AMS DATASTREME PROJECT AND THE NGSS

The American Meteorological Society (AMS) DataStreme Project is a free professional development program for in-service K-12 teachers. DataStreme Atmosphere, Ocean, and Earth’s Climate System are offered each fall and spring semester by Local Implementation Teams (LITs) across the country in coordination with AMS Education Program scientists and educators who develop instructional materials, provide logistical support to the LITs, and administer the project. Teachers may receive 3 tuition-free graduate credits through State University of New York’s The College at Brockport upon completion of each DataStreme course and construction of a Plan of Action for educational peer-training.

DataStreme is in close alignment with the Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS). Investigating the scientific basis of the workings of Earth’s atmosphere, ocean, and climate system follows the crosscutting theme of the NGSS and is the cornerstone of DataStreme. While these courses mainly provide K-12 teachers process and content knowledge to help them teach in the Earth and Space Science disciplinary area, some concepts within DataStreme also assist teachers with components of the Physical Science and Life Science disciplinary areas. For example, teachers learn about electromagnetic radiation and then apply that knowledge to the planetary energy budget and subsequently to global radiative equilibrium and climate change.

Key to the NGSS is that students learn disciplinary core ideas in the context of science and engineering practices. In order for this to happen, the AMS believes that it is important to train the teachers in this context. DataStreme courses enable teachers to investigate concepts as scientists do, using real-world, real-time data to draw conclusions. For example, teachers used customized weather maps from NOAA to examine the vertical structure of Superstorm Sandy as it came ashore.

Since 1996, more than 19,000 teachers have completed a DataStreme course, directly impacting hundreds of thousands of additional teachers and more than 1 million students. As the NGSS shape science education in the years to come, DataStreme courses will continue to be an excellent resource for teacher professional development.