Teaching Excellence Program (MITEP) is a multi-year program of teacher leadership development that empowers middle-grade science teachers in Grand Rapids to lead their schools and districts through the process of improving science teaching and learning. The project uses Earth Systems Science (ESS) content and inquiry-based instructional practices to emphasize themes that unite sciences and mathematics. The MiTEP project tenders a partnership of academia, K-12 educators and the National Park Service (NPS) for improving Earth Science education. All stakeholders provide expertise and can benefit from one another in an effort to truly achieve learner-centered Earth Science education. Academia provides the foundation upon which greater depth and enrichment of Earth Science content can be realized; K-12 educators directly integrate and apply this content in the classroom.

Important to place-based Earth Science education, national parks are obvious focal points as they contain spectacular examples of the processes that shape the Earth and influence ecosystem development. National parks afford excellent examples of places that hold intellectual and emotional stimulus. Incorporating different methods of learning about Earth’s processes engages a wider audience of students. The NPS provides a plethora of opportunities to achieve this end. The Views of the National Parks (Views) program is a multimedia education program that provides natural, historical, and cultural learning resources associated with national parks. In addition to this, teachers may participate in Geoscientists-in-the-Parks, Volunteers-in-Parks or the Teacher-Ranger-Teacher programs. Through these various programs and resources MiTEP teachers will work with national park interpreters to learn more about engaging diverse learners in scientific inquiry based on the natural environment. Examples using national parks in the Colorado Plateau and Rocky Mountains as outdoor classrooms for teachers will be presented.

It is paramount that all stakeholders work in tandem to develop place-based education strategies that enhance Earth Science curriculum. This network aims to develop a stronger appreciation of environment and geological processes and connections between what K-12 students do and their impact on Earth systems.