The Preparing Teachers to Teach Earth Science project website has not been significantly updated since 2007. We are preserving the web pages here because they still contain useful and ideas and content. But be aware that it may have out of date information.
For more recent resources related to Earth science teacher preparation, check out the collection at Teach the Earth.
Initial Publication Date: May 15, 2006

Assisting K-12 Teachers in their Classrooms

Created by Jennifer L. B. Anderson, Ph.D., SERC, Carleton College


Participate in Outreach to K-12 Schools

Individual faculty members can become involved in local K-12 schools simply by volunteering their time to speak with the students. For example, you can visit a classroom and talk to the students about what a geoscientist does and is (and looks like), you could help judge a science fair, or you could participate in a careers day presentation. Often these commitments take only a small amount of time and preparation, are a lot of fun, and expose the students to what a scientist really is -- a human being who is curious about their world, just like the students!

Develop School Programs

A step beyond working with individual teachers for a short period of time is to create a long-term partnership between yourself and a specific teacher, school or school district. You can be a resource for practicing science teachers by offering to answer teacher emails or emails from their students. You can also work individually with teachers in their classrooms, providing longer-term outreach activities, and support as a partner/mentor.


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