COSEE Coastal Trends eNewsletter Articles

"Dead Zone" activities published in education journal

Mon, 01 Mar 2010 00:00:00 EST

An article published in The Science Teacher, the National Science Teacher Association's education journal, featured several classroom activities developed by our "Dead Zones" Scientist-Educator Partnership team. Jeremy Testa, a University of Maryland Horn Point Lab graduate student and Scientist Educator Partnership participant, took the lead on fine-tuning the activities for publication. The activities, which include classroom experiments and examination of real data, are based on research conducted through the Coastal Hypoxia Research Program (CHRP) and the Chesapeake Bay Environmental Observatory (CBEO). This publication is a great example of how the Scientist-Educator Partnership program can result in high-quality widely-disseminated broader impacts for scientists.

Mentoring Young Scientists program tests out new modules

Mon, 01 Mar 2010 00:00:00 EST

COSEE-Coastal Trends field-tested several activities developed by our Scientist Educator Partnership teams with Mentoring Young Scientists (MYS) students during a January MYS session. The activities featured marine microbes and the physics behind fish egg and larvae transport and survival, and will be available on our website after passing the teacher review process this spring. MYS meets twice monthly to engage middle school students in ocean science and is led by staff from the Virginia Aquarium, a COSEE Coastal Trends partner.

Summer 2010 Teacher Professional Development Opportunities

Mon, 01 Mar 2010 00:00:00 EST

We are still accepting applications for our two workshops this summer as well as our Scientist-Educator Partnership program. The Teaching Ocean Science Workshop (June 28-July 1) focuses on adopting an activities-based high school level ocean science course curriculum. The Coastal Trends Workshop (August 9-12) features the education modules developed by our Scientist-Educator Partnership teams. The Scientist-Educator Partnership position (June 24-August 6) includes a 6-week research experience at the University of Maryland's Horn Point Lab and creation of research-based classroom resources. Each opportunity includes a stipend and paid expenses. Please see links above for application information.

COSEE Coastal Trends at ASLO Ocean Sciences

Mon, 01 Mar 2010 00:00:00 EST

COSEE Coastal Trends staff, as well as Scientist-Educator Partnership student participant Maryse Leandre, presented posters at this year's American Society of Limnology and Oceanography (ASLO) Ocean Sciences meeting in Portland, OR. Posters discussed results of our program evaluation and benefits of the Scientist-Educator Partnership program. COSEE staff also participated in filmmaker Randy Olsen's "Advice from Hollywood" workshop on creating movies to tell stories about science.

Workshop Held for Virginia Beach Teachers

Tue, 01 Dec 2009 00:00:00 EST

COSEE Coastal Trends hosted a one-day workshop on October 9 at the Virginia Aquarium for all science teachers in the Virginia Beach School District. Teachers learned how to use our education modules and participated in hands-on activities that they can bring back the classroom. Teachers reported that they were excited to put the ocean science education materials to use, especially given their close proximity to both the Chesapeake Bay and the Atlantic Ocean.

2^nd Annual Advisory Board Meeting Held

Tue, 01 Dec 2009 00:00:00 EST

COSEE Coastal Trends held its second annual advisory board meeting on October 14. Since the board members come from a variety of backgrounds in education, science, public outreach, and private business, they provide unique perspectives on increasing ocean literacy. Our advisory board members (left) are: Dr. Fred Hildenbrand, Ted Peck, Charlie Stek, Dr. Tom Malone, Dr. Cathy Lascara, Dr. Maurice Crawford, and Tiah McKinney (not shown).

COSEE Presents at CERF

Tue, 01 Dec 2009 00:00:00 EST

COSEE Coastal Trends staff as well scientists who have participated in our Scientist-Educator Partnership program presented at the Coastal and Estuarine Research Federation (CERF) meeting in Portland, OR, which took place November 2-6. Presentations discussed the process and benefits of the Scientist-Educator Partnership program.

Ocean Science Course Enters 2^nd Pilot Year

Tue, 01 Sep 2009 00:00:00 EDT

COSEE Coastal Trends is partnering with scientists, educators, and school districts to develop and implement curriculum for a high school level ocean science course. The curriculum, titled "Introduction to Our Dynamic Ocean," is based on the Ocean Literacy Essential Principles and stresses active learning through hands-on activities. The curriculum is being piloted a second time this school year by several teachers throughout the country and will be available online by 2011.

Summer Workshops for Educators Completed

Tue, 01 Sep 2009 00:00:00 EDT

This summer, COSEE Coastal Trends hosted three workshops for educators. Teachers from throughout the country attended our “Teaching Ocean Science Workshop” and our “Coastal Trends Workshop.” We also led a “Coastal Sciences” workshop, which was established especially for local Maryland science teachers. The goal of these workshops is to provide teachers with high-quality classroom-ready ocean science activities, and to disseminate the scientific research upon which the activities are based.

