The American Museum of Natural History (AMNH) is developing and implementing a Track 1 pilot project involving innovative professional development and teaching resources based on current geoscience research to improve public Earth Science literacy, particularly through strengthening Earth Science education in grades 7-12 and teacher preparation for secondary school science. These resources include: (1) a short video documentary (in AMNH's Science Bulletins video program) for exhibition and online distribution that features the work of a geoscience researcher and (2) an "Earth Science Teaching Case" (Teaching Case) comprised of a suite of resources to support pre-service and in-service teacher professional development, as well as the implementation of these resources in the classroom to teach students. The Teaching Case includes video segments, text passages, and inquiry-based classroom activities that engage students in the use of geoscience data. These resources are being based on content relating to current research in the area of geological hazards and risks, with a focus on earthquakes and climate change, thereby supporting content in the Next Generation Science Standards. By including the analysis of large geoscience data sets as a catalyst for teaching educators and their students about Earth Science and scientific practices, these resources meet a need currently not met by existing geoscience professional development materials. These resources are being piloted in conjunction with AMNH's new Masters of Arts in Teaching (MAT) program with a specialization in Earth Science for grades 7-12. AMNH's MAT program, supported by New York State and the DR K-12 and Noyce programs in NSF/EHR, is the first of its kind to be offered through an informal science education institution.
The American Museum of Natural History (AMNH) received NSF support to develop Earth Science educational resources for secondary science teachers that integrate current geoscience research and data into teaching tools they can directly apply to grade 7-12 classrooms where the need for improved science teaching is critical to ensuring students’ future success. Leveraging existing resources including seismic data from the Incorporated Research Institutions in Seismology (IRIS) website and AMNH’s geoscience research and pedagogical capacity, the project developed an innovative "Earth Science Teaching Case" focused on earthquakes and the geography of Bangladesh, a country that has three active faults and is at extremely high risk of catastrophic seismic impacts. The Teaching Case, Earthquake Risk in Bangladesh, emphasizes seismological data and is designed to provide middle and high school students with an experience of analyzing and interpreting data that is similar to scientific research. The AMNH Earth Science Teaching Case includes: Four video segments documenting researchers doing fieldwork in Bangladesh on earthquake hazards. Four associated text passages (including both student and teacher versions) related to earthquake risk and activity, seismological data collection, recent findings from tectonic research, and tectonics and sedimentation in the world’s largest delta, the Ganges-Brahmaputra-Meghna Delta. Data analysis tools, data sets, and supports for interpreting authentic geosciences data through the IRIS website The Teaching Case was piloted in a two-day professional development workshop with 32 New York City middle and high school teachers in July 2013 and subsequently field-tested in the classroom by workshop participants. Between November 2013 and May 2014, six teachers were observed implementing the Teaching Case with a total of roughly 265 students in 13 classrooms (grades 7–12) who utilized the materials to support their learning about earthquakes. Teachers indicated that they found the materials highly useful in implementing successful lessons. Specifically, they commented that the materials supported increased student engagement and deeper conceptual understanding, and provided welcome flexibility to be adapted for different learners and learning contexts. The Teaching Case is being widely disseminated on the AMNH website (www.amnh.org/explore/curriculum-collections/earthquake-risk-in-bangladesh) and has been incorporated into AMNH’s regular, ongoing professional development offerings, including a repeat offering of the two-day workshop and integration of materials into the two-week intensive Teacher Renewal for Urban Science Teachers (TRUST) Summer Institute, into AMNH’s large-scale professional development events on occasion of Election Day and Chancellors Day, and into the AMNH MOOC (massive open online course) Dynamic Earth: A Course for Educators, which has reached a total of more than 24,000 online learners to date. Teaching materials were also incorporated into the AMNH MAT graduate education course "Curriculum and Instruction for Teaching Earth Science in Secondary Schools." AMNH will continue to use these valuable teaching resources to prepare pre-and in-service teachers to engage students in the use of geoscience data and to share lessons learned with the wider science learning community through national and international professional conferences.
