FINAL DRAFT OF NAGT STRATEGIC PLAN

The final strategic plan for NAGT was adopted at the fall council meeting. Persons interested in viewing the plan may download at NAGT's website (http://www.nagt.org/plan3.pdf).

TEACHER'S GUIDE TO SOUTHEAST GEOLOGY - AVAILABLE!

A draft version of the Teacher-Friendly Guide to the Geology of the Southeastern U.S. is now available online from the Paleontological Research Institution (http://www.priweb.org). Make sense of the geologic features in your community using a regional geologic history framework, and incorporate regional and local geology into your existing curricula. The Guide provides teachers with the background knowledge to help students discover why certain rocks, fossils, and other geologic features are found in particular regions. The Guide uses non-technical language, a format designed for easy use in lesson planning, intuitive illustrations for the classroom, and a compilation of Earth science resource information listed by state and topic. If you have comments or questions, or if you would like to place an order, please contact:

ONLINE EARTH SCIENCE COURSES

The University of Tennessee at Martin (UTM), in partnership with the Institute for Global Environmental Strategies (IGES) and the Center for Educational Technology (CET), will be offering an online, semester-long, graduate-level course in Earth-System Science in the fall of 2004 and the spring of 2005. The courses are aimed at high school and middle school Earth Science or Geology teachers who wish to obtain graduate credit, improve their teaching styles, and incorporate cutting-edge Earth System Science content into their classrooms.

High school teacher program: Teachers taking the course will go through a sixteen week extensive introduction to student-centered learning techniques and develop four inquiry-based activity modules in the Earth Sciences that can be used in their classrooms. The students will work in teams with other teachers, and thus can make good contacts within the education community. The course will be completely online, utilizing a curriculum developed by NASA and CET, so access to a computer is all that is required to participate. The course may also be taken for undergraduate credit, with less rigorous requirements, for those that do not need graduate credit.

Middle school teacher program: Teachers taking the course will go through a five week extensive introduction to student-centered learning techniques and develop four inquiry-based activity modules in the Earth Sciences that can be used in their classrooms. The students will work in teams with other teachers, and thus can make good contacts within the education community. The course will be completely online, utilizing a curriculum developed by NASA and CET, so access to a computer is all that is required to participate. This is a graduate-level course that will satisfy highly-qualified teacher requirements.

The course will be taught by a trio of specialists in the field:
• Dr. Mark Simpson (UTM): meteorology and climatology
• Dr. Michael Gibson (UTM): physical and historical geology
• Dr. Lionel Crews (UTM): astronomy & physics

In addition to the course, a field trip will be scheduled during the semester. Field trip options include activities such as fossil hunting and professional observatory usage.

Those taking the course will have their tuition waived, which means that you get 3 hours of graduate credit for less than $300!!!

For more information, and/or to pre-register, contact Lionel Crews
Phone: (731)-587-7430 (Secretary: Janice Lee)
Email: lcrews@utm.edu. Web: http://www.utm.edu/reset

New Understanding Evolution Website at UCMP

The Museum of Paleontology at UC Berkeley has a new website devoted to understanding evolution for teachers. The website (http://evolution.berkeley.edu/) is excellent source of evolution related information relevant to all teachers. The website is conveniently organized around learning evolution and teaching evolution. "Learning Evolution" includes topics such as the nature of science, evolution 101, evidence, relevance of evolution, misconceptions, and the history of evolutionary thought. The "Teaching Evolution" part of the website discusses potential pitfalls and overcoming roadblocks to teaching evolution as well as links to readings and other resources.

NAGT Professional Development Grants

"Dottie" Stout was the first female president of NAGT and was active as a strong supporter of earth science education at all levels. In honor of Dottie Stout's outstanding work and lifelong dedication to Earth Science Education, NAGT awards three Dorothy LaLonde Stout NAGT Professional Development Grants in support of the following:

1. Participation in Earth science classes or workshops
2. Attendance at professional scientific or science education meetings
3. Participation in Earth science field trips
4. Purchase of Earth science materials for classroom use

Eligibility: Community College Faculty and K-12 teachers who teach one or more Earth science courses and Community College students actively pursuing a career in the Earth sciences are encouraged to apply for these awards.

Application Process: Interested applicants are asked to submit a 1-2 page proposal describing how the grant will be used to support their professional growth in, or classroom teaching of, Earth science

Back to
Winter-Spring 2004 main page.

NAGT Membership Renewal Form
(pdf format)

Summer-Fall 2004 Newletter Deadline: July 31, 2004. Please send news items to sdunagan@utm.edu