Two New Modules Created

Tue, 01 Sep 2009 00:00:00 EDT

Our two Scientist-Educator Teams have concluded summer research and have created excellent new “education modules.” The modules, which feature each team's research topics (“ocean microbes” and “fish and physics”) contain web content and classroom activities to help students and teachers better understand the science associated with these areas of research. COSEE staff will transfer the materials to the web and a group of teachers will review the modules before final publication.

Modules Launched

Mon, 01 Jun 2009 00:00:00 EDT

The education modules developed by last year’s Scientist-Educator Teams are now officially live on the web. The modules are based on research conducted by the teams on seagrass and dead zones and feature movies, video interviews, photographs, diagrams, and 5-E lesson plans for use in the science classroom.

Coastal Trends Weekend

Mon, 01 Jun 2009 00:00:00 EDT

This spring, the Virginia Aquarium held its second annual Coastal Trends Weekend, a special public event featuring displays and demonstrations that focus on coastal trends topics. COSEE-Coastal Trends staff, Mentoring Young Scientists students, and members of our 2008 Scientist-Educator Teams worked together to present information and activities. Much of the content they presented was developed by last year’s Scientist Educator Teams based on their research on dead zones with Dr. Michael Kemp and seagrass with Dr. Karen McGlathery.

Observing the Ocean Module Review

Mon, 01 Jun 2009 00:00:00 EDT

COSEE-Coastal Trends has developed an education module focusing on Ocean Observation Systems. The module, titled Observing the Ocean, features interactive visuals and inquiry-based lesson plans and was designed to support middle and high school classroom curricula. A group of 11 teachers recently reviewed the module through an online forum hosted by the College of Exploration. We plan to incorporate suggestions made by the teachers and publish the module on the web shortly.

New Scientist-Educator Teams

Mon, 01 Jun 2009 00:00:00 EDT

We have established two new Scientist-Educator Teams to work together this summer. One team will be studying “Light, Microbes, and the Carbon Cycle” at the University of Delaware under Dr. Dave Kirchman. The other will focus on “Physics and Fish Larvae” at the University of Maryland’s Horn Point Laboratory with Dr. Elizabeth North. A teacher and an undergrad will join each scientist and a graduate student to conduct research and create educational resources based on the research.

Participants present posters at ASLO meeting

Sun, 01 Mar 2009 00:00:00 EST

Carissa Wilkerson and Chris Burrell each presented a poster on their experiences with the COSEE-Coastal Trends Scientist-Educator Partnership at the American Society of Limnology and Oceanography (ASLO) meeting in Nice, France in February, 2009. Chris and Carissa are undergraduate students enrolled in Hampton University's marine science program. They also participated in COSEE-Coastal Trends scientist-educator teams during summer, 2008. Chris studied dead zones with his team at Horn Point Laboratory in Cambridge, MD and Carissa conducted research on eelgrass at the Anheuser-Busch Coastal Research Center in Oyster, VA.

Mentoring Young Scientists participate in exciting ocean science activities

Sun, 01 Mar 2009 00:00:00 EST

Our Mentoring Young Scientists program is off to an energetic start this year. The crew includes twenty two 6th, 7th and, 8th grade students from local Virginia Beach and Norfolk, VA schools. Some highlights so far include a tour of the Aheuser Busch Coastal Research Center by University of Virginia staff, seining and beach profiling at Kiptopeke State Park, an Ocean Collections boat trip, and a workshop on oysters that included putting spat in the water and collecting data to track size, mortality and water quality. Nineteen adults with diverse backgrounds in science, math and education, including seven marine science students from Hampton University, currently serve as mentors for participating students.

Coastal Trends Weekend coming up

Sun, 01 Mar 2009 00:00:00 EST

This year's Coastal Trends Weekend will be held at the Virginia Aquarium on April 4-5, 2009. Coastal Trends Weekend is a special public event featuring activities and demonstrations which focus on coastal trends. Members of COSEE-Coastal Trends 2008 scientist-educator teams will present displays highlighting their seagrass and dead zone research projects. In addition, Mentoring Young Scientists students will present their findings from group projects focusing on topics such as oysters and sands & beaches.

