Introducing the GLOBE Curriculum to South Dakota's 6th-12th Grade Teachers

Friday 11:30am-1:30pm UMC Aspen Rooms

Authors

Colin McKellar, South Dakota State University
Anne Lewis, South Dakota Discovery Center
Cody Troop, South Dakota School of Mines and Technology
A critical part of learning the environmental sciences is connecting the concepts taught in the classroom to what is observed in nature. When students actively engage in the scientific process and contribute to the collective understanding of the environment and earth system, there is a deeper connection to the environment. This not only helps promote scientific discovery, but also a greater environmental stewardship at local to global levels. This has been a goal of the Global Learning and Observations to Benefit the Environment (GLOBE) since its inception in 1994.

The GLOBE curriculum is introduced to 6th-12th grade teachers in South Dakota. This is done through 1) teaching the GLOBE protocols and introducing the GLOBE curriculum to educators during a 4 day workshop 2) incorporating climate and weather literacy principles through outreach by the state climate office and 3) field studies activities by kayaking and camping course along the Missouri River.

An outcome for GLOBE educated teachers within the classroom will be to involve students in the field collecting and reporting data on local scale hydrology, soils, the atmosphere, land cover, and the earth system. Apart of this process will be to assist teachers in adhering to the Next Generation Science Standards. Another part of this process is including short science videos to help educators understand weather and climate and its connections to South Dakota.