MULTIDISCIPLINARY FIELD STUDIES: AN EFFECTIVE APPROACH TO ACHIEVING THE NEXT GENERATION SCIENCE STANDARDS

Geoscience and Chemistry Professors at SUNY Broome Community College have embarked on a multi-disciplinary field project for second year natural and environmental science students. The project entails GPS-based mapping, remote sensing, and surface water chemical analysis in a small watershed environment close to campus. Aside from being a novel approach to getting aspiring natural and environmental science students valuable field experience, the project meets several of the Next Generation Science Standards-aligned practices, cross-cutting concepts, and disciplinary core ideas for both physical science and the earth sciences. The project is also scalable, and could be adapted to serve student groups ranging from middle school through the undergraduate level.