Center evaluators meet to establish goals and recommendations

Mon, 01 Sep 2008 00:00:00 EDT

On September 11-12, Joanna Woerner and Tina Bishop from COSEE Coastal Trends and evaluators from the twelve COSEE centers met in Narragansett, RI for a network evaluation meeting. They identified common evaluation goals, developed methods for improving communications, and created recommendations for the National Evaluation Team. Through discussions and concept mapping, the evaluators developed the following recommendations: 1) the creation of an evaluation listserv that will allow evaluators to share instruments and ask questions, 2) the reconstitution of the evaluation working group to define future evaluation goals and research questions, and 3) the creation of tools that will track what groups COSEE centers serve. In the future, the National Evaluation Team will visit each center to learn more about center activities and needs.

Dorchester County Students Explore Ocean Observing Systems Activities

Mon, 01 Sep 2008 00:00:00 EDT

On September 29, thirty-seven ninth grade students enrolled in Dorchester County's new Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math (STEM) Initiative participated in COSEE Coastal Trends Ocean Observing Systems activities at Horn Point Laboratory. The students examined real time data transmitted from various ocean observing system buoy networks and also collected their own water quality data in the field. The STEM Initiative is an advanced four-year program of study for high school students carried out in partnership with the UMCES Horn Point Laboratory to prepare them for future opportunities in colleges and careers by focusing on enhancing skills and understanding of STEM subjects.

Adivsory Board Members

Mon, 01 Sep 2008 00:00:00 EDT

COSEE Coastal Trends is excited to announce its new advisory board members, who will help prioritize goals, identify challenges, and expand the reach of our programs and activities. The board consists of:
Dr. Maurice Crawford, Asst. Professor, Elizabeth City State College
Dr. Fred Hildenbrand, Superintendant of Dorchester County Schools.
Dr. Cathy Lascara, Chief Operating Officer, Software Division, Mechdyne Corporation
Dr. Tom Malone, Professor, University of Maryland Center for Environmental Science
Tiah McKinney, Project Director, BEN Digital Library Project, Biotechnology Institute
Ted Peck, retired CEO and Chairman of Ryland Group, Inc.
Charlie Stek, Director, John Smith Water Trail; former congressional aid

COSEE Coastal Trends Co-Leads Teacher Workshop in California

Fri, 01 Aug 2008 00:00:00 EDT

COSEE Coastal Trends, in partner with COSEE West, held a week-long teacher professional development workshop in Los Angeles, California. In the workshop, participants learned about cutting edge instruments deployed to collect data from the ocean environment and the data these instruments generate. Activities included presentations from scientists, field trips highlighting sampling techniques and satellite technology, and hands-on activities demonstrating ways teachers can use Ocean Observing Systems in the classroom.

Dorchester County, MD Public School Teacher Workshop

Fri, 01 Aug 2008 00:00:00 EDT

On August 5-7, a group of Dorchester County public school teachers attended a workshop at Horn Point Laboratory which featured COSEE Coastal Trends Ocean Observing Systems activities. Participants teach middle and high school Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math (STEM) disciplines and the workshop aimed to enhance their content base in these subject areas. The professional development workshop was part of the STEM Initiative, in which the Dorchester County public schools and scientists are working together to bring state of the art research and technology to local STEM discipline classrooms.

Ocean Literacy in Queen Anne's County, MD Public Schools

Fri, 01 Aug 2008 00:00:00 EDT

On August 19, 2008, COSEE Coastal Trends began its partnership with Queen Anne's County Public Schools to compile a variety of lessons that meet the Ocean Literacy Principles into a 9th grade curriculum. Five teachers will be piloting lessons and the draft curriculum during the fall semester. Additional professional development will be offered in October. Revisions to the curriculum will be made later this fall and the curriculum will be piloted again in the spring. COSEE Coastal Trends regional piloting of the curriculum will commence in summer of 2009.

COSEE Coastal Trends Forms Advisory Board

Fri, 01 Aug 2008 00:00:00 EDT

COSEE Coastal Trends welcomes new members to its advisory board, which serves to help prioritize goals, identify challenges, and expand the reach of its programs and activities. Board members are diverse, hailing from backgrounds in education, political, and corporate fields. The first advisory board meeting will be held in October, 2008.

Scientist-educator partnerships produce classroom materials

Tue, 01 Jul 2008 00:00:00 EDT

On July 30-31st, the Scientist-educator teams, hosted by Centers for Ocean Science Education Excellence (COSEE) Coastal Trends, revealed the classroom materials they created during a six-week program. Each team developed materials for an interactive website where students can explore seagrass and dead zones, examine the trends in these topics, and investigate current research. Activities on the website directly relate to lesson plans that link the concepts on the website to classroom activities and assessment tools for teachers. Over the next few months, these materials will be tested in classrooms and made available to educators and the public.

