ENGAGING MIDDLE SCHOOL STUDENTS IN AUTHENTIC RESEARCH BASED ON A SUMMER RESEARCH CRUISE

In summer 2010, as a participant in the TXESS Revolution, a National Science Foundation (NSF)-sponsored professional development program for teachers in support of Earth and Space Science, I participated in a scientific research cruise led by Dr. Maureen Conte of the Bermuda Institute of Ocean Sciences. The primary purpose of the cruise was to collect water samples from different ocean depths, make temperature and conductivity measurements, and retrieve biologic particle debris collection equipment deployed as part of the NSF-sponsored Oceanic Flux Program to measure particle fluxes in the deep Sargasso Sea. A secondary objective involved the collection of plastic debris floating within the sargassum seaweed trapped in the North Atlantic gyre in order to investigate plastic pollution.

As a member of the science team I worked alongside of Dr. Conte, scientists and graduate students, giving me a personal experience to inspire my students’ interest in the marine ecosystem. In the classroom, I used a Project Based Learning (PBL) approach to translate my experience and knowledge gained into productive learning for my students. With PBL, teams of students solve a real world, open-ended challenge problem through research and experimentation. In this Problem, the challenge was to design a virtual product to motivate ordinary people to change their habits regarding their use and improper disposal of plastics. Team products included websites, social network pages, and in-school announcements to create awareness about plastic pollution in the ocean.

Fulfilling one of the basic principles of the PBL approach to provide student access to experts, cruise participant and University of North Carolina graduate student Bonnie Monteleone dedicated an entire day to speak with each of my classes about her experiences studying ocean plastics and answer their questions via SKYPE. Then Ms. Monteleone used her extensive contacts to post the best of my students’ projects on ocean environmental group webpages around the world. My partnership with the research scientists on the cruise has strengthened my teaching practice by allowing me to convey a deeper understanding of the nature of science and to create learning experiences that motivate my students to become enthusiastic and passionate learners.