Ocean Observing Systems Workshop Held on Lake Erie

Tue, 01 Jul 2008 00:00:00 EDT

COSEE Coastal Trends, in partnership with COSEE Great Lakes, led a workshop for educators on Gibraltar Island in the Ohio section of Lake Erie July 14-17, 2008. Teachers from around the Great Lakes region learneed how to access and apply to the classroom real-time data from ocean observing system buoys stationed in the Great Lakes to energize and engage students. Participants also acquired a deeper understanding of Great Lakes aquatic ecosystems, arming them with the ability to better connect their students with the local environment.

COSEE Coastal Trends Presents at NMEA Conference

Tue, 01 Jul 2008 00:00:00 EDT

Dr. Laura Murray, director of COSEE Coastal Trends, along with public school teachers and staff from COSEE West, presented a talk at the National Marine Educators Association (NMEA) annual summer conference held in Savanna, GA July 21-25, 2008. The presentation, titled "Ocean Literacy and an Ocean Science Course," focused on how COSEE Coastal Trends, a Maryland public school district, and COSEE West have partnered to implement a 9th grade ocean science course using the Ocean Literacy Principles as the content organizer. In addition, teachers Kris Jensen and Angie Ward demonstrated a series of activities that will be used in the ocean science course and can also be used in any science classroom.

Scientist-Educator Partnership Orientation Program

Sun, 01 Jun 2008 00:00:00 EDT

The COSEE Coastal Trends scientist-educator team orientation was held at Horn Point Laboratory on June 16-19. The overall goals of the program were to foster collaboration and communication among team members, define expectations of the teams, and to provide background content on this summer's research themes—seagrasses and the "dead zone". The four-person teams, consisting of a research scientist, a teacher, a graduate student, and an undergraduate student, began to discuss and experiment with how to better integrate the science of their themes into the classroom through developing a preliminary educational activity. The teams also participated in field excursions, lectures, and discussions to build content knowledge on their respective themes.

Meet the Seagrass Team

Sun, 01 Jun 2008 00:00:00 EDT

The COSEE Coastal Trends team at the Anheuser-Busch Coastal Research Center will be evaluating the success of seagrass restoration in the Virginia Coastal Bays. They will compare seagrass cover, sediment characteristics, nutrient cycling, and animal colonization in restored and natural seagrass meadows through a synoptic survey. The team will also work together to produce an educational module. The module will include scientific information about seagrasses, current trends including worldwide decline and subsequent restoration, research being done by scientists in the field, and a unit plan that can be used by teachers.

Meet the "Dead Zone" Team

Sun, 01 Jun 2008 00:00:00 EDT

The "Dead Zone" COSEE team at the Horn Point Laboratory will be working together to explore the causes and consequences of hypoxia in coastal waters worldwide. The team is building a four-component education module to be placed on the COSEE Coastal Trends website. The first part of this effort involves developing clear scientific explanation of the controlling factors and ecological effects of coastal hypoxia. The second component will describe current trends in hypoxia change on time-scales of seasons and multi-decades, with emphasis on climate and human induced forces at regional to global spatial scales. A summary of current research will be the focus of the third component where they will explain physical and bio-geo-chemical factors and habitat effects of hypoxia. Finally, the fourth element of their educational module will distill this information into a series of lesson plans and teaching tools that middle school and high school teachers can use in their classrooms.

COSEE Coastal Trends eNewsletter Articles

"Dead Zone" activities published in education journal

Mentoring Young Scientists program tests out new modules

Summer 2010 Teacher Professional Development Opportunities

COSEE Coastal Trends at ASLO Ocean Sciences

Workshop Held for Virginia Beach Teachers

2nd Annual Advisory Board Meeting Held

COSEE Presents at CERF

Ocean Science Course Enters 2nd Pilot Year

Summer Workshops for Educators Completed

Two New Modules Created

Modules Launched

Coastal Trends Weekend

Observing the Ocean Module Review

New Scientist-Educator Teams

Participants present posters at ASLO meeting

Mentoring Young Scientists participate in exciting ocean science activities

Coastal Trends Weekend coming up

Center evaluators meet to establish goals and recommendations

Dorchester County Students Explore Ocean Observing Systems Activities

Adivsory Board Members

COSEE Coastal Trends Co-Leads Teacher Workshop in California

Dorchester County, MD Public School Teacher Workshop

Ocean Literacy in Queen Anne's County, MD Public Schools

COSEE Coastal Trends Forms Advisory Board

Scientist-educator partnerships produce classroom materials

Ocean Observing Systems Workshop Held on Lake Erie

COSEE Coastal Trends Presents at NMEA Conference

Scientist-Educator Partnership Orientation Program

Meet the Seagrass Team

Meet the "Dead Zone" Team

2^nd Annual Advisory Board Meeting Held

Ocean Science Course Enters 2^nd Pilot Year